Success!

Theresa and I finished the Marathon! It was extremely exciting. It took us just over 5 hrs. And we felt great.

The amount of energy was ridiculous. We were wearing bright yellow shirts that had our names blazoned across the front. Under Theresa’s name it said “run-zilla” under my name it said “run-asaurus”. The back of Theresa’s shirt said “Sister. Mom’s favorite” And mine said “Brother. Mom loves me more” The entire way people were screaming our names and applauding us. People for as far as the eye could see. There were well over 21,000 runners and at least that many fans. It took us a full 30 minutes before we even crossed the starting line.

It was hot. 70 degrees is hot for running. But people had hoses and were giving out oranges and plenty of water. Some little kids had their arms stretched out for high fives. As Theresa and I slapped his hand he muttered “848, 849,”

Wellesley was exciting. Theresa and I had a big “We ‘heart’ Wellesley” sign. And as we ran by, holding the sign above our heads, the students Exploded in cheers! Just a huge wall of sound! I was shouting and cheering back at them but I could barely hear my own voice. 1/2 mile of pure adrenalin.

The first 18-20 miles were fun, I felt powerful and comfortable without any real pain. I was just running off of all the energy and emotion. Theresa got a stomach cramp from 10-12 so that slowed us a hair, but it was good to take a few extra walking breaks. We hit heartbreak hill, and really? After training in Hilly Meriden and even hillier Kentucky, it didn’t seem all that bad. It was just a long slow grade hill. Heartbreak? Bah.

Once we passed Boston College, around mile 22, the mile markers seemed to get further and further apart. Theresa and I crossed the finish line together. I am extremely proud. And, I’m very happy to report that my knees were solid for the full 26.2 miles. I even took off my knee brace for the last 4 miles.

I will have to do this again next year.

completely unrelated…. check out this. Count the number of men. Wait for the animation to change…. and count the men again. Ta da! magic.

10 thoughts on “Success!

  • 4/19/2005 at 8:59 am
    Permalink

    How long prior to the Marathon did you begin training? Say if someone wanted to run next year, should they start training now? A week before the race? What would you suggest Run-Asaurus

    Reply
  • 4/19/2005 at 9:09 am
    Permalink

    I trained for a 6 mile race in August (thanks tom & mykal!). Then went light for awhile and didn’t start training again until January where I started at long runs of 8 miles and worked up to 20 miles three weeks ago. I SHOULD have started in early November though, I felt unprepared yesterday despite the many hours spent running.

    If you wanted to do it next year, I would recommend doing something similar. The 6 miler in August really helped me I think. At the time it was a HUGE hurdle and it set the stage for future trainings.

    Reply
  • 4/19/2005 at 10:26 am
    Permalink

    Congrats mike and theresa!

    I am quite impressed.

    were you both faster than P.Diddy this year?

    Reply
  • 4/19/2005 at 11:03 am
    Permalink

    congrats chief!

    where’s the mspaint imagery to retell the tale?

    Reply
  • 4/19/2005 at 11:41 am
    Permalink

    Congrats Mike! I need to get looking through the race schedule and find another olympic that we can do! And Kurt although I’m not as serious of a runner as Mike, I’ve done some six milers and for a previous non-runner they can be pretty tough on their own, so I would say start with shorter races maybe this summer, and maybe try out a half marathon in the fall, then go for a full mararthon next year. I think though that all this running more than six miles is crazy talk!

    Reply
  • 4/19/2005 at 2:40 pm
    Permalink

    I definately am going to start running this summer. I pulled out my old Soccer Regimine and I’m going to go by that over the summer, the best I can. And I mean if I can get the marathon distance under my belt, I can run to work from northboro every day. Save myself a sweet $200 on Commuter rail T-Pass. IN YOUR FACE MBTA!!!!

    Reply
  • 4/20/2005 at 12:13 am
    Permalink

    Hey, congrats on the race. I went on a 26-mile hike last year and it wore me out completely, and I walked it. I logged onto the Boston marathon website so I could follow along with you as I worked, but I couldn’t find you. Oh well.

    That’s a neat little trick!

    Reply
  • 4/20/2005 at 9:18 am
    Permalink

    Thanks Patrick!

    the reason I wasn’t on the Boston Marathon website is because I was a bandit and didn’t officially register.

    Next year however, I will be registering. So be sure to keep an eye out for me then!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to ben Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *