Chris and I were scheduled to run 13 miles this weekend, which worked out perfectly, since we singed up to run the Boston Run to Remember half-marathon on Sunday. We woke up at 5am, ate some breakfast, and headed out. As we left the apartment, it was pouring and pretty cold. We took the T to the Seaport World Trade Center, where the race started and ended, and luckily when we got there, the rain had stopped. We got there with time to spare, checked our backpack, and hung out inside for a while, because it was still chilly outside.
At race time, Chris and I headed to the very back of the crowd. We wanted to take it nice and slow, and we decided to stick together for this race. The National Anthem was sung, the airhorn sounded, then off we were! Just as we started to run, the sun came out, and it was suddenly a lot warmer.
We stayed at the back of the pack the entire time, so for a lot of the race, it didn't seem like we were part of a race at all; it was more like we were just out for a run! Only, we didn't have to worry about cars and there were water/aid stops along the way. It was kind of funny to run through the streets of Boston at 8:00am, when they were all blocked off. I work very close to the Seaport world Trade Center, and walk through these streets all the time, and it was weird to see them so empty.
We mosied along for a while, then somewhere around mile 3 or 4, we saw the police on motorcycles preceding the current leader on the opposite side of the road running toward us. We'd only been out for 45 minutes and this guy must have already been on mile 9 or 10! Insane.
I had tried my first GU Enery Gel ever on a 7-mile run a few days before, and decided I didn't HATE it (even thought they're totally weird and SO sweet), so I brought a few with me for the half-marathon. I'm glad I finally started using them... Rice Krispie treats are not exactly the easiest things to carry. A past TNT participant I've been talking to a bit advised me that I should be refueling every 45 minutes to an hour, whether I feel good or not, so I'm really taking that advice to heart. I think eating earlier and more often during my 18-miler might have helped, and having a GU instead of a R.K.T. probably would have helped even more. Anyway, I ended up using two of the GU gels during the half-marathon. I tried new flavors, which you're not really supposed to do during an event, but it worked out for me. I like the fruity ones! Strawberry-Banana and Orange Burst are A-OK in my book.
Poor Chris was doing great until about mile 9. His knee was holding up as well as he could have hoped. But then he ate a GU that just didn't agree with him. It was one that he picked up at the GU station at mile 8... and it was chocolate flavored. He said it made him feel very nauseated. UGH! The poor guy. His upbeat mood quickly went very sour. He stuck it out though! I'm so proud of him!
Towards the end of the race, it REALLY felt like there wasn't a race going on. Even though there still weren't any cars on the course, there were tons of people out walking around. When we got to Downtown Crossing, we had to look out for the police at the road blocks to tell us which way to go!
Then finally we made it over the bridge and there was a crowd of people cheering us on, so it felt like a race again. By then it was pretty hot, and we were thrilled to see the finish line. Like a couple of big nerds, we held hands to cross the finish line together, and our time was exactly the same: 2:50:35. We were happy to finish in under 3 hours!
And Chris' knee wasn't too bad afterwards. He's going to talk to his doctor today about his knee, so I'll try to update tonight about that.
All in all, the half-marathon was a good time, and I'm really glad I got to run an entire race with my husband! (We decided that for the marathon next month, we may split up eventually, or it could end in divorce. ha!)
If there are any good photos from the race, I'll post them when they're up. We also got some sweet medals, so I'll post a picture of those too!
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