I have amazing friends!

I couldn't leave for Boston without thanking two very important people who have made this trip possible.....

About a month or so ago, I started looking for flights from Austin to Boston. After searching for a bit on JetBlue and Kayak, I was soon realizing this trip may not actually happen. Since going back to school, funds have been tight and I haven't been making what I once used to when I lived in nyc. I didn't want to completely rule out the trip, so I waited another week and checked back once again. This was definitely one of those times where procrastination does not pay off....the flights had climbed even higher! It quickly became apparent that I just didn't have enough time to save and pay for a flight to Boston. The trip was out of the picture and the race wasn't going to happen....

But then, I received an email a day later:

"Kara and I had lunch together last Friday and I mentioned the Boston marathon. She said you might not run it due to the cost of everything. We would like to help and buy you the plane ticket :) If you're Ok with staying in a hostel, or something of that nature, we really want to do this for you. We hate to think of you not running after all of your hard work. Let us know what you think. And please, please consider if you're ok with the rooming accommodations...this is what friends are for! We love you :) " 

I was literally almost moved to tears. I thought to myself, wow, I have amazing friends! I am one lucky girl! 

Always there for support!

Kara Grenier and Virginia Whetstone have been with me on this journey to qualify for Boston from the very beginning. We met through Team in Training and became inseparable running buddies! We would meet at 5:30am during the week and run loops in Prospect park, run bridges, attend Jazzy's bootcamps or do hill repeats all before work. We've done countless NYRR races, waking up and trekking to central park while most were still in bed or just getting home from the bars. We've endured freezing runs, exhaustingly hot runs, and even runs in pouring rain. (Remember those 1/2mile repeats in that torrential downpour when NO OTHER people were crazy enough to be out there, ladies?!)  Needless to say, we've logged many miles together and have gotten to share some pretty intimate running experiences with each other.  (Thanks again for getting me through the last 6 miles of the nyc marathon, V! Couldn't have finished without you!)

Celebrating after the marine corps marathon.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you both for being my biggest cheerleaders and believing in me! You both have really made my year by doing this for me and I hope to one day repay you. I wouldn't be heading to Boston for Monday's race if it weren't for your generosity, so, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! 

This race is for you girls! Love you both!

I'm Going to Boston!

In honor of my upcoming race, I figured I'd share my experience of how I qualified for this big day.

Ever since I started training for marathons, I have dreamed of qualifying for Boston. Even during my first marathon, I had it in my head that I was going to qualify. I had the speed, but, not the experience. However, it quickly became apparent that my speed was what was causing all of the problems.....I was just going out WAY too fast and paying for it in the later miles of the race. Now, normally a runner would be grateful for speedy legs. However, when someone such as myself doesn't apply proper pacing strategies learned during practice, it spells disaster. I would usually run out of steam around mile 18-20 and those last miles would be complete torture, turning into a walk/run. After my first marathon turned out to be a disappointing experience ( a blog post for a later time!), my second still not what I expected, and my third turning into a disaster, it was time to take a different approach.

After bonking 3 times, marathon #4 had to be different. I was training with City Coach in NYC and almost everyone in the group was training for Boston in the spring of 2011. Since I missed qualifying during the NYC marathon that past fall, Coach Jonathan Cane suggested the Charlottesville marathon in Virginia for those of us not doing Boston.  The race was also in April so I figured why not? It would give me a chance to train on the same schedule as everyone else and I'd never been to Charlottesville. Could be fun?!

I trained well for the race and felt prepared to run a fast time, however, due to my past history, Coach Cane suggested I throw any thoughts of Boston out the window and just have fun with this race. Don't worry about time, don't even wear a watch! After some coaxing, I decided to take his advice. In the back of my mind, I knew I'd probably always have that Boston qualifying time (3:40 for women in my age group) etched into my brain, however, I desperately needed that new approach.

RACE DAY:
My alarm sounded at 5:15am and I got up to force down some instant oatmeal. I paced around and did my whole morning race routine while calling to set up a cab ride. As the minutes ticked by and the cab driver still hadn't shown, I panicked a bit and stepped outside my door to notice some girls getting into a pick-up with marathon gear. Thinking this was a small town and I should be fine, I hopped in with them for the short ride over to the start. I chatted for a bit with these strangers and they informed me they were both running the half, while the one driving lit up a cigarette. I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

Anyway, we arrived, I jumped out, thanked them for the ride and immediately jumped into the bathroom line. While waiting, I ran into Hanna ( City Coach member) and her boyfriend, Michael( who graciously let me ride along with them from NYC to Charlottesville) who were also running the full marathon. After checking our bags and wishing each other good luck, we all headed out to the start line. It was a chilly start to the day...I dont' think it was even above 40 degrees. I was all prepared with my arm warmers, but wishing I had gloves. Nothing I could do about it now!

I surprisingly felt calm while chatting with a few other runners as we waited for the gun to go off. Most likely due to the fact that I wasn't feeling pressured to hit a certain time, I was here to have fun!

BANG! At 6:30am, the gun went off, and it was go time! I eased into the race and made sure to hold back. I checked my watch( oops, wore a watch!) at mile one just to gauge where I was at...clocked an 8:45. Mile 2: 8:35, Mile 3: 8:40....after about mile 4, I remembered Coach Cane's advice and stopped incessantly checking my time. I settled into the run and approached each mile solely by how I was feeling. Only at the 1/2 way point when we split off from the half-marathoners, did I finally glance down at my watch. Oh my gosh, I was within Boston range! I still had a chance!! I tried not to get too excited because Boston was NOT the reason I was running this race.

On my way to a BQ!

I relaxed and approached the 2nd half of the race like the first, occasionally glancing at the watch and running by how I felt. Going into this race, I knew it was going to be hilly. But man, this was just ridiculous...one after the other, they just kept coming.  I'd crest one only to view another shortly up ahead.

Around mile 15, another runner latched on and started chatting with me. I stayed focused but politely responded to his questions. Another girl also paced off of us as well and it helped the miles go by a little quicker. The dude running with the girl and I kept making comments about another girl up ahead..." did you see the girl with the blond pigtails? Her boobs are huge...they have to be fake!"  Well, "fake boobs mcgee" became my target and I slowly tried to catch up to her. In the midst of doing so, I noticed, I was feeling GOOD. A rarity for me! Meanwhile, while I was feeling good, others around me were not. I was slowly picking people off on each hill we approached.  By mile 22, the double loop of hills was done and I was still picking people off. I felt awesome and started to increase the pace a little more as we were now heading back toward town. With less than 2 miles to go, I passed some screaming spectators yelling, "the finish line is near!" I glanced at my watch one last time and realized, holy crap!, this Boston thing is actually going to happen!!!  I finished the marathon in a time of 3:27:43, a new PR by over 20mins! I never was able to catch "boobs mcgee" but keeping her within sight helped me focus on something other than the exhaustion I was feeling and helped pull me forward. Besides, I didn't care, I had just qualified for Boston!  This race is proof that patience does pay off.  I clearly just needed to take the pressure off and have fun!!

*To anyone looking for a fun, small-town race, this is it! I don't know if it's because I had such an awesome race or because I tend to enjoy the small race vibe more, but I would definitely recommend this one. The crowds are a bit sparse but the cheering sections come just when you need them the most.  If you want to feel like a big fish in a small pond ( as JC said ), go run Charlottesville. I was #57 overall and ended up making it into the local paper :) *

2 Weeks Until Boston!

A few updates are in order! 

1. I've failed at my at my sweets challenge. Everything was going smoothly and I made it 28 days without any desserts. Then my sister came to town and I got weak. She had never experienced the awesomeness that is Amy's ice cream, so I had to take her. I felt slightly guilty cheating, but it was worth it. A small cup of honey graham + dark chocolate was oh so good. I haven't gone crazy with the sweets since then though( minus 1 cadbury cream egg- 'tis the season!) and I plan to refrain from any other sweets until April 16th.  After cutting sweets out though, I did notice that I craved them less and less as the days went by. The first few days without were the toughest though. I thought about them a lot and it was easy to forget that I was even doing the challenge. I almost slipped a few times during the first few days. I noticed the cravings most after my longer runs, craving brownies and sugary soda after the 22 milers. Even though I did fail, I know that holding out these next few weeks will still make that rewarding dessert after the marathon taste that much better.

2. I have now entered the taper phase of marathon training! A lot of runners hate the taper phase, but I actually enjoy it. It's a nice mental break from the daunting 22 milers and having to plan your day around when you're going to fit in those medium and long runs. Gives me a chance to rest up a bit and roll out my ever-tight calves. 

A little re-cap on the memorable workouts(since I've failed to blog for the bulk of my Boston training.): 

1. The "Run From Hell"- This run took place on March 10th and the name of this run truely describes every moment of it. It was supposed to be 22-24 miles of ups and downs through the hill country of Austin. It started out as a drizzly dark run ( we met at 6:30am) and quickly turned into a torrential downpour. Thankfully, I had company on this run ( made a new friend, Gina, who runs with Rogue Downtown and is also training for Boston). We stuck together through the gusty winds & rivers of rain, lightning, chilly temps ( around 35-40 degrees) and many, many hills, with the largest topping out at 24% grade. Due to the lightning, we ended up cutting the run a bit short but squeezed in more miles than we had thought ( 21 miles total).  By the time I got to my car, I had to wring out my clothing and empty the water from my shoes. My hands were so cold, I could barely turn my car key to get the engine started. It took both hands to get the vehicle running! I was definitely worn out after this run, but proud that I stuck it out and got the job done.  * ( I was sore for about 4 days after this run due to the many hills!)

2. Yasso 800's- I used to do 800 repeats during practice for previous marathons but never Yasso's. ( If we were doing Yassos, I never knew what the workout was really meant for and probably never did it right.)  After reading about Yasso 800s,   http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-624-0,00.html   I had the opportunity to attempt the workout in the correct fashion. On Tuesday, March 20th, we did the workout during practice and I did all 10 within a few second range of each one. I was mostly hitting 3:15, which is a bit faster than goal pace, but at least I was consistent. With a 400m jog in between each one, I ended up logging over 9 miles during the workout ( including warm up/cool down).

Now whether or not this actually can predict that I will run a 3:15 or 3:20 marathon, only race day will tell. I will have another opportunity tomorrow at practice to hit 3:20 Yasso's and try to stay consistent.

3. Long, lonely miles....On March 24th, I logged 22 miles by myself at practice since no one else showed up in my group. Normally, it's not too rough, but I was running on about 3.5 hrs of sleep. After a long ( and successful) night of slingin' tex-mex, I was unable to sleep and may have even gotten less than the above mentioned hrs before my alarm sounded at 5:45am. I forced myself to get up, as I knew I had a long jam-packed day ahead of me and there wouldn't be any other time to fit in this run. It actually turned into a very nice run and I finished in just under 3hrs. The day started out beautiful and eventually turned overcast and humid toward the end. I was tired, but felt strong and knew I could have continued on if I needed to. A good sign for race day!

4. Last Long Run!!!  Last night ( since I slept through my alarm on Saturday morning) I had to head out around 6:30pm after my shift at Lululemon to log my miles. I was scheduled to run 20 miles or 3hrs, but feeling like this was a bit too long for 2wks out, I opted for 16miles. Aside from stomach issues that kicked in around mile 10, and caused me to cut the run short by 0.75miles, I felt awesome! Another good sign for race day?? I can only hope!  

The work is now done for the most part.....Let the taper begin!!