The Boston Experience!

Where to begin.....

A little background information before getting into the beast itself.  If you haven't been following my blogs, I had 15 weeks of unbelievably, great training runs. Once I began tapering, the problems began...along with some mistakes (i.e. wearing heels) made.  A couple deep tissue massages later, along with no running and we were Boston bound!  


We stayed at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel in the bay area.  It was located about 1.7 miles out of downtown Boston.  For two straight days, my entire family was stressed about creating a plan to A. get me to the bus pick-up on time, B. figure out how they were going to get to Boylston Street, C. where should they stand, D. how were we going to meet up after the race, and E. how we were going to get back to our cars to head home.  I couldn't focus on any of those issues because I was fighting my own pre-race demons.  Eventually, all plans had worked out with the help of hotel staff and other helpful runners, which went like this:
A. I hopped on a shuttle($5.00) from the hotel at 6:15 a.m., which took me to the bus pick-up on Tremont St. in the Commons. Buses went to Boston to Hopkinton (1 hour drive), to Athlete's Village.
B. My family jumped on the T and got off on Arlington St. because Copley & Boylston St. stops were closed.
C. They found a wonderful spot on Boylston St, where they stood for nearly 3 hours waiting for me.
D. Luckily, I spotted them right after crossing the finish line. But, the plan was to meet at the park on the left, right past the Baggage buses.
E. We all jumped back on the T, back to the hotel, in the cars and headed home.

I won't ruin the fun for those of you who have not gone to Boston yet.  But, I will provide some helpful tips!  Take the "T". It is much cheaper than taking a cab, if you are not located directly in Boston. Have a plan of where to meet up with your family after the race. There are thousands of people, which makes it nearly impossible to find anyone!  

Onto the Expo, located at the Hynes Convention Center.  Extremely organized, but how could it not be with that many people?! Picked up the packet and went shopping!  I'm not going to lie, I've been to better expo's. It was nice, had great stuff, but the Rock N Roll Series definitely tops it!


The night before the race, we went to dinner at Legal Test Kitchen, which happened to be conveniently located right next to our hotel.  Pan Seared Shrimp in pasta, crab quesadillas, and fried pickles. I couldn't resist the fried pickles, they were the best I'd ever had!  

Race morning, let the fun begin!  Arrived in Hopkinton-Athlete's Village around 8:15 a.m. It was 40 degrees and the wind was brutal. Thousands of runners were laying all over the place, covered up, laying on pool rafts.  I contacted another friend, Tracey Hayes, who was also running.  We met up, eat a few bagels, bananas, scooped a few free Power Bars, water, chatted, went to the potty a couple times and then off to Wave 8!  I was one foot in my wave before it took off.  So much for stretching!


I tried to take the first few miles easy but my adrenaline was slowly taking over.  By mile 5, my stride had set in but my legs still didn't feel that comfortable-and I ditched the running sleeves.  My original plan was to run negative splits, like I usually do. After 13 miles of rolling hills, I knew I had to stick with a pace that could get me to the end.  By mile 13, my legs were starting to hurt-I hit GU number 1.  Thanks to a wonderful running buddy, Amy Balash, I put my name on my shirt for crowd support =)  I did not listen to music the entire time, because the crowds were yelling "GO KELLI" every step of the way. It was so awesome and really kept me going!  Wellesley Girls....you can hear them from a half mile away. My suggestion is run to the left ha ha!

 Mile 17, I'm starting to feel a little comfortable again.  The road is going up and down, up and down, and all I see if thousands of runners ahead up me. I can honestly say, the uphills felt great compared to the downhill.  My quads were getting exhausted.  There are so many uphill & downhill drops in that course, that no one talks about; I know because I've studied it like a state exam LOL!  Mile 19 is where I began to really feel fatigued.  The sun was beaming down, it was hot, my legs were tired, my form was a wreck and I was just trying to hold it together.  I began to stop completely at every single drink station to keep myself hydrated. Mile 21, Heart Break Hill.  You see "thump, thump, thump", written on the road in chalk.  Not that the hill itself was steep, but it was long, and at mile 21, the last thing you want to do is pedal your way up a hill.  Not as bad as I had anticipated though-GU number 2.  Once you get to the top, its quite a drop downhill, and that's what kills your legs.  Once I had passed mile 22, my goal was to just hold on to an 8mm pace or under until the finish.  The last few miles weren't that bad, aside from the dry heaving that I began to experience, the heat, and the tears that bellowed down my face. It was such a glorious moment to run past that mile 26 marker, take a left onto Boylston Street and see the finish ahead.  It seemed like an eternity to get to the finish line, but nothing beats the feeling of crossing that finish line!  

Check my Garmin....HUGE PR!  Official finishing time for 26.52 miles = 3:32:53!!!  I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to experience the phenomenon of Boston.  IT truly is an amazing time! Thank you to everyone who encouraged and support me!


Picked up my medal, post race goodies, baggage and headed home.  That, I do not recommend!  6 hours of sitting after running a marathon, is painful! What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger!

The Finish!!!