Tuesday, May 25, 2010

episode 3: spectator

Took me long enough… but the saga continues! (Thank you for the nagging, thou self-proclaimed “fans.”) =)

Also, as an extra effort to make this post useful for future marathoners who may read this (and less wholly narcissistic--wink!), I've made a few of the tips Coach Rick provided that I found the very most useful larger than the rest of the text. If you're planning to run a race of any length, I pass these on with my personal hearty seal of approval--as a novice, I would have been lost without this advice!

Without further ado, the continuation:


Bozeman, Montana (home of my college years) is approximately 2,000 miles from Boston, Massachusetts. To have a spectator from there watch me run my first ever race is--to say the least--a pretty big frickin’ hairy deal.

But being anything close to a decent host is not an easy task the weekend of your first marathon.

Coach Rick’s first piece of advise for the Boston Marathon:
“On Sunday--the day before the marathon--stay off your feet as much as you possibly can. You’re going to spend enough time on them Monday.”

I knew this wasn’t entirely possible for me. I had returned from NYC a day before my spectator would--mostly to pick up my number, but also to unpack, prepare my apartment for my first ever Boston visitor, and make the obligatory trip to the grocery store before company arrives. Little did I know a simple trip to the grocery store would tax my muscles more than it should have.

Knowing I had more to buy than I could comfortably carry home myself, I intentionally bought much more than I could carry, resolving to pay the extra $5 and take my culinary treasures home in a cab. By the time I was done accumulating items in Shaw’s, it was raining. Rain = suddenly no cabs. And since I had been busy cleaning up until the last moment before I could go shopping, procrastination = no time to wait for cabs before it was time to meet Brian at the bus terminal. All factors considered = panic!

With few choices, I loaded all of my groceries onto my arms as best I could and headed home. I truly had too much to do it anywhere near comfortably (and remember, it is now raining!)--I had no choice but to stop several times to give my arms a break. All that training of my legs over the past few months had done very little for my spaghetti arms... but at least a few particularly wet training runs had mostly immunized my psyche to rain.

Enter the first of much support from kind strangers that weekend. A man walked past me seemingly content in his iPod isolation--only to stop, turn around, and ask if I needed help carrying my bags. He carried most of the load (and informed me of the benefits of peapod.com) just short of a few blocks to my house, where I was able to lug my heavy load the remaining yards. Little did I know just how much similar support would await me en route from Hopkinton to Boston the following day.

I hurriedly unpacked groceries and hurried off to meet Brian on the red line--resolving to stay off my feet from thenceforth.

Good for me; less good for him. My unfortunate visitor’s first ever night in Boston was spent watching movies on the couch in my apartment.

“Don’t try anything new in the days leading up to the marathon. Specifically, whatever foods you’ve found work for you the night before long runs--stick with them.”

Once again (are you sensing a theme here?)--my poor guest! I took Coach Rick’s second piece of advice to heart and stuck with my usual pre-long run dinner: what Scrubs terms “brinner.” Brian joined me for French toast, eggs over-easy, and a strawberry-yogurt smoothie with traces of amusement but no trace of complaint.

Full of energy--partially from the arrival of my friend and partially from the pending madness that was to follow the next day--I had no desire to sleep for several hours after we supped. Luckily, Coach Rick had again wisely prepared me for that very scenario:
“Saturday night is your most important night of sleep. You don’t even have to go to bed early on Saturday--just make sure to sleep in Sunday morning. One thing is for sure: you’re not going to sleep very well the night before the marathon.”

I doubt I need to keep saying it at this point--but again, Coach was right. I didn’t bother even attempting to hit the hay early, knowing I would lay awake with anxious insomnia anyway. Futurama happened to appear on Comedy Central, so Brian and I stayed up into the wee hours of Monday A.M. killing time with Leela and Bender, and keeping my mind from the monumental task that loomed before me.

I was somehow so successful not thinking about the marathon, in fact, that when I finally decided the time had come to retire to dreamland, I realized I hadn’t given my out-of-town spectator a single useful instruction about making his way around Boston for his first time the following day. Hallelujah for having a visitor far better with directions than I am--I provided little more information than “I’m told there’s a good sushi place by Back Bay,” and “Stay away from the Copley T-stop because it’s closed,” and he somehow entertained himself without getting lost the entire day on Monday, as I ran my brains out.

But I’m getting ahead of myself...

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

episode 2: the expo

Next on the weekend's frenetic agenda was making the obligatory stop at the 2010 Boston Marathon Expo to pick up my bib for the race. Laura, Erin, and I agreed long before my NYC bus tickets were purchased that hitting the Expo sooner rather than later would be far better for all three of our psyches. Since the Expo was open Friday through Sunday--and since I wouldn't return to Boston until noon on Saturday--it was decided that I'd go straight from getting off the bus to getting on the T in order to meet them for bib pick-up.

Brian, Chris and I stayed out fairly late our last night in the city, catching West Side Story on Broadway (wahoo!) and dinner at a hip/exotic/techno-beat-underwritten Vietnamese restaurant. We returned to the hotel dangerously close to 2 AM--where I set my alarm for 5:30 AM to make absolutely sure I'd find my 7:30 bus. Long day ahead.

By the time my bus rolled into South Station at noon, my body was convinced that it must be time for bed. Lucky for me, I have the greatest friends, period. Erin and Laura both greeted me at the Park Street station with tokens of marathon goodness and the loveliest of sentiments that made even the afternoon drizzle seem sunny. (Yes, I will be that sappy--they turned my nearing-cranky mood completely around!) We traveled together to the Hynes Convention Center, where we waited for a few teammates to join us.

Up until this point in this blog, I don't think I've mentioned that aside from running and fundraising for Boston Partners in Education, I also serve as the team's coordinator. Part of my VISTA position for Boston Partners includes attending BAA meetings, coordinating group runs with the other nonprofit teams in our Coalition, answering our other runners' questions, monitoring fundraising, etc.

Thanks to this position, I've gotten to know Laurelin--our out-of-town runner and a former employee of Boston Partners--quite well via emails back and forth, but I had never actually met her. As Erin, Laura, Todd, and I all waited at the Convention Center, there suddenly appeared a young lady with Jess whose Facebook picture I knew quite well. The spirit of marathon love continued, and Laurelin and I hugged each other as new friends united by this crazy undertaking. (Quick shout-out to her for being so lovely--you rock, Laurelin!)

Together, the six of us braved the crowds of runners who continued to filter into the Hynes. First up and most importantly, we needed our bibs! We navigated through the masses to the appropriate table.


Picking up our numbers felt very much like graduating--finally getting your diploma after months of preparation for such a moment. And to apparently make absolutely sure that such an analogy applied, Jess stood by each of us as we received our bib to photograph the moment with her iPhone. Below is my shot, which she snapped immediately before I snapped about having my picture taken looking like I just got off of a bus from NYC. (Sorry, Jess. I really do love you.) =)


Our number packets (mine pictured below) contained not only our bib, but the ever-important chip that we would lace onto our shoes to track our progress on Marathon Day, as well as illustrated instructions for attaching such chips. I mention this now because such instructions will likely make multiple appearances in my next post. It involves me looking comically foolish--you will be entertained.


Once each of us had a packet in hand, we moved on to pick up our complimentary, official 2010 Boston Marathon shirts--which Laura refused to physically handle because, as she will tell you in her pre-marathon blog post, Laura will not touch any marathon-branded apparel prior to the marathon. Very superstitious...

Number packets, t-shirts, and official Boston Marathon bags all now in hand, we imposed on a passerby to snap a group photo with our newly obtained treasure:

back row from left: me, Erin, Laurelin, Todd
front row from left: Laura, Jess

Adorable. =)

Now, as any Boston Marathoner can tell you, that's only the beginning of the Boston Marathon Expo Experience. There are giant rooms that follow the two required stops our group had just hit--rooms that are full of samples and merchandise and last-minute advice and fellow runners and preachers and cryers and circus clowns and kittens and banana cream pies. I'll bet.

Okay, so I didn't actually go to the rest of the Expo.

Quite exhausted, I excused myself from the group and made my way--for the first time since NYC--back to my apartment. I was tired. And more than any PowerBar samples, free water bottles, or overpriced Adidas merchandise, what I really needed two days before the 2010 Boston Marathon was sleep.

Expo. Check.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

episode 1: nyc

Warning: The following series of blog posts is written with my mom in mind. I fully understand if most of you aren't particularly interested in the level of detail I hope to provide concerning this monumental day in my life. But Mom will. =)

To keep the details manageable, I'm going to tackle the day (and days prior) in parts. First up--my trip to NYC!

And one more quick note before I begin: Big thanks to all of my friends, coworkers, and fellow runners for sharing their photos with me! The series of posts to follow would be far less complete had you smart people who remembered to bring cameras not shared your wealth, and I thank you.


At 6:30 AM on Thursday, April 15--exactly four days and four hours before the start of the 2010 Boston Marathon--I closed the door to my apartment behind me, giant backpack strapped to my back and bus ticket confirmation email in hand. I was on my way to meet a friend of mine visiting from Montana in NYC to check out the Big Apple for the first time. Goodness gracious.

That marked the beginning of the most eventful weekend of my life. Thankfully, as hoped for, the sights and sounds of the city served as the perfect distraction/replacement for stressing out about the marathon. Some photographic, notable distractions included attending a live taping of The Colbert Report,

checking out Rockefeller Center,

exploring Central Park,

and looking like an utter tourist in Grand Central Station.

As predicted
, maintaining anything resembling a normal diet was quite a challenge in a new city. (Finding a place to run my scheduled five miles Thursday would have been up there as well, but I decided early on that walking all over the city all day would suffice.)

Brian, Chris (pictured above in blue), and I went to a lovely Thai restaurant after the Colbert taping. I looked through the menu at a bunch of new and tempting items, vaguely thinking that I had never tried duck before, and surely it wouldn't hurt to try something new with a few days yet to go before the marathon... even if it didn't agree with me, I would have more than a few hours to get it out of my system... and I was finally in my very most dreamed-of city, after all... what better place to try new things...

But it was there. Looming over me. Over Chris's right shoulder--sitting on the bar that stood alongside our table--was a business card holder. And on the cards in that holder read three words that would have meant nothing to me six months ago, but now--they watched, cautioned, advised:

TEAM IN TRAINING

For anyone not on my marathon team, that requires more than three words of explanation. My coach--Coach Rick, who I've mentioned in this blog a few times before--is now the coach of a team that consists of five different nonprofits: Boston Partners, Bottom Line, the Boston Debate League, Museum of Science, and The Esplanade. Before coaching this group that has affectionately come to be called The Coalition, Coach Rick worked with one of the Boston Athletic Association's larger legacy charities, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And the name of their team? Indeed. Team in Training.

Coach Rick was watching over me. And I played it safe with a chicken dish. =)

Friday morning arrived shortly after our Thai meal (actually, as late as we ate dinner there, it may have arrived during the meal), and with it came the start of my three-day pre-marathon carb load. Chris--Brian and I's personal guide to a whirlwind tour of the city--found out about my Carb Quest and did me the great favor of taking it very seriously.

When the time came for Friday lunch, Chris marched me straight to a delicious pasta bar where I got to choose my own pasta, my own sauce, and my own extra additions. (Shut up; it was exciting.) =)

Our lunches in hand, Brian and I took to our usual role of trusting that Chris knew where he was going, and we followed him for several blocks to some location which we would only discover once we had arrived. And Chris took to his usual role of choosing the perfect spot. He took us straight to one of the red tables pictured here:


And so I sat--in the middle of Times Square--and carb-loaded for the 2010 Boston Marathon.

Life is good.

more laurel outlook fame!

Marathon Post is still in progress, but in the meantime...

Larry Tanglen at the Laurel Outlook (my hometown newspaper) was kind enough to compose a follow-up article about my marathon completion--and then put it on the front page! Again!

The complete text can be found here:
http://www.laureloutlook.com/articles/2010/04/21/news/big_story/01big.txt

...and if you're like the folks who have already seen this, you'll get quite a kick out of one of my mother's comments... Mother... =)

Thank you so much, Larry! This article makes me impressed with myself! =D

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

26.2

Complete Marathon Experience post is pending--I don't want to throw one together while tired and short-change it. =)

In the meantime, please enjoy one of my favorite pre-race photos snapped in the Athletes' Village (from left: me, Erin, & Laura.)


Truly a phenomenal experience--details pending!!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

6, 5, 4...

At some point, I stopped having to click the "Extended Forecast" link to obsessively check the weather on April 19, and it started to show up in the 5-day forecast. The countdown to Patriots' Day continues.

The following paragraph is the most important thing I have ever posted on this blog:


As the Day of Reckoning nears, let me sincerely thank everyone who has supported me through this adventure. If you sent me a text, sent me a check, stopped by my desk to ask about last weekend's run, stopped by my blog to leave a comment, donated to my Firstgiving page, helped with a water stop, ran alongside me in a weekday run, listened to me ramble incessantly about yesterday's weekday run, or encouraged me to undertake this crazy adventure in the first place--you rock. I couldn't have conquered the training and fundraising undertaking without the outpouring of support from family, friends, and new friends. As wonderful a circle of people with which I know I'm surrounded, your support has been even greater than I imagined. Thank you.

And thanks to all of you, I have raised $4,100.00 for Boston Partners in Education so far! That is truly incredible, and I can assure you that you're supporting a nonprofit with a wonderful mission--as well as supporting me! Double thank you for helping me to surpass my fundraising goal.

As I type, I am currently on my way to New York City for the first time (buses with Wi-Fi--who knew?) A somewhat last minute, pre-marathon weekend out of town is proving to be both a fantastic and terrible decision.

Fantastic! Speedy vacation-planning has done an incredible job of keeping my mind off of the marathon. Someone at work came by and asked if I was ready for Monday; I replied with genuine wonder, "What's Monday?" I even forgot to check the April 19 forecast yesterday until reminded about it by a friend! Though now that I've just reminded myself, perhaps I'll go check it again now...

I'm especially thankful for the unexpected blessing of distraction as I watch a few of my teammates... I don't want to say "freak out," but it's clear that the Boston is the prominent thing on their minds. Don't get me wrong, I'm at my highest point of freaking out (now I'll say it!) as well, but the anxiety is mostly for the NYC trip at this point. It will be switched back to the Marathon the moment get off of the bus in Boston on Saturday, get on the T, and go directly to the Expo to pick up my bib.

Terrible! There are certain things you need to do the weekend before a marathon, and being out of town makes many of them a bit more difficult. For example, Coach Rick's recommendation of sticking to foods you know will be nearly impossible without access to my kitchen at home. Carb loading three days prior to the race would also be easier if I was doing the grocery shopping, but I imagine ordering pasta Friday night should take care of that. It also helps that Saturday and Sunday will be spent back in Boston, so I'll be able to stay off my feet on Sunday as Coach also wisely recommended. And anyway, finally getting a taste of NYC = so worth it!

In case I don't have a chance to post again before the Marathon, another sincere thanks to everyone who has kept up on this blog! It always means a lot to me when folks ask a question about something I posted or leave a comment. So, specifically to you reader, thanks! I honor you with this creepy baby:


Wish me luck in the Big Apple, and I swear my mind will be much more focused on the marathon next time I post. (Read: don't you worry; we'll get back to the million-word posts again soon enough!)

=)

Monday, April 12, 2010

springsteen narrates the boston course

I don't necessarily recommend that my fellow teammates watch this, in case it has the same effect on their nerves that it did on mine... but here's a video someone created of the entire Boston Marathon course in high-speed. Very cool. And now my stomach hurts.