Baystate Marathon

The Baystate Marathon was full of ups and downs.  It was a practically perfect day weather wise except for a pretty significant headwind along 6-7 miles of the course.  My mom and I separated at the starting line with our respective pace groups and wished each other good luck.  I was pretty excited to get started and had a hard time holding back my pace for the first three miles.  I finally settled in with the pace group and hoped my legs would start to loosen up soon as they usually do around mile 6.  Unfortunately, mile after mile I felt stiff, but I was holding my pace without expending too much energy so I hoped my legs would last through the end.  Right before hitting 13. 1 (halfway) I saw Carter, Chris, and my dad and that gave me a much needed boost!  From there, everything was going okay as I began the second loop of the course.  I could feel my legs wearing down, but mentally I was strong as I kept telling myself to take it one step at a time.

My pacer unfortunately had stomach issues around mile 16 and disappeared only to return at mile 20 when I started to fade.  I predicted he would return just as we hit the downhill and that he would take off so I knew I had to be ready to kick it into gear.  Just as he came into view, I saw him speed up ahead to push the downhill and as I attempted to catch him, I realized I didn't have that much left in the tank.  I was able to hold my steady pace for another two miles (with the pacer in view) but at mile 23 my stomach and legs began to cramp and I realized I would have to slow down to even be able to finish.

Mile 23 was really long.  Mentally this was the hardest milestone of the race because it's where I started to focus more on the pain than my goal.  I just knew I had to keep moving my feet though so I did, albeit slowly.  Then as I finished up mile 23, things started loosing up a bit and I could go faster, though not fast enough to stay on pace.  I checked my watch--11:20 at mile 24.  I knew I had to finish by 11:35 to get my Boston Qualifier and I had 2.2 miles to go.  I realized it would not happen this time and it was hard to accept that I had missed the cut by so little.

By the time I saw my family near the finish line, I just wanted to burst into tears.  I was mentally and physically drained and totally convinced that I would never run a marathon again.  Fortunately a hug from my favorite bear helped me enjoy the accomplishment of a new PR and being very close to my BQ.  I only wish mom and I had stayed together since she only finished 6 minutes behind me (and got her BQ!)

Now to qualify in Phoenix in February!

My fan club:

Baystate Marathon, Lowell, MA