The weekend began Saturday when some friends from Central Mass Striders and myself volunteered at the expo. We didn't need to work until 1. We got there nice and early and enjoyed the day and some of the expo before our shift. I was happy we got there so early because by about 10:30am the expo was WALL TO WALL people Was happy to have been able to do a walk through completely before that happened. I don't do crowds that well in enclosed spaces , mostly because I lack patience :)
Melissa, Sandy, Myself, and Jose
After the expo became a bit much we went outside down to Old South Church to get a scarf. There were thousands of GORGEOUS scarves knitted by people around the country and donated. What an amazing gesture. Mine was made in Concord, NH- by a mother and daughter.
Me receiving my scarf :)
While spending time around the church, we also saw the survivors walking down Boylston street to cross the finish line. What an AMAZING thing to watch. The energy around Boylston street the entire day was turned up on high, what a nice comeback from a year ago.
Monday Morning was an early one. With my superstitious ways, I set my alarm for 4:21am (WHOAH) and met my friend Jose for 5ish. We had to be in Worcester by 5:45 to catch the bus to Hopkinton. This was a little over an hour earlier than prior years due to security. We got to Hopkinton a little before 7- and our start time was not until 11:25. This was probably the most dreaded part of the day. My friend Adam had a clever idea to make a game of horseshoes. Redneck style. All we needed was a pair of shoes which he had an extra pair, and 2 bottles of water. It actually wasted a decent amount of time!!!
After the horseshoe shenanigans I ate breakfast for the second time ( I had earlier had a peanut butter sandwich, this time I housed a bagel ). I then received a phone call from the local news channel asking me to meet up for an interview, I brought a few of my friends and we headed over for that. Again- this killed some more time.
Me, Adam, Melissa, & Matt
Finally, after a LOT of waiting, it was time to walk to the start line! Its a decent walk (maybe close to a mile) and its just a giant cluster of people. I wasn't nervous at all, I was excited...This year I was FINISHING! I had a plan in my head on what I wanted to do during this race. I wasn't racing this. I don't know that I could ever race a marathon to be honest. I decided that I was learning from the past. A few changes this year HAD to make a difference this year, and they did.
1. I fueled before AND during. I usually skimp on the nutrition part.
2. I trained the right way.
3. I didn't take off too fast.
This is the first marathon where my pace was consistent the ENTIRE duration. My goal was to feel good, finish strong, and ENJOY EVERY STEP. I did just that. I had a lot of friends along the course which was a major help. I stopped at water stops and drank standing still versus moving. I took SO many pics along the way to remember the day. My girlfriend and her friends were texting me photos of them drinking beer when I was at about mile 8- I took a selfie giving them the middle finger and sent it back :) Marathon Foto even snapped a few pics of me texting!!! I felt so strong start to finish. Around mile 24 I started to feel a little fatigue- but knowing Lisa was at mile 25 kept me going, and once I got to 25- it was ONLY A MILE. Seeing the finish line on Boylston was chilling. I survived the heat wave marathon of 2012. Didn't finish in 2013, so this was my year.
Honestly though- the memory of this race will NEVER go away. It was something that words cant even completely get you to understand how meaningful it was to me. All of it. From the first day of training to the finish line- speechless.
So GREAT to see this!
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Central Mass Striders Gang
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