Saturday 13.1 on Boston Marathon Route

COVID-19, “The Rona Era”

I was debating with myself if I should run with Heartbreaker Running Company. They are offering free bus shuttle and pick up from the Boston Marathon route. We would meet at Mile 20, Hearbreaker Running Company in Newton. Get on the school bus to Hopkington, the start of the Boston Marathon and the busses will pick up all the runners at the Wellesley Library( 13.1) marker on the marathon route.

I would have free transportation out there and back to my car. But the downside is they start late. We load up at 7:45a.m, leave at 8a.m. and arrive at the start line by 9a.m. Normally I would be finished running by 9 or at least close to it. I reminded myself this is good because the marathon for me will start at 11a.m. with the fourth way of runners. Why not do it.

After I checked in at the store, I scanned around the room and looked at the runners doing this. Pioneer crew showed up. They count for the diversity of runners. They always roll deep with runners. I same a sprinkle of Asian American runners, Latinx, and one non african american runner.

I should have asked how many runners signed up.

Anyway, As I was walking through the store, I saw a collage of pictures on the wall. I noticed that one of those pictures was of ME! I saw shocked and so surprise to see my picture on the wall.

Three years ago when I was training for Paris, I took the bus with the heartbreakers to run 13.1 on the boston marathon route. Afterwards, I had salted sweat crusted on my face before I got on the bus to return to Mile Marker 20. That was that picture.

I had to take of picture of me with the picture.

From that happy moment, I boarded the bus. I sat next to a woman, who is from Dublin and has been in boston for over 20 years. She is turning 50 and running her first marathon. Also, last year her dad passed away, this also part of her reasoning to run the marathon. We talked about running, privilege and access. I brought up many points that she didn’t even think about. I’m not surprised.

The bus, stopped at Framingham for a potty spot before we got to Hopkigton. Dublin and I talked the whole we on the ride. I wish I had gotten her name.

With everyone off the bus, I could see all the runners…still so white. Coach Dan gave an awesome encouraging speech before we started to run.

So I ran………………………..

I could here people talking, running in groups, running solo. I put in my ear buds and followed the crowd and listen to my body. My memory of the route came back to me. Everything looked familiar. This time I paid attention to where I was and at what mile marker, since I’m running the marathon in 28 days.

The first 10k, we end up at Framingham. Check. I made sure to take my time and be mindful of my knees and body. After Framingham I got my second wind. Note to self- The first six miles are the warm up.

From there it was off to Wellslesly.

Technical issues.

I wore a fuel built with gu and water. The gu spilled all in my fuel built and the water didn’t stay in it’s container. I need to work on that.

Around mile 8 I felt a bit of pelvic annoyance but it went away. I’ll have to make sure to bring some advil with me on the run.

The weather I thought was perfect. It rained a bit and stopped. It wasn’t heavy down pours. I was able to take some clothes off. Again, not to self- layer and have disposable clothes to get rid of.

There were a couple of points that I stopped and took photos. I need to think about how I can enjoy the experience ( take photos) and not delay running.

This was my tester, trial run. Last week I ran 16 miles and it was ok. This week, I’ll try for 18 miles.

I ran 13.59 miles at a 10:53 mile/pace and it took me 2:27:56 to do it.

I’ll have to do double that in 28 days. OMG, I’m already exhausted. :)