The 114th running of the Boston Marathon happened yesterday, Patriot's Day, April 19th, 2010. I dressed up as Where's Waldo because I thought it'd be pretty funny to have people "spot me" in the crowd. And it was. The whole way I had adults and children alike screaming "WHERE"S WALDO?? THERE SHE IS!" and "I FOUND WALDO!!" etc, etc. Some of the comments were pretty funny / off the wall and I'll have to remember them and write them down. I even made it onto some Twitter Pages: (http://twitpic.com/1gugt1 and http://twitpic.com/1guev0) and someone had said they saw me on Boston.com but I didn't see myself on there anywhere. The crowds were awesome and really supportive. All the townies from Hopkinton through Natick, the Wellesley Scream Wall, the awesome people on Heartbreak Hill, the BC students, my friends, the BU students, the Sox fans in Kenmore and the general melee along the final stretch down Boylston. There is nothing like the Boston Marathon. Nothing compares to the difficulty of the course but at the same time, nothing compares to the awesomeness and dedication of the fans. Overall, the race atmosphere was the best thing EVER and I will remember this experience for the rest of my life.
Well, the run itself wasn't anything to write home about. I really struggled to finish when my hip started hurting around mile 10. It had started hurting about 2 weeks ago but I really thought that being nice to it for 2 weeks would be sufficient to be able to successfully run the marathon. Boy, was I wrong. Just after the halfway point, I had to ask Evan to stop running so I could attempt to stretch it, and when that didn't work, he convinced me to stop at the Medical tent to see what they could do. I got some muscle topical ointment put on it and that helped numb it a bit so I could run versus walk. In the end we ended up having to stop at 5 or 6 medical tents for more ointment and there was lots of walking. But Evan was awesome and stuck with me. Without him, I definitely would not have finished. The whole experience was both the best and the worst marathon experience I've ever had. I certainly learned a lot about myself and know that after the ankle issues in Chicago and the hip issues in Boston, I need to listen to my body and take a major, if not full, break from full marathons. Halves and sprint triathlons will have to suffice to quench my competitive thirst.
Also, I want to give a shout out to various awesome friends who came out and cheered. Rachel
came all the way from NYC for a day trip just to see me run and she made me an awesome sign. She ran up Heartbreak with Evan and me and between her and seeing Evan's friend at the hill before, we really barely noticed the toughest part of the race. Rachel and I got to enjoy some nice summer brews afterwards and hang out Patriot's Day style with outdoor seating and surrounded by crazy drunk Bostonians. Awesome friend. Awesome time. Yay!Josh, as always, also deserves a shout out for being amazingly supportive for the whole thing. After spending all weekend with me in Philly, he helped me color my shirts on Sunday night and dropped me off for my ride to Hopkinton. He had people in Cleveland Circle waiting for us and he met me at the finish line with clothes to put on and a big hug and a smile waiting for me. He's such an amazing person in general, let alone as a boyfriend. I couldn't ask for a more supportive and awesome person to spend my time (and hopefully my life!?) with. I love him so much!
And so ends my career as a marathoner. I think this really might be my last marathon ever, or at least for quite some time. Half marathons and sprint triathlons will just have to be enough!
