Thoughts on Boston

One year since the 2013 Boston Marathon. Seems like forever ago and yesterday at the same time.

I was one of the last few thousand people to experience crossing the finish line of the "old" Boston Marathon. Last year, 17,580 people finished. I was the 15,961st.
 
It makes me sad that no one else will get to experience the old Boston Marathon.
 
It makes me angry that the Boston Marathon has changed for reasons that have nothing to do with the Boston Marathon. Road races in general have changed ... extra security, clear gear bags, restrictions on costumes and spectators and backpacks, and a whole bunch of reactive measures that may or may not make races safer.
 
I have no doubt that the 2014 Boston Marathon will be the best Boston Marathon ever. It will be different, though.
 
Maybe it will be different in the way that everything after 9/11 was different. I spectated at the 2002 Boston Marathon. I don't remember whether it was or wasn't different, but I do remember waving an American flag. Back then, I had no idea what a big deal the Boston Marathon was.
 
One year later, I am happy to report that I have zero long-term effects. Sure, I was hypersensitive to sirens on emergency vehicles for a while, but that is barely noticeable now. Part of why I am fine was self-care in the days following the Boston Marathon. My coping skills kicked in without even thinking about them. I knew what I had to do, and I knew what I had to look out for.
 
But I will never unhear those explosions. I do not walk the streets of Boston the same way. I will never use the expression "Have a blast" again. Ever. I have to be careful about media coverage, especially around anniversaries.
 
I am still counting my blessings that of all the things that could have put me or my husband in the wrong place at the wrong time, not a single one of them happened.

Boston Strong.

Remembering Boston on National Running Day

Happy National Running Day!

Did I run today? Nope. I have not ran since the Boston Marathon. And I do not feel bad about that in the slightest bit. Oh, I am still exercising but in different ways. My body needs a break from running.

Since I did not run today, how about some photos from my trip to Boston over the weekend?

Honestly, it was a little weird to be in Boston. It seemed like nothing had changed, and yet everything has changed. But it was good. I got to go back and hang around downtown Boston and visit the Public Garden, just as I had planned to do after the Boston Marathon. I am glad I had a chance to go back.

I got to see the Boston Marathon memorial in Copley Square.






Hands touching hands reaching out touching you is a line from Sweet Caroline.




Been waiting for a while to show my medal to the mama duck in the Public Garden. Mama duck approved.


I do so enjoy Boston.

Boston Revisited

I am going to Boston this weekend. Yay.

Except not yay. I am having surprisingly mixed feelings about that. Not exactly sure why. College reunion is part of it. Or rather, a certain classmate who I don't think is going to be there but might is part of it. The Boston Marathon is part of it too. Oh, it will be fine and I will be excited by the time the weekend rolls around. For now, I am not the least bit excited.

I am going to the Public Garden to visit the duck statues with my Boston Marathon medal, just as I had planned to do after the Boston Marathon. I am going to Boylston Street and the finish area. Hopefully, I will buy a Boston Strong shirt from Marathon Sports or City Sports, both of which are near the finish area.

I will see some friends I haven't seen since the last college reunion. I'm kinda beyond drinking and staying up all night, but it will be fun. The last one was fun.

I will tell you one thing. It will be very much like the Boston Marathon. Eagle coming home. Again.

Boston Marathon: After the Marathon

2:50 pm. Still in the changing tent. There was a boom. It sounded like a cannon, or a very heavy truck going over a bump. At first, I thought it might be part of Patriots' Day. I couldn't tell where it came from.

Then there was another boom. Everyone started looking at each other, thinking this isn't right. This can't be good.

No. It wasn't right and it wasn't good.

Someone, I can't remember if it was a volunteer or a runner or someone else, said people were running. A volunteer told us to get out of the tent and leave. And go where? What was going on? Where was it? Were we heading towards it or away from it? What if there was another boom?

For the next 20 minutes or so, I was mostly unaware of what had happened. My #1 priority was finding my husband. I talked to him again (I had a missed call from him, so I knew he was OK) and he was on his way to meet me. It was surprisingly unchaotic, although no one really knew what was going on. I certainly didn't. Maybe that's why, so far, I feel like it hasn't been that traumatic. I never panicked. I hadn't seen anything. So thankful for that.

My husband found me in the family meeting area and we tried to figure out what to do. I just wanted to get the hell out of Boston as soon as possible. He was hungry. Emergency vehicles started heading toward the finish area. Ambulances. Police. We started walking in the opposite direction. At some point, I posted to Facebook that we were OK and called my parents. I already had tons of messages on my phone.

We popped into a crowded bar, saw the news of Explosions in Boston, and quickly left to find some other place to eat. We ended up at a Thai place that was mostly empty. I knew I needed to eat, but the last thing I wanted to do was eat. I managed to have a couple bites of vegetables and a cup of hot tea. But my stomach, which had been unsettled in the last few miles, just couldn't take more than that.

We walked a few more blocks to South Station to take the commuter train home. I have never appreciated Rhode Island as much as I did that day.

I keep wondering what if?

What if I ran slower? What if I had gotten injured?

What if my ankle decided to hurt during the marathon and I was somewhere out on the course? This was a big calculated risk, even before I stepped over the start line.

What if the bombs went off earlier? I ran within yards of both bombs. I will never know if they were already there when I ran by. I will never know if I had seen the people who dropped those bombs.

What if something had happened to my husband? Because he was out watching me run a marathon?

What if I didn't have a missed call from my husband after the bombs went off, so that I knew he was OK? What if we hadn't easily met up?

What if I didn't have my phone, or my battery wasn't fully charged when I left in the morning?

What if there were more bombs?

What if I didn't know my way around Boston and knew exactly where I was? What if I didn't know that I could walk to South Station to catch the commuter train home, instead of Back Bay closer to the finishing area?

What if. Those questions don't have answers.

The "what if" questions almost don't matter. People often talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was in the right places at the right times. For all the things that could have gone wrong, not one of them did. I am so grateful and thankful for that.

Boston Marathon: Mile by Mile Recap

This post is going to cover the 2013 Boston Marathon up to 2:50 pm.

Up until that point, I had an incredibly positive and fun experience with the Boston Marathon. I want people to know that. I want people to know that the spectators and the volunteers, every single one of them, were fantastic. I owe the spectators in particular more than I can ever say.

As a caveat, I am a Boston College alumna. That certainly influences how I experienced the Boston Marathon. I already knew the excitement and joyousness of Patriots' Day and Marathon Monday firsthand. I had been there twice as a student. There is a tremendous amount of energy around Patriots' Day and the marathon.

My day started at 4 am. Woke up, had coffee and breakfast, slathered on sunscreen and Body Glide, got dressed, and headed out the door to catch a commuter train up to Boston.

All in for Boston. The Boston College Superfan shirt was a very wise choice.


While I was waiting for the train, I chatted with some people about the marathon. The conductor saw my marathon bag and gave me a free ride. Totally not expecting that. I looked at the course map, watched a pretty sunrise, and tried to keep myself calm.

I got off the train in Back Bay at around 6:35, near the finishing area, and then walked to the bus loading area at Boston Common. The lines for the bus were disorganized, but I was warm and everyone was heading to the same place. All roads led to Hopkinton. I chatted with a lady from California on the line and on the bus.

I got to the runners village at about 9am. Got in line for a porta-potty. Then dropped off my bag and started heading to the start line. I didn't have much time to hang around, which is probably a good thing. There are so many people and everything is so far away that you need a lot of time to get from place to place.

Start corrals this way


No stopping Monday


The porta-potties closer to the start had no lines. I literally walked right into one. I heard the national anthem. Then Wave 1 went off. Finally it was time for Wave 2 runners to start heading to the corrals. And wait just a little while longer.

Here we go. This is the only picture I have of the marathon.


Mile 1-2 - Hopkinton - I had a giant smile in the first few miles. I was running Boston! The early miles are in the middle of nowhere, but I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd support. People cheered me, "Go BC!" the whole way. It was incredible. I knew I had to be mindful of not going out too fast because 1) the first mile is mostly downhill and my pace was going to be off 2) I was going to be around runners who would be running much faster than me and 3) I really didn't know what was going to happen to my ankle.

Mile 3-4 - Ashland - Much the same as Hopkinton. Good crowd support. Mostly downhill. Go BC.

Mile 5-7 - Framingham - The course flattened out around this point. I started noticing that spectators were giving out all sorts of things. Water. Ice. Twizzlers. Tissues. Ice pops. Oranges. Sponges. If you ever needed something, someone had it.

Mile 8-11 - Natick - Still going pretty good. Cruising along and having fun. There was one isolated stretch where I almost pulled out my iPod. But then the crowds picked up again and I didn't need it. I actually ran the entire marathon without music.

The first 11 miles and the towns of Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, and Natick ticked away easily. And then I started slowing down and taking walk breaks. I was getting twinges in my right quad. The downhills in the first half wreck your quads if you aren't prepared. I've had massive quad failures before. That's not fun. Thankfully, the quad twinges never got worse than just twinges. Thankfully, I had banked plenty of wiggle room time and didn't really care if I slowed down.

Mile 12-15 - Wellesley - The Wellesley College scream tunnel was fun. The Wellesley girls have posters with "Kiss me I'm ..." Kiss me I'm a New Yawker. Kiss me I'm a scientist. Downtown Wellesley was full of people. I really loved the crowd support. Hit the halfway point at 1:51.

Mile 16 - Newton - Eagle coming home!! 5 miles to Boston College. This was where the course started getting hard. I saw my running buddies somewhere around this point. They were so excited for me! Just what I needed.

Mile 17-19 - The turn onto Commonwealth Ave. and then the hills. Oh, the hills. They are no joke. Walking is OK. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.

Mile 20 - Heartbreak Hill - I made a point of not stopping on Heartbreak Hill. Because I knew what was less than a mile away ...

Mile 21 - Boston College - My favorite part!! I cannot tell you how amazing it was to run past BC and hear so many cheers for me. The BC kids went nuts! "Go BC!" "Go Eagles!" "Go Superfan!" It was waaaay better than the Wellesley scream tunnel. The Heartbreak was over. Mostly downhill all the way into Boston.

Mile 22-23 - Brookline. Cleveland Circle and Beacon Street. Tons of crowds. Lots of cheers. You could see the skyscrapers in downtown Boston and the Citgo sign if you looked carefully. They looked so far away. I was hurting. Not excruciatingly hurting. Not the worst hurting in a marathon I've had before. But hurting. My lower back hurt. My quads were still twingy. My ankle ... was totally fine. Thank goodness.

Mile 24 - Coolidge Corner - Large crowds. The Citgo sign suddenly started to look closer.

Mile 25 - Kenmore Square. Welcome to Boston. Passed the Citgo sign with 1 mile to go. Looked at my Garmin and knew that I had less than a minute of wiggle room left. Go. Now.

Mile 26 - Right turn onto Hereford Street. Left turn onto Boylston Street. Less than a half mile to go. Go. Go. Go. Crowds and cheers everywhere. Finish line in sight.

Mile 26.2 - I had been on the right side of the course for the entire marathon but switched to the left side just before the finish line. The clock for my wave was on the left side. Crossed the finish line at 3:59:20, 40 seconds under my 4-hour goal. I cut it close, but I made it. Sweet. I was a Boston Marathon finisher. Double sweet.

Unofficial Garmin time and medal


I walked slowly to collect water, a heat blanket, my medal, a protein bar, Gatorade, a bag of snacks, and a banana. Then I went to the bag busses to get my bag and my extra set of clothes. I talked to my husband and headed toward the changing tent and exit.

By that time, it was 2:50 pm. I was in the changing tent. Warm dry clothes and Adidas sandals never felt so good.

For Boston

Finished. All are safe and sound. Out of Boston.

That's all I really want to say. I am so incredibly sickened and sad by this whole thing. Thoughts and prayers to everyone involved.

Boston Marathon Expo

Hello, Boston Marathon Expo.


I drove to the expo. On the downside, it was probably a mistake because the traffic was horrendous due to street closures. On the plus side, I drove a few miles of the course and got to see mile/kilometer markers painted on the road. That was good. I liked this sign on a Massachusetts state police vehicle. The tape says Boston Marathon.


The expo was crowded. Really crowded. Make sure you allot plenty of time and go with room in your stomach. There were samples everywhere. Frozen kefir, yogurt, drinks, bars, snacks, you name it. Brooks had spaghetti. By the time I got there, I was tired and not hungry at all.

I had 3 things I wanted to buy: a Boston Marathon jacket, Yurbuds, and Nuun. Check, check, and check. The only thing I bought that wasn't on my list was a pint glass. Every running vendor you could think of was there.

Here's all the stuff in the swag bag and the stuff I bought, plus the Runner Passport on a lanyard (new this year), official program, poster, my bib, and a picture from Brooks. The poster has every runner's name on it. Nice.


I bought some cherry limeade and watermelon Nuun, and so I got 2 Boston Marathon Nuun water bottles. Score! I needed a new water bottle.


This Sam Adams bottle opener was in the swag bag. The 26.2 sticker was nice too.


One more day til Marathon Monday!!

Boston Marathon Playlist

It's that time to pull my marathon playlist together. The more and more I think about it, I may not even run with my iPod. But we'll see. It will be a marathon-eve or gameday decision.

I take my playlist from my previous marathon, cut any song that I didn't like during the race or am just tired off, add new songs, and pick some songs that are location-specific. King of New Orleans made on my playlist for New Orleans. Ocean songs made it onto my playlist for Virginia Beach.

Here are some new editions. I've been on an 80s kick, thanks to the Depeche Mode station on Pandora.

Ellie Goulding - Lights
Information Society - What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)
Linkin Park - Burn It Down
Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It
Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven
Christina Aguilera - Your Body
Rihanna - Diamonds

The Boston-specific song are an interesting mix. If I could live anywhere, I would live in Boston. Hands down. Despite that, I have a love-hate relationship with Boston. See, I have an ex-boyfriend who, as far as I know, is in Boston. Things between us didn't end well at all. I am going back to Boston College this summer for a college reunion. There are some events around this time of year that are kicking up old memories. Physically being in Boston, especially in April, magnifies all of that. Having said that, the ex-boyfriend and anything that reminds me of him motivate me to run harder, not give up, push through discomfort, and I am stronger than I ever imagined. So there will be Boston songs, Boston College songs, bad relationship songs, and anything that helped me get through the 2007-2008 academic year (related to dealing with the ex-boyfriend). Bring it, Boston.

Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston (was already on my playlist from Shamrock/Gansett)
Seal - Fly like an Eagle (Go Boston College Eagles!)
Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Switchfoot - Dare You to Move
Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds
Pearl Jam - Evenflow (live from Boston May 2006 ... yes, I was there)
The Standells - Dirty Water (played at the end of Boston Red Sox games)
Foo Fighters - The Pretender
Nine Inch Nails & Carley Rae Jepson - Call Me A Hole - I cannot even tell you how brilliant this mash-up is. It is NIN's vocals with the instrumentals/beat from Call Me Maybe. Dark lyrics with an upbeat tune? Perfect for Boston.
Foo Fighters - Best of You
Katy Perry - Part of Me (already on my playlist from Gansett, but also fits with the bad relationship theme)

The Holy Grail of Marathons

I am registered for the 2013 Boston Marathon.

I had to wait until registration was open to all runners who qualified and hope that being 4 minutes under the qualifying time was enough to get in. It was. I never really worried about this, based on the time margin in last year's registration and the tougher standards this year, plus a warm spring and a warmer-than-usual 2012 Boston Marathon where fewer runners requalified.

I was really on the fence about Boston. On the one hand, I took a calculated risk in assuming I'd be able to build a base back up and train properly. But on the other hand, I registered because I am not sure I will ever qualify again. Most runners have to work really hard for a BQ. I am just not sure I want to or will be able to commit to that kind of training again. You train for the opportunity to attempt a BQ. There is no guarantee that you will get a BQ because anything can happen on race day.

I have a long way to go. I am back on the treadmill and back on the road. That's a step in the right direction. I have to be *really* careful about running outside, specifically about running on hills. The area where I live is hilly. Hills contributed to my tendonitis issue. For now, I am mostly on the treadmill. Yet the Boston Marathon is hilly. Hello, Catch-22.

I will tell you one thing. I am finally excited about Boston.

Boston Bound

One of the nice things about being temporarily unemployed is having time to do whatever I want to do. Before I left Rhode Island, I went up to Boston for the day.

I started off in the Copley area. The Boston Marathon finishes just about here. Next year :-)


John Hancock Tower


Then I walked to the Public Garden. The pond for the swan boats was empty, but some trees were starting to bloom.



I took my Shamrock medal to the duck statues. The mama duck approved.


Walked down Newbury Street, Boston's main shopping street. Dunkin Donuts and Lululemon are neighbors? Oh, that is bad.


I asked at LLL about the "stuff your bra" tank and bra that have pockets built into them. Great idea, but could be really flawed. They weren't in yet. I chatted with a couple of the salespeople about just qualifying for Boston and running next year. They were excited! I said I'd run in either Lululemon or a Boston College Superfan shirt. They approved either way.

Then I went to Coolidge Corner to meet a friend for lunch at Anna's Taqueria. Still the best Mexican food anywhere. Mmmm. Get extra fresh salsa and hot sauce. Coolidge Corner has a mix of chain stores and smaller shops. It kinda reminds me of the area in DC where I moved to.

Then I went to Boston College. Scaled the "Great Wall of China." Like many college campuses, BC is on a hill. It's about 125 steps to the top. When I used to give campus tours, we were told to never ever take tour groups up the Great Wall of China.


Gasson Hall is our centerpiece building. It looks shiny and new because parts of it are shiny and new. In 2008, the top 1/4 of the tower was taken down for restoration. It was *very* weird being at BC during that time with The Tower missing.


Walked the labyrinth. I love walking the labyrinth. It is not a maze. There is only one path to the center. You follow the path to the center, spend some time there, and then retrace your path back out. It is supposed to offer a chance for meditation. I've walked this particular labyrinth 5 times now. Every time has taught me something different. This time, it was focus and be patient.


Had dinner at Hillsides Cafe. Hillsides opened the year I graduated. Mmmm, turkey sandwich with homemade chips and a pickle. I miss those sandwiches.

Gasson Hall at night.



And that was it.