Virtual Boston Marathon

When Boston initially made the announcement that the postponed September 14th race would be going virtual, I thought there was no way I would run a virtual marathon. Training for and running a marathon is a big enough feat when it's an actual race. Doing it alone? No thanks! But then Ty's brother, Paul, made the point that it would be cool to have the gear from likely the only ever Virtual Boston Marathon. I hadn't thought about that. My friend, Sara, did a Beyond Boston series on her blog about Boston getting postponed and then going virtual. Check it out here and my post in the series here. Reading all the stories of people who were planning to run the virtual race and why they were doing it made me want to run it. When information was emailed about the virtual race and I saw it was only $50 to enter, I decided I just had to do it! It was only 10 weeks out from the race but I knew I could do the minimum amount of training and get up to a 20 mile long run before race day. My only concern was that running long runs lowers your immune system and I didn't want to get exposed to Covid while my immune system was down after one of my long, long runs. I decided I'd just lay low for a few days after my 20 mile long run and the marathon, in hopes I wouldn't get exposed with a lowered immune system. That's how I ended up so sick with the flu back in March, more about that here, long run + viral exposure = perfect storm!

Most of the training for this marathon was done in hot and humid temperatures. I have never chafed so much in my life! I chafed along my sports bra line once and after that it re-chafed on all of my long runs even with Body Glide on. I would be bleeding when I got home. Not fun! I lucked out for my 20 mile long run 3 weeks out from race day. We had a cold front come through and it was in the 60's when I started my run. My chafing finally had the chance to heal up and I didn't have to deal with it again, thankfully! I planned out my course to start from the house so I wouldn't have to drive anywhere. I do my hilly runs on 41st Street and there's about 900 feet of elevation gain in the 6 miles I run there. I knew it was a little crazy to put that into a marathon, but for some reason, I just really wanted to! Thomas said when he saw my course it made him want to puke, haha! My plan was to run from my house to Thomas' house, about 10 miles, and then he'd have fresh water bottles for me and would jump in to run with me for the next 10 miles until I got to the Gathering Place off Riverside where Ty and the kids would be waiting to trade out for fresh water bottles. Then I'd be on my own for the last 10k. Since I was planning for lots of hills in the first 10 miles I figured I'd start around 9:00 pace and maybe drop the pace once the course flattened out. I tried out the final 20 miles of my course during my 20 mile long run and I loved the course. It was so much fun and included lots of sections of the trail system I don't run very often or at all. My friend, Paige, asked me if she could run the last 10k of the race with me and I was so excited that I'd have someone with me for the finish. Ty would meet us at the finish and would give Paige a ride back to her car.

The map of my course.

Things kept getting more exciting after that. My parents decided they wanted to come out for the race. They pitched a tent in the backyard so they could spend the night and be at our house for the race. I decided to push my run back from 6am to 7am when I saw the forecast, that way the kids would be awake and everyone could meet at Thomas' house to cheer for me. Thomas had a possible Covid exposure at work the week of the race so he decided it was best not to run with me. My dad said he'd bike Thomas' section of the course with me and then Ty said he'd ride the first 10 miles. So then I had company for the entire race! The best part of having them accompany me on the bike was I didn't have to wear my fuel belt. We used Ty's handheld running water bottle and they handed it to me when I asked for water. Then for the last 10k Ty gave me my fuel belt and I just had to run with it for the last portion of the course.

Ty ready to ride the first 10 miles with me!

I was so excited for the race. I think a huge part of it was that this would be the first marathon I ran where I really didn't care about my time at all and didn't have a real time goal. I wanted to finish in under 4 hours because all my marathons have been under 4, even the one I ran with a sinus infection and bronchitis, but I wouldn't be disappointed if things went south on race day and that didn't quite happen. I had my box with race day stuff packed up at the beginning of the week. I also packed a post race bag to put in the car the night before and used the unicorn clear gear check bag that came in my pre-race box. I was so excited the night before I couldn't fall asleep and woke up multiple times through the night. Race morning temps were just as perfect as forecasted! It was low 60's at the start and I snuck in just under 70* with the temperature at 69* when I finished! You really can't ask for more than that from September in Oklahoma! The kids woke up at 6:30am, probably just because I pushed my start back an hour to make sure they'd be awake in time to make it to Thomas' house before I ran by. I got up early enough to eat a Zbar, drink some Nuun, and do a short yoga warm up. My parents printed off the virtual toolkit for me since our printer hasn't been working. I used the little start line to stand by and we took some pictures at the start. Then Ty and I were off. I'd tried about the Boston App on a shake out run and it measured my 2.1 mile run as 1.9 miles. I wasn't sure it would be accurate but I thought I'd try it so people could track my run. When I started the tracker cowbells and cheering went off which was fun! Since I was one of the first 15,000 people to register I got a pre-race box and it had a bib inside. I wore the bib for the race. Ty and I took off and it was fun to be running through our neighborhood to start. It was overcast and misting a bit which made it even cooler and more refreshing. I planned to start around 9:00 pace for the first section of the race with all the hills, but I was feeling so good, I was a bit under that. The first 3 miles were 8:47, 8:44, and 8:33. Then I hit the biggest hill on the course which is a half-mile long and ran that mile in 8:54. I asked Ty if it sucked having to go up the hills slowly and he said it wasn't too bad. Mile 5 was 8:36.

All my race day gear in the pre-run box and ready to go!

My parents and the kids drove by and cheered for us with the windows rolled down. I figured they were headed to Thomas' house but they stopped multiple times on 41st Street to get out of the car and cheer before heading up to a spot further up the road. It was so much fun to see them. Part of the virtual toolkit was city pages which said, "Entering Ashland," "Entering Newton," etc. When I ran past mom and dad with the "Entering Ashland" sign up, I got a little teared up thinking about how different the race would be if I were actually in Boston. That was really the only time on the course I got sad about it being a virtual run. 5 miles in I ate a french toast flavored Gu which made me a little sad that Thomas wasn't going to get to run with me because it's one of his favorite Gu flavors. I let myself feel those emotions and then let them go. I was able to find my happiness again and smile as I ran. Ty and I didn't chat too much as I ran, but it was nice to know he was there. Mile 6 had a big downhill coming up to a monster hill in mile 7. I went through mile 6 in 8:19 and the kids were out at the bottom of the hill with mom and dad. They ran alongside me and then I got to high five them at the intersection as I started up the big hill. That mile was 8:54. When I planned out the course I figured all the hills at the start of the race might come back to make my legs very tired at the end but, honestly, I enjoyed that portion of the course so much it was definitely worth it!

Miles 8 and 9 were in Sand Springs headed up the trail alongside Highway 97 to Thomas' house. I went through them in 8:33 and 8:47. There's another decent climb up to Thomas' house. He was in the yard cheering along with the kids and mom. Dad and Ty traded off on the bike while my water bottle was refilled. I probably only drank about a quarter of the water in that first 10 miles. As I was running down the road, dad caught up to me. We were going to have to stop for cars coming up off the highway so I ran down in the grass and turned around and went back. I may stop, but time doesn't, so I wasn't about to stop! We got onto the Katy Trail by the McDonald's. Dad yelled at every single person we passed, telling them, "Virtual Boston Marathon!" Most of them seemed unsure of what he was talking about but a lot would cheer for me. We had to run through a couple areas where the trail was under construction, and when I say trail I just call it that because it's called the Riverside Trail System. It's not actually trails, it's all paved. The construction had been no big deal when I ran that portion of the trail in my 20 mile training run, but they had done more work and it was a super pain in the butt! We had to jump over stuff and run through mud. Dad had to get off his bike and walk/carry it. Miles 10-13 were 8:47, 8:36, 8:30, and 8:26. We hit more construction on the trail and had to run down a little detour that was sloppy with mud. I think dad had to get off and walk again for that section. I checked to see what my half-marathon split was so I could have Ty text an update to Paige and so I'd know where I was. I went through the half in 1:53:30. Then I accidentally hit the lap button instead of the back button so I had to watch for mile 14 and split it again to get back on the mile splits. That threw me off at mile 16 when it showed lap 17 and dad asked what mile we were at and I incorrectly told him 17. Mile 14 was 8:26. Miles 15-18 were 8:23, 8:23, 8:31, and 8:39. 

Ty took this one from behind me on the bike.

Running up to Thomas' house.

During mile 17 we crossed over a railroad bridge and came out onto the main Riverside trail down Riverside Drive.  Lots of people on this section cheered for me after dad told them I was running the Virtual Boston Marathon. A few couples on bikes rode back by us and asked what mile I was at. That was a lot of fun! After the race Ty and my dad both said we should have made some kind of sign for the bike so people could read it and know I was running the Boston race. It definitely would have saved dad from yelling it so many times, haha! I had a little bit of water left in my water bottle but it wouldn't come out so I took the lid off and since the mouth was so much larger than I'm used to, I accidentally poured water all over my face and front. As we started to near The Gathering Place and the area where I was supposed to meet Paige, I got a little worried because it didn't seem like it would be as close to 20 miles as the mapping app had showed. I was worried Paige wouldn't be ready for me. As we went up the hill toward the bridge where I would meet Paige, I could see her and I started yelling for her because I could tell she wasn't looking for me yet. She saw me and I could tell she was shocked. I made it to her around 19.5 instead of the 19.7 the map had showed. She had been following me on the Garmin Live Track and it showed I was still a few blocks away. Thank goodness she was early! Dad rode on around to the backside with us where we met up with Ty, mom, and the kids. Ty timed it a little too close and ended up having to run up the stairs to hand me my fuel belt. I grabbed it and strapped it on as I ran. 

Morgan was with Paige and got this picture of me and my dad approaching.

The whole race I had figured since I was running more at training pace than at race pace, I'd be able to really pick it up for the last 10k of the race. I was excited Paige would be running with me so she would be able to help push me. Miles 19 and 20 were 8:24 and 8:35. All the sudden I started to feel a bit rough. I think that came down to not having as many long runs. I just had one 20 mile long run during this training cycle. Both my races where I had strong last 10ks came off training cycles where I ran a 20 and a 22 mile training run, my PR having even more 20's than that! I think the last 10k has more to do with training than pace, unless you just go out too fast, which isn't something I've ever really done in a marathon! We hit the section where we ran downtown and there are some small hills in that section and I so wanted to be done! Miles 21, 22, and 23 were 8:50, 9:05, and 8:51. At one point during this section the Boston App announced I had just made my way to the top of Heartbreak Hill after I'd gone up a rinky dink hill downtown that was killing me. It was the only time during the race where I was actually glad not to be running the Boston course! That's how much I was hurting at that point! When we ran through the OSU parking lot to the trail we would finish on, I wouldn't say I got a second wind so much as I stopped feeling super rough and Paige and I got to chatting more. We had to cross a few streets and I made Paige a bit nervous because there was no way I was stopping. I knew if I stopped running, starting again would be painful. Miles 24 and 25 were 8:37 and 8:38. When we got close to mile 26 I kept imagining I could see our white van parked in parking lots along the way. I could not wait to see the finish line. Paige reminded me to picture the Citgo sign and Boylston in Boston. If she hadn't reminded me I would have forgotten because I was so darn tired! 

Finally we turned the corner and I saw my mom with the kids. It was the best feeling because I knew how close we were to finishing. As I passed mom I hit mile 26 in 8:28. The kids ran alongside us for a bit and then chased us while cheering, it was precious! My favorite picture from the race is one my friend, Morgan, took. You can see Elise running along behind us with her mouth wide open and yelling. Dad and Jeremy had the finish line banner. They were with Ty who was looking at my tracker to tell them what distance I was at. They started running away from me because they knew they were a bit before the finish. I laughed with Paige that the finish line was running away from me. Finally Ty said, "What are you at?" I looked down at my watch and said 26.2 miles so they stopped running away from me and I finally got to run toward them and through the finish line banner. I caught Ty spraying something out of the corner of my eye and I thought, "Why the heck is he wasting my water?!?" because I thought he had the water bottle I packed for after the race. Then I thought it over and remembered I heard a popping noise so figured it was champagne. The moment I stopped running, my legs were in so much pain! I walked for a while and Carter was so excited he just kept right on running. On the drive back to Paige's car she asked me how my time compared to my other marathons and I told her it was my 5th fastest marathon. She said, "Oh, well, that's good!" Then I told her I've only run 6 marathons and we laughed. This race was not about time at all for me though, it was all about finishing. I feel like in training for Boston so many obstacles have been thrown in the way and I was just happy to finally make it to the finish. The finish line literally running away from me as I approached it was a great metaphor for how training for Boston since December has felt!

So excited to finally get to cross the finish line!

For as much as I assumed the last 10k would be easy peasy since I was running training pace and not racing the marathon, it was one of my more difficult 10k finishes of a marathon. When I thought about that, it didn't surprise me too much since my training was not what I would have put in to race a marathon. I told Ty that's one reason why I enjoy training harder, the races are more fun and you don't hurt (or don't hurt as much)! I hurt more finishing this 10k at 8:30-9:00 pace than I did running the last 10k of my PR marathon in 7:19-7:40 pace! Training makes a difference and is so worth it! I was super excited to have finished the marathon and to run a 3:46:15 just having fun and not racing. Then I started seeing people's posts about running PR marathons during Virtual Boston or only being a few minutes off their PRs and I felt a little bummed and wished I had actually trained to and then raced this one. But once that comparison wore off, I knew what I decided to do was the best thing for me. If Boston 2021 happens and I get accepted, I wouldn't want to train hard for and race 2 marathons in back to back seasons like that. That was a huge reason why I made the decisions I did for this one. I didn't want to get burned out training for a virtual marathon and then struggle to train for the actual Boston in 2021 since I'm a one marathon a year type of runner. And as I sit here typing this 2 days after the race and don't even feel like I ran a marathon because I'm no longer sore, I stand by my decision even more! The recovery has been amazing! I've foam rolled and done yoga every day and on Sunday my mom and I took a long recovery walk. I'm already pumped to plan out my training up to the 15k I'm running on Halloween, but I won't let myself do it yet because I know I need to take the next week or 2 easy.  

Most elevation gain I've had in a marathon!

This race was a huge display of love from so many people. Love from my mom and dad sleeping in a tent so they could safely visit and cheer me on. Love from Ty and my dad, wearing their booties out slowly pedaling along for 10 miles. Love from Jeremy setting his alarm earlier than normal to see me finish. Love from Thomas making the hard decision to sit the run out in order to keep me safe and healthy. Love from all my friends who texted, messaged, and supported me along the way. Love from my kids as they ran alongside me, cheered for me, and high fived me. I always feel so loved when my family shows up to support me for a race or a big event, but this was beyond anything we've ever done before. I feel so grateful to so many people and for the opportunity to run this race happy and healthy. I have been so impressed with B.A.A. and the excitement they generated for this race through the daily newsletters, pre-race package, and virtual toolkit. And then offering this virtual event at such a low price. They really went out of their way to support athletes and I am proud to be a Boston Marathon finisher, not just because of what that means but because of what an amazing organization it is. If they could make a virtual event this exciting and fun, I can't wait until I get to actually experience Boston in person! And if they keep postponing the race, I turn 35 this summer which means a 5 minute slower qualifying standard, haha! Now I just know to expect nearly no sleep the night before since I couldn't sleep the night before Virtual Boston!