First of all, my awesome friend Cindy had a great race at the Boston Marathon. She shaved off about 15 minutes from her Boston debut in 2007. Congratulations Cindy!!! You inspire me and I love running with ya day in and day out in the 'hood!
Running Boston together has been something we have been working at and dreaming about for over 3 years. We both qualified in different races in 2006 and ran our first Boston together in 2007. Even though we were thrilled to be there, the torrential rains made for a somewhat less than pleasant, although definitely memorable, race. We tried again in 2008, Cindy was injured and unable to run - she cheered me on. We tried again in 2009, I got sick - I cheered her on. Maybe 2010 will be our chance to finally run together again :)
Cindy and I before she got on the bus to the starting line in Hopkinton. Since I was in cheerleader mode, I decided to get up and walk to the busing area with her for one last high five.
Cindy and Nancy before the start. We met Nancy and Travis, her husband, back in 2006 at the Sacramento Marathon and ironically ran into them last 2 years at the Boston sports expo. Cindy has a knack for meeting fun people wherever she goes! We had so much fun with them this year that we are trying to get them to come to Colorado (from Idaho) to do a race and visit us soon!
In case you have not been to a race like this before, the runners line up hours in advance of the race to get on a bus to be transported to the starting line. Can you believe all these people??? 25,000 runners getting on buses in an hour and a half time span, now that takes some organization, especially downtown Boston!!!
Despite waiting near the finish line for over an hour, I missed Cindy in the sea of runners and did not get a finishing photo:( Sorry - I obviously need to work on my spectator skills!!!
Travis and I did, however, find Nancy. She also had a tremendous race, despite a death in her family and some recent illnesses. This was her 35th marathon - wow - you are an inspiration!!! Congratulations Nancy!
Travis, her husband is the ultimate fan and spectator. He and I had a great time tracking their splits on my computer, watching the elite race in the hotel and trying to find the girls after the race. He even had beer and snacks, too bad I was still recovering and unable to join him for those - maybe next year!
Here are the champs warming up in their cozy robes after ice baths and warm showers. Nice Medals!!!
Two weeks after Boston ,
my friend Raelene ran the Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins, in her quest to qualify for Boston (obviously she has been hanging around Cindy and I too long!). Since I was back in training mode, I tried to enter the race to run with her, but the race was already full. So I settled for jumping in and running the last 10 miles with her. All her hard work and training paid off - she had a spectacular race and qualified for Boston with many minutes to spare! Congratulations Raelene!!! I am so happy for you and proud to have been a small part of your dream come true:) I knew you could do it...
Raelene's running and cheering crew, from left: me, Kathy (congrats on your 1/2 marathon!!!), Raelene, Rhonda (you're next if you don't watch out) and Cindy.
Finally, my long-time, good friend Michelle also ran the 1/2 marathon in Fort Collins and had a super fast time also - way to go Michelle!!! This is even more impressive considering she recently shattered her Half-Ironman Triathlon PR by something crazy like 20 minutes - wow! Now that makes marathons look like a walk in the park. Keep up the great work - you are going to have an incredible season, congrats!!!
So, now it is my turn. I am in my final taper week before the Colorado Colfax Marathon on May 17, this Sunday (See link above). I feel good and cautiously optimistic. I actually think the extra time off and extra few miles of training might make for a better race than what I would have had at Boston had I not gotten sick. We will see. As I have learned the hard way, you can do everything right and still fall victim to something out of your control that can ruin your day. As a card Cindy gave me recently said, "Life is all about how you handle Plan B" . So, I am going to go out there and give it all I got for Plan B, and of course, "Run like a girl..."
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