Boston race report (Edited - pics added!)

[shorewife]

I'm on the train on the way home to NJ.  My legs are sore as hell but at least I can get up and walk around...

The morning was good. We stayed in Cambridge and our hotel had a shuttle to the train station, then I took the subway a few stops and got right off in Boston Common where the bus loading was staged.  I didn't have a bag to check and they ended up letting people get on the bus before their assigned bus loading time so I got on about 10 minutes early.  It took about an hour to get to Hopkinton with traffic!

The start village was crowded.  Really crowded.  So I figure I'll spend my spare hour waiting in line for the porta potty.  The lines were 1/2 hour long, and they were already out of TP by the time I got there the first time.  Some nice guy ahead of me gave me a bunch of wet wipes though so I didn't have to use my throw away clothes as TP (gross).  Anyway, it was a bit warm in the start village by the time I was called for my corral so that was kind of an ominous sign.  They called my wave and corral around 10:30 (11am start time).  They really have it down to a science because if you are late to your corral (like I was in NYC!) you would have missed your assigned start time.  By the time you walk about a mile from the start village to the starting line I had about 2 minutes to spare!

So then we were off!  The first ~7 miles is downhill so of course I felt great.  What I didn't expect was for my legs to start hurting by mile 10!  By the halfway, I felt done.  I wanted to quit.  It was also a lot warmer than I expected and I was wearing long sleeves.  My stomach hurt, I had heartburn, I was thirsty, etc. etc.  So the last half of the race was a total suffer-fest for me.  My DH saw me around mile 17 and I was running slow enough that he could run along the sidewalk ahead of me and stop and a bunch of points to cheer me on, so that was nice.  The crowds were great - really amazing support along the whole race course.

I finished in 4:02.  Not my best day but I finished.  I think my legs just weren't prepared for the punishment of the downhills.  I was hoping to run better but I'm not entirely disappointed because it was a great experience.  And thank you all for the encouragement along the way!

[clseale]

Well, crap. I'm sorry the day didn't go like you had hoped, but you're a Boston Marathon finisher!!! Whether or not it was your best race, that's still an awesome time. I love that all of our H&Fers came in within about 30 min of each other. What a tough group of women! I hope you enjoyed the experience. Congrats!!! Can't wait to see pics.

[bostonmichelle]

Congratulations on finishing! The hills are brutal and hopefully your legs will recover shortly.

[mrshandy]

Congrats on finishing!! Sorry things didn't quite go as you wanted, but running Boston is a huge accomplishment in itself.

[Deleted]

Well done!! I'm impressed you kept going! Sorry it wasn't the race you wanted.

[fryjack2]

I know how disappointing it is to not finish in the time you want, but 4:02 is a ridiculously good time! Boston is a tough tough course.

I'm sorry you had a disappointing race, but congrats on finishing!!

[thom]

Congratulations! Glad to read your update.

I've never done a race nearly that big, but it sounds like between the early morning, buses, and huge start area I'd be exhausted in the first few miles too.

The weather looked gorgeous, but by the afternoon I did start to think it may be hot. We're all used to training in cold from the frigid winter, so I'm sure that didn't help. Sorry you didn't feel your best.

Congratulations again on being a Boston marathoner!

[shauni27]

Goodness, even with what are not great conditions, you still have a killer marathon! Four hours is nothing at all to scoff at, you should be so proud! CONGRATULATIONS!

[jordylee]

Congratulations, you finished the Boston marathon and that is a huge accomplishment. Even though it wasn't your best time, soak it all in. You did it, and that is AWESOME!

[marcyiam]

Congratulations! That was a tough course and you still kicked it's butt!

[lovesherheels]

Congratulations on your race!! You did awesome. Thanks for sharing with us!

ETA: And I hope your legs stop being sore soon! That's the worst.

[G22]

Despite all those negative points, you still pushed through and finished in good time! Congrats on the race!

[libbygrl109]

Congratulations! You were able to accomplish something that a lot of people never will! Absoulutely amazing. Hope your legs have a quick recovery.

[trigal]

Well done!

[runblondie26]

Congrats on your race! Those downhills were rough, I'm sure you're quads are on fire today. I'm glad you had a good experience!

[shorewife]

Aw thanks everyone! You all make good points and are making me feel much better

[psyri]

Congrats! Boston looks like an easy marathon on paper, but the downhills in the beginning and the rolling hills in Newton are no joke. I lived in Newton for a while, knew the second half of the course reasonably well, and had trained on the Newton hills back in 2011. The hills still got the best of me.

[runaways]

Congrats on your finish! I'm glad you had a good experience even if you didn't perform quite how you wanted.

[kams]

Brutal day! And despite all of that, you still put down a 4:02! Amazing! Congratulations!

[gncorman]

Congrats!!

[hannahb]

Congrats!

[mcc]

Woohoo congrats!

[skwcm80]

Congrats on your finish! You had a great time.

[cinco]

Congratulations on finishing Boston! It sounds like our races were pretty similar.

[water*drop]

Congrats!

[gt7301b]

Congrats on finishing. Sorry your time wasn't what you wanted, but it sounds like it was still an awesome day.

[sadlebred]

Sorry it didn't go as planned, but great job on finishing!

[runblondie26]

Great pictures!

[beckbech]

Great pics, congrats!

[chitownbelle]

Love the photos! Yay ?. New favorite medal?!