Boston Marathon 2018

It has been over a month since the Boston Marathon and I thought it was about time that I sit down and write about a race that was one for the record books. My Boston 2018 journey actually started the day after Boston 2017. I always thought that running the Boston Marathon would be a one and done. It took a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice to get to the starting line in 2017 and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that again. I loved the challenge it presented but I also love trying new and different adventures. But, the weekend was such an inspiring and emotional experience that I felt I needed to come back again. So, I signed up for another qualifying race, the same race I used to qualify for 2017, Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon. I had so many big races in 2017 so all I really needed to do was keep training, maintain my fitness, not get injured and have a perfect race day! I wasn’t asking for too much, was I!! Well, my training was on par, I stayed healthy and I had a perfect race day. David was running the same race, to try and qualify, but did not have a great day. He eventually waited for me and we met up at mile 22. I was really hurting and seeing him was exactly what I needed. Despite the fact that he was not having the day he wanted, and he was hurting, he encouraged me, pushed me and ran with me to achieve my goal, not only another qualifying time but my best marathon ever, a huge PR.

                                              

Since David and I were on the Hyland’s Boston Marathon team for 2017, I was invited back for 2018. This time I would be joined by 17 truly inspiring teachers (as well as other participants like myself, who qualified, known as legacy runners). Teachers who really care about their students, who really want to make an impact on future generations, who are so passionate about teaching, the type of teacher that students never forget. I was introduced to the team and had the privilege of getting to know all of them all via social media. They had “homework” assignments each week, which allowed the entire team, as well as the rest of the world, get an up close and personal look at each one of these amazing educators. We also had a private Facebook page where we were all able to share our training, our fears, our excitement and our journey to Boston 2018. David and I even had the opportunity to meet some of the my teammates for a run in the hills of LA.

                                        

Fast forward to marathon weekend, we flew in to Boston, met my parents and arrived at our hotel and ran into some Hyland’s teammates, people whom we had never met but felt like old friends who had not seen each other in a while. As more of us started to filter in the excitement started to build. The chatter quickly turned to the weather and race day clothing options, as the forecast for race day was looking less than desirable for a marathon. The weather is one thing that we have no control over, so I was trying not to focus on it and instead stay in the moment and enjoy a first-class weekend. Saturday started with the BAA 5k followed by a team brunch. This was a great way to really get to know each other on a more personal level and socialize. Margot (President and Chief Strategy Officer of Hyland’s) and Mike (Hyland’s Head Coach) talked about what an honor it has been to be a part of this experience and all I could think about was how lucky I was and how honored I was to be a part of this team. After brunch we had some free time and then it was off to the Red Sox game at Fenway Park, courtesy of Hyland’s of course. We couldn’t pas up the opportunity to see a game at the iconic Fenway Park. Then is was off to the marathon expo to  check -in, pick up my race bib and shop at the expo.

                                     

Sunday morning the team and our families were treated to an amazing brunch at Margot’s house. It was there that we got to meet and mingle with the man of the Boston Marathon, the race director, Dave McGillivray. He is such a humble, sincere guy who, even with the marathon the following day, found the time to spend with our team. I was a little star struck!!

                       

The rest of the day was spent back at the marathon expo and relaxing with my feet up, until dinner. My go-to pre race dinner is always sushi. Some people think I am crazy, but for me it works great, a perfect combination of protein and carbs, it does not sit heavy in my stomach and is super easy to digest. My parents and my father’s cousins joined us for dinner, cousins we had not seen in a year (last year for dinner the night before the race) and prior to that many, many years before. As the day turned into night the weather progressed from sunny and moderate temperatures, to cold, windy and snow flurries.

Race morning we woke to rain, 30 mph winds and temperatures in the mid 30’s with the wind chill. David and I dressed and walked to get some coffee, and it was raining but a normal rain. I thought well, if it rains like this during the race, well that wouldn’t be too bad, I have run in rain many times before. I felt prepared for the weather, tights on bottom, thin long sleeve base layer on top covered by a heavier jacket, a jacket that I have worn in the cold and rain before (little did I know what rain really meant). I had 2 hats on, my thin smart wool on bottom with my new Hyland’s headsweats on top. And then to top it all off I had a throw away sweatshirt and a free poncho, both of which I planned to discard at the start of the race. They were just for some extra warmth and protection while I walked to the starting line from the bus. As part of our first-class treatment with Hyland’s we have our own private bus to the start line. This means we get our own bathroom, on the bus, and we don’t have to sit and wait in the athletes’ village for hours before the race starts. I was able to sit on the bus, staying warm and dry until the last possible minute, this (I quickly learned when I got off the bus) was such a gift. The mud was so thick, so slick and everywhere, the wind and cold were so relentless with little to no protection out in the staging area. It got so bad and the rain was so heavy that the race organizers abandoned the corrals and just told everyone to start moving toward the start line, to start as soon as possible. They didn’t want anyone waiting around any longer than they needed to. There were already medical tents that were filled with participants, runners who never even had the opportunity to start as the time spent in the staging area lead to hypothermia.

                                                            

I quickly dropped my throw away sweatshirt, it was rain soaked, heavy and now making me cold, but I kept on my throw away poncho. It wasn’t keeping me dry by any means, but I felt that it was keeping me a bit protected from the wind. Maybe it was all in my head, but somehow keeping the poncho on meant I would I be warm. I thought I would take it off, I thought, when the rain dies down, when the wind improves, when… That when never came and that once throw away poncho stayed with me for the duration of the race. Once I faced the fact that the weather was not going to improve and I was keeping that poncho on, I moved my race belt and number to the outside, this was a good move as it would keep the poncho from becoming a sail in the wind.

I had a race plan and I decided to stick with it. The goal was to just keep moving forward and never stop, because I knew once I stopped it wouldn’t take much for me to become hypothermic. I don’t do well with being cold and now I was also wet from head to toe. I just focused on one mile at a time. I tried to stay in the moment and not think about how long this race would take or how much harder it could rain, or how much windier it could get or how much colder my hands could feel. I tried to relish in the fact that there were spectators out, yelling and screaming and cheering for us, despite the weather. I began to notice that the heavier the rain became the louder the crowds got. They wanted us, the runners, to know that they were there for us, they were out there despite the rain and the wind and the cold and they were happy to be a part of the most iconic marathon in the world. I hit a low point at mile 11, negative thoughts started to fill my head, I was cold and wet and shivering and knew this was how it would be for the next 15 miles of the race. I texted David at that point, told him how cold I was, he offered some words of encouragement and made sure I knew that he was there for me, cheering me on every step of the way and how proud he was of me. I pushed on and would text him every once in while to let him know where I was and how I was doing. He always answered, with an upbeat, morale boosting sentiment, something that would keep me going. Mile after mile I kept moving forward, the crowds never diminished and neither did the rain or the wind. At some point I actually started to let myself enjoy the suffering and I became extremely emotional. I hit heartbreak hill and knew that I would finish, I would finish a race that would make history for being one of the wettest, coldest and windiest Boston Marathons.

At mile 26 as I was running down Boylston street, I could see the finish line in the distance and then I spotted my parents. Standing there in the cold and rain, waiting patiently to see me and cheer me to the finish. I know my parents are my biggest supporters and I know how much they love to see me race, but for them to be standing out there in that weather, waiting for me, not knowing if they would even see me, it was such a  heart warming and touching moment. I got a huge smile on my face, I forgot about how cold I was or how hard it was raining or how I was hurting, (after all I did run a marathon) and it was the last little boost I needed to get across that finish line.

I crossed that line, got my medal, and just kept moving. I didn’t stop for water or for food. I was on a mission to get out of the weather as quickly as possible. I spotted the amazing Hyland’s cheering section and was escorted by Margot into the University Club. (For those not familiar with the UC, it is an upscale athletic club, right around the corner form the Boston Marathon finish line.) Inside, waiting for me was a room full of people, including David, who were screaming and cheering for me like I was a superstar, a champion, a winner of the race. They waited on me, got me warm drinks and towels, took my amazing post race pictures, then showed me to the locker room where I could sit in the sauna, take a hot shower and put on dry warm clothes. What followed was a celebration of food and drink and music and celebration for every single Hyland’s runner. Despite the weather, every one of the teachers and the legacy team crossed that finish line that day, a day that will be written into the records books of the Boston Marathon.

                                                                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Places, New Friends

When I thought about this post my intention was to write a race report about the Boston Marathon. That race was epic, to say the least, it was cold and windy with a deluge of rain the entire 26.2 miles. But as I sit here outside a coffee shop in Emporia, Kansas my thoughts are not focused on that race, they are focused on a very different kind of race, a race called the Dirty Kanza 200, otherwise known as DK 200. For those unfamiliar with the DK 200, it is a solo, self-supported, non-stop, 200-mile-long bicycling endurance challenge on the gravel and dirt roads of the Flint Hills region in east-central Kansas, the World’s Premier Gravel Grinder race. If you are thinking, well at least it is flat, you are quite mistaken. This race has almost 10,000 feet of climbing on some of the harshest roads around. The heat and humidity can be unforgiving and if it has rained, well then it becomes a muddy, sticky mess. Just finishing this race is a huge accomplishment and winning is reserved for the top gravel grinding athletes in the world. It has become so popular, that this year’s entry was granted through a lottery.

When David and I first set our sights on the “vanlife” lifestyle, visiting Kansas was not at the top of my list. I am not sure it even made the list of places I was so desperately wanting to visit. But that all changed when David received the email that he and our friend Sean were selected to race DK 200 in June 2018. So, as plans evolved around this and our many other races we have, we decided to go to Kansas for the month leading up to the race. We thought it would be nice to stay in one spot for a bit and get some good training on gravel roads with minimal driving. David could spend his days gravel grinding and I could run (with Mira of course) on the same roads, swim in the local recreation center or one of the many lakes in the area and just enjoy some time in one location. We certainly had our fair share of inquires about why Kansas, what will you do there? you are staying a month, really, Kansas?!! But somehow, this was just meant to be.

We rolled into town on a Thursday afternoon, got set up at a local state park and went to Emporia to the local bike hangout and headquarters of DK promotions, Gravel City Adventure and Supply Company. We were immediately welcomed into the store and into the lives of the people there, the owners, the employees, and the residents that come to hang out in the lounge to socialize, catch up and talk all things gravel. They were all interested in our story, our travels, our lives and Mira but they were all also interested in making sure we had the best possible experience during our stay in and around Emporia for the next month. Tim and Tina, introduced us to Kristin and Adam and about a dozen other people, including Jacob, the local runner, and his wife Lyndsey. They were all so genuine, offering assistance regarding training and racing and bike gear, as well as local hangouts, running routes, and grocery stores. They gave us their phone numbers to call with questions or concerns, or really for anything that may come up while we are here. And this was just our first full day in Emporia.

We found ourselves in the shop everyday since we have been here, just to say hello, talk about how training is going and life. We met up with Jacob for an early morning run through Emporia, before he headed to work as a 4th grade teacher. He offered to have us join him for more running at anytime, or if we need a shower or to do our laundry. Again, of all the places to visit, this was not on my list, but somehow we were meant to be here.

While walking around the little shops of the quaint downtown, I wandered into the local shoe store, Brown’s Shoe Fit. As I walked in with Mira in tow, a nice gentleman started up a conversation. He very quickly realized that I was not local and inquired about my visit to Emporia. He was extremely interested in our story and excited that we were there for the DK 200. He asked if David was racing Maisie’s Pride. Of course, I had no idea what he was referring to, so I asked for more information. He proceeded to tell me the story of Maisie DeVore, an amazing woman from the town of Eskridge, Kansas. After hearing her story (click here to see her story) I knew that both David and I needed to be involved in this event. So, David will be riding 106 miles of gravel and I will run the 5K and volunteering at the Gravel Ride for Maisie’s Pride, on May 12. Again, of all the places to visit, somehow we were meant to be here.

While David is out gravel grinding today, I sit here in the shade, outside the local coffee shop, with Mira under my feet. I am approached by 10 gentleman in their 60’s and 70’s, who all gather around the 3 tables and it is obvious that they all know each other very well. They notice the van, ask where about in Washington I am from and why I am in Emporia. The talk goes from inquiring about Mira, to Seattle, to travel, to DK 200, biking in general and racing. They tell me about their meet up, every Monday and Thursday, for high stakes games of doubles ping-pong followed by coffee, and they graciously offered if I wanted to join them next week or meet at the coffee shop, they are usually there by 11am. One gentleman in the group, Steve, is an avid cyclist and is racing the 200 this year. He has raced the 100 miler the past 5 years (finishing only 4 times) but this year he is going all in with 200 mile race. He offers some suggestions for me to pass on to David, gives me his phone number and tells me to have David call him so they can ride together later in the week. He tells me to call him for any questions or concerns we have or if the weather gets bad and we need a place to go. He said that he and his wife Becky are more then happy to help out in any way possible.

             

So, even though we had not planed on visiting Emporia, Kansas, I will say it one last time, we believe it was meant to be. “I believe things happen for a reason, that you attract people and situations that are meant to fulfill your path.” We can’t wait to see how this month unfolds, and to meet more genuine, down to earth, friendly folks of Emporia, Kansas.