4:40:11

That's all, folks. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

I had a great time on Monday, and finished in 4:40:11. Sadly, chip time doesn't stop for the 10 minutes waiting to use the port-a-potty at mile 12, or the many diversions to high-five pre-schoolers and Wellesley girls. But even with those detours, I beat Jesse's PR by 13 minutes, and that's all that matters.

Highlights of the day:

1. Friends on the course. Thanks to everyone who came out, even those of you who I missed because I was, as Geoff says, "in the zone" when I passed you. Knowing that I had people at 17, 18, 21, 23, and 25 let me keep clicking along.
2. The crowds. The little kids, especially, kept me going. I tried to keep to the middle of the street and avoid the more rowdy folks at the end, though.
3. My teammates. Even though we got separated early on, Sean & Hector helped keep me cool before the start.
4. Knowing I put in the work. When I started feeling tired, I thought about the work I had done in training and in fundraising, and about all of the people who had supported me in both those areas. I knew that I had prepared, and that I would finish.
   
5. Bouillon cubes. Sounds gross, but when you finish a race looking like a salt-lick, it helps. (Thanks, coach Jesse.)
   
6. Wellesley. You really can hear them 1/2 mile away. And the "Kiss me, I'm ___" signs ae remarkably specific and diverse. My favorite, from a lone guy: "Kiss me, I'm male."
7. Running up Heartbreak Hill. All the way up. Past all the people who blew past me earlier in the day. I intentionally didn't race on Monday, but it was gratifying to have a moment of glory.
8. Not racing. For someone who is... how shall I say it... a little intense, it was a nice break to just run for the experience of being out there. I had fun, and I felt less trashed after 26.2 than I have after some shorter races.
9. Digging deep. Even without pushing the pace, 26.2 miles is a long way! From mile 22 on, I was out of energy, my legs were shot, I couldn't bear the thought of ingesting anything else, and I was overwhelmed by the crowds. Those last 4 miles were the "mountain-top" moment when I got to zone out, look into myself, and see who was there. And, lo and behold, there I was.
10. Hereford Street. In training, I had avoided running that last stretch, sort of like I never walked through the main gate at Harvard until I graduated. I'm glad I made a big deal out of Hereford Street, because that was where I started crying. By the time I rounded the next corner and could see the finish line, I had composed myself enough to really smile as I crossed the finish line.

Race-Watching Tips

I am resting up and getting ready mentally for tomorrow's marathon. After 2 weeks of taper (enforced by a calf injury), I feel rested and ready. It looks like we'll have near-perfect weather (by the standards of anyone who has trained through the winter in Boston, anyway!) -- 50 degrees and overcast. It will be windy -- normal for the course -- but rain should hold off until evening. I'm planning to run more conservatively because of the calf, but hoping to do 9:30-10:00 miles.

If you want to follow my progress, you can sign up for text or email alerts (you must be registered before the race begins). You'll get a message when I reach 10K, 13.1 mi, 30K and the finish.

If you want to meet me on the course, here's a map. I'll be starting with the 2nd wave, crossing the start around 10:30 a.m. My mom, Speedy & Jesse will be at mile 17/Woodland T, and MBHP is watching at Mile 25 on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall East (after the Mass Ave under-pass).

Thanks to your help, we've raised over $6,800 so far for Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc. I'm still accepting donations.

Thank you for all of your support. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow form the course!

Gratitude

Ok, tomorrow's the day! Eeeee!!!!

I am so full of gratitude right now. Jesse wanted me to make a little speech at today's pasta party, so here's the blog version.

Since my injury, so many friends have given words of support, repeating back to me the mantra, "The hay is in the barn." Thank you for believing in me and never telling me that I should quit, or even slow down. Also, thanks to everyone who has listened to my incessant training rambling. I'm sorry -- I know you never wanted to know this much about performance underwear, glycogen recovery, or snot-rockets!

Sincere appreciation on behalf of MBHP staff and clients to everyone who has donated. It seems like the funding cuts keep coming, and you all are stepping in to provide some relief. You are also making a personal, caring connection to the agency and its clients -- something which the government and large foundations cannot offer. The sacrifices that some of you have made to donate inspire me to keep going.

I also want to acknowledge MBHP's staff for the work they do every day to end homelessness. They do it with love, courage, and humor. Special thanks to Barbara for challenging her friends to give, and to Rennie for all of her logistical support to the marathon team.

Shout-outs to my teammates Hector Cruz & Sean Caron for awesome training and fund-raising. The three of us have out-fundrasied last year's 5-person team! See you tomorrow morning, gentlemen.

Dawn at Massage Therapy Works, massage therapist Fatima Aguilar, and Nina Judith Katz of Meridians of Health have all gotten me back from points of serious pain throughout my training. Particular thanks to Nina for donating her time in support of MBHP, and for doing some truly magical work to get me back from the calf injury and ready to run tomorrow.

Mom, thank you for setting such a great example of toughness and stamina as a marathoner and as a mother. You're my hero. Thanks for always being there for us. I'm glad you could be here for my first marathon! Hope that tattoo doesn't hurt too much.

Finally, Jesse, my number-one fundraiser, partner in crime, and coach: I don't know where to begin. Thank you for keeping me positive; taking on house and kid duties so I didn't over-do it; searching out the right foods, music, bandages, medical advice to keep me going; singing my praises to everyone who would hear you (and to me, even when I wouldn't hear you!); planning the best pre-race party to keep my mind occupied today; putting up with my whining enough to let me vent, and then kicking my butt when it was time to get over myself; and never taking it personally.

So close, but yet so far...

When someone takes a week to post after their 20-miler, it's a good sign that something is wrong.

In my case, I have a strained/torn right calf muscle. I've been cycling through the stages of grief (cuss a little, cry a little, rinse, repeat...) but basically keep coming back to the concrete question: what can I do now to make sure that I finish in a good way on April 20th?

Current strategy:

1. Baby the leg! RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is tricky with a 3-year old and a house on three different levels, but I've been going down the stairs on my butt, to the delight of aforementioned 3 y.o.
2. Do stuff to feel like I'm still involved in my training/recovery. I'm doing a little swimming & pool running on my regular run days. Also seeking out every alternative therapy I can throw at one tiny body-part. Today, I lucked into a medicinal qi gong session with a friend at my shul. Trying to get in for sports massage & kinesiotaping, but apparently there are a lot of other runner in the same boat!
3. Think positively. I keep having to correct myself when I say/think "I'm training for Boston." Instead, "I'm going to run Boston next week."
   
4. Plan realistically. While I know I could "gut it out, " I have to be able to function as a spouse, mother, and designer after the marathon. If I don't have a race-day plan in place to rein myself in, competition and hard-headedness will get the best of me! So, I've dropped all time goals in favor of finishing safely.
5. When in doubt, fall back on all that theological training! Today at services, the leader pointed out that a lot of the psalms of praise aren't about giving thanks for good things. They're about the bad times, when we have faith that we'll have somthing for which to give thanks eventually. So, I'm having faith, and I'm also asking y'all to do whatever you do in the prayer/send-good-energy-into-the-universe department.

Worst case scenario: I know that I can walk 26.2 miles if I have to without laming myself. If I don't die from boredom, I will cross the finish line eventually.

The church at the finish line puts Isaiah 40:31 on a big banner on marathon day.
You may recognize the text from Chariots of Fire. Here's the full context (JPS trans.):

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, Why declare, O Israel,
"My way is hid from [HaShem], My cause is ignored by my G-d"?
²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard?
[HaShem] is G-d from of old, Creator of the earth from end to end,
He never grows faint or weary, His wisdom cannot be fathomed.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary, Fresh vigor to the spent.
³⁰ Youths may grow faint and weary, And young men stumble and fall;
³¹ But they who trust in [HaShem] shall renew their strength
As eagles grow new plumes:
They shall run and not grow weary, They shall march and not grow faint.

The Longest Week; Tattoos

This week will be the longest mileage of my training -- 42 miles, ending with Sunday's 20-miler. Ran a chilly 10 today -- started my workday at 5:45 a.m. to fit it in. Got to do a Marcel Marceau routine along the banks of the Charles because the headwind was so bad. Looking back at my running log for encouragement, I realized I've only had 4 non-running weeks in the last year. (2 of those were concussion-related!) Since December, I've done 330 miles of training for Boston.

With the help of that growing list of folks on the right, I've also raised over $5,000 for MBHP. Thanks, everyone! My mom has the best fund raising idea yet. In her own words:

Carolyn said incredulously "You would get a tattoo?! (Yeah, we've all got them, but still...)"

My response is: "Yes, I'll do it for a good cause..." Will y’all rise to the occasion?

Carolyn claims that I can probably handle it since I brought her into the world without drugs!

The tattoo, small, running related and in a discrete location, will happen IF donations made between today, March 23, 2009 and Marathon Day, April 20, 2009 get her to her goal of $6,500.00.

A picture of the completed tattoo will appear as my profile picture on Facebook and will be either emailed or snail-mailed to non Facebook donors. So…get the word out!

My co-worker Rick just read this and donated $25.00!
My running buddy Hal has donated $26.00
And my neighbor Katherine, whose son is a tatoo artist, has contributed $10.00

OK y'all get to work! Make it happen!

Yay, Cindy!

Today, I started my 18-miler at 7:30. At 10:30, I had finished a 15-mile romp through the hills of Arlington & Winchester, and met my family, friend Cindy, and her trainer, Judith at the starting line of the Ras na hEireann in Davis Square. Today was Cindy's first 5-K, and Jesse & I promised that if she registered, we'd run with her, even if we had to "poke her with sharp sticks all the way" (her words). It has been an honor training with her and seeing her progress from running a few seconds at a time to completing a 5-K. She is a true runner, who when her doctor said, "You know, you'd get the same benefit from walking," asked, "Why would I want to do that?!" And, where most of us finish our first race at a new distance thinking, "I don't know if I ever want to do that again..." (and then blessed amnesia kicks in and we do), she called Jesse this afternoon for a list of summer 5-K's to train for. My hero.

Yoni came with us in the running stroller, ringing a cowbell and giving us pep talks in a pirate voice all the way. (If you haven't read How I Became a Pirate, you're never too old to catch up!) He hopped out to run the last 1/10th of a mile, and was very "dis'pointed" that they had run out of medals when he came through the shoot.

Coverage

Jesse was checking email tonight and noticed in the Wicked Local news feed, "Hey, there's somebody with our last name. No, wait. Nobody else has our last name!" Sure enough, there was an article in the Medford Transcript on the Spirit of the Marathon fundraiser. Thanks to Beth for interviewing me and putting together such a nice press release!