We have decided to run our 4th marathon this May – the Green Bay Marathon. I am excited about this race, because my friend Brooke is running her first that day. There is something really cool knowing that someone else is completing their first marathon on race day. Last time we ran the Monumental it was my mom’s first. It was fun to think about what might be going through her head during certain parts of the race; how she was feeling; if she was feeling good, struggling mentally, if she found a friend to run with, ect. One of the best parts of that day was after we finished, heading out to the 25 mile marker to cheer her on for her last mile. The only thing more satisfying than finishing the marathon yourself, is watching someone else finish… especially when it’s their first. Needless to say, I am very excited to see Brooke finish her first 26.2 miles!
We are going to train pretty hard for this one. I would like to qualify for Boston again even if I don’t run it again this time. It’s funny that when I ran Boston, all I could think about during that race was… what the hell am I doing? I thought for sure I was going to turn in my 26.2 card for good. (we all knew that wasn’t going to happen.)
The problem was I was totally unprepared for the hills Boston had. You hear all about the hills and how much you need to prepare for them, most importantly preparing your quads for the downhill. (I read that plenty of times and still ignored!) In my mind I thought, there is no way a downhill can be too terribly painful, I WAS WRONG! Believe it or not, it got to the point where I was excited to be running uphill, because the downhill hurt so bad. I will never run a hilly marathon again and expect a good time on the clock, or in reality without properly training on hills.
I was over that race at mile 12, really the only thing that kept me going was the amazing crowds, (which line the course for pretty much the entire 26.2 miles) and knowing that Glenn, my parents and Brooke all came out with me for the race… I kept thinking about how dissapointed they would be if they stood on Boylston St. for 3 hours and not get see me finish just because my legs were hurting and I was mentally out of it.
I thought this entry was going to be about Green Bay… sounds like I’m still a little bitter about Boston. Here’s to my mom for running her first marathon in November… and to Brooke for preparing for her’s in May!
I love the satisfaction of a good run.