Providence Half Marathon

13 years later and still adding bibs and medals to the shoebox chock-full of my race memorabilia. 

 Pre-Race

Training:

2022 has seen a lot of mileage (mostly injury-free!), albeit for stress relief due to my new job.  Projected to be the highest annual total.  However, haven't felt an extra gear yet save for a random week this year.  

week of:

The bigger fish to fry this week was the Epic exam that I, in typical fashion, stressed myself out over to the point of an existential crisis, trying to plan alternative choices to my job.  After completing that hurdle, my lack of sleep during the week hindered any hope for a 1:45 or under.  

day before:

In my first escape from Boston this year, I hit up my Providence staple, Nick's on Broadway, for illy coffee, patê and black beans with my Barcelona compadre, Jiggy.  With the rare 2 hour window afterwards to kill afforded me time to journal at Prospect Terrace, my old stomping grounds.  Then, off to Rhode Runner for bib pick up to rendezvous with the Knapps.  To say this was a slice of suburb life would be an understatement as I found out what a "yes day" is for kids, and the playground hierarchy as we met up with the O'Briens.  

Pre-dinner activities included Guess Who and Uno.  This was my tune-up for when Jonald can play, but noted: don't try to play to win when playing against a kid.  I forgot you're not supposed to since I remember being a sore loser as a kid.  So when a kid has one person left in Guess Who, and I have three, don't guess the correct one haha.

Crushed some tortellini and watched Mission: Impossible Fallout in Knapp's insane home theater and then, off to la la land before the race.  

Race:

As Providence veteran runners (which, in college I don't think anyone would've said about Knapp and myself), we parked at the PVD mall, stripped down in the parking lot and donned my Tang Running Club vintage shirt.  We walked in to the mall and used the bathrooms there instead of the portapotties which was clutch.  We made our way to the corrals at 7:30, eyeing the other runners' shoes like some sort of niche car show.  Saucony Endorphins were out in full force along with the typical $250 Nikes.

As 8:00 neared, we scurried in to the C corral and swam upstream. I paused slightly behind the 1:50 pacer, Knapp I think around the 1:30 pacer.  I honestly just wanted sub 2, Knapp projected himself around the 1:25 range.  

From the train station/ state house, we ran along the river and hit a tight bottleneck near Hemenway's and continued on and up to Gano, the first hill (that was announced by an overzealous runner near me who would yell, "this is the first hill").  Knapp and I agreed, the hills came often and were longer than we remembered in previous races.  

Per usual, skipped the first water station (because I've forgotten how races work) and took all the other stations and saying "WATER?" to the volunteers since it sometimes wasn't said.

Since I was content with running 8:30 splits, that became the game for me.  We hit India Point then (I think?) went up Blackstone, all places I had run over and over almost a decade ago.  The nostalgia would ride all day, down to the pot holes in the road and construction.

There wasn't too much jostling or "racing".  I would stay at pace with a Texas shorts runner or a bearded dude with a jacket, but it really felt like I was pacing for anyone who wanted to hover around 8:15-8:30 pace.  At some point I passed the 1:50 pacer.

Speaking of hills, the steep downhills messed me up since I hate running down hills,  I had to lean back on those and slow up.

Whenever there was crowd support (more on that later), I would inevitably speed up, then immediately slow back down.  

With about two miles to go, I could hear some of the onlookers shout at the 1:50 pacer that I thought I had left in the dust...I turned around and saw the neon '1:50' sign.  Even though I said to myself pre-race that sub 2 is my goal...sub 1:50 was my new goal.

I continued trying to keep myself tall, tried to keep myself consistent in my arm swings.  

I kept calculating my time in my head and trying to figure if that is good enough for sub 1:50.  

The hill right before the end was steep and as I made that left turn at the end, saw Knapp and Kevin on my right side and sped up at their request, and sped up to finish at 1:49:01.  

Post-Race/thoughts:

-closest I've run to the course length, only an extra 0.06 miles.

-my right shoulder felt a little off, but the rest of my body felt...okay?  The lifting helped but I definitely also added lb. which slowed me down.  Continue lifting or cut back? decisions, decisions.

-crushed two IPAs, then cheered on the marathoners while waiting for Olga and Abby to finish.  I still don't know why this is the go-to post-race reward, but here we are, eating free Oreos and bananas with them.

-listening to Godsmack on the car ride to the race....first experience with Godsmack, at the age of 36.

-Coming from cheering at the Boston Marathon to Providence, the big difference is a lot of people who were cheering were just cheering for their friends or family members today. When I came back around and cheered on the marathon finishers,  I brought my Boston Marathon A game and tried to cheer everyone on and shout names on the shirts out with Josh, as we waited for Olga and Abby.

"what does your mouth taste like?"-Olga thoughts post-race, re: post-beer

-things to try out after this race: the big booty mix on Spotify, Saucony Endorphins, Tracksmith merino wool

-the half-marathon half-zip is pretty dope

Maine Marathon 2021: or I ran a marathon in Maine and all I had to show for it was Moxie

 I ran a marathon in Maine and all I had to show for it was Moxie

days leading up to the race:

I randomly requested months ago Wednesday through Friday off prior to the race and got some good rest in. I ran a 6 miler Wednesday as if that was somehow that'd mitigate the MIA miles since I didn't do the long runs on the back half of my training due to heat/humidity and mentally being tired from that pandemic thingy.

The weather daily check was left to Abby (maybe it's a new rule I have to run every marathon with a coworker).  The weather was looking good leading up to the race, 50s and cloudy or rain in the afternoon.  Other than the Philadelphia Marathon in 2012, this was the best weather heading in to a marathon.

Carb loaded Friday night, two days prior.  Realizing more and more sleep and carb loading two days prior is super important.

Saturday morning, Abby picked me up and we met her sister Meri in Portland.  Portland is so hip and, well, there's SPACE everywhere. The Adsits were incredible hosts as we got our bibs, hit up the Lighthouse and Eastern Promenade, and hit up Holy Donut as well to, carb load.

pre-race dinner meal? 

Hot honey pizza from Otto and sour cream and onion ruffle potato chips with a little bit of Friday Night Lights for dessert.  Texas Forever.

Slept from  11-5:30, I awoke every 30 minutes.  I didn't want to influence the two new marathoners about this tradition so didn't mention this is a habit for me. Apparently they are impervious to this as they slept soundly.  Ideally would be sleeping in wherever the race was for 2 nights in a row to get used to it.  I ended up sleeping on the floor for a bit because the couch was just so soft and sunken, my back was off.

Weighing in the day of at...183.6 lbs.  The covid weight came back with a vengeance and shocked me.  I was probably 10 lbs lighter during the first half of training.  Who knew going out and not running as much would mean a heavier me?  weird

Per tradition, I chewed on peanut butter and banana sandwiches and felt like yakking, prerace? This was new to me. It might've been nerves from not having trained properly for the first time.

to quote the Little Giants, "death shrouds"

something old: my iPod shuffle, only one earbud was working.

something new: my Humarock hat for the rain was a last second decision, came in handy.

thankfully I reread race reports and remembered to stuff some TP in my pants for the portapotty

We were a fifteen minute walk away from the starting line and even though I took residency in Meri's bathroom in the morning, we hit the portapotty pre-race.

I decided that due to a lack of training, I'd treat this like a long run and go for 10 minute pace and stay with the new runners.  My sister can attest to from our first half marathon, I'm not a good pacer and went up to 9:30-9:45s as I kept looking back, hoping they were behind me.  The field was packed anyways so I sat and didn't bob and weave (too much) so I didn't add on extra mileage.

At about mile 2, the light rain started. and it would go on and off all day.  Thanks a lot, weather report.

Around mile 5? a volunteer handed me water and said "looking good, Aaron".  it's weird how much that means from a complete stranger.  Unfortunately I would not be donning the A-A Ron moniker today otherwise I would've had more cheers.

By mile 6 or 7, the crowd finally thinned out since the half marathoners had a separate course/chute.  

My hip flexors felt tight all race despite all the hip flexor work I did this year. My outer right knee felt like it was gonna explode.  However, there were only two ways of getting to the end: happy and easy or miserable and dead tired.

My barely tested fruit snacks paid off, I had em at mile 4.5, 9, 13, 17, 20 and could feel the hunger right before ripping in to a new bag and chewing on some gummies.  It turned in to me looking forward to snack time every 4 or so miles.

Since it was an out and back course, I knew that at mile 10 I'd see Knapp pretty soon so kept staring down the runners hitting mile 16 going the oppo way.  Eventually, I see this Incredible Hulk/Flash run past me and giving me a high five.  It was Knapp, fully transformed and different than the picture at the top of this site.

The hills at mile 16 and 20 were not expected but thanks to training in Newton, didn't feel so bad.

After 20, it's a mental game of "ok 2 5ks left.  I do this at home in my sleep all the time."

The last mile and a half was just a cocktail of a mashup song of Kanye and Tame Impala on repeat as I kept pumping myself up with Ted Lasso quotes and tricking myself in to thinking I had enough in the tank to do more than a marathon.

No gag reflex at the end, and even hammed it up with a "finishing kick".  It was also nice to run negative splits/even and pass people a majority of the way, as I passed by the LL Bean boot truck b/c of course there is a LL Bean boot truck in case you didn't know you were in Maine.

4:10:22

I had chocolate milk and a space blanket as I waited for the others to finish.

Post-race thoughts:

I didn't learn my lesson from Boston, worked the day after.  Head in a daze.

My back and all the leg work has helped though as my upper body feels ok post-race and my legs, while sore, don't feel as awful as in the past (maybe because I didn't go all out).

Knapp ran a 3:08.  Wow. Enough said.

Volunteers were amazing, well organized.  Never felt like a car was gonna hit me even though I was usually the last runner when crossing the road.  I tried to thank as many spectators and volunteers as I could.

25 year old me would've blown up at this race a la Miami.  35 year old me knew better and took it easy.  Call it self-preservation, or not gutting out a harder race, but I feel good about it.  (and my body thanks me, as by Thursday, I'm running again)

had some random left glute pain momentarily on the ride back to Boston

I think the back half of the training plan suffered in the midst of a year plus of a pandemic solo.

ocean views for most of the race was pretty nice

Had half an Andy Bernard since I thought it wasn't gonna rain. Thankfully, I had on smartwool socks so I only got the one blister.

only with running could you meet someone new, and christen their bathroom pre-race.

This felt like an away game. You don't realize how diverse Boston is until you go to Maine.

They sell live lobsters at the restroom stop in Maine.

weight drop during the race:183.6-> 177.2 curiously I wanted to check pre to post race weight in an experiment of one.

As I continue to ramble, felt like I controlled what I could and everything that isn't under my control, let it go.  

training with someone on a long run>training solo

Lifting consistently for my back and legs: nice that I was able to power through and hold up during and after the race, but definitely felt bulkier even if it's in my head

'Rona Running

Quick blurb but to get out and get some exercise during this corona era, I ran the Newton Hills for a nice little half marathon distance.  It was nothing special and as I hit a third of the way in downhill, I was coming up to an older runner who was saying something to me which was inaudible with my permanent headphones in.  I took a bud out and heard her say "you ain't gettin past me!". I laughed and we spoke (at a 6 foot distance) about being runners. I told her as she mentioned she was older that she wasn't old because she was a runner.  We both went on about going to work during this time as healthcare essential workers, wished each other safety and my run became that much better with a smirk on my face.  While I have come to become a Bostonian I know all too well the social distancing that was happening prior to this corona virus but maybe we will be nicer to each other after the fact (who knows, must be the runner's high still coursing in my veins).

Side note, it's odd to run the course knowing it'll be delayed til September.  I also am slowly getting my legs back, only took 4 months...old Man Tang.

Falmouth Road Race

So what in my head was to be one of the least prepared races ever all time for myself (even worse than that time I forgot my running shoes...to a running race), we lucked out.  With no housing plans, literally ran in to a coworker who just so happens to be vacationing on the Cape near the race (with the caveat being we were present for the new generation of teenagers...they're pretty funny).

After soaking up a little sand and beach, my prerace meal was IPAs, oysters, clam chowder, and a lobster roll (again, really prepared)
I woke up at 2,3,4,5 a.m. despite really not trying for this race.

Finally up and chowing down on some vintage pb and banana sandwiches and being across from a fellow runner, Sportscenter on a massive tv, and sleeping on a futon, throwback college style.

We finally took off before 7 to get to the buses to the starting line.  As we waited at just one intersection for the cop directing traffic, Brian lowers his window to give them an earful for the ten minute wait to take a right...I looked at Brian, because I didn't know you could do that. Talk back to a cop.

The school bus line was super organized like Boston (even saw Tedy Bruschi for the third time this year NBD). We got to Wood's Hole and chilled for an hour, wading through the massive horde of 11,000+ runners in the dense fog by the water (too bad I didn't get a snap of the sailboats out there, super eerie). 

Since we were ill-prepared, we moved back pace groups.  We took it easy for the first three miles during the rolling hills and just kept weaving in and out (an extra 0.07 miles, not too bad).  I figured there'd be an opening soon.

Wrong.

We'd be dodging all day which makes no sense if there were corrals...

an older runner was yelling at walkers to move to the right...aggressive but truthful.

I skipped the water stations and just straight up missed another one...so I started dry heaving at mile 5.5. I was told there'd be a hill at the end.  There was one at 6.5.  Then the actual hill. Then the huge American Flag that would signify not the finish line but right before. Super tricky.

I expected nothing out of this, yet I was still a little bit disheartened by the over on the hour time (1:00:35). Well, either your ready for a race or you aren't, so time to get back to hitting pavement.

Right shoulder and back hurting.

Seen:
one tree hill backpack and a riddler hat from Batman Forever.

Post-BM

About a month and a half out from the BM, it still feels great and keeps getting better upon each retelling.  The further away it is, the lesser details and negative aspects fall by the wayside.  Yada yada yada, I have been coasting off that high and have not been really hitting pavement as much as I would like to.  So naturally, we sign up for races for a good motivator.

Schedule:

July 21-Dana-Farber 5k
Aug 18 Falmouth 7 mile road race

Fall-marathon???

Boston Marathon Race Report 2019: Runnin' like a BOS

The Pre-Race

I passed out at 10 pm and my sleep pre-race was (like clockwork) broken up by a 2:30 am wake up call with the usual "I missed the dang race" nightmare, followed by tossing and turning until 5 am. I got up and my right hip pain and quads were sore already. Eat a banana and P.B. sandwich, drink a liter of water, the same breakfast before every race.

For my official gallon Boston Marathon zip-lock bag, I packed what looked like an elementary school lunch:

2 peanut butter sandwiches, my pretzel nuggets that helped me during that 21 miler, and a bottle of water (complete with dry socks).  My fanny pack was filled to the brim with 6 gus (4 chocolate, 2 raspberry), keys, a T pass, ID, credit card, and my waist was surrounded with the usual TP utility belt. 

After 2 rounds on the porcelain throne (like clockwork), I boarded the B line train at 6 am with my Freddy Krueger/ trash bag get-up complete with Marathon Sports gloves and pajama pants, old Nike kicks and a makeshift necklace of dry New Balance Fresh Foams to ward off bad juju (and wet shoes for the race).  The things we do for running. #noshameinmygame

As I had done before many a time coming home from a bar, I slept on the T with my head nudged on the window since I knew by feel what stop I'm at like a sixth sense, this was my home court advantage.   Elite marathoners (looked like there was a Houston runner and Mexico runner across from me) filled out the rest of the train, perplexed by how much Gu and gear I had as they had packed 0% body fat and zero throwaway clothes. I gently woke up from my lean against the T as we reached the Arlington stop, and that's when the rain and lightning started and my trash bag fashion faux pas turned in to a vet move quickly.

While others donned their uncouth trash bags on the stairs leading up to the Boston Garden, I was momentarily confused and walked the wrong way then remembered to walk towards the line of school buses across the pond.  Volunteers were out in full force and helped direct us as the lightning and downpour started.

After flashing my bib and Dana-Farber bracelet (concert paper style) to security, I was able to grab a wave 2 bus at 7 am.  The rain then smacked us sideways with thunder going off in the background a la Lord of The Rings, Helm's Deep style (or GoT if you prefer); damp but bad ass before boarding.  I got on and saw another non-BQ DFMC teammate and hoped she would sit with me because I had no idea where to go once we got off the bus. She sat with me because I was rocking a Providence Ironman hat that I picked up at a race from another life time ago, I let her know I was in fact an Ironman fraud.  The ride was an hour long out to Hopkinton on a long motorcade of school buses that felt like the Dark Knight's bank robbery opening scene. Some runners became anxious as the ride seemed to go on forever. We finally arrived at the Athlete's Village where the Wave 2 runners turned left into, the rest of us went towards our safe haven as I spotted the tallest DFMC runner and training partner extraordinaire, Brian Thomson.

Hopkinton

We got to the Dana-Farber sanctioned church (so clutch) and as any vet knows, hit the bathroom asap.  While we waited in line, the flyover happened for the 1st wave as the bathroom stalls shook.  During our stay at the church, we added on Sharpie tattoos to our arms for those who we were running for, lettered my singlet with "Tang", then last second Sharpie'd in "A-Aron" also on the singlet. We took group pictures as well while I began to snack on PB sandwiches and pretzel nuggets, and drank another liter of water. We crashed the inside bathrooms and portajohns for a grand total of 5 rounds of the porcelain throne all before 10:35, proceeded to donate our throwaway clothes and shoes and the crawl to the start began. As we waited for our roughly 11am start, Wave 3 people were sneaking by us and running to the starting line as they were late for their start. I looked around and thought, we got blessed with this pocket of no rain and was pumped.  Earlier in the week, all we saw was rain showers all day. Before we started, Brian said that we'd get rain (0.07')  around 1pm.

We got to the top of Hopkinton and fired up the GPS watch as we crossed our first tracking point.  We definitely ran downhill for the first half (with hills at miles 4 and 8).  At 0.9 mi, Brian had a fan base with a  "25.3 mi" left sign as they cheered him on with a 'BT' shout for him.  Brian spotted a Welcome to Brookline sign around here, I was unphased and delirious to know what that even meant early on.
Thankfully there honestly wasn't as much jostling for openings as we were mostly 0.1 mile off before each mile marker and finally, learned to let the race come to us. (Zig zagged a couple times to stay within range of each other of course). A couple of jackasses were swerving in and out, like left side to right side...these must be the Massholes that drive around these parts.


Ashland and Framingham flew by quick.  We had to back off and run conservatively downhill.  In a role reversal from our long runs, Brian had to tell me to dial it back a couple times which I am so thankful for later on in the race.

Early on, Brian and I knew one small thing may have made all the difference; writing "A-Aron" on my singlet from the now infamous Key and Peele skit.  Every minute, a new sideline cheerleader would shout "A-Aron" after I passed by them, them chuckling to themselves, and me pointing at them after the fact and acknowledging the absurdity of it all, which started a longer wave of cheers.  Brian said the difference between whoever would finish first would be because of this, and I can't say that he's wrong.  To make it even more of a big deal, my "TANG" lettering was coming off, the G falling off and I did not want "TAN" shout outs.

Somewhere in this section I said aloud to Brian at least it wasn't raining and that turned in to a conversation with an older female runner who was going to run last year but decided to go to China with her husband instead, what a tough life. We also saw the usual Jesus-like shirtless runner, to which I said "was that Jesus?" to the delight of the crowd.

We finally got in to the rhythm of taking each mile's water stop after the mile sign, running to the back and left for water stations to sip and cool down. Nothing worse than sucking back Gu with a parched mouth.

Once we hit Natick (or was it Wellesley?) the sun came out and the clouds let up as we were slowly getting cooked without knowing it until it was too late.  We needed to back off the 8:30-40 pace and rock 9s.  We knew we'd hit every water station and pick up Gu and store it in my pockets.  I looked back for Brian and couldn't find him so I had to run solo since Brian wanted to go at 9 pace.  Felt bad but at the same time knew we spoke about this possibly happening.  After that 5k where Knapp came through and torched me in the pic at the top of this blog, I thought Brian may do the same here, too (not that it really matters, right?).

Wellesley to Newton

There were drums? Stomping? Whatever it was near the Wellesley Marathon Sports store, where I had my first long run with the team, kept me going. The home court advantage started as we had run these spots a couple times which made all the difference.

Once I hit the Wellesley "tunnel", I realized wow, I am old af because these college girls offering kisses are kids haha.  But back to the race, I thought to myself, I gotta plug away at 9:00 pace from miles 14-17.  I saw my Bristol bro around this point and one of my fellow colleagues at work who apparently whacked me in the back...totally do not remember that happening. At the Newton fire station at mile 17, they were blasting Montell Jordan "This is How We Do It" and all was right again.

Heartbreak Hill

Miles 17-20 was now when the work started.  A veteran told me mile 17 is the actual half way point of the marathon and after this experience, I totally agree.  I've run these hills before backwards and forwards in the carriage road but would now navigate the 3 hills along the main road and plug away. I saw Greg around mile 20 with his family here which helped me move along.  The hills were a slug fest but just kept grinding away having faced them before, passing walkers and spectators shouting "Go A-Aron!" I kept pointing back at them, thankfully I never smacked anyone with my left arm inevitably swinging by (I stayed on the left side per Brian's recommendation). 

Home field advantage is legit; the hills are something I did multiple times, even at night when I needed to do medium runs, making Heartbreak Hill less heartbreak-y.

If conditions were right and I had energy, I would've opened up a "finishing kick" after Heartbreak Hill like the one I had for our 21 miler (with my good luck pretzel nuggets that I never went to, kept eating Gu upon Gu upon Gu).  Unfortunately that wouldn't be the case but I had to keep telling myself I hadn't unleashed a big move yet and continue tricking my body and willing it forward as my calves started to cramp up as I hit BC. I hoped the cramps would be kept at bay til the finish.

I continued running through home court as I passed the reservoir then navigated a right turn and a left on to Cleveland Circle where I saw fellow DFCI 5k member Richie and then saw my newly-joined Brighton Bangers run club! And apparently some girls I've met in Brookline saw me around this point too. Rep precedes me haha.

10k To Go

The last 10k, while being downhill (save for that Mass Ave dip) was slow as molasses as the humidity was turning up.  The "4 Jane" sharpie'd tattoos on the arms in honor of my spirit animal Jane Gunzelmann pulled me through the last 10k.  I was constantly raising my arms and cheering up the spectators to cheer us on a la KOB.

Around the Washington Square stop, I saw my Mom cheering me on in a green DFMC shirt that Brian donated to me (what a team player).

The "A-aron" high fives, while propelling me forward at a faster clip, caused some semi-calf cramps around mile 23 or 24 when I veered towards some drunk college kids chanting A-Aron in unison...won't forget that.  Had to shake my left leg as the cramps became more apparent.

I had nothing left in Brookline and couldn't make a move for a 3:45 finish time as I peeked at my watch and was around 3:22 at mile 23, meaning I'd need a 23 minute 5k so it wouldn't have been feasible. But I also knew sub 4 was fine so long as I ran 10s. I think either the 23 or 24 mile water stop, I walked for a quick second to gauge my cramps and knew I had to start running otherwise I'd walk the rest.

The Citgo sign (and the accompanying hill it's on) were welcome signs (rim shot) as the end was near.

I tried to get the crowd involved in the end...it's amazing how I turn in to this different person while running. I was yelling, hollering while running, talking to myself aloud to keep going, all with my hand on my ear like I was 80s era Hulk Hogan.

As I took the right on to Hereford, left on to Boylston (along with others taking the turns tight), the rain finally started as we were about a quarter mile out from the finish line.  I kept waving my arms and according to my race photos, I was smiling? I hit the finish line and in rare form, did NOT dry heave...even got an Uta Pippig shout out (she was a speaker for the team and has been with the team for a while).

3:53:24. Haven't got to say this in a while but that is a PR!

Received a congratulations from the team leader and photographer.  They got another DFMC runner as we took a photo after congratulating each other.  The photographer asked what A-Aron stood for.  Very good question.

Got my medal put on me, got my coveted space blanket, and was led by a friendly DFMC volunteer in a pink shirt to help navigate back to the Marriott.  Just as we headed towards the Hancock tower, a swirling dervish of trash came through and the rain picked up.  When I slowly got up a couple stairs and on some escalators, I was able to change out in the make-shift locker room on the third floor and lament with fellow runners who didn't know they would get here due to injuries. I hopped in to my pre-hip Champion sweats and running shirts from almost a decade ago and called up Mama Tang to meet up on the fourth floor family waiting area.

After getting my mom back on the commuter rail back to PVD, the rainstorm bookended the race on both sides thankfully.  Naturally the sun came out with a rainbow around Back Bay post-run.

Stats and facts:

-2 Nantucket Nectar Half and Halfs at the Marriott post-race, that's all I had, Gatorade for tonight #liquiddiet

-I took EVERY GU (Mocha and razz) available offered by the volunteers ... must've had 12 total since that seemed like the limiting factor during my 21 miler (whereas today, I was parched due to the heat and couldn't go to my pretzel nuggets that ignited a 4 mile kick for my 21 miler)., must've looked like that fat kid in Matilda with brown crap on my face and hands from squeezing every last bit of Gu out, toothpaste style

-Right foot was getting tight in my shoe (or I laced em wrong)

-Can't eat post-marathon per usual

-Brian gets credit for all the "A-Aron" chants, numerous and sped me up every time.

-he also went in to the portajohn with a popsicle stick with Vaseline on it...have I been skipping a step?

-Got a runner's tan on my back

-8 towns, 1 race

-Only ran an extra 0.23 miles per the GPS, not bad

-Group runs with Brian helped with my confidence to trust 8:30/9 pace whereas Marine Corps was all solo runs but I did not feel nearly as good as I did this training cycle

-Loved the strangers saying congrats per usual

DFMC team

-Organized as all hell, volunteers got us to the Marriott, no problem at all. Speaks volumes that a lot of my energy could go towards the race and not logistics.  This team is the real deal.

-Rockin OOFOS and changed in to my pre-cool Champion sweats and medal for Jane

-Coach Jack Fultz, amazing work

-Customized DFMC jersey and kicks that were sharpie'd....should've done that 

Sountrack on the course

"Road Runner" by the Modern Lovers early on in the race

"Midnight City" by M83

That "ole ole ole oleeee" song

A throwback Ja Rule song

"This is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan at the Newton Fire House

The Aftermath Bullet Points

-My "4 Jane" tat left a "Jan" imprint on my right arm due to the sun coming out

-I'm smiling in almost all my pictures, do I finally cave and pay MarathonFoto for pics?

-A Boston Marathon jacket, I finally can wear it. Do I feel bad since I didn't BQ? No, because this is America, money talks. You can buy your way in to college. Right Aunt Becky?  Speaking of school, it's like a varsity jacket for Boston...why I didn't wear it to run club that Wednesday at run club is beyond me.

-My mantra coming in was, crush mileage, outwork 'em, relax, turnover your legs, and blink? It worked I guess

-"A-Aron" echoing in my head kept me up, that's why I only slept for an hour.  Listen, we are never going to be the NBA or NFL stars we dreamed of as kids.  But that feeling of complete strangers cheering you on...man, can't shake that feeling!

-Flip it on its head, yes I could've hit 3:45 with no insomnia and better weather but lets look at 3:53 as what it is, a PR under rough and tough conditions

-never felt 100% to start, we got robbed.  That 21 miler was my race...we need another shot at the marathon. Never hit the wall though thankfully. 

-With 1 hr of sleep after the race, I can see why athletes love playing at home with people chanting your name as you raise your hands or acknowledge them cheering as you are pursuing your best effort. Nothing like it.

-Quads and right outside knee are shot, not back of the knees like in the past. Going Benjamin Button on my walking the whole week, hobbling to back to normal in a week.

-"walking around like Bambi." -Heather Tang

-despite not really working out, my upper body and core held up (but yes, I need to do yoga and lift again).  My arms did look jacked in that one waving pic haha

-I didn't notice the usual funny signs or costumed runners (or any at all)...there's a different vibe to this marathon.  The prestige and honor associated with it must have something to do with it

-not peeing apple juice but not exactly water

-reached for a package on the floor and my right shoulder cramped the hell out

-Ran with Pat Henderson way back during our URI days to help him train for Boston for a couple miles, now we here. What a crazy journey. He had some helpful words the day before the race to soak in all the love.  Amazingly I did, Boston came up huge.

-Run your miles, work hard, but have no expectations.  I read that, from one of my earlier entries in this blog.  That's the way I need to approach running and life.

-sacrifice to the running gods: my space gray iPod shuffle is MIA.  RIP. Bought a shiny new red one to replace it #midlifecrisis

-took longer for my legs to recover, about a week and a half.  Getting older or am I just paying for not taking a day off after the race?

-Future goals: run another marathon? Feeling good, gotta keep up the fitness level or improve.

-hard to see, but the drop in elevation was very hard to fight off speeding up.  So glad we did.  That spike in pace at the end? The turn on the Boylston from Hereford.

Bonus highlight reel

Behind The Scenes

So this is where the petty part kicks in, end now  if you don't want the 2Pac "Hit Em Up", Michael Jordan acceptance speech vibes below.  I may delete this part later.  

For those out of the loop, signing up for this race was done like many if not like all of my races; not by my choice.  I have wanted to do Boston ever since Knapp and I conjured up all these wild dreams as new runners.  This race would also be different since there was a large fundraising component as well.

At the beginning, the understandable stress of training and fundraising, along with a relationship that would sour after moving in together began to take its toll on my mental health.  

I broke down.  I cried. I cried like a little baby.  While she was there to console me, apparently this was part of the many reasons why this relationship would ultimately end.  

Within a 2 month period, everything went from all in to all out.  Wasting my time and energy. 

And within that time, my friends became my new support system and my long runs became therapy (along with actual therapy), a time to vent and expend energy in to something I loved and would end up fighting for on my own.  Thankfully all the long runs went well.

This would all proceed in to a break up 2 weeks prior to the race after spending my time and energy in to helping the move.  This became a detriment to my sleep and mood during a time when I would be tapering and had no outlet since my runs were being halved. For the first time, I have insomnia. Frustration hung like a black cloud over such a prestigious time.

On top of all this, to have the audacity to text after all that and say good luck the day before the race after trying very hard to move on from this relationship, which would momentarily rattle me.  Thankfully I was at a pasta party and heard inspirational speech upon inspirational speech.  

I remember that the only time I was faced with relationship adversity pre-race 7 years ago, I quit at mile 8 of a half marathon where I had a shot to PR. I had to dip deeper in to the well to find the courage and energy to continue.

For Boston, this race was a division, it was about who has your back and about those who would rather selfishly drag out a terrible time in my life to where I felt horribly during an already stressful time.


If someone told me that I would PR at Boston after a messy break up, I would've laughed in your face.  The sheer willpower to get through and PR on a less than stellar day on a less than stellar year personally...this PR, this medal, this jacket is for me. It's for me and for those that were there to support me and be on my team.  You know who you are.  And you know who you are.