My Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon EXPO

PRE-RACE. I woke up at 4:45 am calm and my body was fresh. I had my water, BCAA and caffeinated drink (Celcius). Weather didn’t seem to bother me (even though it was heavily raining). I prepared my rainy clothes in advance (rainy jacket, pants, socks, shoes, shirt). Those things were meant to keep me dry before start line. So my racing top and short I wore underneath, took my racing shoes and dry pair of socks with me.

It was pouring rain 🌧 with wind when I got to the bus 🚌 I seated near the window and started listening to all my favorite podcasts with closed eyes to stay calm and not distracted by the weather and all that rush around me. Later had my first snack bar.

When I got to athletic village I just kept going trough cycles of gaining to the restroom than back to the end of the line 😝 just to keep myself busy and make sure I don’t bring with me anything unnecessary to the race 🤦🏻‍♀️😝

Later had my 2nd snack.

When my wave has been called to proceed to the starting line, I changed my shoes, socks and donated my wet apparel.

Without any rush I got to my Coral (WAVE 2, Coral 3). I stand at the very end as my coach recommended. Then I had my first Gu Roctain Gel. When I heard announcement about starting and gun shot I felt something special. This race was not as any other races that I have done. I couldn’t believe that a simple girl from little town from Ukraine, who never run before, one day will be running the worlds oldest, the most historical and the most prestigious marathon.

People were rushing and took off so fast. I tried to run super easy my first mile and enjoy every second of it. Around that moment I thought maybe I don’t need a time goal, maybe I just want to enjoy the race. I decided to go by feel and see what happens. It seemed that I found my rhythm. My each next mile was faster than previous and it felt good. I tried to give all of the high fives to little kids and it felt so exciting, because they saw champions in every single runner.

Trough miles 5-15 I supposed to speed up just for a little bit and hold that pace. After couple miles of running I saw my running teammates. For some reason I got confused about what should I do next: continue pursuing my goal or just run and enjoy the race with them?! I totally forgot the part about not getting distracted, as coach recommended. And at that moment I decided to run with friends. It felt good and way easier than the pace before. I smiled to everyone and didn’t even checked my watch very often.

Right before mile 15 my friend had to stop, I kept going but something unexpected happened to me that have never happened my races before… Emergency stop to porta potty... Well, I am glad, it didn't take long and I was able to get back to my pace. My guess, more food than usual doesn’t work for me (2 snacks are to much for me) and doesn’t matter how much time from the moment I wake up till the race. Well, now I know. I now I learned on practice — NEVER DO ANYTHING NEW ON THE RACE DAY!

Miles 16-21 were hills. Coach called this section “conserve”.

I am not a big fan of the hills and heat, but that’s that was the combination on the race, in addition the sun came out. This section was super hard and hot. I tried to slow down at every water stop, sip some water and pour the rest on my neck and body. I was trying concentrate on doing short steps and make sure to use my arms.

In this section I had so many different thoughts that went through my head. I wanted to stop, I wanted to quit, I wanted it all to end. At some point not just my mind wanted to trick me into quitting, but my quads too.I fought so hard the thoughts, the pain and tried to smile despite what I was going through. As a result on most of my marathon pictures I am smiling. It was nice to see my friend Katy cheering at mile 16 it definitely gave me a little boost. The spectators support was unbelievable. When so many people see in you champion, you just must be one! So I consider myself a champion of the hills, cause I didn’t stop and I didn’t quit!

Miles 22-22.6. This part was called by coach ‘CRUSH’.

I was so relieved when finally I was done ✅ with hills. Tried to find my rhythm and hang in there for another several miles. I felt super 🥵 hot, my it seemed like no matter how much water I poured on myself and drank that was still not enough. My quads were screaming. At mile 23 I’ve heard someone called my name, that was @katycran and it felt so good and I immediately became so much stronger for about next half a mile. I don’t know and don’t remember how I made my legs move, but I was still running. Surprisingly I was even slightly faster. At some point I felt super dry in mouth, looked for a water 💦 station waited for it and it seemed like forever ♾ till I finally reached it. Last one mile I put myself together and did that final push. I saw the finish line 🏁 and I couldn’t believe I’m that close already. Crossing the finish line made me realize, I did something special, I reached my goal, I finished Boston Marathon. I had the tears of happiness on my eyes. And at that moment wasn’t important how fast or slow I ran it, I DID IT, I am a part of @bostonmarathon history now!

Now I know everyone who wants to reach a goal, will definitely reach it!