Emily's Tidbits

Boston Marathon by pictures! 

Pre-race in the runners village, we had woken up at 4:50 am to get on the Tufts buses to get to downtown where all 27,000 runners board the official Boston Athletics Assoc. (BAA) buses out to the starting area in Hopkinton, MA about 45 minutes away. It was a very cool scene to see hundreds and hundreds of school buses going through Boston Commons at 7 AM. Here we are holding our toilet paper in line for the porta potties.

Mile 9 hug from Tufts President and founder of the challenge, President Larry Bacow. At mile 9 I was very relieved to see the Tufts crew. We were able to keep our food and whatever we needed with the folks at mile 9. Here I grabbed my ziploc baggy with chewy chocolate chip cookies. Thankfully I had these as I forgot to pick up my second Shotblock (gatorade in solid form). Yes, I had my headphones- even though many told me not to miss the sites/sounds of the marathon. I must say, being in the third wave, the charity round, it got a little disparate for us 12-13 minute mile pacers so I found it very encouraging to listen to my music. But, when big crowds would emerge I would pull out the earbuds. It was a tremendous honor to be in the charity group. Many people had adorned their jerseys with pictures of those they were running in memory of, or to raise funds for. There were a couple times I teared up as I jogged behind women running with "In memory of mom" on their back or fallen soldiers. It was very moving.

Joe came out to support me the weekend of the run. Thank GOD!!! I was a ball of nerves leading up to the race and Joe and his wonderful gf Christin were rockstars. They did last minute CVS runs, attended the team dinner the night before the run, and then they made multiple stops along the route which was very ambitious given the traffic and race day obstacles. Joe surprised me before the hills on mile 18 and jumped in to tell me that he was going to run the notorious Newton Hills with me. I must say, it made a WORLD of difference. Headphones came off and we rocked it out.  He left at mile 22. Christin was en route via the T to the finish line while we ran.

At mile 24 my Fletcher friends rallied the Fletcher flag and ran with me singing "You are the wind beneath my wings" :-) It was HILARIOUS and JUST what I needed!!!!!!! By this point I was running way on 'E'. The Shotblocks and cookies were gone, and it was like hour 4.5. When I hugged Christine (on the left) I am pretty sure I put all my body weight on her lol as if she could carry me across the finish line. I was also blessed with friends (Katrine- love you!) at mile 10 and Elise (Fletcher buddy) at around mile 21 who were handing out water and Gatorade.

FINALE!!!!!!! and yes, that is a giant hamburger behind me.  They kept ruining my picture perfect moments lol. I forget  what charity it was. Perhaps a restaurant that went to money? Who knows. But look at that smile!! I woke up the next morning with sunlines under my eyes and they were puffy. I can only assume it was because I smiled all 26 miles, appreciating the audience and pulling strength from them. 

Hugging coach Don, an incredible man who has helped coach thousands of Tufts runners after his 30 year career as the coach for the men's swim team. Here is a video in his honor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRyN3laqP9w He made every single physical therapy session for everyone of his 210 runners. Out of 210 runners at the marathon 209 made it through. The one that didn't was dehydrated apparently and doing ok. 

Me, Jacqui, and Annika at the end of our very big accomplishment. Three Fletcher women ready to graduate with a medal around our neck!

Jacqui and Annika in their blankets post run

Day after the run reception. We stood in a circle and shared our experiences of the run. The book on the right is a scrapbook Don put together for Pres. Larry Bacow b/c it is his last year at the school. There were thousands of letters from current and past runners and pictures. It was really cool. 

And BACK TO THE ICE BATH!!! After a day in bed on Tuesday, I got myself to the "beloved" ice bath Wednesday to freeze those muscles back into shape. I finally took a photo so everyone can see what the ice baths look like at the Tufts gym.

brrrrr

surprisingly still have color in those feet. 15 minutes of pain, well really the worst moment is when your feet hit the water and try to adjust, once they go numb, it is all good!

I think more pictures are to come. Joe has some great shots that I am waiting for. Perhaps the coolest news I got about the run was that my friend in DC was following me online/via text messages and turns out she went into LABOR!! She wrote me today to say that it helped her stay distracted during the first part of labor. Talk about cool! Chills. Congrats Marcy on baby Paige. Can't wait to meet the bundle of love.