This week would be the fourth week of the 7 week series and I was more excited to receive my waiver for Boston than I was to actually run the race. Who does that anyway? Who gets out of bed early on a Saturday morning to go run for fun? Oh, that's right I do and about 85 other people from the Merrimack Valley area.
Anyway, I got out of bed at about 6:50 AM, quickly threw on my running gear and was out the door by 7 AM. A personal record for sure. I made my way down to Tewksbury and arrived with about 15 minutes to spare. Once I had parked and registered, Jess spotted me and called me over as she had "something" for me. I ran over to her van and she gave me an envelope. What was inside that envelope? THAT'S RIGHT! It's my waiver to run the Boston Marathon!
I take it from Jess and RUN back to my car to secure it during the race. On my way, Fil almost runs me over looking for a parking space. Luckily, I maintain my footing, point Fil to a space and make my way to the car. By the time I put the waiver away and make it back to the registration table, it is time for the starting G-O word and all the runners make their way to the starting line.
With all of the adrenaline coursing through me, when Glenn said that pesky G-O word, I took off like a bat out of hell. I was determined to win the quarter mile bonus (apparently the Fudgcicle doesn't have one). I was #1 for the whole first 1/4 mile when I graciously let Jason resume his assault on the course and I would just draft behind them for the remainder of the mile. I reached Mile 1 at 6:25. For Miles 2 & 3, I just settled into a 6:50 pace.
I sprinted across the finish line at 20:54 for a 10th overall finish and a new personal record. Needless to say, I have had a fantastic day so far.
(Apparently I miss the orange memo. . .)
After finishing, Fil, Matt, and I decided to run the course in reverse in order to get our cool down run in before breakfast. We ran at a nice and easy 8:30 min/mile. Once back we quickly changed and made our way to the Deli "Queen" King. It was here where we learned one of the most important running lessons of 2011.
After eating our breakfasts, Fil, Jess, Linda, and I are sitting at a table discussing the day's race when Zach Casper begain explaining to Jess how he got a better finishing time than she did (they were running together almost the whole race). Zach simply stated that "When finishing, I sprinted and you didn't!"
EURIKA! That's how to get a better finishing time. I am going to have to try this at my next Fudgcicle.
Now that I learned something new for the day, I can begin to focus on tomorrow's 18 miler with Jess, Linda, Karen, and Dave T. Should be a great day and a great run with great friends!
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