My pre-race dinner consisted of a juicy hamburger with the best gluten free bun I’ve had the pleasure of eating.  Over the last few months I’ve gone mostly to a gluten free diet.  I do still on occasion opt for a non-gluten free choice, but I do feel better without gluten so I do this sparingly.

For whatever reason yesterday I was craving bread pudding and as luck would have it, Not Your Average Joe’s, the restaurant we got take out, had it on the dessert menu.   It was definitely one of those indulgences I was taking about earlier.  Back last spring I ran the National HM in Washington, DC which was the first time I choose bread budding as a pre-race “carb-load” choice.  Of course I use that term lightly….it was more a desire to build some calories in a sweet treat option.  I have to admit NYAJ’s White Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding was far superior to my earlier choice in DC.  So yummy!

The race started at 8 am so it wasn’t a very early wake up call.  Providence is just over a half hour drive so I left around 6:30 and found a perfect parking spot on the street to avoid garage parking.  Love that city meter parking is free on Sundays!

I made sure to take in my protein shake for breakfast to fuel the run.  Once I got to my parking spot, I sat in the car for a few minutes, drank my Vega pre-workout energizer drink and headed over to the RI Convention Center to stay out of the cool breeze and take care of my last bathroom break. I then proceeded out to the start line with only 10 minutes to wait for gun time.

With this being the 3rd time to run this course, I knew there were areas I did not like.  I loved that today I did not let any negatives thoughts rule my run.  I continued to be surprised as I came up those hot spots on the course and I just powered through.  It did help that we had perfect weather, I had little to no pain and they changed the course to remove one of the very steep downhills.

I wanted to go out with a comfortable but challenging pace.  With the upcoming marathon my main goal was to use this race as part training and part redemptive.  I needed to learn to listen more closely to my body.  I definitely do not want a repeat of Boston.  After the race, I took in my Vega recovery accelerator drink.  Are you detecting a theme?

I believe the one thing I learned on this run was that I do need more than water.  It did not take long even in perfect weather conditions for the sweat to dwindle and the salt to accumulate on the skin.  It is time to introduce Vega electrolyte hydrator in conjunction to my water and gel intake.

Overall, I enjoyed this race.  The pace was great, I had a nice burst for the finish and the finisher’s medal is so sweet!

Garmin time: 13.29 miles in 1:55:38 or 8:42 pace

I believe God is always with me.  Even in my running.  Sometimes I do not feel Him close to me, but that is not because He has changed.  No, it is because I have moved away from Him.  Whether intentionally or unintentionally, it really doesn’t matter. God never turns away from me, I turn from Him.  So I find it funny how God catches hold of us in the small things to regain our focus on the bigger things. 

April 16th will hold a bittersweet taste for me as the day I failed to complete the Boston marathon.  In the moment of the race, I believed I made the right decision to stop running, however as the days pass I regret that decision more and more.  What if I had just kept going? What if I? What if?     

This verse reminds me that God notices me.  That I should remain encouraged by His love and faithfulness.  The reward was not the B.A.A. 26.2 finishers medal this time, but maybe the reward is waiting for acts done in His name.  In other words, I must keep the right attitude always in all that I do.  And let’s face it friends, this is not an easy task is it?  We all have our failings.  We all have our emotions that want to rule.

There is no way to change the decision that I made.  That is the past.  I must look forward.  I need to hear what God is teaching sot that I can become more mature in my Christian walk.  This is where true happiness is found, not in crossing a finish line. 

If He is there in  all aspects of life, the big, the small then I can hold to His promise that He is present even in my running.  I should therefore not fear but know with absolute certainty that no matter the outcome I am running for my Lord.  Nothing else should matter, but His plan.  Will I always understand my failings?  Probably not.  As long as my faith remains in the right object then I am by no means a failure.  

Whether I finished Boston or not this year I now have peace in knowing my God was there running with me and this quiet confidence is something that I will carry with me not only into my next race, but into my next breath.

God’s perfect plan began in my heart many months ago.  He knows the beginning and the end for I could not have know that the temps would rise into the 80’s on the one day I needed a cool spring day.  But He did.  He left me the tools to overcome this disappointment and today I found them in my journal of random thoughts. 

You see, I have the habit of jotting down random verses and thoughts or ideas from different readings and devotionals.  Today I sat down and discovered that line by line were the verses and thoughts I listed above.  It is the perfect story of my heart in this moment.  It is God’s loving words to show me He was indeed with me from the beginning.  I am humbled by His provision. 

The day started out in bright colorful running gear but quickly turned to just a crumpled tattered bib.

When I woke yesterday I had a few nerves, but by taking the bus up to Hopkinton with my running club it was a much easier wait than I anticipated.  I felt great.  No stomach issues and zero injuries.  I felt strong and ready.  My only concern of course was the heat.  We were able to hang out on or around the bus until it was time for us to head to our individual wave starts and even better we could leave our belongings there too instead of dealing with the official baggage check buses.  The bus was then at the end waiting to bring us home.

There were 4 others in my wave, but only 1 in my corral.  As the 5 of us walked to the start line, which was close to a mile walk, we chatted about past experience, what to expect with the heat and just overall good banter.  Mike, the one in my corral and I discovered we had very similar marathon and half marathon PR’s so we decided to start the race together and go from there.  If I did not have him reminding me to slow down I would have flown down those initial hills.  It is very hard not to get caught up in the mass of runners.  I was feeling good, but feeling I was going so slow.  The heat first grabbed me at mile 5.  Yikes!  I slowed down and Mike carried on.  I ran then walked through the next few water stops and that seemed to help.

Some where between 8-9 miles out of the corner of my eye I saw Jay who started one corral after us.  I am not sure how I saw him, but it must have been divine intervention.  I made a beeline for him and asked how he was doing.  We started talking and without his amazing encouragement and coaching I would not have even made it as far as I did where eventually my Boston marathon dream ended.

Jay convinced me to start dumping water on my head, which did help but the heat was just brutal.  I really commend all the other runners who were able to overcome the heat to victory.  I now know that I should never try to run a race in temps over 70.  My body just can not handle it.  Some where between mile 16 and 17 I was getting lightheaded and my lips and arms began to go numb.  We decided to stop at the first aid stop to see what they thought.  I had not realized until they pointed it out, that the sections of my shirt that was dry were covered in salt residue.  Not the best of signs, but worse my pulse and blood pressure was very low.  They needed me to sit, drink and wait.  At that point Jay hugged me and continued on to the finish but first made it clear to me that a medical issue does not mean I was a quitter.  I so appreciated his words but at that moment the tears started.   I did not foresee my blood pressure staying stabilized enough for me to continue running and to finish the last 10 miles walking is just not how I wanted to finish Boston.  With that, I opted out of the race.

I have some wonderful friends, runners and non-runners, who have given my such encouragement via FB and texts.  Their thoughts and prayers mean the world to me.  In my head I know that I did the right thing by stopping.  But right now my heart is broken.  My Boston dream shattered.  So today where I should be celebrating a huge victory I am left still chasing the unicorn.

So what does a defeated marathoner do the next morning?  Go on a run of course!!!!  I was shocked at how trashed my quads were this morning considering I did not complete the full 26.2.  I guess those Boston downhills are no joke.  I loosened up a bit with some foam rolling and stretching before and after an easy 2 miler.  My mid back was more of an issue than the legs which I think is due to the fuel belt I wore.  This actually caused me to cut my run so short.  I really wanted to go long.  Then, while eating breakfast I decided to torture myself by actually watching the TV broadcast of yesterday’s race.

I find inspiration in elite runners and also in blogs I read.  I recently discovered a blogger who inspires me to be a better runner and a stronger woman.  Have you read Mile Posts?  If not, you should.

So the big question that is looming over me now is what’s next?

• Monday:  4 mi – 35min -8:45 pace:  What is wrong with my Garmin…again not working! Ugh! I think my distance and time is about right, rough guesstimate. 1 week to go!
• Wednesday: 4.09 mi –40min -9:44 pace:  4 easy miles trying to keep all those phantom injury out of my head.
• Friday:  5 mi – 47min -9:18 pace:  I really hate pre-race jitters! This 5 mile run felt like 100 and every part of me hurt…go away phantom pains.
• Saturday: 4.5 mi – 41min – 9:11 pace:  Training is done! Felt much better than yesterday and heading to #bostonmarathon expo soon. My only wish now is that we could have weather more like this morning for Monday.

Yesterday we headed into Boston to pick up my bib.  This event was by far the biggest marathon expo I’ve attended. 

Beautiful day outside…crazy crowds inside!

#22681 received!

Marathon Mantras: Unstoppable and Find Your Strong

We walked by this Irish Pub and decided the upper deck seating was the best place to be to enjoy lunch.

One thing I hoped not to have to worry about was the weather. Oh, I know it is wasted energy to worry about something you have no control over, but the butterflies in my stomach are just not listening! I’ve been watching the 10 day forecast all week and have watched it change constantly from low’s of 62 to rain to cloudy to high of 87. It now seems to be that we will have to battle the heat. 

With this heat issue I am all confused on my attire for tomorrow.  I am definitely ok with my top of choice, however I am not prepared to wear shorts!  Eeek! I am still not sure what I will decide to do.  I would hate to wear something I have not taking on a test drive, but I think the heat may trump that fear. 

Of course the heat has been the biggest talk of this Boston Marathon.  It may prove to be the hottest Boston marathon in history.  I saw this tweet on Friday and thought the advice was stated perfectly….

I am going to steal the encouragement a friend gave me earlier on FB to share with all the Boston Runners: Run strong, run smart, and please be safe in the heat! 

I pray that after tomorrow I will have safely finished my 5th marathon.  The training is done, hydration is my focus today, being calm and having fun is my mission tomorrow, but the rest I leave in God’s hands.  I may not know what His plan is for me tomorrow, but I must trust in it, stay out of my own way and just allow it to happen.

1. Remain calm
2. Stop looking at the weather every few seconds
3. Keep from obsessing over every little thing
4. Ignore all the phantom pains
5. Take to heart all the wonderful advice from friends

Keeping Pace: Boston Training

I am following the Hanson’s Less Is More Plan where speed, strength and tempo sessions combined with shorter long runs will help marathoners of all abilities run a better race. The ( )shows what is on schedule for the day, however I am not out to run 6 days a week so I am a bit more flexible. My goal is to increase to 5 days per week half way through the schedule.

Week 17

Monday: (7-8 miles) Rest day for me.

Tuesday: (Strength) My week was a bit of a mess and I meant to push this run over to Sunday, however I blew it.  But I have to let that go now.

Wednesday: (Off) Put in my 10 miles here.  My Garmin was not charged so I had to go out based on feel.  I guessed at my finish time being around 1:35 making a pace of 9:30 which was definitely not at MP.

Thursday: (MP 10) No run getting ready for tomorrow’s long run.

Friday: (6-7) Having the day off from work I ran my last long run of training.  16 miles in 2:28 at 9:14 pace.  I felt better than last weeks 16 but more importantly the time was better too.

Saturday: 8 at 45-60 seconds slower than MP) Followed up with another 10 miler as I did last week and again improved the time.  That can only be a positive.

Sunday: (6-8) Decided not to run Easter morning.

Total mileage: 36 miles

The coming week is all about keeping it relaxed, staying healthy and remaining sane.  The few days before a big race always bring on butterflies.  Some of which are nerves but mostly it is pure excitement.  I believe if I wasn’t a little crazy this week than there is something seriously wrong with me.  I am about to run the Boston Marathon and that is something so special.  I am so grateful for the opportunity.

Coming off a step back mileage week, not of choice but out of necessity, I felt this week’s training allowed me to put some of those finishing touches on my training.  The week was a bit of a renewal.  Every marathon training has it lows and I believe I’m finally over them and springing up with strength, determination and confidence.

Keeping Pace: Boston Training

I am following the Hanson’s Less Is More Plan where speed, strength and tempo sessions combined with shorter long runs will help marathoners of all abilities run a better race. The ( )shows what is on schedule for the day, however I am not out to run 6 days a week so I am a bit more flexible. My goal is to increase to 5 days per week half way through the schedule.

Week 16

Monday: (5-6 miles) Rest day for me.

Tuesday: (Strength) Typically I am an early morning runner, however I felt it better to get another chiropractic adjustment in before running again.  I did not do the 3×2 mile intervals, but kept a more steady pace for the 6 miles.  After coming in I believe those choices were best as I still nursed the crazy mid back/rib issues.

Wednesday: (Off) Kept this as a day off as I still baby those back muscles.

Thursday: (MP 10) Yeah, got my 10 miler in without incident this week.  Can’t believe how far I’ve come in just a week.  Not the MP I wanted but happy to get the 10 in and even happier the rib is staying in place. Muscles are still tight but I seem to be mending. Finished in 1:35 for a 9:31 pace.

Friday: (5-6) Another rest day playing it safe and getting ready for the big run on Saturday.

Saturday: (10 at 45-60 seconds slower than MP) Oh, the rain! Because I missed last weekend’s long run due to the rib/back issue I bumped this run to 16 miles. I was soaked to the bone, but I felt so confident after this run.  It was comfortable and I felt ready for more.   Finished in 2:30 at 9:31.

Sunday: (8-10) Followed up the 16 miler with 10 miles.  The legs were sluggish, but overall a good run to build up more endurance.  I was happy with a 9:37 pace finishing in 1:37.

Total mileage: 42 miles