Wednesday, April 20, 2011

2011 Boston Marathon Race Report–Part I

Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things.
Joe Paterno

As I lay in bed the night before the Boston Marathon it occurred to me that it should be illegal to sleep in the same hotel room with your kids the night before a big race. Mostly because it puts their lives in danger and it would suck to be arrested the night before the big race because you hurt someone when they were being loud and wouldn’t let you GO TO SLEEP.

6:00 a.m. wakeup – headed over to Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee and a quick dozen ‘nuts (just kidding) before meeting my friend Lisa and her brother for the busses. I hadn’t seen Lisa for 30 years. We were best friends in 7th grade when we lived in Athens, Greece. We lost touch when we both moved back home. She found me on Facebook a few months ago and told me she had BQ’d too. We had a blast catching upon the bus ride and in the Athlete’s Village. SUAR was something to behold in 7th grade, let me tell ya. I was supposed to meet EMZ too, but couldn’t find that long-legged wench anywhere.

The weather in Hopinkton was great, but the wind sucked the big one. It whipped around and made me cold.

We kept warm how we could using the potties as our wind blockers.

bethlisa

This is my pre-marathon refugee look. Kara Goucher looks like this too right before she hits the start line:

bethblanket

A favorite friend, Nicky, send me a text at that point. I love her.

P1090662

Pretty soon, I headed to the start gazing around in the surreal daze when you know something is happening that you’ve been waiting for forever, but you can’t quite grasp that it really is happening. Take it, take it in, I told myself.

We were off. I quickly settled into a Beth pace that involved keeping my cadence quick and light and not giving into temptation to sprint it all out. After all, with 26 miles to go, that’s a long time to be sprinting.

There is always some smart ass at the beginning of a marathon that says, one kilometer down, 41 more to go. And, they think they’re really funny, but really it’s just annoying to me. I’m already psyched out enough about the distance, don’t remind me. I needed to lighten up, right? Which is what I did immediately when this Tarzan guy ran by me wearing nothing but a loin cloth. I watched his ass and balls jiggle for a bit then he was out of sight, but not out of mind.

The truth is that morning I was surprisingly calm. Even though I had no clue if I would complete the race if my hip gave out or how long it might take me (I could only estimate between four and five hours), it was one of those moments when you give into the experience and let go of having to know the ending. It would all be okay.

I hit the 10K mark at about 54 minutes. My favorite cousin, Anna, her husband Jeremy and their sweet boy Liam were waiting. I see them…

beth10k3

Then I do this cool backwards move to cut across the road and get to them without taking out the old guy:

beth10k4

Here I am getting dramatic about something. “Oh my God, like, I might have chipped a nail.”

bethmouth

Then I give the big tackle:

thehug

And I’m on my way:

onmyway

 

onmyway2

Got more shut up and running to do:

runningon2

I ran on knowing the next place I would see my people was at the halfway. I cruised along nicely confident I’d hit the half in less than two hours. SCORE! For a moment I actually thought I might break four hours in the race. I decided to check out for a bit and put in my music. The crowds were really intense and I just needed a moment….Those Wellesley girls were just around the corner.

Part two, coming soon. Had to do in two sections – sorry. Computer totally acting up. But, stay tuned, it gets a bit uglier.

SUAR

39 comments:

  1. Nice ass... I mean skirt ;-) And no 'marks' on it yet!

    Boy, to I hear you on the sleeping in the same hotel room as your kids thing. And forget the 'before a marathon' part... sheesh! You are so brave... or something... to do that. Glad CPS didn't need to get involved ;-)

    How fun to be able to hug your peeps :)

    The suspense is killing me! Looking forward to the next installment!

    ReplyDelete
  2. THANK YOU for that piece of advice. I had been contemplating letting my kids sleep in the hotel room my husband and I the night before Eugene. Now I will certainly ship them to my parent's hotel room instead! Can't wait for part 2! You look great in part 1!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You look all cute!!! I can't wait to read part 2!!

    When I saw the chick finish that shit herself I could help but think of you! & trust me, that's a good thing! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. That backwards move was awesome... can't wait to read the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looking good! Can't wait for part 2!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Such suspense! You looked dang cute in that running skirt!

    ReplyDelete
  7. hi beth! My sister (mary) and I saw you at the very beginning of the race. I saw your "shut up and run" shirt and turned to my sister and said OMG its beth!!!! hahaha i love your blog and all your funny stories. Very exciting to see you in person/in action. what a day, eh? Had the time of my life! Very excited to hear more of your race recap! P.S. saw the tarzan man too...unreal!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looking strong, Beth! I can't wait for part 2.

    ReplyDelete
  9. love this. Super happy I found your blog. I'm a new follower, I hope you will as well. I started my blog a little over a month ago. It's all about celebrity fashion from the point of view of an LA stylist. Stop by to see multiple post a day on all the latest celebrity fashion news and check out pictures from the fall/winter preview I attended yesterday in Beverly Hills. Would love your support. xoxo

    www.fashboulevard.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Off to a great start!! I remember checking your time online once your 10K split was in and thinking "Doing great, as usual" :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the skirt.
    Was Tarzan at least cute?
    Can't wait for part 2!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You should have gone with the SUAR sticker on your back....worked for me. Part part race report? My latest race report was done with one Powerpoint slide. Oh that's right, I'm a geek.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, the suspense!!

    p.s. You're super cute!

    ReplyDelete
  14. hurry, i can't wait to hear more!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. your feet must be hurting because you kicked so much ASS!!

    Great job considering all the adversity leading up to this day! You will continue to inspire me.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The picture of you and your kids almost made me cry. I probably would have if I still wasn't thinking about the vision you painted that guys ass and balls jiggling before he took off. Way to keep your writing mood balanced Beth!

    ReplyDelete
  17. It turns out I missed you at the Marriott by 10 mins. I was in town on unrelated stuff. Met EMZ though, was cool.

    PS I like the font on your mobile phone.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love your outfit. You look so cute! Cant wait to hear the rest...

    ReplyDelete
  19. I agree on sleeping in the same hotel room with kids! I did it once and never again! Funny. Looks like a great race so far. Can't wait for the rest!

    ReplyDelete
  20. congrats, Beth!! I looked up your time already so i know how well you did but looking forward to reading the rest anyway!

    ReplyDelete
  21. That dump must have been a satisfying one because you look fast and light! Looking forward to more!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Super LOVE the outfit....if possible, do you have any other shirts made?! Would be awesome to wear such a cool one at my half in May!! :) (I already have the same skirt - LOL!)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great Job SUAR! Love Nicky's text to you! Here's a clip on Tarzan. I think he did the Vegas RnR marathon barefoot too.

    http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/blog/2011/04/the_boston_marathon_finishing.html

    ReplyDelete
  24. You.
    I. Couldn't. Find. You
    My boob grabbing friend.
    That
    Sucked
    Balls.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I alraedy knew you did awesome, but now I know how cute you looked doing it!

    I can only hope that there is some guy in a loin cloth to take my mind of my marathon :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. You looked great...
    Now get to part 2 woman!
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. cute skirt! and crazy about tarzan. yikes. can't wait to see more!

    ReplyDelete
  28. You look so happy! And, you have awesome friends. You should save that text message.

    ReplyDelete
  29. A friend of mine who reads you just sent me this blog post and I gotta say, I'm hooked. Your lead paragraph alone got me.

    Can't wait for part 2.

    ReplyDelete
  30. That is awesome about your friends BQing too!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I completely agree that it SHOULD be a law. The the kids protection, really. (my 50 miler, LBM was attached almost all night long!!)

    Love that outfit and braids!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Your outfit rocks and you look so happy out there!! Way to SUAR!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Great start Beth: hugs from family and your friend offering you the best advice possible!!

    Fabulous thinking sticking your name on the front of your shirt too!!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Good grief! Your time with a broken hip is better than mine on a regular day! ;) Congrats!!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Do you know my favorite part of this part 1?
    it is the SMILE on your face on these pictures.

    under 2 hours at the half: you have ALL of my admiration. REALLY.

    OK on to part 2.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hooray!! Boston!! Boston!! Boston!! Boston!! Boston!! Boston!!


    If kara looked like that before her runs, my crush would be seriously misplaced.

    You look SOOOO happy in those pictures of you running. SOO happy

    ReplyDelete