I finished running the Boston Marathon today in 3 hours and 57 minutes – hitting my goal by just 3 minutes! I still can’t believe I did it. Let’s start at the beginning…
On Sunday morning I woke up at 3 am for some stupid sale you might have heard of… #LillyForTarget. I should have had anxiety for my marathon but instead my heart was pounding that I had to have a shift dress for $34! What girls do for a little sale action. I was up from 3-4am trying to order some stupid printed preppy outfits. Knowing I was preparing for the marathon, my friend Ashley (Healthy Happier Bear) offered to help and insisted I go to sleep to prep. She scored me the romper I desperately wanted. Ashley is my forever life saver. I was able to sleep more easily once I knew I had secured an item. Yep. I’m that girl. I know. It’s ridiculous. I refuse to buy anything Lilly from eBay.
I slept until 10:30 am and went for an easy 2 mile shake out. I spent most of Sunday being lazy and running errands for my vacation after the marathon. One of those errands was to Target where literally EVERYTHING was sold by 2pm except for a few nail polishes. For dinner, I had sushi from Genki Ya because I had it before my last long run and it went so well, I knew I wanted to have it again. I took a hot bath and was in bed by 10 pm.
Marathon Monday
I woke up at 5:10 am. Took a quick shower, got dressed, and had a warm cup of water with lemon juice before heading over to Copley Square to get on the bus to drive to Hopkinton. At the VIP tent, they provided coffee, bagels, bananas and more for the runners. The buses left Copley Square at 7am and were given a police escort out to the starting line!
Why did I have a VIP pass? Adidas, who got me my bib is a title sponsor and gave me access to amenities that their team is provided along with the employees and guests of the John Hancock runners. Yes, I was lucky and grateful for this huge perk.
After the 50 minute drive, we arrived and I had about an hour of down time before I needed to head out to my corral. I was too nervous to eat anything other than what I made at home which was a peanut butter and banana sandwich on Cinnamon Raisin Ezekial Bread. In Chicago, there wasn’t enough time in between getting up and the start of the race to get nervous. I had 5 hours to psyche myself up or out! I probably used the porto potty a total of 5 or 6 times before the start. One of my best friends from High School was part of the John Hancock team so we got to hang and debate our outfit choices before the start.
The forecast was 45F, rain and wind. I wanted to wear my cute tank top but stay dry and warm. I decided to wear capri pants, my adidas ultra boost sneakers, tank and throw away jacket. However, I decided that jacket might need to stay put the entire race so I put my tank with my name on top with the potential to take it off mid run and still have my bib showing. Not the most fashionable outfit but it worked. I also brought a poncho that I didn’t plan to wear much.
The walk to the starting line was a good 15 minute walk. The white bags were for discarded clothes that were to be donated. I drank my vega pre workout energizer and put on my poncho in preparation for the rain to start shortly after the gun were to go off.
It wasn’t freezing when we lined up but I knew I would be if I were to get wet quick… I felt good. I was nervous and my trainer gave me a plan. I just had to believe I could hit my goal. I didn’t think I could do it to be completely honest. I trusted my training but I did not think I could maintain a 9 minute mile or less for 26.2 miles.
To be continued… so this isn’t the longest most boring post.
