(no subject)
so the marathon was probably the most amazing/emotional/PAINFUL experience of my life...and I'm thinking i would most defnately do another one, at some point in my life.
So the weekend was pretty hectic, lots of stress, running around trying to get my shit together/trying to figure out what the hell i was going to eat marathon morning...b/c well I have no idea i'm definately not an "experienced runner" or anything. Sunday night was the Dana Farber pasta party, which was a good time...pretty long, lots of speeches but definately got me pumped. One of the most inspiring moments had to of been when they showed a video of all the kids we were running in memory of, saddest thing i have ever seen. The minute it started i was bawling...cancer is a horrible disease and from what i've learned through this most definately touches the lives of EVERYONE in one way or the other....
anyways.
Marathon morning...I think it hadn't really hit me yet what i was about to do...wasn't TOO worried that morning. Got up in time to catch the first set of busses at 6:30 am to go to hopkinton...the bus ride was entertaining, i think everyone was really pumped for the race so they were all talking to eachother/giving tips on what to do/saying good luck to eachother. It was nice. In hopkinton the Dana Farber team got to be in this church which they called the "refuge" it was about 1/2 mile away from athletes village so we didn't get to experience the crazyness of that, sharing all the porta potties w/20,000 of your closest running pals...but I think i'm fine w/missing out on that experience, it would have been fun to see all the amazing athletes but i'm sure i would have been stressing over the fact that i'd be waiting 15-20 mins at a time to use the bathroom....ick thats no fun. SO after hours of waiting around drinking some water/gatorade and chatting w/some other dana farber runners we headed over to the start to get in our corrals...we were all spread out throughout corral 17 so i really wasn't around too many people i knew....there were 17,000 people in front of me and about 4,000 people behind me...incredible. Waited about a good 20 or so minutes after the gun went off before i actually crossed the starting line, but the 1/2 mile walk was a nice warm up I guess? haha
The race itself was just unbelieveable, i can't even begin to desribe what was going through my mind...at least in the beginning i can't haha I was just trying to take in what was going on around me. Within the first 1/4 mile there was a house playing the Rocky Theme then a little ways down there was a polka band...lots of families having HUGE cookouts playing loud music, and tons of people just cheering on EVERY runner they saw. Sox updates all the time some people had signs w/the score, other people would just yell it out as we ran by, there was a drage queen dressed as a mermaid, tons of people handing out BEER, an elvis impersonator, annd a bunch of other stuff that i'm sure i'm forgetting.
I definately went out a little too fast...i had this big goal of trying to run a 4 hour marathon, but as soon as i started i was like there is no way that is happening today...so then i thought i'd shoot for a 4:10-4:20 buuut as the race went out that goal also slowly diminished and I just came to the conclusion that i HAD to finish. I think between miles 16-22 I wanted to die, actually i'm positive i was like struggling...i think i slowed down to a 9:40 - 10:00 min mile or something...its all a mental game at that point and my mind was definately like what the fuck are you doing to yourself right now julia?? I almost broke down and cried about 5 times, sometimes b/c of the pain, other times b/c i couldn't believe i was running a marathon haha. The spectators were amazing, especially since by the time i got to alot of these people, they had already been out there for a good three hours yet they were still cheering on every runner lke we were the first to go by that day. The kids were really cute and tons of them were handing out water, oranges, bananas to all the runners. I took oranges from a couple and they tasted SOOO good...they would get So excited if you took something from them it was great. They'd also get super excited if you slapped them 5 so i also did that a bunch too haha good times. I felt like a rock star. Heartbreak hill definately lived up to its name, i had run it at least 5 of 6 times before and really thought i knew what i was getting myself into...but as soon as i took a right at the fire station and proceeded up those hills, it was like i had NEVER run them before. it was strange. NON of it looked familiar and the 4 hills felt like they took FOREVER. I think this is where my body started to shut down and i came to the conclusion that i would never ever ever run a marathon again.
Mile 25 was definately one of the highlights, it was FILLED w/dana farber volunteers, paitents, and their familes...it was crazy...i stayed to the right the entire time and just high fived them all as they were going CRAZY b/c i was one of the only dana farber runners there at that moment...it was great. yet another emotional moment of this crazy marathon.
The BEST part of the whole thing had to be the FINISH LINE...after 4 1/2 hours of running it is the ONLY thing you want to see and when you finally do see it, and you start to realize what you just accomplished, overcome w/emotion. once again i almost started to cry...but held those tears back and tried to finish strong. My legs actually felt really good for that last mile...or maybe just numb? not sure which...but i finished, w/my arms up in the air as i crossed the finish w/a time of 4:29:09...definately not record setting, nothing too special...but I finished. thats all that matters really.
after i crossed i could barely walk...wobbled my way past the medical volunteers who all made sure i was ok, all i wanted was a wheelchair. Got my mylar blanket, then wobbled my way to get my chip off my shoe/my awesome medal! woop woop. Took some water even though i thought i was going to throw up...thought it might of been b/c i was dehydrated so i just sipped it as i wobbled down to the busses to get my bag...then made my way to the marriot to let the dana farber people know I finished the race/find my sisters/dad.
I was lucky enough to have people cheering me on throughout the course so that was also sooooo fun! jen & jim were at mile 9 soooo that was a good pick me up in the beginning of the race, esp since thats about when my feet started to hurt so i was excited to see someone i knew...melissa and my mom were at the 1/2 way point in wellesley and all i remember yelling to them is "a BLISTER JUST POPPED ON MY FOOT GROSS!!" haha at mile 16 Val and Robin from Hilliards were there w/a sign in hand cheering me on....sadly amy & the stonehill crew were at heartbreak hill but i missed them! :( but i did see danielle on hearbreak as well out of ALL the army people there so jumped on her and gave her a HUGE hug haha she loved it...then Kim and Jeanette were at BC right before mile 21 or 22? i think and again i sadly missed seeing my best running buddy ever megan perry around her apartment :( and she informed me after that she was going to finish the race w/me but that didn't happen...boo to that.
and so that was my day. crazy right? i still can't believe I did it/am really sad its over/i can't walk very well today. But definately well worth the pain, and as many times as i said I would never do it again while i was running it...i kind of want to. Maybe not boston, but possibly a fun warm one, like disney? who knows. i just need to safetly recover from this one and we'll go from there.
I am now going to go to bed...last night i was really looking forward to sleeping in really late...but apparently my body thinks really late is 7:30 am b/c i shot out of bed this morning and could not fall asleep...what ashame.
goodnight :)
So the weekend was pretty hectic, lots of stress, running around trying to get my shit together/trying to figure out what the hell i was going to eat marathon morning...b/c well I have no idea i'm definately not an "experienced runner" or anything. Sunday night was the Dana Farber pasta party, which was a good time...pretty long, lots of speeches but definately got me pumped. One of the most inspiring moments had to of been when they showed a video of all the kids we were running in memory of, saddest thing i have ever seen. The minute it started i was bawling...cancer is a horrible disease and from what i've learned through this most definately touches the lives of EVERYONE in one way or the other....
anyways.
Marathon morning...I think it hadn't really hit me yet what i was about to do...wasn't TOO worried that morning. Got up in time to catch the first set of busses at 6:30 am to go to hopkinton...the bus ride was entertaining, i think everyone was really pumped for the race so they were all talking to eachother/giving tips on what to do/saying good luck to eachother. It was nice. In hopkinton the Dana Farber team got to be in this church which they called the "refuge" it was about 1/2 mile away from athletes village so we didn't get to experience the crazyness of that, sharing all the porta potties w/20,000 of your closest running pals...but I think i'm fine w/missing out on that experience, it would have been fun to see all the amazing athletes but i'm sure i would have been stressing over the fact that i'd be waiting 15-20 mins at a time to use the bathroom....ick thats no fun. SO after hours of waiting around drinking some water/gatorade and chatting w/some other dana farber runners we headed over to the start to get in our corrals...we were all spread out throughout corral 17 so i really wasn't around too many people i knew....there were 17,000 people in front of me and about 4,000 people behind me...incredible. Waited about a good 20 or so minutes after the gun went off before i actually crossed the starting line, but the 1/2 mile walk was a nice warm up I guess? haha
The race itself was just unbelieveable, i can't even begin to desribe what was going through my mind...at least in the beginning i can't haha I was just trying to take in what was going on around me. Within the first 1/4 mile there was a house playing the Rocky Theme then a little ways down there was a polka band...lots of families having HUGE cookouts playing loud music, and tons of people just cheering on EVERY runner they saw. Sox updates all the time some people had signs w/the score, other people would just yell it out as we ran by, there was a drage queen dressed as a mermaid, tons of people handing out BEER, an elvis impersonator, annd a bunch of other stuff that i'm sure i'm forgetting.
I definately went out a little too fast...i had this big goal of trying to run a 4 hour marathon, but as soon as i started i was like there is no way that is happening today...so then i thought i'd shoot for a 4:10-4:20 buuut as the race went out that goal also slowly diminished and I just came to the conclusion that i HAD to finish. I think between miles 16-22 I wanted to die, actually i'm positive i was like struggling...i think i slowed down to a 9:40 - 10:00 min mile or something...its all a mental game at that point and my mind was definately like what the fuck are you doing to yourself right now julia?? I almost broke down and cried about 5 times, sometimes b/c of the pain, other times b/c i couldn't believe i was running a marathon haha. The spectators were amazing, especially since by the time i got to alot of these people, they had already been out there for a good three hours yet they were still cheering on every runner lke we were the first to go by that day. The kids were really cute and tons of them were handing out water, oranges, bananas to all the runners. I took oranges from a couple and they tasted SOOO good...they would get So excited if you took something from them it was great. They'd also get super excited if you slapped them 5 so i also did that a bunch too haha good times. I felt like a rock star. Heartbreak hill definately lived up to its name, i had run it at least 5 of 6 times before and really thought i knew what i was getting myself into...but as soon as i took a right at the fire station and proceeded up those hills, it was like i had NEVER run them before. it was strange. NON of it looked familiar and the 4 hills felt like they took FOREVER. I think this is where my body started to shut down and i came to the conclusion that i would never ever ever run a marathon again.
Mile 25 was definately one of the highlights, it was FILLED w/dana farber volunteers, paitents, and their familes...it was crazy...i stayed to the right the entire time and just high fived them all as they were going CRAZY b/c i was one of the only dana farber runners there at that moment...it was great. yet another emotional moment of this crazy marathon.
The BEST part of the whole thing had to be the FINISH LINE...after 4 1/2 hours of running it is the ONLY thing you want to see and when you finally do see it, and you start to realize what you just accomplished, overcome w/emotion. once again i almost started to cry...but held those tears back and tried to finish strong. My legs actually felt really good for that last mile...or maybe just numb? not sure which...but i finished, w/my arms up in the air as i crossed the finish w/a time of 4:29:09...definately not record setting, nothing too special...but I finished. thats all that matters really.
after i crossed i could barely walk...wobbled my way past the medical volunteers who all made sure i was ok, all i wanted was a wheelchair. Got my mylar blanket, then wobbled my way to get my chip off my shoe/my awesome medal! woop woop. Took some water even though i thought i was going to throw up...thought it might of been b/c i was dehydrated so i just sipped it as i wobbled down to the busses to get my bag...then made my way to the marriot to let the dana farber people know I finished the race/find my sisters/dad.
I was lucky enough to have people cheering me on throughout the course so that was also sooooo fun! jen & jim were at mile 9 soooo that was a good pick me up in the beginning of the race, esp since thats about when my feet started to hurt so i was excited to see someone i knew...melissa and my mom were at the 1/2 way point in wellesley and all i remember yelling to them is "a BLISTER JUST POPPED ON MY FOOT GROSS!!" haha at mile 16 Val and Robin from Hilliards were there w/a sign in hand cheering me on....sadly amy & the stonehill crew were at heartbreak hill but i missed them! :( but i did see danielle on hearbreak as well out of ALL the army people there so jumped on her and gave her a HUGE hug haha she loved it...then Kim and Jeanette were at BC right before mile 21 or 22? i think and again i sadly missed seeing my best running buddy ever megan perry around her apartment :( and she informed me after that she was going to finish the race w/me but that didn't happen...boo to that.
and so that was my day. crazy right? i still can't believe I did it/am really sad its over/i can't walk very well today. But definately well worth the pain, and as many times as i said I would never do it again while i was running it...i kind of want to. Maybe not boston, but possibly a fun warm one, like disney? who knows. i just need to safetly recover from this one and we'll go from there.
I am now going to go to bed...last night i was really looking forward to sleeping in really late...but apparently my body thinks really late is 7:30 am b/c i shot out of bed this morning and could not fall asleep...what ashame.
goodnight :)