Boston Marathon Weekend
I was so excited for the weekend of the Boston Marathon – and I wasn’t even running it! (But I will be soon!) The weather was expected to be beautiful, and tons of people I follow on Instagram were heading to Boston for the big race.
The weekend started off with BAA (Boston Athletic Association) 5k on Saturday morning. I ran this last year, and it was my first race ever where my pace was sub 8:00 minute miles, so I was hoping for a big PR this year. Plus, I was looking forward to seeing a bunch of running friends and finally meeting Amanda Cruise (@run2pr). Amanda and I have been following each other on Instagram for over a year, and she is training to qualify for the 2020 Olympic team. Go Amanda!
The 5k started at the Boston Common, took us down Commonwealth Avenue and back, “right on Hereford, left on Boylston”, across the Boston Marathon finish line, and back to the Common. There were 10,000 runners and tons of people cheering. Such a great way to kick off the weekend. I also set a pretty big 5k PR – 3.14 miles in 22:58 (7:18 min/mile). I was on cloud nine, and thank you to Kyle for coming to cheer me on!
Super proud!
I also saw some Gina (@foreverfit_gel), who I met last year at the Providence Marathon.
Later that day, I met up with Amanda at a restaurant downtown (I was pretty much starstruck). She and her husband were having lunch, and she invited me in to meet him and even have nachos with them! Amanda is such a kind and genuine person who shares her running journey on Instagram. She and I talked for about 25 minutes, and she made me feel so confident about my upcoming marathon (the New Jersey Marathon) and reassured me that one day I will definitely qualify for Boston and run along beside her.
After meeting up with Amanda, I headed to the Boston Marathon expo. For some reason, I thought this was for runners only, but when I realized that anyone could go in and shop around for gear, I basically sprinted there! I walked around for about an hour, and left with a Boston headband, a blue and yellow ribbon hair tie, and a pink FlipBelt.
The following day was Easter, and Kyle and I celebrated with my parents who were in town. It was a hot day! I had a 15 miler run planned for the afternoon and made sure to bring my camelbak with Nuun to hydrate me on my run. As soon as I walked in from my run, Kyle handed me a beer to cool off – tasted so good!
The following morning was Marathon Monday!! This is pretty much a holiday in Boston. I woke up totally energized to cheer on the marathoners. Kyle and I live only a half mile from the course, so I headed down there for my 4 mile recovery run. Everyone was out setting up the gates and water stations. It was so cool because I was able to run on the actual course even though everyone was setting up.
Because the marathoners don’t start running until around 9:30am-11:00am, I was planning to get some grad school work done in the morning, but I literally could not sit still for one second. I was so excited for the day, and had a bunch of runners set to track on the Boston Marathon tracking app.
Kyle and I finally made our way down to Mile 23 of the marathon around 12:00pm. We got there just in time to see Meb run by. Three of the runners I was tracking (including Amanda) who were expected to run by soon with a finishing time of sub 3 hours or right around 3, and I saw all of them! I was at Mile 23 for most of the afternoon cheering everyone on. It was motivating seeing all the runners. Some were running for charities, others had qualified, some runners were guides for the blind, and I even saw some veterans carrying American flags.
Chasing Boston…and I will get there.
I am so determined to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I am running a marathon in early September that I am hoping will be my ticket in for Boston 2018. Training will pick up this summer, and I’m ready to give it all I’ve got.
Comment below:
Have you ever watched the Boston Marathon in person?
Are you chasing a Boston Marathon qualifying time or have you qualified before?