This blog is long overdue for an update! I recently completed my 10^th marathon, which also happened to be my second Boston Marathon. This experience was completely different than my first in 2018. I approached the start line this year healthy, uninjured, and with low expectations about a finish time. I finished strong, with my second fastest marathon time and my steadiest attempt at the distance to date!

I decided to use a hybrid of Hansons Beginner Marathon plan and the Boston-specific plan developed by Luke Humphrey Running to train this year. My training buddy from the last two years, Natosha, created the workout for me in an excellent, accountant-approved spreadsheet. It was an 18-week program with runs scheduled 6 days a week. Going to school full time and commuting 45 minutes each way meant that I had a very specific window each day to fit my training workouts in. I missed more than I can count, and for some runs I wasn’t able to complete every set. But what made the most difference in training this year was how slow I ran my easy runs. Like, really slow. I spent a lot of these runs inside on a treadmill, and I ran at the prescribed easy pace. Last year, I often ran too fast on easy days, and it definitely got the best of me.

Matthew and I traveled to Boston without our daughter this year (thank you, Grandma and Pop!) and it made a huge difference in how much of the city we got to experience. We were able to spend a lot of time with Natosha and her husband Nick this year, and I think that was the best part of the trip! Sorry to our local favorite, Flyway Brewing, but I don’t think we’ll be enjoying any blueberry beer anytime soon after the number we consumed in at Cheeky Monkey in Boston. We also got to hang out with Liz, Meredith, and the Callahan kids. Meredith came to Boston to record audio for her latest book, The Intentional Life, and we got plenty of Hawk snuggles and were amazed by how much cooler Elliott gets every time we see her.

Back to Marathon Monday – I knew I wanted to average a 7:50ish pace per mile for as long as I could. I didn’t want to go out too fast and have a crazy positive split during the second half, but I also didn’t want to waste the good downhill miles during the first 10k of the race, either. It was awesome having Natosha by my side because we could talk, laugh, and soak everything in together. We made a brief pit stop at mile 15 and refilled water, and then continued on with a 7:16 mile to (unintentionally) make up some time. While no part of the race felt easy, I definitely felt like this was so much less of a struggle than any other marathon I’ve ever done.

I have to thank the city of Boston, the volunteers, and the race organizers for that. You’re never alone on the Boston course and you can soak up so much energy and positivity from the spectators. I’ve truly never experienced anything like it. I thought the crew that came out last year in the rain was incredible, but there seemed to be almost triple the number at this year’s sunny race. Speaking of sunny, I actually got a sunburn this year!

I’m not much of a mantra person, but I found myself repeating, “you are strong enough to be here, you can do this, you deserve this,” to myself so many times. My marathon mental game has never been very strong, but this race proved that if I really try hard I can push through the mental wall and keep going, no matter how difficult the race. I was so surprised that I didn’t falter during the last few miles, and I set myself up to finish at 5:30 under the 2020 Boston Qualifying time of 3 hours and 30 minutes. The first thing I did was hug another runner. Last year I remember being so cold and so mentally exhausted that I just wanted to hug someone, but I felt so weird asking a stranger. Boston is the only marathon I’ve done where I haven’t made a “friend” along the way, and it can get really lonely during those last few miles. There is so much to celebrate at the end, so this year I just turned to the closest person next to me and asked if I could hug her. Totally worth it!

Will I go back to Boston in 2020 for a third year in a row? I’m not sure! I have one year left of my post-baccalaureate studies at UCA, and I’ve got an expansive list of volunteer responsibilities that I’m pretty proud of right now. Arkansas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Social Media Coordinator, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Student Advisory Committee member, UCA Student Dietetic Association President, UCA Wellness Ambassador President, The Great 5k Pumpkin Run race chair, Family Resource Services of Lonoke board member, team member for Lonoke2022 (and Wampoo Roadeo Lonoke Rest Stop coordinator), Women Run Arkansas volunteer coach, and Century League of Lonoke member. I’ll start training for the NYC marathon in July, so right now I’m just going to focus on my summer studies and work on being the best mom and wife I can be before life really gets crazy again. Oh, and I might try to break 20 minutes in a 5k. Never a bad time to keep dreaming!