On Monday, I was able to run the Boston Marathon for the first time. I didn’t get a PR, even though I had probably the best training cycle of my life so far, and I still think it was the best race I’ve ever run.
I have only run two marathons before this, and both were good experiences. I executed my race plan as well as I could have, I had friends and family cheering for me, and the race day was very well organized. After I ran both of them, I was ready for the time off, though. The training had taken a toll on me mentally and I needed a little break from running.
This time, I’m just a few days out from the race and I’m more jazzed about running than I can remember being in years. The pain in my quads when I walk down stairs has barely subsided and I’m itching to get my running shoes on again. This hasn’t happened to me before. The difference this time is Boston.
From the first time I visited, I loved Boston as a city. There’s so much history, and unlike the history I have been raised around in the south, it’s history that can be celebrated instead of history that has to be contextualized at best or removed at worst. The architecture is so different compared to what I’ve lived around before. The weather is good, at least in the summer. You have the Red Sox and it is undoubtedly a baseball city.
When I came back for the first time as a runner, I was able to enjoy another facet of the city. It’s an active city, and it is obviously a running city as opposed to a cycling city like Dallas. There are so many running groups who do workouts together, and it’s home to the running brand Tracksmith, which puts on a lot of events that improve the running community there.
When I went back for the marathon in 2018, I got to see the city at its finest. The energy was electric all weekend. There was a nervous buzz at every packed building we entered. Everyone was happy and excited and hopeful that they were going to have a good Monday. Even when the race started and those runners had to go through the cold rain for the entire race, there was a “welp, we’re in it now, let’s make the best of it” attitude. That was the race that made me cave and decide I wanted to run a marathon.
This year was the same electric feeling, except this time I was truly part of it. I got to pick up my packet and I was part of the nervous energy at the convention center.
Before I got into the city, I read Deena Kastor’s memoir, where she focused on how a habit of keeping a positive mindset changed her running career and her life. I had been nervous about the race for a lot of the taper, and had tried to keep myself from caving to the fear by just reminding myself that it wasn’t helpful to feel fear about having to run a marathon. Reading this book helped me take it to the next level. After I read her book, I was absolved from the fear. I was committed to having a good weekend and a good race and a good day.
I took that attitude into the race and had the absolute best time. I didn’t run my fastest marathon, and it still hurt, but I smiled for 26.2 miles straight. I finished that race elated, not necessarily at anything I had done in the race, but at what the race had done for me. It reminded me how fun running can be. As much as I view running as a serious endeavor, there’s another aspect to it too. Training well is good, but if there’s no fun in the journey or the payoff, something isn’t right.
Boston 2023 also cleared out my fear about the marathon. I’ve run three now and I’ve survived. I ran a marathon that had already destroyed my quads by mile 9 and I had 17 miles of pain in front of me and I survived and even enjoyed it. There’s nothing to be scared of anymore for me. I’m excited to do more at this distance. (This is not good news for my husband, who does not enjoy sharing me with marathon training for three months at a time.)
Today, on Friday, I’m ready to get back out there. I’m looking forward to a 5k soon, just to get a fitness check. I’m optimistic about summer running and getting in shape to do well at the two half marathons I have in the fall. Maybe I’ll even take a shot at Houston again in 2024.