Crazy things that happened to me in Boston.

You know weird stuff happens to me. So here it is. 


- When we got to the airport for our flight out of New Orleans, the entire place was packed. We looked at the thousands of people and realized that they were in line for security! Earlier that morning a suspicious package was discovered and security shut down during the threat. They reopened as we waited, but the airlines were not holding flights. Amazingly we still made our flight, though we cut it close.


- The average BMI on our flight from ATL to Boston was like, oh, 19?

Chi party! 

- I met Danny Dreyer, of Chi Running fame, at the expo. I cheerily explained to him that "spilling your chi" has become a running joke in my weekly Bible study after I shared his book with another runner in the group. I really didn't mean for it to come out that way. However, he took it as a compliment!

Nice elbow

- I got in this car at the expo and some random stranger wanted to get a pic, too. Of me. In the car.

- Someone at the start village was thrilled to see me. Thrilled! I have no idea who it was. He told me his name. He's from New Orleans. He said, "Remember we ran that race together?" Eh...what race?

- The starting line was just oozing confidence! It was amazing! None of that "Oooh, I don't know if I can do this, fill in plausible excuse" stuff you often hear. These runners knew they rocked!

-Yet I've never seen people walking in a race that early or in such numbers. It was so weird. I saw the first walker drop at MILE THREE. By mile 10 we were catching earlier corrals walking. I bet the later waves passed a lot of wave one walkers!

- In this "slow" Boston, the lead men hit 18 miles in my half-marathon PR. WTH.

At the Atlanta airport cross-stitching and showing off my wounds.

- The smaller skinned areas on my elbows hurt way more during the race than my badly bruised and bloody knee. A lot more sweat got into them and it stung.

- When I made the decision to slow down or die, I scrolled my Garmin down so I couldn't see my pace. Good thing, it was freaking all over the place! From 7:01 to 8:36! (That must have been the badminton).

- I ran a Garmin 26.48 which I think is pretty good considering the crowds and the way I ran all over the course trying to get water. I'm still the queen of tangents, these were just extenuating circumstances.

- I purposefully slowed down so the heat wouldn't kill me. Didn't matter. The heat was STILL getting to me. My head was cooking. I should have run in a jog bra, but I wanted to rep Varsity.

- When I finished the race, I sat a curb and scarfed potato chips from the runner's food bag. Nearby a woman rushed to aid her ill and exhausted husband, who was sitting next to me. She forgot she was holding an umbrella chair and CRACKED me over the head with it. I was seeing stars and everything! Now I have a big egg. She was so apologetic I felt bad for her - especially since she was also trying to open Gatorade for her husband, etc.

- An ultra-runner named A.D. (cryptic, no?) I never met before Sunday made a sweet trade with me. I met him Sunday and picked up a huge bag of special gels and fuel; he planned to run from the finish to the start where I'd hand him his fuel for the second half of his ultra. In return, his family let me use their shower in their suite at the Lennox, right at the finish.

- Best shower ever. I was the only runner walking around Boston all afternoon in capris, a blouse, and heels! I even remembered to pack earrings (I forgot makeup and a brush, though. Nice.).

- So the Lennox. While I was waiting to be let in for my shower, I timidly asked the doorman if I could go in. He said certainly, all marathoners are welcome, whether they have a room or not! So - in I went and everyone clapped. Then they handed me a cold beer. What the. They did this for every marathoner who entered the hotel! Awesome!

Stolen from Runninghood

- After meeting Amanda for fries, nachos, and beer, David and I walked around a little before heading to dinner. A runner staggered past us, stopped, and puked all over the side walk. Two girls nearby and I offered aid, and I found myself once again giving first aid after a marathon - this time to a man who spoke only Romanian. Luckily he remembered his hotel name and room number, and the girls called his wife! I hate these electrolyte/osmolality emergencies. They could be minor - or fatal.

The bright flash in the dark restaurant was making me squint! 

- We had a post-race dinner at The Parker House and I finally tried the original Boston cream pie (it was unbelievably good). Just about everyone in the hotel was staggering around with a post-marathon shuffle. If you listened in to the conversations at other tables, you could pick up words like "splits", "Gu", "hamstring" and "wall". It was hilarious.

- Flying back to New Orleans we ran into some TSA trouble. These guys at Logan probably fly out thousands of marathoners every year, yet they could not identify my leftover Gu. They searched me and my bag, and cut open a Gu to scan it. Then they tried to give it back. Really? Like I want to fly with a sliced open gel?

- When I returned to New Orleans it was 20 degrees cooler than Boston. By the next morning it was 30 degrees cooler. Seriously.

A weekend I needed

This Sunday I didn't set my alarm, slept in, and woke up about the time we'd normally be leaving for Sunday school.
All I can say is, I needed that. After Boston on Monday, our Tuesday flight left at 6:15 am. David left me at our Atlanta layover to attend a memorial service for our late friend Alfred (this service was a dedication of a conference room at his workplace, named in his honor). I got home alone and slogged through clean up and laundry, then went straight to work. Have you ever taken a short vacation, then returned to find heaps of work saved up? That was my Wednesday. Unfortunately I could barely catch up; I had an off-site meeting on Thursday and was teaching a class Friday. The result was one rushed, exhausting week - and my body was protesting on Sunday!

I was actually already feeling tired on Friday night. As I headed to bed early, David said, "Don't forget our race tomorrow." WHAT?! Dude had signed me up for a 5k for charity weeks before and forgot to tell me about it. So Saturday I had a surprise 5k. I had been only doing easy running, so my legs were stiff and I wasn't warmed up; plus my toes are in kind of bad shape. The combination of Boston's downhills with my consistently water-logged shoes had my feet sliding around, and I have deep blisters and several black nails. Since I didn't know about the race, I picked at all the blisters, and they were kind of killing me. Despite that, I was first female out of a very, very tiny field with a 19:50. I hope I can do better than that in fitter shape, but 5ks are very hard for me so if I want to improve I need some serious work.

Focus on the right wrist.

I got a little surprise when I got home. There was a wrapped present on my desk! David got me this beautiful silver cuff. I love cuff bracelets, and gifts for no reason make me so happy!

On the deck of the Wasp

One of the tall ships

The rest of Saturday was fun: it's Navy Week in New Orleans and even though the Blue Angels show was canceled, we got to tour several ships (the USS Wasp and two tall ships). Because of the drizzly weather, there were no lines or waits, and we missed Sunday's large crowds.

Sunday the rain cleared and we had an amazingly beautiful day: sadly, it was still windy. so not only was the second Blue Angels air show canceled, so was the Ochsner Ironman 70.3 swim (it was replaced with a 2 mile run). I didn't ironman (can't swim, refuse to buy a bike half the price of a car), but I did play football with David after our picnic lunch in the park. Then later I went for a run. I ran ten miles in 1:07 for a 6:42 pace - and felt fantastic. Obviously I have leftover energy and speed that should have been used up in Boston but was untapped in Monday's slow run.
And that brings me to an interesting observation. I'm not sore. I never was sore. I think some hills actually prevent soreness!

And that brings me to another thought - my knee. Last I posted about it, it was enormous, hot, red, and swollen. The problem is that I wake up ok, but at the end of a day of standing and running around, the knee is swollen, stiff, and burning. It feels like it's on fire!
After I took the last picture, the pain was so crazy that I decided to see if I could drain it in case it was infected (do not try this at home). I used a large sterilized needle to probe the scabbed area - I was just trying to see if it would produce pus - and immediately it started gushing fluids. Unfortunately it seems like most of the swelling is retained fluid - perhaps synovial. I mean, I hit it pretty hard. There was no blood in the fluid, but there was a little infection, so I alcoholed it left it uncovered. It is much smaller now, and definitely improving, but it still fills with fluid at the end of the day and still feels like it's burning.

Now that this rushed week is over, I should be able to settle down a little. Once I do, the big question is: how do I spend my running summer? Something tells me my 5k needs some work!

Boston marathon pictures

David and I picked up ultra-runner A.D.'s special gels for him at his hotel right by the finish line. A.D. took this picture of us. 

It was so crowded at the finish line you couldn't get a pic by yourself for love  or money.

I hadn't seen David yet here...I ran near this girl Bridget most of the way; she finished just seconds behind me so I heard her name a lot! Look at my poor swollen knee :(

Hi David!!! This was mile 17. My clothes are soaked with sweat . All those lumps are stashed gu's in my back pocket and bra. 

Blowing a kiss as I ran off!

David caught some of the elite action - does anyone know who this is?

The elite women breeze by

Warning: gross picture

My knee's not getting much better, especially the swelling. Can't bend it again. Is it infected or just very full of fluid?

If I actually had a doctor I'd call him.

Boston mini-recap

Our trip to Boston was fun and drama-filled, as my races always are.
Today I'm just doing a little recap of the race itself, then I'll post more about the entire trip later.
First off, there were two factors that would affect my time on Monday:
1.

2. Right before catching our flight Saturday, I went on a quick run. Somehow I spastically tripped and landed hard on my elbows and knees. I skinned my right knee deeply, but I was way more worried about the inflammation and bruising:

As it turned out, the weather was just as brutal as everyone said it would be (or more so). And my knee failed me in late miles, becoming so swollen (perhaps also from sodium and fluid overload as I tried to stay cool) that I could no longer bend it! But it played less of a factor than I thought it would, mostly because I'm so darn tough. Haha.

So the race. We were staying with friends in Lexington, and we borrowed their car so David could drive me to the start. This let me sleep in a little, since we didn't leave until about 6:50 am. It's kind of an ordeal to get to the start - runners get dropped off by buses or drivers, then take another bus to the start village, then walk half a mile to the actual start - but the B.A.A had it together. These people know what they are doing. I wandered into the start village and saw absolutely no one I knew. I was even looking for Varsity Sports jerseys - no luck. I read some of my marathon program, ate two bites of bagel, and headed out to check my bag (here I saw that there are really two start villages, and I guess everyone I knew was in the other half!). Bag drop was supremely easy and organized. I walked to my corral with everyone else and managed to pull off an incredibly tough task. You see, I had agreed to meet an ultra-runner in my corral with a bag of gels. He was running from the finish to the start - and back again. Crazy. I was worried about finding him, but he was right there as I walked up (BTW don't know his first half time, but he ran the last 26.2 in 4:15!).
Something awesome happened in the corral. An astoundingly talented runner, Joy, sometimes reads this blog. I'm friends with her on Facebook, and I'd put up a picture of my knee on Saturday. Well, a runner next to me was bent over tying her shoe and exclaimed, "Grace!" It was Joy! She recognized me KNEE INJURY!!! 

Joy, can I use your full name so everyone can look up your stats and be in awe?

We started and I was 5 min off the gun. I decided to go out at goal pace for 3 miles, see how I felt, and re-adjust (goal pace was 7:05). I loved being surrounded by so much talent as we started. Everyone worked so hard for this and looked so strong. Well, three miles in it was already very hot. I knew the announcers had said the temp was 80 F at the wheelchair start! That's before 9:30 am! At 3 miles, I knew I would overheat and fall apart at this pace. I slowed down to around 7:40 or 7:45 pace. I wanted to enjoy the Boston experience, so why not at a slower pace? Bonus: this way I might not die of heat stroke!

At mile six a bystander with a yard thermometer was calling out that it was already 86, slow down! It WAS hot. But worse, I was getting a cramp in my quad above my hurt knee. The knee didn't hurt, but it was messing with my stride somehow. I ignored it. 

The crowds were really amazing - cooking out, giving water and candy, holding signs. Whole families come out and cheer. I loved it! I didn't have music (yet) so I could take part in the atmosphere. 

Before the half many people were already walking. Many people were hitting both sides of the road for aid stations (increased congestion). Several people were dropping out. I've never seen so much early walking! I noticed that, despite my conservative pace, I felt HOT. I poured water on my head a few times. 

My friends and David were near mile 17. They were cheering champs! Not that I was doing much to cheer about, just running pretty slowly, thanking all the volunteers (who were incredible), and once in a while giving a high five if the kid was cute enough. At mile 19 some kids were playing badminton and I actually stepped off and batted the shuttlecock back and forth a few times! I happen to love that game. 

At the top of heartbreak hill I stopped to have a beer with some guys, but then it was back to business (look, if I'm going to have a fun run, it's going to be FUN. And the beer was the only cold fluids I got the entire day!).

After that, the loud crowd actually started to annoy me a little. It was getting extremely warm and many people were walking, so basically the crowd was now... yelling at people. "C'mon Ryan! Suck it up! Get  moving!" etc. So I tried to plug in just one ear bud. What ensued was a disaster of chocolate Gu. I forgot I was holding an open packet and ended up getting it inside my ipod. Oddly, it's working fine today. And it smells fantastic!

The biggest disappointment of the day waas my physical failure at mile 25. Here I was, already astonished that I could feel so overheated despite my careful pace, but happy that my muscles were fine when - knee stopped working. Suddenly I couldn't bend it! I looked down and it was very swollen, so the last mile was less a victory lap and more a hobble. And like 50 people passed me. Boo. I couldn't even sprint at the end. But I ran a 3:24:42 and had fun and now I can say I ran Boston! 

So that's my race. 

I will say more about the actual event later, but I did want to quickly add that I got to meet Amanda from Runninghood and she hasn't realized it yet but we're soul sisters. 

I am going to kidnap her and make her run RnR New Orleans with me next year. Oh, yes I am. 

Boston bits and pieces

Tomorrow I fly out to Boston on the cheapest, most lay-overest flight ever. As I head into this race I feel the need to brain dump.
1. I wish I could say this is just taper setting in, but it isn't: I'm hurting a little. I like to think of myself as indestructible, a natural-born runner who is so biomechanically efficient that injury is impossible.
Then I see a photo of myself running and am reminded of my weird gait. Or I look down at my feet and shudder at them in horror.
So anyway. My hips hurt. I hate to admit it, but this pain has been here for several months. I'm sure the 600+ miles on my shoes have nothing to do with this.
2. In other news, I am still feeling a little fatigued and burned out. I think the heat has something to do with it (I am already disgusted with our 80 degree weather at 6:30 am); multiple races probably contributed.
3. Speaking of, I'm sure it will be 6,000 degrees for the race because I obviously bring the weather. Almost all my races this year have been during a heat wave (see New Hampshire, Mississippi, and Publix; although not brutal, even Baton Rouge and New Orleans were a smidge above normal temps).
Right now it's a projected high of 84 F. Dude.
4. I will have almost 700 miles on my shoes come marathon morning. Should I bring a new pair? This pair doesn't feel bad to me and I got over 1000 miles out of the last pair of Kinvaras I wore.

5. Not on topic, I went to Buffalo clothing exchange and got these shoes in black - brand new in box - free because I traded in 2 skirts I got off Target clearance and an Eddie Bauer shirt I got at the Salvation Army. Dude, they're Donald J. Pliner and they are $240 shoes!

What I'll be wearing....

Love. 

Adore. 

Varsity Sports made a freaking awesome singlet for its Boston runners. I love everything about it. I always wear race T-shirts, so this amazing dry-max softness is flipping me out.
Q for you: I never buy shirts to exercise in because I get so many race T-shirts. Do you buy running tops. and if so - how much do you spend? I was looking around at some other tops and oh my gosh some of them were insanely expensive!