Boston Bound times two

 "Marathons are stupid. I repeat, MARATHONS ARE STUPID. Now that I've got my first marathon under my belt, I can certifiably confirm that they are stupid." - Greg Hahn

My husband ran his first marathon, and I think he's now wishing it was also his last. But since he qualified for Boston with a pretty significant cushion, he's now going to tackle that course with me.

This whole idea of his began when I finished Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon in December. He decided he wanted to run Boston with me, and that meant he needed to qualify as well. He had very little long distance racing experience, and no marathons, but he's really fast. It was going to be a crazy journey, that's for sure!

I wrote him a plan and it wasn't easy at all. I didn't approach it like I would a first time marathoner. I approached it like it was for someone with one shot to make it to Boston. He wanted it that way, so that's how we did it. Six months with gradual base building, speed and endurance building, and a few shorter races to gauge fitness. 900 miles later, he made it to the start line on July 29 in Snoqualmie Pass, Washington.

Preparing properly a few days prior at Edna Valley Vineyards, with a chicken friend

Drove up the Pacific Coast Highway en route to San Jose to then fly to Seattle

Packet Pickup!

Race Start

Checking out the finish line

He didn't have as many nerves before race day as I would've expected. He was definitely eager to get it done. As we drove the 40 miles to the race start that morning, he grew more anxious. He explained his mentality like this:

Mentality of actual race day is just like any other competitive sport. It's game time. Go out and do what you trained to do. That's what you put in all the work for.

This attitude definitely helped him control the anxiety.

Ready as he'll ever be!

He chose a race along the Iron Horse and Snoqualmie trails, so unfortunately because of the difficulty in accessing the course, I wouldn't be able to see him many times during the race. We scouted out the route the day before to be sure I knew where I was going and it was planned for me to see him at the halfway point and around 21 miles and then hightail it to the finish line.

The race start. I didn't capture Greg, but I did get a pic of my friend Bill (in yellow)

He felt great for most of the race. I was worried the heat and humidity would deplete him sooner than expected. Temps at the start were a muggy 65 degrees and would climb to well over 70 before he was done. He kept focusing on the fact that it was still 15 degrees cooler than all his training runs. Sure enough, he was fine with the weather and shot through 13.1 in just under 1:38, a 5 minute PR at that distance. His BQ time is 3:25, and his goal was 3:20, so he was doing great. Needing a 1:42-1:47 in the second half was really awesome.

In order to get to the next checkpoint at 21 miles, I first needed to run down a 1.2 mile steep dirt road. Luckily when I arrived at the road to head up to the trail, I got to hitch a ride with a volunteer firefighter so I didn't have to climb up the road too much. Not so lucky on the way down, but I made it to the next point with plenty of time to spare. I was definitely noticing how hot it was getting outside and was genuinely worried for Greg.

The road leading to 13.1 mile checkpoint

My cool ride up the hill

Coming into the 13.1 aid station

I tracked him via his phone location and knew he was still right on pace and sure enough, at 2:40 into the race, I saw him. I was positioned on the trail at about 21.3 miles. He looked so strong still and I screamed my head off, jumped up and down like a lunatic, told him I loved him and to not slow down and got it all on video.

Moving so fast, he's blurry

Less than five more miles!!

At this point, I was an absolute nervous wreck. I know how marathons feel and the next half hour for him was going to be excruciating. He had time in the bank (he was definitely running balls-to-the-wall) and could slow down and still run a 3:20 but I was still stressed out for him. This whole marathon sherpa thing is a lot harder than you'd think! Especially on unfamiliar roads and dirt trails.

I made it to the finish line with 20 minutes to spare. I religiously checked his location and it showed me he was still doing just fine. He probably wanted to die but he still appeared to be running a good enough pace. Waiting those last 20 minutes at the line and hearing the announcer cheer for all the finishers hitting BQs was only serving to make my heart rate go up higher. At this point I knew Greg was going to do it. It just remained to be seen just how big of a qualifying time cushion he could get.

Waiting at the finish

Seeing him coming through to the finish was probably one of the best moments ever, despite the fact that I could definitely tell at that point that he wanted to die. There's no sugar coating it - he looked pretty depleted!

He finished in 3:20:17, which is 4:43 under his qualifying time. SO close to that 5 minutes that he needed to register at the same time as me, but still a really comfortable cushion.

My husband was a Boston Qualified Marathon Finisher!

Thank God that was over.

But now I genuinely was worried about him. He was feeling awful and he looked even worse (sorry, honey). He found a lounger to rest on at the medical tent and was pretty much not functional for several minutes. A crapload of water, Gatorade, and Muscle Milk helped. A paramedic came over and was concerned and wanted to be sure he was ok.

That conversation went something like this:

Greg: Can I have an IV?

Paramedic:  We'd have to take you to the hospital

Greg: I'm good. I don't need an IV.

That's the paramedic in the background

He made his ankle bloody

He was so glad it was over. He also told me over and over that marathons were stupid and maybe he wouldn't actually register for Boston after all because that would mean running another marathon and marathons are stupid. He has since come to terms with running one more, but for awhile there I really thought he'd forgo actually running Boston! The fact that he'd be running much slower with me helped him come to his senses.

We've spent so much time talking about how he executed the race and I seriously could not be prouder of him. Before the race, I coached him on the mental side of the last 10K, and those lessons coupled with his past athletic pursuits got him through the worst part of the race.

He started feeling the fatigue at 20 miles and his pace slowed slightly but he was ahead of pace so he allowed his body the break. It got really difficult at 24 miles and the final part of the race was excruciating for him. I asked him how he got through it.

He focused on what he had left and not what he had already done. "Anyone can run 6...5...4...3 miles" is what he told himself.

The slowdown in the final few miles didn't worry him because he was ahead of pace. He kept calculating that he only needed 9 minute miles toward the end and he would still qualify. This made it less daunting.

People were dropping like flies, but rather than let that mess with his head, it gave him greater resolve to keep pushing and not walk.

He kept reminding himself that he didn't push this hard, train that long, and endure that much pain in the race to just give up at that point.

He might as well be destroyed and hit his goal and feel the accomplishment rather than the letdown. 

He didn't want to disappoint me. (I assured him that he could never disappoint me no matter what the clock said in the end.) 

It's not often that one qualifies for Boston on their first marathon finish, and I'm so glad my husband was a big enough badass to do just that. He did it so he could run a prestigious marathon with me and I think that is just about the sweetest thing ever.

I'll keep him.

Post race recovery

Touring Seattle the day after

Got to see my niece!