Today is a special day

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Today is April 15. Most of you know this day as Tax Day. Yes, I think we all dread this deadline. Today is also the Boston Marathon and the same day, one year ago, that I ran the Paris Marathon. Both these races hold a special place in my heart, but Boston is at the top. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and a race you have to qualify for.

This morning I woke up at 6:25am to watch the live stream. I plugged in my headphones into my laptop so I could listen and not wake my sleeping boyfriend. It’s a very exciting race to watch.

Boston 1

2011 Boston Marathon

I ran the Boston Marathon in April 2011. What an amazing adventure and journey that was. To be a part of a group of such outstanding athletes. For 3 hours and 51 minutes I got to run with all those elite runners…it was such a great feeling. These are some of the best in the world and I was part of history with them. This particular year, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya set the course record with a time of 2:03:02!

This adventure to the Boston Marathon was something I never thought about until after my first marathon. I ran a pretty good race at the CIM in 2008 and then I put a lot of pressure on myself to try and run a qualifying race at the Rock n’ Roll San Diego Marathon in 2009. I ended up getting really sick with a sinus infection and had a horrible race. I told myself after that to not put that kind of pressure on myself. And at the CIM 2009 is where I qualified for Boston!

I was pretty excited. But the next step was entering the race. I had to wait til October 2010 to actually enter the Boston Marathon. I was on vacation with Clint in Playa del Carmen and the day the entries opened we got on the hotel lobby computer to fill out the form. For some reason it kicked back and I wasn’t sure if my info went through. So, we decided to do this on my phone, but we had to rush to get on a ferry to go to Cozumel. While on the ferry waiting to take off from the dock, I realized I had wi-fi, so I hurried to get it done. As we took off from the dock I saw the wi-fi bars slowly starting to fade away…I had to hurry! It seemed to go through! I felt better and relaxed.

Then I got an email from my running partner, Brian, that the entries had closed in a record 8 hours that day! Holy moly! When I was having difficulty entering on the hotel lobby computer, it had crossed my mind to wait til we got home in a couple days to enter. I am so glad I didn’t wait, because I wouldn’t have gotten in and I would have been really disappointed.

The race wasn’t for another six months, so this seemed to be a long process. I booked hotels with my friends and trained well before the race. Clint couldn’t come along for the journey, but as we had our last dinner together before leaving for the race I became really emotional. I had been having dreams that I wouldn’t be able to run, that my legs literally wouldn’t work, when the gun went off at the race. I was a little anxious and had no idea what was in store for me. And I wanted him to be there.

Boston 2

At the chilly and windy start line

Fast forward a few days to the Expo. This was truly exciting! I got my bib and my long sleeve Boston Marathon participant shirt. This is the coveted Boston jersey in yellow and blue. I was emotional. My friends were there to support me on this journey and I was happy they could share this with me.

The race is held on Patriot’s Day each year, which is also the third Monday in April, and is also known as Marathon Monday. There is a lot of history behind this race. There is also a Red Sox game on the same day. A lot is going on in Boston on race day and hundreds of thousands of people come out to cheer on the runners. The morning of the race, we hopped on the subway to get to the area where the buses were to take all of us runners to the start line. It’s 26 miles away so we were in a caravan of yellow school buses on the freeway, escorted by a police motorcycle motorcade. I felt so important. When we arrived at the start area, it was windy and cold and I had no idea what to do. I had to go to the bathroom one last time before my 10:30am (yes, it starts this late in the morning) corral time. I was actually running late now, so I had to run to my corral.

Boston 3

Getting through those hills

This is it! I was having trouble with my iPod but scrambled with that for a few. I also started off being a little conservative in the beginning because people kept saying that the race starts off going downhill and you will take off pretty fast. I actually felt my heal rubbing on the back of my shoe so I needed to stop at an EMT booth to get some tape to cover my heel. And off I went again. There were so many people along the course the entire way. In small towns and big towns…all types of people. It was really fun! Brian mapped out the course to hopefully meet up at different spots along the way to see me run. And as I hit the dreaded uphill miles around mile 17-21, Brian showed up! Right when I needed him.

I plowed through those last miles and I felt the crowds getting bigger and bigger. It was starting to become a reality that I was about to finish this race. I saw the tall buildings downtown and knew I was close. As I turned the last two corners I started to cry. I gave all I had that last mile. I turned onto Boylston Street and saw the blue finish arch and looked for my friends between the tears. It was an amazing feeling crossing that finish line. I still cry thinking about this race. I don’t know why, but this race was like going to the Olympics. It’s probably the biggest accomplishment for me.

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Acceptance and Congratulations certificates

Some people get to go to the Boston Marathon once in their life; some get to go several times. I envy the latter. But I do hope to go again someday. However, if I never get there again, I won’t be disappointed because this experience was one of the best in my life.

See below for some tips for running the Boston Marathon -

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/11-Golden-Rules-for-Running-a-Successful-Boston-Marathon.htm?

Bart who?

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bart yasso 2009

Brian, Bart, and Me – 2009 CIM Expo

To most people, the name Bart Yasso may sound like a cartoon character. Or to my boyfriend, it’s Bart Lasso. But to the running community, this guy is well-known, and even called the “Mayor of Running.”

Bart Yasso is a prominent figure in the sport of running and is also a columnist for Runner’s World, created the Yasso 800′s marathon training plan, and has also run races on every continent. Pretty impressive!

Brian and I were lucky enough to meet him in 2009 at the CIM Expo. Brian was way more excited to meet him than I was. I really didn’t know who he was then. But as I continued with my running adventures, I started to hear more and learn more about him.

So a couple of weeks ago, we found out Bart was coming to our local Fleet Feet store to do a short run and a small presentation. We jumped on it and RSVP’d!

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Brian, Bart and Me – 2013

Today we were lucky enough to meet him again. I asked if he would take a photo with Brian and I, just like he did in 2009. He was laid back and happily obliged. He also was very approachable and talked one-on-one with anyone that came up to him. After a short mingle period, he took a group photo with all of us (about 30 runners?) and then we took off on a 3 mile run. Brian and I left with the others in the front of the group while Bart was bringing up the rear of our run through Midtown, around McKinley Park, and back to the store.

It was a fairly warm 84 degrees out this evening, but it was totally worth it. We got to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s not too often that you get to run with one of the best. It was actually kind of cool. It made my Wednesday.

http://www.bartyasso.com/

I wish I was in Paris

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If you didn’t know, I love Paris. I mean, I may be a little obsessed. Or just call me a Francophile. (Is that a creepy word??)

picstitchToday was the 2013 Paris Marathon. I always wish I was in Paris sipping coffees and eating macarons, but after looking at the race pictures on Facebook, I really wish I was there today among all those participants in such a beautiful city. The weather looked perfect and the finisher medal looks a lot prettier than mine from last year. (I’m a little jealous.)

I guess, for now, I’ll have to live vicariously through Facebook. But thank you Facebook for reminding me that I need to go back and run this again someday!

You ran 50 miles, girl!

That's Heather on the right with her finisher medal

That’s Heather, on the right, with her finisher medal

On a side note, yesterday was the AR50. It’s the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run, that starts at the Guy West Bridge in Sacramento and ends in Auburn. An amazing gal, Heather Monahan, ran it and finished it! I have only met Heather once by chance in the porta pottie lines (it was like finding a needle in a haystack) at the LA Marathon a few weeks ago, but we’ve kept in touch on Facebook for a while now after finding each other through a mutual friend, Manny. I guess you could say we’re virtual running buddies.

I followed her training for weeks before the race and peeked at her progress all day yesterday. She had so many supporters and friends rooting for her then entire way. She ran this in memory of her father that passed away last year. She also raised money for charity. The training and fundraising are both huge tasks. But she did it!

50 miles is quite a distance and she accomplished an incredible feat. Pretty inspiring if you ask me. Congratulations Heather, you inspire me!

Here’s her blog if you’d like to check it out: www.runfordad.tumblr.com

LA Marathon 2013

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I ran the 2013 LA Marathon today. I was inspired by the LA Olympics in ’84 and remember watching the marathon on TV when I was a kid. Now this course is not the same as the LA Olympic Marathon, but I thought running this race would make it just as special being in the same city.

For me the experience started as something pretty special when I got an autographed poster from Olympic Marathoner Deena Kastor at the Expo. The words read: “Amy – Believe and Achieve!” I love it!IMG_2719

I didn’t get the best sleep Saturday night (well actually Weds-Saturday I was sick with a minor cold as well and had some crappy nights).

I woke up at 4:09am, 1 minute before my alarm, and got dressed and everything prepared to head out the door at 4:40 to get to the shuttle to be taken to the Dodgers Stadium.

After arriving at the Stadium, I immediately got in a porta pottie line. I ended up using the bathrooms two more times before getting into my corral. While rushing to my corral, I barely squeaked in as they were closing the gate.

And we started at 7:28! Here we go!

It was congested in the beginning, making it difficult to get around people and my pace was not as fast as usual so that worried me a bit but I wasn’t too stressed.

As we climbed several gradual hills in the beginning of the race, we benefited by the downhills. These are always nice, but you still need to be careful with your speed.

I wasn’t all that impressed by the course. However there were a few spots that were pretty neat to see like the Pantages Theater, Capitol Records, Chinese Theater, Sunset Blvd, Rodeo Dr (which was almost a blur for me as I ended up focusing on a beautiful ruffled dress in a window of the BCBG/Max Azria store). We went through West Hollywood and there were lovely drag queens dressed in cheerleader outfits and then down the way there was a section of 600 cheerleaders from local schools. Pretty fun!

As I continued through the course, I wasn’t stressed about a specific goal necessarily. But early on I thought that my pace was slower than normal because of the hills we encountered, so I just accepted that I was going to come in after 4 hours but was ok with that. But as I kept a steady pace, I realized that I could run this under 4 hours, even if I did get tired and had to run it slower at 10 min miles. As I got to mile 20, I texted Clint to tell him “6 more”. He knew what this meant (get your butt to the finish if you aren’t there already!) and said “Awesome!!!” It was 10:24 when I texted him so he knew I was coming in before 4 hours.

I got kind of excited and frequently looked at my watch to check my pace and the time I had to get in before the 4 hour mark.

6 miles left, 4 miles, 2 miles…I’m home free! I kicked it up a notch. Don’t fail me now legs!

As we turned the last corner toward the Finish, I could barely see the orange arch ahead. I wasn’t sure if it was the 26 mile maker arch before the finish or the actual Finish arch. It still seemed so far away. It was a long run to that Finish line, but I sprinted it and was happy with my 3:50:18 finish!IMG_2767

My 3rd best time (by seconds) and came in the top 10% of all runners (2,015 out of approx 20,000). I also placed 49th out of about 1,000 in my age division.

And I got to pick up a special second medal for completing the LA/SF challenge.

Overall, it wasn’t my favorite courses as far as beautiful sights, but I’m glad I got to do it and experience it.

Oh, and Deena came in 3rd place in the women’s division. She’s 40 years old and runs a 5:49 pace. I can’t even imagine what that feels like. I’ll never know, but she’s inspiring.

*written 3/17/13

Hello world!

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Welcome to my blog! With the inspiration and pestering of my friend Jenny Cox (and a few others who encouraged it as well…yes, that’s you Clint!), I finally started a blog. I should have started this long ago so I could look back and read about all my race experiences. It’s amazing what details you forget if you don’t write it down right away after a race.world

Here you will find out about my running life, marathons, my travels, AND my marathon travels all over the world. You may find some other weird and random tidbits as well about my dogs or an inspiring quote or maybe even what’s on my playlist at the moment.

I hope to help people or maybe even inspire.

If there’s something you want to hear about, let me know. If there’s something you don’t want to hear about, let me know that too. Enjoy!