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The 2010 Boston Marathon: Race Day! April 23, 2010

Filed under: Marathons,Run DFMC — Kelocity @ 9:58 pm
Tags: Boston Marathon, DFMC, Race

On Marathon Monday, I got up at 4am. I kind of laid there for 10 minutes or so in shock. “I’m running a marathon today?” I rolled over and said to Irving, “Um, I don’t want to run a marathon today!!” He said “Too bad. Get up.” hahaha

I met my team at the Marriott in Copley and we all walked together to the busses. I had no idea that the busses were on Tremont Street! It was a long walk!

But it was fun to pass Emerson College on the way!

The bus lines were CRAZY! But it was well organized and the lines went quick.

The bus ride was about an hour long. It was crazy because the further the bus was driving, the more I realized that I had to run all the way back! That’s far! haha

The busses dropped us off at Athlete’s Village, but we were able to bypass the crowds and head to our VIP DFMC refuge at a church near the start line. It was really nice to have a place to hang out for the 3 hours we had to kill before the race.

We stole some street signs along the way. I know, that’s probably illegal, but look how cool they are!

PS, that’s my new friend Alicia! She’s awesome and I was so excited to have a teammate to hang out with! Plus, I love her braids.

Inside, I couldn’t really sit still. I would get up and down. Pack and repack my fuel belt. Three hours is a lot of time to kill when pre-race jitters are setting in! There was so much going on around us! I had my breakfast while I was waiting. That helped a bit. 🙂

We also killed some time by remembering the reason we were running. There were banners to sign for kids who are currently fighting cancer. They’re rockstars!

And Uta Pippig was there signing Jerseys!!! She signed mine too!

Finally, it was time to head towards the startline! Then things really started happening fast. I didn’t even know what was happening. It didn’t feel like I would be running 26.2 miles in a few minutes!

It was fun to see the sea of DFMC jerseys walking together to the start!

I can’t believe I’m one of the runners!

We found our corrals and hopped right in!

My number was 22501 out of 26,000. So that means there were about 4,000 people behind me!

The weather was PERFECT! It was 47* at the start.
And then the countdown to the start began!

All of a sudden, the next thing I knew, I was running! Somewhere in the first mile, I hit “stop” on my watch! But I caught it right away. That would have been tragic. Whew!

Peter kept reminding me to slow down. It was downhill, so it was easy to go out too fast. It was elbow to elbow runners for the first three miles or so. I stuck with my 5:5 intervals, and I kept thinking I was going to get trampled every time we stopped. But we hugged the guardrail on the side so we didn’t get in anyone’s way.

My fuel belt was way too big. That’s what I get for trying something new on race day I guess. It kept riding up and it was annoying. But after awhile, I found my rhythm and it was fine. I remember miles 1-3, but for some reason, I don’t remember the next few miles. I think I was just going with the flow. It didn’t even feel like my legs were moving. It felt—easy.

Miles ahead of me was the elite runners. My family and friends took pictures of them.
This is the pace car. Hannah Kearney was in it. She won Gold on the moguls in the 2010 Olympics! I love athletes!

I didn’t see him, but my “fans” caught Ryan Hall zooming by!

Another elite man:

The woman who WON! Her body amazes me. Congrats!

I love this picture too! Those guys do the whole race with upper body strength. Amazing.

So anyways, while they were like at mile 20, I was still chugging along through the early miles. I remember passing the 6 mile marker thinking, only 20 more miles to go! At that point, it was a piece of cake. Anything less than 20 miles to go was doable. I didn’t have the slightest twinge of pain anywhere.

At Mile 7.8, you could see yourself running in the windows of Hansen Electric!

Here it is zoomed in!

Around mile 8, Peter took off. I wanted to maintain my energy and I knew I had to slow down a little if I wanted to make it over the Newton Hills.

Miles 8-11 were fun. All the little towns along the way were great. There were so many people cheering. People kept screaming my name. It was pretty awesome. Some of the local bars had karaoke going on. Hearing “sweet caroline” was a great boost. All the runners were singing along “so good! so good!”

Then I was just excited to get to Wellesley College. I heard that was one of the highlights of the race. I could actually hear them screaming about a half mile before I got there!

Here’s a video:

They were really inspiring. It gave me strength through the next few miles. I started to slow down a little around mile 14. Not too bad, but I think I got a little lonely. There were still TONS of people cheering, but you could see the crowd thinning out a little. Not too many runners around me at that point either. But I kept going. I kept repeating out loud “wow, i’m running the BOSTON MARATHON”! I was running the same race on the same day as Ryan Hall!

After this, I was just running for the Newton Firestation. Once I got there, I knew I was in the home stretch (as far as I’m concerned). It’s at mile 16, which is the start of the newton hills. Finally, I saw the turn!!

There are four Newton Hills (the last one being heartbreak hill)
I was pretty much walking at this point. (Running the downhills and the flats, but walking up). I didn’t think they were too bad, but they were long. At one point, I thought I was on the 3rd hill, but turns out, it was only the 2nd. I started to get a little anxious because I knew all my friends and family were coming up!!

Finally at the bottom of heartbreak hill, I saw Chely! She ran up heartbreak hill with me! I was SO happy to see her!

It was so nice seeing her!!! Thank you, Chely!

Here we come! My sisters and Irving came down to see me at that point too!

And at the top of the hill, everyone was there!

Look at this fan club I have!
My mom:

Mikaela:

Laurie:
PS… love the “Run Dana-Fahba” haha

They waited for like 4 hours for me!!!

They started to get creative. haha

Hi Deanna!

And then finally I got there! I was so happy to see everyone!

My mom had my orange slices ready. HAHA LOVE HER! Thanks mom!!

They rounded up a bunch of BC kids to run with me for a bit. haha Irving and Laurie went a few miles with me. I was really happy to have the distraction! I just started to get a little tired.

Mile 22!

And then I saw my friends!!!!! Hi Steph, Katie and Mark!!! So excited to see you guys on the side! They came with me down Beacon street for a while. Sorry I wasn’t too chatty at that point. But I was SOOOO excited to see you guys!! Thank you!

Then they jumped on the T to head to the finish line, and Irving went the last few miles with me (all the way to mile 26!) The police were threatening to open the streets to traffic, and the busses kept going by me, trying to pick me up! But I ran pieces and walked really, really fast and they left me alone. 🙂

In fact, we were walking so fast that I maintained a 13 minute mile through the end! Then I went under Mass Ave, and saw the right turn onto Hereford. I knew the finish line was right around the corner!!! I picked it up a little bit and as I ran down Boylston Street, I saw my family and friends again!

They were on both sides of the street!!! Here are a few of the pictures they snapped!

And there you have it! My first Boston Marathon! A PR by 31 minutes! I finished in 5:57:17.

An average pace of 13:38!

I’ll be posting official race photos, statistics and my reflections and thoughts on the race this weekend! Stay tuned!

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The 2010 Boston Marathon: Pre Race

Filed under: Marathons,Run DFMC — Kelocity @ 4:42 pm
Tags: Boston, Boston Marathon, BOSTON MARATHON RACE RECAP, Dunkin Donuts, Race, Running

So you might want to grab a cup of water and grab a comfy chair before you read this post. It’s sure to be pretty long.

So backing up to the very beginning…
On Friday night, we took a red eye flight (on Virgin!) to Boston. At the airport, we saw an Emerson friend that we knew! While we waited to board, I played the “who else on my flight is running Boston” game. haha

Once we landed, we went directly to Dunkin’ Donuts! I avoided caffeine a few days before, but that didn’t stop me from getting a munchkin’!

My parents picked us up at the airport and we went directly to the Boston Marathon Expo at the convention center. Our flight arrived at 6am and the expo didn’t open til 9am. But it was fun to hang out and chat and relax before the craziness began.

Then they opened the doors and all the volunteers clapped as we walked in.

And I got my very own Boston Marathon bib!

My dad bought me this Boston Visor!

As someone on twitter said earlier, “I trick or treated at the expo”. haha There were so many goodies! Some highlights: Cape Cod Chips, Organic Granola Bars and Coconut Larabars! Mmmm I think my parents had fun walking around too. There was so much to look at.

Then we headed over to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge packet pickup. They had a really cute check-in. Everything was so organized and everyone was really nice!

When I got to my house, the rest of my family was excited to see Irving and I!

Look who was first in line to greet us! I miss Mr. Gizzy!

We had a fun dinner Saturday night too!

After dinner, I tried on some of my new marathon gear and posed for my grandparents!
Thank you, Irving, for my jacket! I LOVE it!
And the shirt I have on was the free technical shirt that all entrants got. Pretty sweet, huh?

My sisters and aunt got busy making signs to hold during the race.

But the first order of business was to figure out how to draw a “runner girl”. haha

And then things got a little crazy when trying to draw giraffes…. does this look like a giraffe to you? HAHAHA

Then I started to get my stuff together for race morning. I think it’s so awesome we got to keep our timing chips this year. Usually you have to give them back at the end. It’s a nice memento to have!

I attached it to my shoe right away.

I also pinned my bib onto my shirt! It looks good, yes?

My dad made me a sign too! Thanks, Dad!

That night, I slept for a glorious 12 hours. It felt SO good to be rested.
Sunday, Irving, my sisters and I headed into Boston for a Marathon-themed day!

We headed directly to the Finish Line to take some pictures.

It was a little rainy out, but I’d much rather see it rain Sunday instead of Marathon Monday!!

Next time I see this, I’ll be a Boston Marathon Finisher!

Then we found this awesome backdrop and had a photo session. 🙂

And with my sisters!!

Oh, and a shot of my AMAZING Jacket!! It’s official!

Then my friends met us down there! They came all the way out in the rain to say hi and wish me luck. They’re amazing. Thanks guys, you have no idea how awesome it was to see you guys!!!

And then, in a panic, I realized that my fuel belt wasn’t going to work, so we headed over to City Sports to buy a new one. (I know, I know, nothing new on race day! But this was an emergency!)

After a fun afternoon, we headed over to the Copley Marriott for the DFMC Pasta Party!!!!

I got so energized by all the DFMC stuff everywhere. There was a lot of excitement in the air! Peter and I found our names on the “Living Proof” board. We’re both survivors running for Dana-Farber!

haha, Ta-da!

So excited I got to share this with my sisters and Irving!

The room was huge!! It looked so good!

The centerpieces were cute too!

We ate LOTS of pasta! It was pretty good, actually. During the meal, they had a slideshow going. We caught two of our pictures!

The speakers were great. Uta Pippig was there! She has won a lot of marathons, but is best known for being the first woman to win the Boston Marathon three consecutive times (1994–1996). She was so inspiring!

And our DFMC Coach, Jack Fultz, spoke too. He won the 1976 Boston Marathon.

He had a lot of great tips to share. I think the funniest was when he told us that during the whole race, people would be screaming “Go Dana-Fah-bah!”. 🙂

And our very own DFMC Teammate, Valerie Bertinelli was there too! She was adorable. I’m so proud that she chose to be on our team. Thanks, Valerie!

She was even nice enough to take a picture with me!!

What a great night!
See you in Hopkinton!

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Nike Women’s Marathon 2009 Race Recap! October 22, 2009

Filed under: Marathons,San Francisco,Uncategorized — Kelocity @ 12:00 pm
Tags: Nike Women's Marathon, Race, San Francisco

20091018_Nike_Womens_Marathon

Well it’s been almost a week since I ran my 10th (!!) long distance race. I was so excited for race weekend. I can’t believe it had been my 5th Nike Marathon race weekend. Wow. Here’s my recap with all the ups and downs that come with being a runner!

I flew up to San Francisco on Saturday Morning. Irving drove me super early in the morning and I caught a 6:30a flight up. I tried to sleep a little bit, but I think I was just too excited. When we landed, I realized that the girl sitting next to me was also going to the Marathon Expo (Hi Crystal!!) So we rode the BART together to Union Square. It was so fun having someone to hang out with. We got our race bibs and explored the expo tent together!

The colors were super cute this year. Purple and Salmon.

They put everyone’s names on a giant wall that is as big as the whole Nike Store. It took me forever, but I finally found my name!

Niketown had some super cute clothes this year. I loved this half-zip hoodie. The color was actually a salmon-ish pink color. It looked so cozy!

Niketown was packed as usual. The store is 5 stories tall! And almost all of the floors had Nike Marathon gear on them. They must have made a fortune!

I signed this wall… not sure what it was for, but who doesn’t like to sign walls. ha! I signed small, it said “TEAM BOSTON!”

I love this “Pose Like a Girl” background. It’s so cute! We got there before the photographer was set up, so we could take our own pictures.

Then later, I caught up with Janet, and we had some professional ones done! (The picture itself is better quality, this is just a scan).

Whoo Hoo!!!!
PS, I carried that backpack around with me ALL DAY!!!

Who can resist “runway” photos. 🙂
The red bag on the right was our Swag Bag!

Some of the goodies I got at the Expo. Say Yes to Carrots!

We “run like girls!”
This picture makes me smile. 🙂

Alex and I!
So sad she didn’t run this year. But she was with us in Spirit!

My sister-in-law EJ modeling the awesome Nike Sweatshirt that we all love so much! Isn’t it so cute!

Niketown!

Noah and Janet!

We have arrived!

At the expo, Joan Benoit and Karen Goucher did a short presentation to get us pumped for the race. They’re both running legends. Joan is a Gold Medal Olympian and Karen is a World Champion.

EJ and Sarah outside the Race Expo!

Me, EJ and Sarah!

Noah and Janet outside the Race Expo.

So I was starting to get the begining pains of shin splints and I was getting nervous because I didn’t want them to get worse right before I start training for Boston. So I went to the medic tent, and had the trainer wrap my legs with tape. They did such a great job, but it was cutting off the circulation in my feet, so I took the tape off and figured I could retape them myself in the morning. More on that later!

I had some time to kill before we left the expo, so I waited in line for an hour at the expo to have my nails painted. I picked “Team in Training” purple. lol

Then we all took the BART to Irving’s mom’s house (where we stayed for the weekend!) We had a really nice carbo load dinner (with Pasta and Salad). Then we came home and got ready for race day! Per usual, I laid out all my running stuff. Can you believe that I carry almost all of this stuff with me when I run?

We had to get up early, and I was up and out of bed by 3:50am!! That’s mighty early, but such is the life of a marathoner! But even with getting up that early, I still barely had enough time to get myself together. I just kept forgetting things and second guessing everything. I think I was just anxious? I just felt like I was missing something.

We drove to San Francisco and took the shuttle bus to Union Square. It was sooo crowded. It was nearly impossible to move around! We used the bathroom in the JW Marriott to avoid the porta-potties. SCORE!
We had just enough time to check our bags and find our pace groups. I got separated from all my friends, and this is when I started freaking out. I turned my Garmin Watch on… and it flashed “Low Battery” and then just completely turned off! Without my watch, I had no way of tracking my pace and my intervals. I rely on that for my whole race! I wanted to beat my time and push myself. I was almost in tears with the thought that my whole race would fail because of this. But I realized that part of running is rolling with the punches and not letting outside things affect the run. So I took a few deep breaths, and found my awesome friend, Janet. She was so excited, and her positive energy totally set the mood for me. It’s not always about “racing”, sometimes, it’s about enjoying the company and the atmosphere. I’m so lucky to be able to run with a strong healthy body, and I wasn’t going to let some stupid watch battery change that. We decided to run together for as long as we could. It was the best decision I could have made, I wouldn’t have changed anything. Thanks Janet!

Because we started in the wrong coral, it only took us 7 minutes to cross the start line! (Usually it’s like 20 minutes!)

Around mile 2, I realized that I taped up my legs too tight, and my muscles couldn’t flex enough to run! So I stopped and ripped all the tape off. It was so frustrating. I didn’t find my groove until Mile 4 or 5. Then I started to enjoy it more and more!

Janet and I surged up the hill at mile 6!

What a beautiful day for a run!

Motivational Signs along the route!!

The downhill at mile 9!!! WHEEE!!!!

I love my Orange Skirt!! It matches my LA Racers shirt. haha.

The course split around mile 12. YAYY SO CLOSE!

I walked most of mile 12 because I was getting pretty tired, but I sprinted the last mile because i knew my PR was within reach. I grabbed my free Ghiradelli chocolate square on the way and shoved it in my fuel belt to enjoy later. 🙂
As I rounded the bend for the final stretch, there was a Pop Chips truck giving away free bags of chips. HAHA I totally snagged one.

I ran towards the finish line and spotted Janet’s husband, Noah. He snapped this picture! (You can see my bag of chips in my hand. haha)

kelnike09Noah

The guy didn’t take my finishing picture, so I stood there til he snapped this one. HAHA

I crossed thefinish line and got my tiffany necklace from these fine gentlemen in tuxes!

Can you find me? (I’m on the right in the hat).

Crazy hat hair!

EJ and I! She finished 16 minutes ahead of me!

With Chely!!

Here comes Sarah! She ran the full marathon!

Go Sarah, Go!

Showing off my finisher’s shirt and my tiffany prize. 🙂

The finisher’s area was so crowded. But it was still fun to collect all the goodies and walk around. Safeway was giving away Tennis Balls to use to massage your muscles after the race! What a great idea!

One of my favorite parts of the expo is the “Pose like a Girl” station. These pics came out so cute!

We got these cool reusable bags at the finish line too. It was perfect to put all our stuff in. I loved it! Then we waited in the crazy long bus line to go back to our car.

The finisher’s’ shirt. It’s a teal dri-fit. I love it! Something different.

The Tiffany finisher’s necklace. It’s cute this year. I think the biggest one of all of them.So adorable.

The back!

My Tiffany Necklace collection!

All the goodies I came home with.The Diet of a runner. HAHAHA.

It was a race that started out good, got kind of bad, and then redeemed itself in the end. I didn’t end up getting my PR, but I came within 2 minutes of it. And considering the circumstances of not having a watch, having shin splints, not doing my normal intervals and letting my emotions get in the way… I think 2 minutes is really not a big deal. It was a fantastic race, and I am so glad I was able to run it this year with so many great friends!

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Nike Women’s Half Marathon 2008 October 18, 2008

Filed under: Races — Kelocity @ 6:00 am
Tags: Marathons, Nike, Race

I was really lucky to have gotten into the Nike Marathon in the lottery this year. I was super excited, and it really was everything I thought it would be. It was one of my best races yet, and I got to run it with one of my best friends, Alex. The weather was perfect, the course was beautiful, and we finished fast and strong…. oh, and the Tiffany Necklace this year was simply stunning. Enjoy the pictures!

What a Team!

Seriously, how cute are we!

Practicing my running technique…

Look at her go!

They had Nike Photobooths this year!!!! So fun!!!!

Niketown…the start line for the race.

Nike has a wall of all the runner’s names… can you find me?

There I am!!!!!

Alex cooked an AMAZING pasta dinner! What a great cook!

Look how yummy! Athletes need their fuel!

We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again! We’re old pros!

Trying on our bibs for tomorrow…

And our fuel belts too!

I think we’re ready!

Checking over the course map!

Race Morning….Me, Jen and Alex! It was so cold!!!
I wore my Mylar marathon blanket from last year’s race! It did the trick!

Trying to keep warm before we started!

And they’re off! This was around mile 6. Look at the sea of purple!

Run girls, Run!
Beautiful views of the Golden Gate bridge at 8am! Not a trace of fog!
I kinda feel bad for the people who try to actually win marathons.
They probably miss out on these awesome photo opportunities!
My attempt at taking a picture…while running! I’m pretty sure that’s not safe.