RACE HIGHLIGHTS
Location: Buffalo, NY
Date: 24 May 2015
Time: 3:28:43 (Boston Qualified)
Rank: 6th Place in Women 20-24, 29th Overall Female, and 176th Overall
After 11 Half Marathons (two of which were Buffalo) and my first Full, a trail Marathon in the Alps of Sonthofen, Germany, I decided it was time I start training to qualify. There was no question in my mind that Buffalo was the place to do it. I knew the course, I was comfortable with the surroundings, it’s relatively flat and most importantly, it’s home.
For 24 weeks, I poured myself into training. I paid strict attention to my schedule and tried to be as flexible as possible to work around the Buffalo winter. I treated this journey as though it was the first time I had ever trained before. I added cross-training, incorporated more stretching and yoga, made sure I was properly hydrated and even re-vamped my nutrition. The only thing I didn’t focus on that I normally do was speed work but I was confident that with a steady pace, I’d be able to make the cut off. My goal was a time of 3:33:00, just in case.
The first half of the course I felt great. I was running well underneath my goal pace and instead of being worried about running out of steam I figured I’d save up some time on the front end and worry about “hitting the wall” when I got to it. Mile 17 is when I noticed my body was feeling the pressure. From miles 17-22 I played mental games. I would tell myself “hold this pace for just one more mile”. I’d get to that mile and do it again. Hey, you do what you have to!
By Mile 22, I was hurting, a lot, and my pace was reflecting it but because I had gained so much time in the first half of the race, I knew I’d be okay so I rode it out. The last .2 was the most grueling, exciting and emotional experience I think I’ve ever had. I was in pain but I knew I was about to qualify. It was like seeing your dream coming to life in slow motion. I wanted to cry. I think I might have, I don’t remember. All I know is that at that moment the pain didn’t matter, I didn’t care how tired or hungry I was; I had qualified for Boston. My official time was 3:28:43.
In College I remember writing some of my papers about the Boston Marathon; it’s history, the qualifying times, and it’s impact on runners around the globe. I wanted it so bad I could taste it and although I believe my training was well executed, I have no doubts that having Buffalo as my first qualifying course, made all the difference. For me, there’s nothing quite like home.
