Boston Marathon: 26.2 Miles of Crazy!

I have decided to do my race recap a little differently this time.  I won't be showing my mile splits or any of that good stuff...mainly because I messed my watch up for .60 mile.  Plus, to say that this wasn't my best marathon would be a bit of an understatement ;)  Here are 26.2 thoughts that went through my head during this crazy HOT marathon!  Just FYI, Holly and I ran the entire race together so when I say we you know who I am talking about.

1.  "Oh holy cwap, I've only begun and I'm already sweating...actually I started sweating far before I even hit the starting line."
2.  "Why isn't anyone cheering for me?"  A lovely lady wrote our names on our arms before we started so that the crowd could cheer for us.  EVERYONE was cheering for Holly and I got NOTHING!!  I finally said something to Holly, I was pretty sad about it.  She then pointed out that my name was extremely hard to read.  It looked more like 5TEPA, Holly said it looked more like Sherpa so that was my name for the remainder of the race.  Every time someone would say "good job Holly!" we would add "and Sherpa!"
3. "Wow, that lady has awesome calfs!"
4.  "Are you serious?  I still have 20 miles left."  The first half of this race seemed like it took 12 days!
5.  "I'm Never Going Down, I'm Never Giving Up!"  We The Kings.  That song came on my ipod and I kept hitting repeat.  I needed all the help I could get!
6.  "Waffles And Dinges!"  We kept seeing carts in New York City called Waffles and Dinges and I thought it was quite fun to say, so I just kept saying it to myself :)

7.  When we were on the bus after we left JFK airport, Jake said "Thank you...whatever the dudes name was," and he said "Thank you random citizen!"  It was AWESOME, he said it with such vigor!  As we were running we saw a sign that said "Run Faster Random Citizen!"  FUNNY!!!!
8.  "Am I running in a furnace?  Could it be any hotter?"
9.  "If I finish this I WILL get that blasted hoodie!"  I wanted both the jacket and the hoodie and Jake said I had to pick one...I showed him who was boss ;)

10.  I'm NEVER doing another marathon again!!  Don't worry, I kicked that thought out of my head pretty darn quick!
11.  As I was wanting to DIE a little lady in the crowd yelled, "You've done the training, you put in the miles, you've got this!"  Holly and I looked at each other and said "She's right!"
12.

13.  "This is the quietest race I've ever done!"  It was a little eery because none of the runners were talking, I think everyone was just trying to survive!  I've never been in a race so quiet!
14.  "As slow as we are going we are consistently passing people!"  We passed a TON of runners but I only recall seeing a select few pass us...maybe I was just delusional!
15.  "I should tell Holly to go ahead...wait, I really need her!"  I had that thought about 65,743 times throughout the marathon, I could tell she was feeling fine and could go faster but I knew that without her by my side I would quit.  I still can't believe that I never told her to go ahead!  I will never be able to show her my appreciation for what she did!
16.  A lady had a scripture on the back of her shirt that helped me tremendously.  I don't know if this is the exact one she had but it gets the point across.  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
17.  "I'm over here, I'm looking right at you stoooopid!"  Those very words were yelled out in Times Square and it was hilarious.  A very drunk man was yelling to his friend who was on the phone looking for him.  "Look to your right stoopid, I'm looking right at you!"  We finally spotted the man and he was a little old man with a cane who was desperately looking to his right but he needed to be looking to his left and was being misguided.  So every time I lost sight of Holly she would say, "I'm right here stooopid!" Ha ha ha
18. "Is that all you got, is that all you got?"  Originally said by the Grinch but that is exactly what I said after I finished Heartbreak Hill.  I was expecting MUCH worse and didn't think it was bad at all.  I dedicated mile 20 to Jake!
19.  "Is it snowing???"  Perhaps it was wishful thinking...it was really just a popcorn tree losing some flowers in the wind.  The few very times there was wind I welcomed it because at least it cooled me down a tiny bit even if it was pushing against me.
20.  I did mile 21 for McKenna and just thought about how hard she has been working at gymnastics to get her new tricks.  I really thought that once I started my dedication miles I would turn into an emotional mess but I didn't.  I think I was using every bit of mind power to get myself through...no time for crying!
21.  "I LOVE all of these people who are spraying me with their hoses!"  At every water station I took Gatorade and water.  I took some water and dumped the rest on my head!  A lot of people has sprinklers and hoses going and I took full advantage of any I could get to.  Had it not been for them I don't think I would have made it.
22.  "I can do hard things!"  I had to keep repeating that to myself.  As I was training a gal once she said that and I loved it...I guess it stuck!
23.  "Strong.Steady.Smooth"  That was my mantra that I used many times!
24.  "Koko, give me your strength!"  I did mile 25-26.2 for Kobe and I was struggling.  I kept feeling my face get flushed and I felt "not right!"  I was afraid that I was going down so I asked for Kobe's strength to help me and I immediately had a little burst of energy.  It only lasted for a second but it was amazing!
25.  "Wow, they are dropping like flies!"  I was amazed at how many people collapsed that last mile, luckily there were medics everywhere.
26.  "I'm running the Boston Marathon, forget the heat and enjoy it!"  I tried so hard to be in the moment and enjoy the race but that blasted heat sucked all of my energy!
And thought .2:  "Maybe I should take that beer those fellas are handing out!"  JK!!  I did find it funny that the frat boys were handing out cups of beer :)

Sorry for the loooooong post, I had to try anything to get my mind off of running...it didn't work.  That was the HARDEST thing I've ever done in my life (right up there with Ragnar Hill).  I'm so grateful that I was able to go on a trip of a life time.  So grateful for Jake for supporting me and agreeing to go on this trip just so I could run a marathon.  I'm grateful for Holly for starting 20 minutes later then she could have to run with me and for sticking with me the entire time.  So grateful for Jorge and his magical hands for giving me painfully wonderful massages.  Most of all, I'm grateful for loving parents and in-laws who took my kids for 8 days!!

I ended up finishing in 3:45:07, it wasn't my fastest marathon but it wasn't my slowest either.  I really am grateful that I was able to finish without ending up in the medical tent...it was a little touch and go there for a minute.  I can look back now and say that I would do it all over again...what am I crazy??

From the moment we signed up for this race we were going to enjoy it and not to PR.  Truth be told I really thought I was going to PR without any trouble at all.  I had heard how fast the course is and I knew that my training had been solid.  According to my SmartCoach plan I was projected to do a 3:21 marathon.  I guess it just wasn't my day.  Oh well, there will be other marathons right?