Night Before Race: We ate Italian food and I had the lasagna. Eddie and I came back after dinner because I knew I needed to get everything together to make sure I don't forget anything in the morning. I couldn't slept and nerves set in bad. I kept thinking what if my alarm doesn't go off? What if we miss my bus to take me to town of Hopkins where we start? What if I ate too much and crap my pants like the lady I saw at the Dallas Marathon back in 2012? What if I eat too much for breakfast since I have never ran at 11:00 a.m. before? Needless to say, I probably slept maybe 5 hours.
Marathon Morning: I wake up at 6:00 a.m. and get ready for the taxi to pick Eddie and I up at 7:00 a.m. It was an old man about 70 years old and once he saw I was a runner, he said not to worry he knew the back roads to get us there on time because a lot of roads are closed due to race. He drove like a maniac, but happy we got there safe and on time. I was happy Eddie went with me to see I get on the right bus. I checked in my gear bag for when I finish I could change into clean clothes. Then it was time to say good-bye to my babe, my hero, Eddie who is my #1 fan. I tried to kept from tearing up and gave him a kiss good-bye and he wished me luck. I sat next to a young girl who was also running Boston for the first time from Connecticut. We talked the whole way as we were both nervous, but it a long 1 hour drive and thought WOW, we are going to run all of this back to Boston! We get to the town of Hopkins and arrive at Athletes Village where only runner are allowed. There I wait about another 2 hours because I have to wait until they call my wave 3, corral 3 in which 9K runners are in. So, I head straight to the line for porta potty which are huge of course. There I take pics while I wait and met other runners. I met three ladies from Mexico who took me under their wing and asked me to sit with them. Two of them were in faster waves and one of them was in my same wave. So, we said we would try and run together. I told her I would let her pace me and I would do my best. However, I would have to listen to my body because I was recovering from a foot injury. We walked what seemed forever to get to start line and we both decided to go to bathroom one last time since there wasn't a line and then we walked some more. I got rid of Eddie's throw away gloves he gave me and next thing I knew we were off running! It was an amazing experience and proud to be one of the 36,000 runners that day. They say there were 1 million spectators and I believe it. I have never run a marathon where the streets are full of people cheering you on from the start all the way to the end! The whole city of Boston was present and involved in some way. I usually run listening to music, but this time I decided to just enjoy the crowd and used my phone to take pictures as I ran. I ran fast 6 miles and was able to keep up Maria the girl from Mexico, but it was downhill and didn't seem like I was going that fast. Then, once the rolling hills came, I felt it and wasn't able to maintain that speed anymore. I kept telling myself don't be stupid you are not trying to PR, just enjoy and don't get hurt again! So, I never saw Maria again, and I ran my own race. I loved seeing the children giving me high fives along the way and passing out sliced oranges and bananas to runners. I ran through 8 towns to get to the finish line and as I ran through the towns, I saw the town fire departments out with their ladder trucks cheering us on. I saw helicopters, police with their dogs and our military men and woman protecting the streets as we ran. The crowd was loud and I could hear them yell my name and say go Texas as they saw that written on both sides of my legs. And yes, there were tears as I saw a teenage boy on crutches going up a hill and a team pushing a man on a wheel chair, etc. It was a tough course and it was hot, I got blisters and my right hamstring kept wanting to cramp up as I went up the hills, but I was being pushed by the crowd and was determined to finish. It was about that time I heard Eddie and Hilda at Heartbreak Hill calling my name and saying go Texas! It was nice to see them and my other Texas friends, Carolyn, Byron and Mike cheering me on in the town of Newton. If you didn't know, I suffered a tendinitis injury while training 11 weeks before Boston. I thought I had fractured my right foot and was in tears when my doctor told me to forget about running Boston if it’s fractured. I was relieved when my MRI results came back negative because Boston was my focus. I had to stop running for two weeks and had to slowly work my way back up as I healed. I saw a physical therapist once a week and with 9 weeks of training I was worried about not being well prepared to run. I was told that I would not be able to run fast or I would injure my foot again. As hard as it was, I knew I had to listen and do whatever they wanted me to do. It was mine and every runner’s dream to run Boston and nothing would get in my way. You see, this race wasn’t about me trying to PR, it was about running in honor of all those injured last year and I was going to be the legs of those who never will run again and was running for all runners across the nation who share my passion. It was a dream come true and happy to say I finished in 4:00:57. I finished Boston Strong!
No comments:
Post a Comment