Well, nowhere exciting, that’s for sure.  It’s what I like to call “the night shift cave.”  You see, when I first started doing the night shift thing, we did rotations of four months of nights and two months of days.  More people decided they wanted in on the rotation, so the rotation switched to six months of nights and two months of days.  So basically, the last time I got to sleep like a normal person for seven days per week was…last year.  I started back on night shift on 12/30/12.  Nothing says “Happy New Year!” quite like literally staying up all night, and while we’re at it, wondering if you’ll end up doing CPR at midnight.  (I did not, in fact, although that patient did die a few days later.  Have you ever said, “Ann (not the patient’s real name, obviously), we did it!  We made it to 2013!”?  Yeah…

Anyway.  I was pretty good in the night shift mode for about five months, but the last month or so, I’ve been so tired.  I slept somewhat okay on the nights that I worked, but on my nights off, I would sleep for four hours at a time.  There’s nothing quite like going to bed at midnight, expecting a full night sleep, and being wide awake at 4am.  I watched all five seasons of Gossip Girl on Netflix.  (Why don’t they have the sixth season??  Don’t you dare tell me who Gossip Girl is, I have that season on hold at the library.)

A combination of having run Boston (which had it’s own emotional attachments…) and New Jersey (which was fun!), led to me taking some time off from running.  I bought a bike (hooray!) and joined Bar Method for a month.  Learning to fit in both of those into a running routine was hard and I ended up not running very much.  I did Bar Method four times per week to maximize my unlimited month membership…and while it left me shaking and with a sore butt (and some better looking abs, that’s for sure), it wasn’t running.  I know that running can energize you more than not running (counterintuitive, but true!), so maybe that added to the exhaustion.

I know I’m not the only one in the entire world who works night shift, and conveniently I’m friends with many of the nurses I work with, so they all know what it feels like.  Luckily, I ended my run of six months of nights this week, and I started on day shift on Sunday.  Hopefully that will lead to better sleep and a less exhausted Susan.

If I ever get delirious and say something about forgoing the rotation and just staying on nights, please slap me.  Thanks.

In other news, this was the worst blog post ever, but hopefully I’ll have something productive to say soon.  I will say that I was supposed to run the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge last  night, but they canceled it around 11am due to severe weather alerts.  The rain stopped at noon…and I think it did start again around 7pm, but still.  I was told it’s not a “real” running event and that somewhat confirmed it.  I was ready to take down all the other hospitals!  ha.

Okay, that is all.  Marathon training technically started this week, but I’ll talk about that some other time…

Night shifters…tell me I’m not crazy!

Fast forward almost a year later, and I’m full on embracing this heat.  After a winter that seemed to drag on (I know I wore my winter coat at least once in May…), NYC has already seen two heat waves where we hit 90+ degrees.  I’m learning the ins and outs of the air conditioner in my apartment (oddly enough, the room only seems cool when it’s on…and immediately hot when I turn it off…fail) and remembering what it’s like to be pouring sweat everywhere.

On Saturday, I helped to represent nuun at the #werunNYC running event hosted by Jocelyn and Meggie.  Other sponsors included Oiselle and Picky Bars.  Greatist was nice enough to let us invade their office on a Saturday, and I set off for there after a terrible night of sleep (10pm-1am, awake after a horrid nightmare until 5am, sleep again 5-7am).  The firs thing I thought was that it actually wasn’t as hot as I initially thought it was going to be, so there was nice.  About 3.5 miles later (running down Broadway, so fun!), I arrived at the office and was immediately met with a bunch of runners…and tons more to come!

Stephanie and I manned the nuun table, serving up strawberry lemonade and lemon lime nuun to help hydrate everyone for the upcoming group runs.  It was fun to see some twitter people I haven’t seen in a long time, and a few readers came up and said they read my blog.  Hello to you, and sorry I’m so awkward in person!  Thanks for reading!

Pretty sure over fifty people showed up for the run, which was awesome!  I headed out eight the mile group, mainly sticking with Kelly, Betsy, Carla, and Ben.  We ran over to the East River Path, down to the Manhattan Bridge, then turned around and came back.  Despite the sun, the path was relatively cool and we kept the pace easy…chatting and enjoying the group run.  I will say that we stopped at a water fountain and it was some of the best water I ever tasted, haha.  It was safe to say that we were all sweaty messes when we got back to Greatist, but so worth it!  And…I won some Picky Bars, hooray!

Candid-ish?

After some more runner talk, everyone started to part ways, and I decide to run home.  It wasn’t until I got up Broadway and into Central Park that I realized that…it was hot.  And I didn’t want to be running anymore.  And that this would be my longest run since my spring marathons…and longest by about four miles.  Oops?  Gotta kick off the next round somehow, right?

Saturday, June 1
14.52 miles in 2:02:39, avg pace of 8:27

After a disastrous night of sleep on Friday night, I got a glorious full night (eleven hours!) of sleep on Saturday night…leaving me to wake-up to the heat wave in full swing.  I knew I wanted to run, but definitely not in the heat.  So in my best New Yorker ways, I took a book and headed to Central Park for some reading.  (Book of choice:  Calico Joe, by John Grisham.   A quick but really good read, especially if you’re a baseball fan.)  The clouds rolled in not too long thereafter, and it was time to get in a run!  It was a bit cooler than earlier, but definitely still on the humid side.  And my legs were a little bit tired from those fourteen miles the day before.  But…after last year’s summer spent wanting to push runners in front of buses, it felt so amazing to be covered in sweat, puddles forming underneath me when I stopped at a water fountain.  I like it.

Sunday, June 2
8.14 miles in 1:03:41, avg pace of 7:49

I’m sure I will be singing a different tune in a few weeks, but for now…the sweat is nice.  And I hope none of you ever have to set foot in my apartment, as it will be draped with sweat filled running clothes from now until marathon time.

A few weeks ago, my running/life #solemate Betsy sent me an email asking if I’d be interested in the NYC Runs Ice Cream Social 10K on Memorial Day.  In the midst of a weird slew of night shifts, I responded with, "Well, I am off on Memorial Day…"

Apparently that was not the vigor she was looking for in a response, and she replied with, "That’s the enthusiasm I was looking for!  Could be fun."

Okay, okay, I admit, night shift was dragging on my enthusiasm, even in the written word.  (Have you noticed a lack of posts lately?  I have nothing to say, let alone anything all that exciting.)  Anyway.  I admitted to this and agreed to sign up, although a bit reluctantly since I think the 10K since is a rough one and I’m not exactly in racing shape.  But…why not?  And ICE CREAM.  If you want to get me to do anything, promise me ice cream and I’m in.  The thing I’ve been most excited about in the past few weeks is the fact that Dairy Queen is opening in the ferry terminal in Staten Island.  (You can guess where I’ll be all summer…)

So yeah, ice cream gets me to run a 10K.  Betsy signed up, and I asked my nurse runner friend, Alyssa, who just ran the NJ Marathon, if she’d want in.  Not so keen on the 10K distance either (don’t blame you one bit…), she was in the for 5K.  Hooray.

The race was on Monday, and as we all know, all great races are held on Mondays.  (Cough cough, Boston, cough cough.)  Okay, so that’s not a fact, but for this I-work-lots-of-weekends nurse, a Monday race is cool.  And I didn’t have to work Memorial Day this year (see also:  I’m low on the totem pole and therefore have to work Fourth of July…), so high fives for that.  Anyway, I worked Saturday night and managed to do an awesome job of flipping my schedule and wasn’t a total zombie when my alarm went off at 6:30am.

I would like to take a break to note that when I went to set my alarm for 6:30am, I realized that I had absolutely no alarms set for before noon.  #nightshiftproblems

Back to the race.  We didn’t do packet pick-up before the race, we weren’t sure exactly how long holiday travel time would take, and Alyssa wanted to be early enough to make use of the bathrooms before her 9am start.  Needless to say, we ended up getting there around 7:40am with plenty of time to spare.  We hung out along the water with a pretty view of the Queensboro…which I see every shift at work, but this time a little bit closer.

After instagramming, I got a text from Meggie asking if I was running the 5K…because she and Jocelyn were!  Nice surprise there.  We headed over to packet pick-up just in time to see Betsy in line, so we jumped in with her.  Grabbed our stuff and spotted Meggie and Jocelyn, and the runner group was complete.  Apparently we were all on the same wavelength and rocked the Rogas…

Nice legs, everyone.

I think Meggie and Jocelyn ran off for a warm-up, and Alyssa, Betsy, and I ran off to the bathrooms.  (Luckily mine still had toilet paper…)  Alyssa headed off to the start of the 5K while Betsy and I did a little warm up jog and kept saying, "What a great day to run!  It’s such a beautiful day!  What a great day to run!"  Runnerds at their finest.  We cheered for the 5Kers within the first mile, and some guy yelled to us, "You finished already??" since we had bibs on…haha.

We did a bit more warming up and headed over to the start area where we scoped out the competition…and decided to line up near the front.  It’s not exactly an NYRR race, so most of the speedsters weren’t around.  I’m okay with that at times.  We gathered near the start just to have the race directors tell us that everyone was lined up in the wrong direction, so we crossed over to the other side of the timing mat…oops.  Betsy and I talked some positive affirmations before the race, which were mainly comprised of, "I hate 10Ks…why did we decide to do this?" and "Why didn’t we do the 5K??  I don’t want to run a 10K." and “I haven’t done any speedwork since Boston!  This will be terrible.” Oops?

Can you see me in green behind the guy in all black?  Pow-wowing with Betsy.

As a guy next to us took down some energy chews (…?), we talked our race plan and I said my plan was to go out at 7:15′s (which we all know really means 7:00′s), and Betsy’s plan was for 7:35′s.  Soon enough, the gun went off.

miles 1-2

We took off in a bit of a sprint (race plan, out the window…) in a short circle before heading up the east side of the island.  I eyed up the girl next to me who dressed like she was fast, but ended up not being.  (I’m such a judge-y runner…but if you’re running in bun huggers and a sports bra, I’m expecting speed.)  I tried to settle into pace while battling my allergies that had taken over…it’s hard to gauge what race speed should be when you feel like a brick is sitting on your forehead.  Anyway, I went out, kept it controlled, and tried for once to actually stick to a race plan.  Today was the not the day for a PR, which I knew going into it, so I was going to PR in race plans.

Anyway, the first mile went by in 7:00, which is about what I said I would run where I wanted to be.  Some girl in a skirt passed me, and I can’t have that.  At the same time in mile two, I thought about waiting for Betsy and running 7:35′s with her.  That sounded nice.  I don’t like 10Ks even when not running 10K pace.  BUT THE GIRL IN THE SKIRT.  I can’t have her running faster than me.  We crossed the top of Roosevelt Island and started heading back south.  The mile markers were off due to some course changes, so I gave up on following them and just ran.  And skirt girl fell behind me…LIFE IS GOOD.

Mile two…7:07.  That’s about right.

Annnnd a race picture where I look like I’m running…AMAZING.

miles 3-4

After I passed skirt girl, a girl in black capris, a tank top, and headphones was in front of me.  I guess you’re learning all of my pet peeves, but I don’t know why she was running in black capris on a warm day.  And I don’t think she had thighs that rubbed together since she was tiny.  And the headphones…the path was narrow and she clearly couldn’t hear that someone was behind her with her music on.  So, that was annoying and I couldn’t have her in front of me…problem being that I barely wanted to run at a pace faster than she was holding.  So mile three went by and I basically ran on her tail…not that she noticed since she had headphones on.

There was a water station in mile 3-ish…sorry to the guy I basically cut off to get a cup, and sorry to myself because although the volunteers were yelling, "water water water," it was actually Gatorade.  Oops.  Anyway.  Back to black capris girl.

The course opened up a little bit and I think capri girl lost pace and I sped up by a few seconds per mile.  I don’t necessarily like small races because I easily get caught up on one person…maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s not.  It’s distracting, I suppose, but sometimes I like getting lost in the crowd.  (This is getting deep…)  Anyway, I felt much better once I broke free of her and could run my own race. I could tell I was working (even with that brick on my forehead), but I felt steady and strong.  Meggie and Jocelyn were around here somewhere and yelled, "Third woman!  Go!  Breathe through it!!"  I have no idea what, "Breathe through it" means, but I did think a lot about my breathing and it was distracting, so…strong cheering, Jocelyn.

Miles 3-4:  7:09, 6:59 (oops!)

miles 5-6

HOLD STEADY HOLD STEADY FEET DON’T FAIL ME NOW.  (Name that tune…)  Around mile five I started hoping that the course would accidentally be short and that I wouldn’t have to run that extra 0.2.  I’ve run some NYC Runs races before, and sometimes the course was short.  Or the timing mats didn’t work.  Or something else went awry.  Anyway, I was secretly hoping that 6.2 would be more like 6.0.  Anyway, I kept pushing along, my legs were feeling steady, and I counted down the minutes until the finish line.  I figured I’d come in somewhere just under 44 minutes, so I counted the minutes until 44 minutes.  Twelve minutes…you can run for twelve minutes.  Nine minutes, you got this!  Just like running back from Central Park.  EIGHT MORE MINUTES??  REALLY??  Not all positive thoughts here…hold steady.

With about a mile to go, a girl in a light blue shirt FLEW by me.  She must have been dropping at least 6:40 or something.  There was no way I had the legs to stay with her.  But that was sad.  My legs weren’t so happy with me, but I just kept chugging along and counting down the tenths of a mile.  And praying for a short course.

I came down the final stretch and Alyssa cheered for me ("You look really serious when you run…") and Meggie and Jocelyn ran and cheered the last bit.  Some guy sprinted past me and Jocelyn yelled, "Catch that guy!"  Nope, no, that is not happening.  But I did cross the line in fourth place, which is pretty snazzy.

Miles 5-6.2(-ish):  6:59, 7:10, 1:21 (7:13 pace)

the stats

6.2 miles in 43:30, avg pace of 7:00.

Overall:  21/344  (Top 6%)

Women:  4/204  (Top 1.9%)

Age Group:  1/68  (top 1.4%)

Side note:  My Garmin had the course at 6.14.  I do think it was short…and I’m not trying to be all, "MY GARMIN IS THE ONLY RIGHT THING EVER," but they changed the course somewhat last minute and I think it was short.  You can think what you want.

awards hooooooray

So the cool thing about small races is that sometimes the field is so small that I can get an award, and that is something that I like.  And when you get an award, you stay around to hear your name called because let’s face it…that doesn’t happen all that often, especially when you live in NYC and there are a bazillion speedy people.

So we waited around…got our ice cream which ended up being either a popsicle or an ice cream sandwich.  I had high hopes that it found be scooped ice cream with maybe some fudge and sprinkles to top it with…a girl can dream, right?  I had an ice cream sandwich instead, then grabbed a bagel while waiting for the awards.

They called the women 25-29 category, and only the winner in each age group got an actual trophy…so they called my name and I jumped up to get my trophy.  I happened to be wearing my SF Ambassador shirt, so they said, "Susan, from New York.  And apparently she’s also an ambassador for the San Francisco Marathon!  Would you like to say anything about that?"  I’m not good with public speaking or on the spot talking (or talking in general, actually), so I said something silly like, "Well, there’s a hill…..but it’s a great race!  Everyone should do it!"  Then I shook someone’s hand, got a trophy, and posed for a picture compliments of Betsy.

Saying something about the SF Marathon, obviously.

I can’t stand like a normal human being.

Bling and a bridge.

With all runners and awards accounted for, we headed back to Manhattan via the tram (where I only minimally freaked out, thank you, fear of heights).  Definitely a good start to a beautiful Memorial Day, and you can’t beat getting some hardware!

thoughts

I ALMOST STUCK TO A RACE PLAN.  Almost.  I said I’d go out at 7:00-7:15, so I guess I did.  The plan was to stick more to 7:15 than 7:00, but I knew going into it that that would happen.  After I posted about Boston and how I never go out at race pace, a reader (who always leaves great comments!) left a long comment about how I should practice sticking to my set goal pace in races…before I get to the BIG race.  I hit paces in my workouts and don’t (usually) run faster.  I stick to the plan.  I don’t run 20 miles when my schedule says 16.  So why I go out at 15-30 seconds faster than race pace in a marathon is beyond me.  So that was the goal for this race…pick a pace and actually run it.  And I kind of did. 

But you throw in a girl in a skirt and someone in headphones…and spectators yelling, "THIRD FEMALE…maybe fourth…" and I get a little race-y.  (Not that kind of race-y…the "I want to beat you all!" kind.)  So overall, I consider this a victory.

And mainly because it was…and I have the trophy to prove it.

WHAT: Fun Run (4 mile and 8 mile options)

WHEN: Saturday, June 1st, 8:30 am (trying to beat the heat!)

WHERE: Greatist HQ – 18 W 27th Street, 8th floor

FREE TICKETS: aka sign up here!

SPONSORS: @oiselle, @pickybars, @nuunhydration aka samples and prizes!  Your chance to win some awesome stuff!

HOSTS: @greatist

RUN EXPERT: Josh of Gotham City Runners…to answer all your running questions

HASHTAG: #weRUNnyc because you run it anyway, so let’s tell everyone about it!

BRING YOUR FRIENDS! MEET NEW ONES!

Okay, so I copy and pasted most of Meggie’s post.  But I met Meggie via the internet, so obviously it works.  And she will entertain your medical questions.  (JK, she’s my personal “omg what do you think of this theory I have??” person, you can’t have her.)

ANY QUESTIONS? Tweet to Meggie (@MBSthinks) or Jocelyn (@jcbonn)  and Follow Jocelyn’s tweets anyway because she always tweets amazing things.

Don’t forget to RSVP and come hang out with eight BAZILLION (seriously…) of NYC’s most awesome runners.  And you can meet me, what more could you ask for?  (But really, come for everyone else and maybe some free stuff.  I’m just an added bonus.)

Real blog post coming soon, I promise!

Tell me…ARE YOU COMING?  Can you believe it’s almost June??  Yikes.

Back in December, one of the nurses I work with asked me if she ran a marathon, if I’d run it with her.  We sipped on some wine (less than a glass was consumed at that point, so it wasn’t the alcohol talking), and I love running, so of course I agreed…someone wants to run a marathon?  I’m in.  I know I would have loved support during my races and know that running with someone is so much more fun and easier than running by yourself…so I agreed.

I assembled a list of some May marathons that would be good possibilities for a first marathon, and since she’s originally from New Jersey, we went with that one.  Easy to get to from NYC and her parents could join.  So we registered.

The New Jersey Marathon was three weeks after Boston, which is the shortest amount of time I’ve ever done between the distances.  My legs weren’t so happy with me after Boston, but I squeaked in a ten mile run the week before.  It’d be at a slower pace, so no worries.  Based on her half time (2:08), I was figuring around a 4:45-5 hour marathon, but as a first, I was worried about time.  She pulled a muscle in her glute and had to take some time off, so who knew what race day would hold.  The plan wasn’t for me to “pace” her so to speak, but just to run with her the entire way and be supportive.

Just so you know, this is about how good I am at comforting someone, compliments of "What Should We Call Nursing”:

Moving on.  It’s race report time!

pre-race

After debating hotels vs staying with someone vs a train, we decided to take the 5am NJ Transit train that the marathon had rented.  It left from Penn Station, made maybe four stops on the way to the start of the race, and got in a little bit after 6am.  Alyssa and I live in the same neighborhood, so we met at the glorious hour of 4:15am to grab a cab to the train station…people were still out from Saturday night and Penn Station had a mix of marathoners and people looked to get home from their big nights out.  Way to be, NYC.

I grabbed some coffee for the train ride, and we settled in on a train full of runners.  It was looking to be a good day for a run, and Alyssa kept saying how she didn’t feel like she was going to run a marathon that day…a feeling I wish I had before my marathons because I always get so nervous!  It was an interesting experience because I don’t even remember what my first marathon was like…I remember driving to the Metro and having no idea what really was happening since I hadn’t ton a lot of big races before it. 

Anyway!  The train was pretty quick and dropped us off around 6:05 right by the starting area.  We did same day packet pick-up, so we grabbed our bibs and tshirts (which are really nice!) and then headed inside the race track building near the start since it was a little bit chilly out.  We immediately found the bathroom (real, indoor bathrooms!) then pinned our bibs on our shirts.  When registered, I took suggestions for names to put on my bib, and Emily suggested this gem:

Unfortunately, it was written pretty small and therefore hard to see on the run.  Oh well.

They actually messed up Alyssa’s bib and put her mom’s name (her emergency contact?) on the bib instead of her name…so maybe it was good that you couldn’t read it.

We hung out, went to the bathroom again, hung out some more, then headed over to bag check…which was just three moving trucks.  Much different than the gazillion school buses up at Boston!  Also, due to increased security, we could only use the clear plastic bags that the marathon provided for us and couldn’t put other bags inside the bags.  I should wrote a post about my thoughts on race security sometime, but that’s an opinion for another day.

My high school cross country sweatshirt from 2000!

The weather was a little bit chillier than I expected…Saturday had been quite warm and the forecast was to be the same on Sunday, but the morning was chilly and overcast.  I ran in shorts, tank top, tube sock arm warmers, and kept my throwaway sweatshirt on in the corral.  We lined up in Corral D, just in front of the 4:55 pace group.  Seemed about right.  They played some Bruce Springsteen and Sweet Caroline while we waited, and then a trumpet fanfare at the start of each corral.  I was happy there weren’t twenty corrals because that fanfare would have gotten old really quick!

We crossed the line about four minutes after the first people, and we were off!

race time

While we didn’t really have a plan, I figured we’d probably run 10:30-11:30-ish miles.  I ran with my Garmin just for an idea and because I’m neurotic under any circumstance.  I wasn’t totally sure what the experience would be like running toward the back of the pack and at a pace much slower than what I’m used to.  Basically, I just stuck next to Alyssa.  The first nine-ish miles are through neighborhoods that didn’t have a lot of people out, but some did come out to cheer.  It was still a little chilly and I wondered if I should have worn a long sleeve shirt instead.

We ran along…Alyssa listened to music and I just made random comments every now and then.  We had plenty of people around us, some with shirts on that said it was their first marathon, otherwise with #run4boston somewhere on their body.  The miles seemed to click off and every once in awhile I checked in with Alyssa to see how she was feeling.  I pumped my arms at every mile marker, and at mile 2, Alyssa told me she hated me.  We had wondered how long it would take for her to tell me that, haha.  And I sometimes took pictures…

Marathon!!

Also, I learned that the key to good race photos is to run much slower than your race pace…you will look much more like you’re having fun and less like you want to fall over.  Evidence:

Thumbs up!

Best race photo??

RUNNING IS FUN!

So, now you know.  I ran with my phone…for no real good reason other than maybe I could snap some pictures, and to text Jocelyn and Meggie who came to cheer…they were at mile 9, so I texted them when we got to mile 8  I spotted Meggie’s Oiselle scarf and started waving…and they started screaming.  “First marathon!  You look great!” then ran along side us for a short period before cutting off to head back to the city.

Picture compliments of Meggie!

As they left, Alyssa commented, “Your friends are really peppy…”  haha, that they are.  Jocelyn certainly has an appropriate blog name.

We continued on and started getting to a part of the course where it was a little more crowded…near where the half finish was.  Alyssa’s parents came to watch, and we first saw them around mile 10…waving our arms and yelling.  We made a quick stop to say hello…I shook her dad’s hand, which I don’t think I’ve ever done during a race before, haha.  We made it through town and then started on the giant out and back that is the last 14-ish miles of the course.

Much of the course was just on a large street, not necessarily close to the beach.  The water stops were every two-ish miles, so sometimes we stopped to grab a drink (note:  it’s easier to drink when you stop to drink instead of trying to drink at 7:30 pace, just saying).  After the halfway mark, we made a bathroom stop at a very scenic port-o-potty (ocean views from waiting outside!) and then moved along.  We spotted her parents a few more times…they were great spectators and made it to multiple spots!  We were always surprised when we spotted her mom’s green sweatshirt in the distance.

It was around mile 12 that Alyssa mentioned that her butt was really starting to hurt, but that she felt like she could keep going.  We took some short walk breaks and stretched a little bit, but we always got going again.  I started to get nervous around mile 15-ish because she kept saying that it hurt and that it hurt a lot, but it didn’t hurt any more to run than to walk, so we kept moving along.  I cheered a little extra at mile 16 (ten to go!), and then at mile 17 (single digits!).

We could see the marathoners coming back from the out-and-back, so I kept my eyes peeled for Robin…who I never saw because she was so speedy!  I did see Ashley at a water stop and almost yelled, “Running Bun!” instead of Ashley…oops.

The back part of the race got a bit windy (both in the “wind” sense and in the “curvy” sense)…I don’t know if they had to change the course a bit because, had it been crowded, some of the spots would have been really annoying to run on.  Small pedestrian sidewalk?  Not so sure about that one.  We got excited at mile 18 because that was the furthest Alyssa had run in training, and I was still a little nervous about her butt.  Some short stops to be followed by running again…we’d made it, I hoped!

At mile 20, I got a little excited, and at mile 21 I knew we would get to the finish one way or another.  I told Alyssa, “You can run five miles any day…we got this!”  (See above, I’m not a good cheerleader…)  At mile 22, Alyssa said, “I’m glad you’re here…I’d be crying on the side of the road without you.”  I figured it’d be at mile 22 that she would hate me instead of mile 2, but I’ll take it!  That being said, I sometimes wish I had someone with me in the late miles when I’m mentally down to keep pushing me…so I totally get that.

The miles continued to click off…23…24…I kept saying how close we were, and once we got to 24, I thought about it in terms of that extra 0.2 as well.  Two miles to go…1.5 miles…we’re going to do it!!  Alyssa asked if we could stop to walk near the end and I told her it was 0.75 miles to go…so we took a quick break and then picked it up to the end.  This part was all along the beach until we got into town, then it went back onto the beach.

Almost there!

We ran through the little town area, which included a woman who had her kids running with her for the last bit.  We made a turn to get onto the boardwalk and Alyssa asked, “Where’s the finish?  I can’t see it!”  It looked like flags and a cover was up ahead, so I pointed that out and we kept running.  I was SO excited and smiling at this point, saying random things like, “You’re going to do it!  We’re right there!!”  I think I was more excited for that than I have been about any of my recent marathons…

HOORAY!

Her parents were on the side at the finished and cheered…and took one of the best running pictures!

Marathon finish, flag, ocean…win!

We crossed the line and hugged…she did it!!  So exciting!  5:20:23 was the official time, hooray!  We walked along and got our medals…this is a fantastic shot:

MARATHONER!

Burn nurses on the run!

post-race

The only person who noticed the “Call Me Maybe” on my bib was the guy who was handing out the food bag…he asked in a quizzical voice, “…call me maybe?”  I don’t even remember what I said in reply, but something along the lines of, “Sure, it’s fun!” and he said, “Susan, right.”  Then we walked along, grabbed soft pretzels that we never ate, and found her parents.  We grabbed our bag check stuff, snapped a few pictures, and walked over to the car where Alyssa assumed the fetal position in the car, haha.  She had the sore leg waddle that I”m all too familiar with, but I think I was saved from thanks to the slower pace.

We ended up going to a diner for some post-marathon food with her parents (omelet…yum), and they dropped us off at a train station to get back into the city.  Sorry to the random guy who we sat next to, we may have been a little smelly…oh well.  Once we got home, we showered then headed out to Cilantro (Mexican restaurants with delicious margaritas) for some post-marathon Cinco de Mayo celebrating!  Post-marathon margaritas are even sweeter on Cinco de Mayo…

splits/etc

26.2 miles in 5:20:23, avg pace of 12:14

Splits looked a little like this:

Not too shabby…we do think she could have gone a little faster toward the end if her butt hadn’t hurt her.  Alyssa was doing fine running-wise and the motivation was there, but I know how hard it is to run in pain.  After the marathon, she did mention her “next” marathon…so there might be more to come!  However…it was her first marathon and that in itself is a great accomplishment, especially after injury!  I’m so proud.

thoughts and such

To all those people who say I can’t run slow…LOOK AT ME NOW.  Now if only I could implement that on my recovery days, ha.  My knees did feel a little sore at some points, probably because my stride was a little different.  Also, I am SO sunburned.  I knew I would need sunscreen, but I didn’t pack it and forgot to put it on before I left.  (Burn nurse fail…)

In regards to the marathon, it was really fun to experience someone’s first marathon with them.  I ran my first in 2006…and I only knew one person who had run one before, so I went into it very blind.  I hardly remember what it felt like, minus the fact that I vomited everything after the race.  (oops?)  Otherwise, the routine of the marathon is very familiar to me.  I get really nervous racing them, and I think this showed me that maybe I’d be better off if I didn’t worry so much.  Obviously this was a bit different than me pushing myself, but I can clearly cover the distance, I just need to learn how to do it in a smart manner.  Plus, often the distance is an accomplishment in itself, which I should remind myself of sometimes.  It really is a far distance to run, no matter how many times you do it.

I definitely think it would be fun to pace a group…while I would love to pace a BQ group, I need a little more confidence in my running at that speed (8:12-ish) since I barely did that myself at my last marathon.  But it was really fun to celebrate someone else’s hard work and to push them without thinking about my own goals.  As I said above, it might have been more exciting than any of my recent races.

And finally…Congrats, Alyssa!  You’re a marathoner!!

If this is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

I don’t get me wrong, running is my first love and always will be.  However, before I even discovered running (in 1997…it’s been awhile), I rode a bike.  I think my first one was a red one that I remember fall over into a car while learning to ride (thanks for letting go, Dad!), then I upgraded to my brother’s old blue and white bike.  When I outgrew that, I got a blue one.  Back in the day, I was known for riding around the neighborhood, ringing my friends’ doorbells and asking them if they wanted to ride bikes with me.  On a nice day, we’d ride around for hours and then race home to be back in time for dinner.  It was fun.

Last year, I started thinking that I wanted a bike in the city.  To get me to places further away, to explore the city in a different way, to be able to be outside on a nice day further away from my house than walking could take me.  I mentioned this to Jocelyn and she immediately jumped on the idea.  “We can do triathlons!  Centuries!  IRONMANS!”  She’s enthusiastic, if nothing else.

In February, we headed to a bike shop to get some recommendations, but it was a bit chilly (in my opinion…) to be riding a bike back to my apartment a few miles away.  I went to another bike shop on the UES just to get a second opinion.  I asked on Facebook what people liked, and they said that the bike that they recommended was a good entry level bike.  Let’s face it…it’d be new-ish to me, and since I’ve never been on a road bike before, basically anything will seem better than my old bikes.

Plus, it’s like buying a TV…you can stare and stare at TVs in Best Buy, but once you get the TV home, you’re most likely going to be happy with it.

So anyway.  Yesterday, I manned up and headed to Bicycle Habitat in SoHo with Jocelyn by my side for moral support and to help answer any questions the bike guy asked me since I really have no clue what I’m doing.  We looked at the bikes and found they one they recommended time we were there, except in the newer model.

Dave (the bike guy) asked us if we needed help, and he confirmed that this was a good bike for what I was looking for (entry level, beginner biker).  I took it for a test ride around SoHo, during which I honestly was more worried about not getting hit by a car than I was about getting a feel for the bike.  (I signed a waiver that basically signed away my life, so there’s that.)  I survived and the bike felt fine.  It’s like when you first go to buy running shoes and you’re just like, “Well, these seem okay…and this seem more okay than the last ones…”  No idea what it’s actually supposed to be like.

Dave grabbed another brand of bike for me to try for comparison, so I took that for a test ride as well.  It felt a little more zippy than the first one I was on, although maybe that was because I was slightly more comfortable in the crowded streets.  I sat forward a bit more, which I didn’t like as much, and decided to go with the first bike I tried.

JB made fun of my Toms.  They worked…

So…I got a Specialized Dolce Sport Compact.  In the color above.  (Identical bike twins with Kara!)  In fact, that’s my bike!  We added some final touches on the bike by getting two water bottle holders and a saddle bag that got filled with some stuff to help change a flat.  Not that I know how to do that, but Jocelyn and I are taking a repair class in a few weeks, so hopefully they’ll last until then.

We pondered getting clip in pedals, but opted to save those for when we do the repair class.  I haven’t been on a bike in the city yet…and to clip out in spin class, I usually have to take my foot out of the shoe and then yank the shoe off.  Soooo not the best idea when you’re trying to navigate the streets.  I handed over my credit card (I knew that part was coming at some point…) and with one swipe, the bike was mine all mine!  (Total cost for all things listed, in case you were wondering:  $1061.  Full disclosure.)

Thank you to Bicycle Habitat and Dave for all your help and for humoring me in the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing.  Jocelyn and I walked back to her apartment with the bike before I cut over to 1st Ave where there’s a bike lane.  Safety first, friends.  I had my first ride home and although I was a little nervous, it was really fun!  The delivery guys are a little crazy, let me tell you.  Otherwise, I safely made it home in one piece, as did the bike.

I have no place to put it, so for now it’s hanging out in my “hallway.” 

Can anyone in NYC help me get this on the wall?  Thanks in advance!

Today is a beautiful day in NYC, so I took the new bike out for a spin.  Central Park looks so different on a bike!  Harlem Hill is still hard…and I got a little lost trying to find the Hudson River Path, the signs confused me a bit.

Once I got to the Hudson River Path (slowly but surely…), I headed north.  A view of the GW Bridge and I believe I said out loud, “This is awesome…”  Because it was.  I decided to go to Jersey because…why not?  Rode up to the GW, almost fell over going up the hills to get up into Washington Heights, made it over the bridge.  Figured I couldn’t stop there, but had no idea where to go.  Three bikers went back so I followed them (playing “follow the random biker” couldn’t possibly go wrong, right?) and made it into the Palisades.  I can’t believe I’ve never run there before!  It was so pretty!  And hilly, yikes…

Thank you to the random bikers who slowed down and yelled out their car window to try to get me to use a different gear going up a hill.  Something about “the gears in back” that I still have no idea what they’re talking about.  One day…

After an hour, I headed back and made it to the bridge.  I’m pretty sure the view of Manhattan on the GW bridge coming from NJ to NY is one of the best views.  And the bikers behind me didn’t yell at me, thank you for that.  I then attempted to play follow the biker to get back to the Hudson River Path, but that was a miserable failure since they sped off and I ended up walking on a weird path. But I made it!

Two hour bike ride, check!  Running will always be my favorite, but I’m definitely looking forward to the summer on my bike!  Who wants to ride??  Any tips?  I’ll take anything…

That was a long, sweaty walk of defeat.  Glad that’s behind me, knock on wood.

While I’ll have plenty to talk about regarding my fall marathons and summer training, I have some exciting stuff coming up in the next few days!  First of all, I’m done with my everlasting stretch of four night shifts (My patient has troubling maintaining his body temperature, so his room is basically a sauna.  I think I’ve lost five pounds…each shift.), I hopped on a plane to Chicago!  I haven’t been back since Christmas, so I’m excited to see my family and friends.  My mom is retiring this year (hooray!), and her retirement dinner is Friday night, so the whole family is getting together. Other fun includes a Cubs game, my favorite food at home, and seeing my Katies!

I would have extended the trip and stayed into early next week, but Sunday is a big day!  Late last year, I was out getting drinks with one of my fellow nurses after she went through a breakup.  She decided that she wanted something to focus on, and since she ran a half marathon last year, she wanted to run a marathon…and asked if I’d run it with her.

Fun facts:

1)  If you ask me to run a race with you, I will.

2)  I’d only had about half a glass of wine at that point, so I can’t blame it on the alcohol.

But really, name a race, I’m in.

After a few marathon suggestions, we decided upon the New Jersey Marathon, as the timing was good for her training and close to her hometown in NJ so her parents can come.  So we signed up, and we’re in!  And that’s…on Sunday.  I’ve run a few times since Boston, longest run being 10 miles last weekend.  My main role in this race is cheerleader, running every step with her.  I’m excited!  I’ve always thought it would be cool to either run a race with someone, pace someone, or lead a pace group…and I think it’s awesome to help someone run their first marathon!

Her half marathon PR is 2:08, so I’m guessing we’ll maybe run around 4:45-ish.  Actually, we’ll run whatever she wants to run, but that’s my best guess for now. 

I cheered at the NJ Marathon in 2009 when I first moved out east, but I think they’ve changed it from a double loop course to a single loop, so it’ll be a little different.  And, of course, this time I’ll be running!  My first marathon is the only one I don’t have a race report for, and I wish I could go back and remember what I was thinking during that race.  For the most part, I’m pretty sure I just had no idea what I was doing, ha.

Now, for you…

Have you run with someone in their first marathon?  Have you ever paced anyone?  Run the NJ Marathon?  I’ll take tips on all three questions!

Also…let me know if you’ll be there!  My bib is going to be pretty awesome for the race, so you should come check it out!

It’s been two weeks since Marathon Monday, and it’s about time I write a race report for it.  Part of me doesn’t want to write it…I was admittedly not happy with my time on that day, but the second those bombs went off, all of that went out the window.  I didn’t care because what was important was that I was safe, that my friends were safe, and that no one close to me was hurt.  It was terrifying to be there, and I still can’t fully shake it.  Reading other people’s accounts over the past two weeks has brought me to tears.  I still can’t fully believe that it happened.

But it was a totally different day up until 2:50pm, and everything that led up to that time is another story to tell.  I read the Boston Globe’s article, "Runners, the marathon does matter," and it really resonated with me.  Yes, we put so much emphasis on race day, but one of my favorite parts about marathon training is the endurance that it takes to even get to the starting line.  The long runs in the cold, the mile repeats where I counted down the seconds until they were over.  And a year ago, I was standing on the sidelines wondering when I’d be able to run again.  If I’d ever be able to run Boston again.

So yes, this marathon does matter, and so does the telling of it.  So, away we go.  And if you’ve ever read any recap I’ve written, you know you’ll be around for a bit…so go to the bathroom, grab a beverage, and pop those feet up…because this is Marathon Monday 2013.

the before

I fell asleep on Sunday night probably around 11:30pm with my belly full of spaghetti and meatballs, and my head wondering how in the world I was going to run a marathon the next day.  I woke up and wondered if I should take cold medicine, but I actually felt a little better.  I did a quick morning routine of brushing my teeth, etc, then made some peanut butter toast for the road.  I figured if I ate my breakfast at 5:45am, I’d be hungry by race time…so save that for the bus.

Amy is the best hostess in the entire world and woke up to drive me to the Common.  We stopped for some Dunkin Donuts coffee on the way, and we made it to the Common by 6:30am.  After a final "good luck!" I hopped out of the car and made my way to the masses of runners waiting to get on buses.  The plan was to meet Celia and ride the bus out with her…I texted her to let her know where I was, and as I was waiting, Alisyn and I did the "I’m pretty sure I know you…" stare and then chatted.  Her fiancé was running and she came with him to the Common…I love running into friends all weekend, and it was great to see her!

Celia appeared and chatted a bit with Alisyn (they’re both SF Ambassadors this year!) before we said goodbye and headed to the buses.  It was a bit chaotic and I couldn’t remember if there were lines, but I was pretty sure you just picked a pack of people to stand by and eventually got on a bus.  We walked down a bit to where the lines seemed shorter and held our ground.  We asked a woman to take a picture of us with the buses in the background, and we did the same for her.  "I’m here by myself so I need someone to take a picture for me," she said.  She asked if it was our first Bostons and we answered (my second, Celia’s first), and she said it was her first.  She asked me if the race is as amazing as everyone says it is…I assured her it is, just wait and see.  We climbed on the buses by 7:15-ish and started our journey to Hopkinton.

Again…with a bus in the background.

I don’t remember what Celia and I talked about…our race goals?  How training has gone?  I have no idea.  I drank my coffee, water, and nuun, and started to eat my peanut butter toast.  After about an hour, we started driving through Hopkinton…a little town outside of Boston that I’m sure is quiet on any other day, but is filled with runners on Marathon Monday.  The houses always look so cute.

We finally pulled into Hopkinton and got off the buses to walk into the runner’s village.  First matter of business was stopping at the bathroom…the lines went pretty quick for the first round, so we moved onto our next step:  the Hopkinton sign.  I didn’t get a picture with it my first time at Boston, so it was definitely time.  We had a moment of silence for the Newton shootings while we waited in line, and the 26th mile of the marathon was dedicated to the 26 people killed in the shootings.  Food for thought for the events that happened later…but back to the now.  We got our pictures which I think were pretty snazzy!

Next up was finding Celia’s friend, who led us to the bathrooms by the baggage buses, which supposedly had shorter lines.  We ended up waiting in line for awhile and by the time we were done, it was time to bag check our stuff and head over to the corrals.  We never ended up sitting around much, which might have been too much time on our feet…I’m not sure what I’m missing as everyone sits around in the morning!  Who knows.

I ditched everything but my throwaway sweatshirt and my "arm warmers" in the form of long socks that I cut the toes off of and wear until I ditch them.  (Thanks to Erika for that secret!)  What they don’t tell you is that the walk to the corral is about 0.7 miles, and it was getting close to start time!  But everyone was headed in the same direction, so we just kept moving along.  We ended up walking with a woman from Orange County who said she was 50…but neither of us believed her because she looked so good!  Celia eventually headed off for one final bathroom stop, so we said our final good lucks and I was on my own.

My bib was 9013, which meant that I was fourteen people off starting in the first wave…so I was in the first corral of the second wave.  They let us into the corral single-file, so it was taking a long time, and I only made it in with about six minutes to go…which ended up being fine because I just get too nervous standing on the starting line.  I stretched a little, retied my shoes (nervous race habit…), coughed a lot (not because of my cold, it’s just another nervous habit…), and ditched my sweatshirt with two minutes to go.  It was already pretty warm, but I kept the arm warmers on.  With one minute to go, I stood at the start of the Boston Marathon with no idea how this race was going to go.  Go out, run steady, run hard, hold on.  I’ve waited a year for this…

the first miles

Everyone says to not go out too fast.  Keep it slow.  I had told myself I’d go out at 7:30′s and see how I feel from there.

All I can say about that is…oops?  Beyond that, when that gun goes off, a race is a race and I want to race.  I had high hopes that maybe, just maybe some race day magic would happen, so I just went with it…and it’s downhill, right?  So my "real’ pace is actually slower, right?  7:05 is like 7:30?  Okay, maybe not.  But I just let my legs go and went with it.  It didn’t feel fast.  I wasn’t breathing hard.  My legs felt good and not like they were pushing.

The first miles have a lot of trees…I remember that.  And someone offering Coronas within the first mile.  The pack was pretty tight, but it was awesome to be right up near the front, look down the hill, and see the front of the wave.  I think I’ll always remember that view.

The beginning miles are always a little bit of a blur as you try to find your spot, figure out what your pace is while everyone around you seems to be flying.  Running was definitely feeling easy, and I dropped my "arm sleeves" after about two miles…it was much warmer than the 30 degree weather I’d be running in for months, so I was left in my tank top and shorts.  As the miles clicked away, two men near me just chatted away like it was an easy day on the run…I wish 7:10 pace was conversational for me, even though my legs felt really good here.

I knew exactly where Amy was going to be in Ashland, so although I’d be running on the right side of the road, I veered over to the left around mile three so I’d see her around mile 3.5.  In doing this, I ended up running behind some guy named Dave…like, right behind him.  He must have had his name on his shirt because everyone was yelling, "Go Dave!  Dave!  Go!" and I got nervous that I’d be right behind him and Amy would miss me…so I quickly ran around him and kept my eyes peeled for the train station that we park at for cheering in Ashland.  Soon enough, I spotted Amy in her bright pink shirt and waved my arms like crazy…I look forward to seeing people I know on the sidelines even for just seconds.

Once I saw Amy, I wasn’t going to know anyone until I saw her again at mile 14-ish, so I tucked in and tried to run a smart race.  Fact is…I never run a smart race.  Ever.  I kept looking at my watch and thinking I should slow down…or maybe I shouldn’t?  Just go with it.  It feels good, miles are clicking off.  The water stops were every mile, so at every other one I’d grab a cup.  I packed my chews in my shorts, so around mile 5 I started taking a couple every now and then.  I actually didn’t train with them at all…I kept saying I’d practice fueling, but then was too lazy to take any with me on my long runs, so I never took fuel or water with me.  I do think it’s one of the problems in my marathon training, but oh well.  Race day is too late to be trying to figure it out…oops.

Energy chews in a plastic bag, safety pinned into my shorts.  FYI.

Around mile 6, my Garmin beeped to tell me it was running out of memory.  So on the run, I deleted old data.  Can’t say I’ve ever had to do that in a race before…ha.

Mile 1-8:  7:27, 7:05, 7:04, 7:07, 7:13, 7:05, 14:23 (7:11 avg)

the late beginning to the middle

Around mile 8, the marathon starts to get a little more real.  I’ve been running for around an hour, and there’s a long way to go.  I remember seeing a lot of charity runners…who ran in packs in the middle of the road.  Clearly they’d started in the first wave, and I specifically remember being annoyed that I had to go around them when they ran four across.  I always thought that the charity runners started in the back of the last wave, but I guess I was wrong…

This might actually be a good race photo…

I’d be lying if I said I remember much else from this part of the race…people yelled my name the entire way.  I remember that.  Seriously, Boston is one giant cheering squad on Marathon Monday and I love it.  Otherwise, I kept telling myself to scale back to 7:30′s, but could never get my legs to do so.  I did get back to around 7:15-ish pace, but I just figured that was a result of the road being a little flatter and therefore not as downhill as the start of the course.  I was definitely still feeling good.

The first "significant" (laughable, probably…) uphill is to get up into Wellesley.  I remember loving this part the first time I ran the race.  My mom was always grateful that neither of her daughters were screamers…I’m not sure I’ve ever screamed in my life.  But oh goodness…those girls in Wellesley scream like only girls can.  I love reading the signs and high fiving girls for the entire stretch in Wellesley.  It’s just part of the Boston experience and definitely helps to pick up the pace.

My favorite part was right after the giant line of girls was over…two girls were holding poster board signs that read, "If you run faster, we’ll drop the signs!"  As you run by, it looks like they don’t have anything on, but behind the signs you can see that they just have shorts and strapless shirts on.  Very clever girls, you made me chuckle.

Miles 9-13:  7:11, 7:18, 7:18, 7:19, 7:17, 7:23
Half marathon split:  1:34:49

the middle to the beginning of the end

I crossed the half marathon part still feeling good and wondering how long this would last for.  The beginning of my marathon training had gone so well, but the last five weeks were a battle between sickness, being tired, and just feeling slow.  I was REALLY excited to be seeing Amy again soon a little after mile 14 in Wellesley Hills.  We always have a good spot to cheer, and I knew I’d see her.  I think around this point was when I started getting mentally tired…I kept thinking I saw the bridge that was near where we usually stand, but then I wouldn’t see Amy.  I couldn’t miss her!  Where was she?  I really want to see her!  Finally about half a mile later, I found her and waved my arms like a crazy person.  I love my spectators.

Things really got mentally tough after this.  I knew the hills start at mile 16, and by mile 15, my legs weren’t feeling so hot and the rest of my body was.  I know the weather could have been so much worse (50′s and sunny?  I’ll take it…), but after running in an everlasting winter, I thought it was pretty warm out.  I started dumping a cup of water down my back at the water stations. 

I also took a bathroom break.  GI system was not in check for the race.

I look really concerned about something…

I also noticed that I was starting to get a little grumpy…people were still cheering for me, but I couldn’t give a wave or smile like I usually like to do.  Someone running near me had their Garmin set to beep constantly (a pace thing or something?), but he had headphones on and I certainly shot him some dirty looks.  (Sorry buddy…)  My pace slowed a little bit, I got mentally tired, and…well.  That was that.

Miles 14-17:  7:19, 7:29, 7:51

it’s a long road to the finish

I’ve run eleven marathons now.  Only one of them has been run with any sort of smart pacing (Big Sur = run with camera = not paying attention to anything = really good pacing), and the rest are usually some sort of speed demon race followed by holding on until the finish.  People see 3:18 as my PR and are then shocked to hear that I walk in races and fall apart at the end.

Oh, and fall apart I did in Boston.  It’s probably the worst I’ve experienced yet.  Anyway.  I had seen Kim at the nuun booth at the expo, and she told me where they’d be.  Naturally, I couldn’t remember if they said they’d be between mile 15 and 16 or 16 and 17.  So at mile 15, I started to get excited about seeing them…if only I could make it to them, then I’d be further along in my race and could concentrate on the next obstacle.  When mile 16 came and went, I just kept thinking, "Where are they?  Did I miss them?  Why didn’t I write down where they’d be?"  My legs weren’t feeling it and I knew it’d be a long way to the finish.

Coming up a hill in mile 17, I spotted the nuun tent at the top of the hill and ran to Kim who I think said something like, "You look great!" and handed me a cup of nuun.  I definitely didn’t feel great and finally took my first walk break…which basically means the rest of the race will be a disaster.  And disaster it was.

I’ve never had my legs give out on me quite like they did in Boston.  I literally couldn’t move faster…I would try to run, it’d be slow, then I’d have to walk.  I had nothing left in my legs, and with nine miles to go…that’s a long way to have legs that aren’t cooperating.  Not finishing wasn’t an option, and it was so rough to watch time pass by.  The hills in Boston aren’t fun.  For some reason, I tell myself they aren’t that bad…and I suppose they might not be if you ran the first half right and had something left for those miles.  I did not and those hills were torture.  Spectators, despite their best intentions, kept saying, "one hill left!" and I knew they weren’t right.  I ran, I shuffled, I walked.  I ate an orange slice someone was handing out.  I was hot.  I dumped water over my back.

Neal says it all:

I tried to keep a good spirit despite my legs hating me…someone had small dixie cups of water, and I grabbed one as I shuffled by.  Noting the small shot glass size, I turned to her and questioned, "This is water, right?"  I’m not so sure my humor was conveyed, but I tried.  And those spectators tried too.  They brought their cheering A-game, but my quads.  Game over.

I made it up and over Heartbreak and hoped that maybe the downhill would help me a little bit.  And it did…my pace dropped a little, but that didn’t last for too long.  I kept eyeing my watch and playing the, "okay, if I run X:XX miles, then I can still do X:XX."  First I wanted to run under 3:25.  Then I saw that slipping away and focused on going under 3:30.  That slipped away too, and I realized how upset I’d be if I didn’t at least BQ…but let me tell you, I wasn’t even sure that would happen.

“I am not having fun.”

I cannot believe how unattractive I am.  You’re welcome.

The last time I ran Boston, I remember thinking that I wish I had my name on my shirt for when I got to the final miles, Boston College especially.  The crowds in those final miles know a thing or two about cheering…not that the rest of the crowds don’t, but I assume they’re assisted by alcohol.  And they yell like crazy.  I was doing my run, shuffle, walk routine around mile 22-ish, and the street was wide and the crowds were deep.  (Deep and wide, deep and wide…there’s a fountain flowing deep and wiiiiiide.  Anyone?  Church songs?  Okay, sorry, back to the race report..)  A big group of college-aged-looking kids starting chanting, "SUSAN!  SUSAN!  SUSAN!  SUSAN!"  I mustered myself to start running again, and they let out a huge cheer…I’ve never heard anyone cheer that loud for me.  My legs felt terrible, but my spirits were lifted.

Sometimes I actually look like I’m running…

These miles dragged on…not surprisingly, feeling good at 7:10 pace makes the miles go much faster than aching quads at 10:00 pace.  I got cheers from the sidelines, but for the most part was in my own little world.  It was by pure luck that I made my way over to the right side of the road around mile 23…right where Maura had the High Five Station.  I was totally oblivious until I heard someone yelling, "Susan Susan Susan!"  and got my high five.  I do love the high five station.

I’m glad I looked better than I thought I did!  After Maura, it was three miles to go.  Three long miles.  A young woman cheering on the sideline looked me in the eye and talked to me like I was standing in front of her, getting final instructions.  "You go, Susan…you so got this.  You’re amazing."  Those words are so helpful if only for a few steps.

I was still shuffling along, and I kept my eyes peeled for people who might be passing me…is Celia rocking it?  What about Katherine?  I think I did see Jess fly by me, looking strong on her way to a PR.

I made it to mile 25-ish.  I started to recognize the final areas.  The underpass I remember that is so quiet.  And quiet it was.  I smiled to myself, thinking about how I couldn’t even run down my block a year ago, but here I was at mile 25 of a marathon.  The Boston Marathon.  Then the Citgo sign.  One mile to go.  My legs didn’t quite register with that, but we moved.  Soon enough, I realized those famous final turns were in front of me.

Sign from the finish line ladies!

We took a right on Hereford.  No walking now, legs.  Next up, a left on Boylston.  I knew Amy was there, I knew I’d pass Christine, Carla, and Leticia.  I knew I probably wouldn’t see them, but all of them saw me.  It’s with tears in my eyes that I imagine what that scene must have looked like an hour after I finished…but I gave that final stretch all my legs would let me give.

Right on Hereford…

Boylston picture compliments of Christine!

Done!!

3:31:54 after I crossed that start line in Hopkinton, I finished my 11th marathon.

Miles 18-26.2:  9:35, 8:52, 9:04, 10:19, 8:36, 9:52, 9:22, 10:38, 9:45, 1:51.  Yikes…

the hobble

 Finish line picture!

My quads weren’t happy with me, that was for sure.  For some reason, walking during a race never seems that bad.  Well, it does, and I don’t necessarily like it, but walking after the marathon is the worst.  I just wanted to sit once I crossed that finish line, but that wasn’t an option.  I grabbed some water, a food bag, a protein bar (never ate it, any takers?), a space blanket (it was so cold/windy in Boston!), and finally…my medal.

I wore a red Sparkly Soul headband for the race.  I think I actually forgot I was wearing, but when I walked up to get my medal, I put my head down for the volunteer to put it around my neck (I love that part).  She congratulated me and said, "I love your sparkles, you need some sparkly shoes to match!  Wizard of Oz style!"  I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about since I forgot about the headband…but I quickly remember.  I laughed and thanked her.

All I wanted to do was sit down for a few minutes.  My legs were not in the mood to walk anymore.  I hobbled over to the baggage buses, and they found my bag quickly.  I put on a long sleeve shirt and made moves to an empty spot in the baggage area to put my pants on…I was so cold!  I looked down at the ground to figure out the best way to sit…this was going to be rough.  A volunteer walked over to me and asked, "What are you trying to do?"  I responded and stated that I was trying to sit down since I wanted to put some pants on.

"Ohhh no, I’m an EMT and I’ve run a few of these before…you’re not sitting down.  You look like you’re on the edge of muscle failure.  Let me know how I can help, but you’re not sitting down."  While I knew he was right and only trying to help, all I wanted to do was sit.  And say, "Well, I’m a nurse and I’ve run eleven of these…and I want to sit." But I listened to him and asked him to hold my shoulders while I put my pants on.

Thank you, volunteers.

Next order of business was the waddle to find Amy…I put my phone on airplane mode for the race since the battery has been draining quickly.  It took a few minutes, but my phone finally got signal and I met up with Amy in the meet up area.  All I wanted to do was sit, so we made our way over to a place to sit down.  And we ran into Kevin, who I’ve only ever seen once before in real life, go twitter.  Finally I sat down and it was glorious.  Yet chilly.

We sat for a few minutes, and I knew I wanted to get somewhere warm…we thought about post-race pictures, getting a picture of the two of us, but for some reason, we never snapped any.  We (okay, I) hobbled over to the parking garage while Amy served as my walking helper, letting me hold her arm while stepping down curbs.  I commented that we were definitely going to get some ice cream that night, as she lives around the corner from J.P. Lick’s.

We walked through the Prudential Center shops on the way to the parking garage on Boylston Street…once we got in the car, I put on my Boston 2013 jacket (I never wear race stuff until the race is over).  And then we tried to leave.  And, well, you all know the rest of the story…

Boston Marathon 2013 Stats

26.2 miles in 3:31:54, avg pace of 8:05

post-race thoughts

As we were trying to leave the parking garage, I attempted to tweet, "Played the ‘hold this fast pace and see what happens’ game and lost.  Can’t say I didn’t try, but it’s a painful game.  Thanks all!  #Boston2013."  I admittedly wasn’t happy with the race.  Not only had I missed any time goal I wanted (still chasing 3:10…or at least a PR?), but I ran a poor race.  I went out too fast, as I always do, the wheels fell off at mile 17.  And they fell off hard.  People hear that I run marathons and go, "That’s amazing!  I could never do that!  Congrats on finishing!"  But to me, it’s not just about finishing.  I wouldn’t subject myself to mile repeats and tempo runs in 14 degree weather if it was about finishing.  I like to race and see how fast I can go.  So yes, I finished, but I missed my goals.  And ran a poor race…who knows if I’ll ever learn.

All that being said, my tweet about my race didn’t go through because we were underground.  The next thing we knew, bombs were going off, and I could have cared less about my time.  I cared that Amy and I were safe, and I wanted to know if everyone else was too.  What was going on.  My time, my poorly executed race, it didn’t matter anymore.  In that moment, I forgot the pain of mile 22.  How ten minute pace is miserable.  Who cares if I finished?  Bomb squads were appearing in front of us.  I’ve never been so scared, and the marathon that I trained for seemed so…unimportant at that moment.

I do think it was important to take some time to think about the marathon.  It’s been two weeks, and a little bit of the sting of those tragic events has been removed.  I still get upset about it, but I can reflect better on the race part of the day without it being as clouded by the bombings.

My friend Katie (from high school, the non-runner…not to be confused with Katie, my friend from high school who I met through running…) sent me an email the afternoon of the marathon.  After expressing concern and thanking me for being fast enough to not be at the finish line during the bombings (ha!), she had some wise words.  Words that I know myself, but sometimes you need someone else to tell you something for you really to remember it.

A year ago, I couldn’t run down the block.  My doctor suggested that maybe in life I would need to scale back my running and take up cross training.  No one had answers, and at some points I wasn’t sure I’d ever run again…or if I did, if the marathon would be an option.  As much as I would have loved to come back from that injury and rock a PR, the real goal here was to run again.  To run a marathon, which is difficult no matter what condition you’re in.  The mental game is so important in the marathon, and I certainly had my doubts.  I doubted my ability to go the distance, my ability to run fast.  Katie reminded me that whenever we start something new, we have our doubts about them.  Training for and running Boston is a lesson to myself…that I can handle marathon training, that I’ll come back stronger with time.  Yes, running is about goals for me and not just completing a race…but this past year has been different, and to even be on the line at Boston this year is something to be proud of.  And to celebrate.

I didn’t run the race I wanted, but I ran a marathon again.  I had poor training at the end and ran the race with a cold.  However, I had some great training early on, hit some awesome paces, and most importantly, was running again.  With no pain.  Every now and then I feel a random twinge in my back and get nervous, but so far, so good.  I know this will lay solid groundwork for future marathons, both physically and mentally.  And I’m excited about what lies ahead.

Now, if someone could just teach me proper pacing…

and, as always…

Thank you to all of you.  Especially Amy, my number one Boston Marathon fan.  It’s been a long road through my back injury and running again.  It really does mean a lot for people to read what I write.  For people to track me.  I thought about all of you with each timing mat.  Texts, tweets, phone calls, emails, comments after the race congratulating me and then asking if I was okay after the bombings.  Some of you I know in real life, some in this crazy internetland, some of you comment, some of you lurk.  No matter who you are, thank you to everyone for your support, and thank you for reading.  Now time to get ready for the next great adventure!

I’m glad these men have been caught and it’s all over, although I think we all know it’s actually far from over.  Still have so many thoughts about what happened less than a week ago, and it’s still not the easiest, but everyone has been coming together and that certainly has helped. 

And, most importantly, I hope everyone is safe and recovering from both the marathon and the events of Monday.

*************************************************************************************************

But as I said in my last post, there were some really fun times last weekend, and last Sunday was no different!  Amy headed downtown to watch the 5k, while I…slept.  I was so tired and ended up sleeping until around 10:30am.  I do think that the sleep two nights before the race is more important than the night before, so I’m glad I got some solid rest.  I did, however, wake up with my cold at the worst it had been…yellow phlegm and a cough, which made me even more nervous for Marathon Monday.  But at least I got some sleep…

You can’t stray from tradition, and on Sunday before the marathon, Amy and I tend to lay low in her apartment and get ready for Monday.  This basically means that it is arts and crafts day, making signs and tshirts to cheer for the marathon.  It’s a fun, restful, distracting activity that is a lot of fun.  We headed to Target (something I miss in NYC…it’s not the same when you can’t load up a car trunk with everything you bought!) and got some cold medicine and posterboard.  We debated on colors, but we ended up finding a super sparkly, shiny one and we couldn’t pass it up.  We also went to Michael’s for some iron-on letters.  Life is good.

Back at Amy’s apartment, we went to work.  We needed something to match the sparkles on the posterboard, but our first idea of, “Shine bright like a diamond” didn’t seem to fit for a marathon.  Another option included, “A diamond is forever, but this race is only 26.2 miles.”  better, but not perfect.  Finally, we came upon, “You don’t sweat, you sparkle,” which fit perfectly on the sign.

Amy hard at work.

We rearranged the wording and made sure the red/yellow/blue of the letters lined up appropriately.  Chris lives only a few miles from Amy and stopped by for an afternoon chat.  We hydrated, talked about the race, and finished up the sign.  After making sure everyone was tracking everyone, Chris headed off to dinner, and Amy and I got to work on the next project:  t-shirts.

Completed sign!

I wanted to wear my Brooks tank top for the race, but I hadn’t put my name on it yet…and it’s really fun to race with your name on your shirt.  (Just do it, I promise.)  I put “SUSAN” on the front of my shirt and then pinned my bib on…so official, so nervous.

Bib on = go time.

I was happy with how my tank top turned out, but having that bib on there really made me nervous for race day.  Especially with snot coming out of my nose, although the cold medicine was helping.  In other news, Amy bought a pink tshirt to wear on Monday, making it much easier to spot her…and as my PR person, she had to advertise for the blog!  Finished product:

Read susanruns.com!!

All together now…

Amy wore the shirt and took the two signs (“You don’t sweat, you sparkle” in addition to and old favorite, “Smile if you’re not wearing underwear.’”)  A news reporter actually stopped her in Wellesley Hills with the underwear sign and got a picture with the sign and the shirt with my blog address on it…which might have been in the paper, but obviously the events a few hours later erased any stories about signs!

Once signs and shirts were made, we headed out to dinner to carbo-load for Monday.  I needed a few extra carbs for the marathon, and Amy needed some since spectating is hard work!

We headed to bed early (umm…11:30-ish…) after laying out everything for the morning.  Arts and crafts day is always a fun way to relax the day before a big race while preparing for what lays ahead.  Next up…that race recap.  Hopefully.

Favorite race sign?  Do you put your name on the front of your shirt?

While those scary moments of Marathon Monday will probably never leave me, whoever did this to the running community can’t take away the events leading up to it.  All the fun and excitement I experienced throughout the rest of the weekend.  In life, you can do 100 amazing things and then have one bad thing cloud the entire situation, but at the end of the day, you still have 100 good things.  It’s just so easy to focus on the bad instead of the good.

In 2005, I was in London, drying my hair in my hotel room with my mom, when a bus was bombed about a block from our hotel.  My mom heard the blast, but hair dryers are loud so I heard nothing.  We didn’t know what happened and walked outside…people were frantic and we were told that the tube and the bus had been bombed, we couldn’t go back in our hotel, and we didn’t know where was safe.  We didn’t have a cell phone that worked abroad (so 2005…) so we ended up finding an internet cafe to email people.  I think we got something to eat and things settled down a little bit after a few hours.  The most amazing part about that day was how the Londeners moved on.  People were so calm.  We had planned to go to the Tower of London that day, and we called to see if they were still open…they said if you can get here, we’ll be open.  So we walked about an hour to get there.  It was impressive.  You can’t let these events take away from the rest of your life, and despite everything that happened on Monday, the rest of the weekend was amazing.

Boston weekend is amazing, and I will always think that.  So let’s talk about it.

saturday – Runner’s World and expo fun

The morning started off with a T ride to Copley Square for a Runner’s World shakeout run.  I was invited as a blogger and excited to hang out with Katherine!  We met at 7:30am for a short (just over two miles?) run around the Common and the oldest street in Boston.  After that, it was a morning of chatting with runner and eating some breakfast.  I got to talk with Laura and David from the Runner’s World PR team, and it was fun to see the excitement start to build for the weekend.

Next up was lunch with Maura and Bryan at their favorite Thai place in the Prudential.  Always a joy to see them and chat about our travels, running, running, and more running.  I got the scoop on where Maura would be on Marathon Monday, although admittedly the only reason I spotted Maura was because she yelled my name so many times on race day!

Next up…the expo.  It’s like a candy store for runners.  It makes it all a little more real when you pick up that bib and realize that race is coming.  You have in your hands those numbers that make one run different from all the rest.  Everyone is so happy and excited, wishing you a good race and congratulating you for making it there.  And…so much yellow and blue.

9013 in my 2010 jacket…thanks, volunteer!

I happened to run into Katherine just as we were getting to the expo, and there’s nothing like a running nurse…let alone two of us!  It was exciting to share in Katherine’s excitement/nervousness for the weekend…giving her tips from what I remember from 2010, and, more importantly, helping her pick the right shirt size.

ICU nurses…you’re in good hands.

I also happened to run into Mason from nuun at the start of the expo, and he asked how I was feeling…pretty sure I said something along the lines of, “Well, I have a race plan, but that’ll go out the window when that gun goes off…”  He later tweeted this, which just about sums it up:

We continued on throughout the expo, and at the first turn, I spotted Desi Davila.  Earlier in the week, I received a sweatshirt from Brooks that I immediately fell in love with.  Despite warmer temperatures in NYC, I wore it all week.  Upon seeing Desi, I was so happy to take a picture with her and even more excited that we’re on the same team!  Go Brooks!

She’s so little!

We scoped out all of the different vendors, keeping my eye out for cute shirts (I already bought my jacket upon entrance into the expo…but I don’t wear it until the race is over).  I ended up with a “Boston is for Runners” shirt (…might be my new favorite) and a shirt that says, “I don’t chase men…I pass them.”  (My main goal in life, haha.)

Shirt #1 + jacket

Yep.

After a million text messages (cell phone service is bad in the expo area), I finally met up with Ben and walked around with him.  As we wandered, I walked past someone who looked familiar…and who had Picky Bars in front of her.  Most elite athletes have at least someone talking to them, but this one did not.  It looked like Lauren Fleshman, complete with the baby bump, so in my awkward fashion, I walked over and asked, “You’re Lauren, right?”

Answer:  Yep.

I told her I know Meggie (obviously…Picky Bars are involved) and gave her my analogy on pregnancy (hint:  it involves a roller coaster).  We chatted, a video camera showed up, and I nabbed some Picky Bars.  And she wished me luck, which I definitely needed!

We wandered a bit more and found a spot where you could sign your name…Amy works in PR and has been officially deemed my PR agent for when my blog makes it to the big time (bahhahah), so she went to work:

Business cards pending.

No expo is ever complete without a visit to my favorite Nuun Hydration booth.  Luckily I had already run into Mason earlier as he had stepped out, but I spotted Kim (who ran in my van the first year) and Jay (who was a driver).  Always great to see such encouraging familiar faces, catch up, and fill up my bottle with nuun.  Kim reminded me that Boston should always be a celebration of the work it takes to get there, which is something I tend to forget in the training.  It’s an honor to be there no matter what happens on race day.

Nuun:  Hydrating Hopkinton!

Amy and I finally were getting tired from all the walking around, so we decided to head home…but I’ve never actually been to the finish line except at the end of the race, so we headed there to snap some pictures.  Such a different scene a few days later…

Running pose, of course.

I like it.

We headed back to Amy’s apartment and I took a quick nap…soon enough, it was time to get ready for the Runner’s World party that the people at Runner’s World were nice enough to invite me to!  So glad I checked that it was a somewhat dressy event and didn’t show up in my spandex.  It was held at Lucca in the Back Bay and was like nothing I’ve been to before.  Free wine, food (although we ate beforehand), editors and advertisers for Runner’s World, shoe reps, and some famous runners.  A few other bloggers were there, but mainly some really cool people in the running industry!

So cool!

Amy, me, Brittany, Katherine, and Celia

“With” Shalene.

The night flew by as we chatted with each other and Runner’s World friends, and we suddenly realized how late it was!  We attempted to leave, but we spotted Meb on the other side of the room…you can’t leave without talking to Meb and asking about his leg.  And taking a picture, of course.

Hi Meb!

The Runner’s World party was a fun event that I would most likely never be invited to if it wasn’t for this blog/the internet (hooray!), and it was so fun to be a part of the running community as a whole.  The expo is always exciting and it’s so much fun to run into other runners I know…it also makes the whole race seem real and got me nervous and ready to run.

This is getting long and is already full of so much fun, so much of what I love about Boston.  I’ll save Sunday’s (much more low key) events for another day, but I do think it’s important to remember all the good that happened this weekend and how those memories can’t be erased by whoever did this to us on Monday afternoon.

Feel free to share your memories from the expo…picking your bib for the first time, trying on that jacket.