I laid my clothes out the night before the race.  I ended up adding arm sleeves and started the race in a throw away jacket.  It was so cold and rainy that I wore my throw away until mile 4!

I ate my Gu’s at miles: 7, 14, 21

I woke up at 4am and had a small coffee and banana bread.  I added hot water to my Umpqua oats and took them on the bus with me.

A huge thank you to Adidas and Boston 365 for letting me ride their bus out to Hopkinton!!!  They gave me a dry warm spot to rest while I waited for my wave to start.

While I was waiting for the race to start, I had the most wonderful surprise from philoSophies!  She designed our last Christmas card and sent me the sweetest good luck illustration!!!!  It made my morning and helped to settle my nerves. 🙂

I walked over to the Athletes Village to check it out, but decided it was wise to go back to the bus to rest and stay warm instead.

My wave started at 10:50.  I was so worried about the late start.  The time flew by and it wasn’t as big of an issue as I had anticipated.  As I stated in a previous post, I typically go out too slowly when I race.  I also have a little too much fun with high fives, etc…to really push myself.  So, I ordered a pace band from Races2Remember to keep me on track.  Change is scary and I was so afraid to use a different race day strategy. (Note: they customize the band for your race course, finish goal, and pacing strategy.  I opted for a 3:38 Negative Split Boston Marathon band.)

Here are my actual race splits:

You can see that they did a really good job accounting for the Newton Hills up to Heartbreak Hill. (miles 16-22)

Finish Line!!!!

And lots of tear!

Crowd support: It was everything I had imagined!!  The course was lined from start to finish and everyone cheered so loudly.  I loved the energy!!!

Temps in the 40’s, rain throughout my race, and winds gusting up to 30mph.

I was SO cold and wet after the race. Jason met me with a hotel bathrobe…perfect!

This race hurt.  The downhill first half followed by the Newton Hills on the back half killed my legs.  Walking will be humorous tomorrow.  I had to dig deep for this one, but it was SO worth it!  I spent the rest of the day in the bed…including my meals.  Oh, and I cried a lot…at the finish, when I saw my husband, when my friends called…I was a hot mess!

And the icing on the cake (see what I did there?!), Bob Kennedy sent me a congratulations message!

The theme for my Boston experience should be “How many times can I geek out over incredible runners?!!”