Not sure how to recap a journey that involved far more than the 26.2 miles I ran in Monday’s Boston Marathon. But perhaps the best starting point is right here: 1200 E. 151st Street, Olathe, Kansas. Garmin HQ. Earning the right to line up with 26,000 other “qualified” runners for the Boston Marathon is directly linked to my employment with Garmin. A little more than five years ago, when Garmin was first developing GPS-enabled fitness devices, I quickly learned that in order to write to this new audience, I had to become one of them. So I strapped on a Forerunner (which covered roughly a third of my forearm) and away I went. Didn’t take long to get sucked into seeing how far and how fast I could go. Back then, if anyone had told me I’d run the Boston Marathon one day, I would’ve thought them half-mad.
But there I was at 10:25 a.m., filing into corral #15 on Main Street in Hopkinton, eager to head east for a 26.2-mile footrace to Boston. I’d already fallen in love with this quaint little town on the bus ride in and couldn’t wait to soak in the scenery and spectators along the point-to-point route. I’d been advised by some seasoned Boston Marathoners to take it easy on the early downhills — don’t get caught up in the crowds pulsing and pounding down the hills, save your legs for the uphills later in the race. So I hung to the left side of the road, went out easy and occupied the first four miles by high-fiving as many young spectators as I could.
By mile five, the elevation started leveling out so it became easier to mind my pace and go for fairly even splits. My new
Forerunner 110 (shown here shortly before race start) was the perfect pacing partner, showing my distance, time and pace at a glance and marking every mile split with a beep and a summary of that lap. If one mile was slower than my goal pace due to hills or taking it slower through a water stop, I made up the difference over the next mile or two. At the halfway point, I was feeling very comfortable with my pacing and knew I could start banking some time to prepare for the rolling hills I’d encounter starting around mile 17. Though I wasn’t giving my full attention to the spectators by now, I was still amused by antics ranging from a row of folks running in place on mini trampolines to a dump truck driver parked alongside the road, randomly blasting his backup horn. I actually heard some runners near me say “we’ve gotta get outta the way.” Did they really think some big rig was barreling down the course in reverse?
While runners around me were starting to fade as we hit mile 20, my legs were still feeling fine. I trotted to the top of “Heartbreak Hill”, amidst chanting crowds and the Rocky theme song and was grateful for the hills that had become routine for me on our KC-area runs. Heartbreak Hill didn’t break me and now I was ready to coast through the final four miles feeling strong. As we turned onto Beacon Street, the crowds grew thicker, the chants louder. I kept thinking we’re just runners and they’re cheering us like we’re heroes … love this! For the final two miles, I ran along the right side of the course, dodging spent runners who would stop dead in their tracks. I acknowledged repeated “go
Gar-min!” cheers with a firm thumbs-up and crossed the finish line in 3:43:05. Two minutes under my goal, and well within my qualifying time. Not ready to admit it, but I hit a milestone b-day this year, giving me another 5 min grace period from my original Boston qualifying time. I accepted my medal and mylar, posed for an official photo, then sought water. For a
play-by-play of the entire run, with split times, averages, elevation chart, mapping and more, check it out in Garmin Connect.
I milled around the finish area for a bit, walked what seemed like a mile to find the bus holding my checked bag, then found a friendly spectator to take a celebration photo with the camera I’d stowed. Next feat was finding my way back to our bed & breakfast. nüvi-less and slightly disoriented, I asked some bystanders who looked Bostonian which way to Mass Avenue. “Seven blocks that way.” Seven … seriously? It felt like 17. But along the way, I ducked into a store and found a favorite recovery drink. Chugging my chocolatey, protein-packed drink, I was content to keep walking, knowing every step was warding off tomorrow’s soreness.
Back at my room, I was surprised that my speedy roomie, who’d started in the first wave, wasn’t back yet. I worried for a little bit, then remembered she’d planned to take advantage of the post-race massage area. Within minutes, she was back and the storytelling began. Not only had she crushed her goal time, she knocked 9 minutes off her previous marathon PR, finishing in 3 hours, 24 minutes!
See her run in Garmin Connect. She credits her
Forerunner 405CX for enhancing her training and providing the feedback she needed on race day.
“I was hoping to maintain an 8 minute pace. Since the start was downhill and my adrenalin was flowing, I had a hard time not running too fast, but I felt strong and noticed on my Forerunner that my heart rate was low, so I didn't worry that my first mile was 7:30. I love all the data my 405 gives me after my race! I train with two other friends who are Garmin lovers. One qualified for Boston at Vegas last year and will run it in 2011, and the other hopes to qualify at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth this June. We'll all be running it together with our Forerunners on our wrists!” Later, we shared more stories over dinner with the rest of our traveling party and celebrated a successful race.
In retrospect, crossing the finish line at Boston was fairly uneventful and I didn’t have my emotional moment until the next day after boarding the plane back to KC. In the unrushed space of my plane seat, gratitude swept over me and I swiped away salty tears. I thought of my faithful training partners, Kaye and Jim, rows ahead on that plane, who’d coached me, paced me and covered hundreds of miles with me. I thought of my husband and kids, who’d cheered me, encouraged me and endured a stressed-out mom during many heavy training weeks. I thought of how I’d gone from wondering what it would be like to run a marathon to completing the most renowned one of all. And it all started with putting a Forerunner on my wrist and seeing
how far and how fast I could go.
