In the past six months, I haven't had the best marathon mojo. I ran Indianapolis Monumental in November (3:32) and Houston in January (3:24). I was hoping to run under 3:15 for each, but in both cases, my legs seized up early on with cramps. Both races had great weather and both courses were fast and flat. After Houston, I realized that the Nike Alphafly shoes were a poor match for my running style and were likely the reason for the cramping.
Given these two disappointments, I was determined to have a strong finish in Boston. And the best way to do that was to run conservatively for the first half. My Boston course PR was 3:24:07 (from 2024) and it was warm that day, with temps rising into the high 60s. I set myself a "soft" goal of a course PR where all I had to do was run similarly to 2024, and the weather advantage would make me faster at the end. Physically I believed myself to be capable of sub 3:20, but I wasn't bold enough to pace for that time.
My only tune-up race (Charlottesville 10-miler) was more of a learning experience than a true test of my fitness, because it was incredibly hilly and I had never run it before. I had also missed a 20-mile run due to a situation with my eye. I had logged a few impressive workouts (like 15 miles with 10 non-stop at 7:11 pace), but I had also fallen flat on many runs. So my mindset was all about playing it safe and being guarded for most of the race, until I got to the Newton Hills.
Coach Greg McMillan, whose guidance I trust more than any other coach, advises athletes to run the first 16 miles at goal pace, push hard on the Newton hills, and then run faster than goal pace for the last five miles. This sounded like the perfect plan for me.
If you are unfamiliar with the Boston course, it's mostly downhill for 16 miles, then you run through a very hilly section until mile 21, and then the last 5 miles are also net downhill. This is challenging because all of that downhill running can trash your quads so by the time you get to the hills, your legs are dead, even if you have plenty of energy. I definitely experienced this in 2016! My legs were bricks by mile 16. There are different schools of philosophy on how to best pace it, but most agree that you don't want to bank too much time on the downhills because it will tear up your quads.
Logically I knew I should be confident heading into the race, and Greg (husband Greg- not coach Greg!) encouraged me to be confident. But at the same time, I didn't have a ton of evidence to support confidence and I didn't want a repeat of Indianapolis and Houston where I was 10+ minutes shy of my goal.
We arrived in Boston on Friday afternoon after a two-hour flight delay. We checked into the hotel and then went straight to the expo. I didn't buy too much at the expo because I had purchased most of my gear online beforehand. I did get Spike the unicorn to add to my collection and a hat.
On Saturday I did a shakeout run with Tracksmith Stamata, which is a team of elite women runners who are training to qualify for the Olympic trials. I started chatting with one of the women, and we discovered that we went to the same elementary school and high school. We grew up just 1 mile away from each other, although she was 18 years younger than me!
We spent the rest of the day meeting up with friends and walking around Newbury and Boylston, hitting up the pop-up stores. It was a lot of steps, so I decided I would stay off of my feet on Sunday as much as possible.
On Sunday I did not do a shakeout run, I just rested. I met up with a few friends at my hotel, including an athlete that I have been coaching online for over two years. I coached her to her first BQ and now here she was at Boston with her entire family. It was a special moment to finally meet her in person.
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| Shakeout run with very fast women! |
social media. I'm active on social media because I enjoy sharing my journey and helping others. It's a lot of work to create content on a daily basis, and sometimes I wonder if it's resonating. But so many people told me that they found my tips valuable, they learned a lot from my content, and they were inspired by my posts. It's also easy for me to focus on the 1% of negative comments I receive, but when I am getting so much positive feedback in real life, I realize how foolish it is to waste energy on trolls and negative comments.
A few funny comments: "Are you TrackClubBabe?" (confusing me with another content creator) and "I love your YouTube!" (My YouTube only has about 4 videos on it). I also got a lot of "I feel like I know you from somewhere!"
Shoes
As I mentioned above, I attributed my leg cramps in my last two marathons to the Nike Alphafly 3. Since Houston, I have been on a quest to find the perfect marathon shoe for my running style: high cadence, very light on my feet. Because my feet are only in contact with the ground for a very short amount of time, the “squishy” shoes don’t work for me. I am not landing for long enough to get the benefit of the foam. Instead, I need a shoe that helps propel me forwards - not upwards. Here are the shoes I considered:
Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 4: I loved how light and fast the shoe felt, but the fit was not as locked in as I would have liked and they felt a little too flimsy for a full marathon. A solid choice for a half marathon or shorter.
ASICS Metaspeed Edge Tokyo: This was a top contender, but I wasn’t confident I had the right size. I had sized up like I did in the Edge Paris, but this felt big, so I felt like it wasn’t going to work. But I will “explore” it more for the next marathon.
Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite: I absolutely love everything about this shoe. It fits my foot perfectly, has the perfect balance of bounce and ground feel, and is super lightweight. The only problem is that it only has a 3.5mm drop. I have sensitive Achilles tendons, and I could get away with that for one race, but I didn’t want to test it on a 20 miler and risk irritating my Achilles. I did run 15 miles in them, including 10 at marathon pace, and I just worried that they didn’t have the cushion I would want for 26.2 miles.
Tracksmith Elliot Racer: Super comfortable, but didn’t have the “pep” of some of the other shoes and they were a bit heavier. Definitely could handle marathon pace, but I am not sure how much of an advantage they would give me.
So, I settled on the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4. I had worn them for 16 miles included 4 x 2 at marathon pace and they felt super natural and smooth. I had also worn them in a bunch of marathon pace long runs last fall. Very comfortable and very capable of running a touch faster than marathon pace. I also wore them for an 8K tempo and they felt smooth and flowy. I bought a new pair and broke them in, but the new pair never seemed to fit as well as the first pair, and the ride felt different. The tongue was also weird in the newer pair. Apparently Saucony shoes come from different factories, so that could account for the difference.
Ultimately I settled on my original pair which had 89 miles on them because they were trustworthy!
I had considered wearing them for Indianapolis and Houston, but thought that the Alphafly felt faster. In hindsight, I totally should have worn the Saucony.
Fueling
Before I move on to race day, I am going to outline my fueling strategy because it's a common question.
***Disclaimer: what works for me might not work for you! I am always tweaking my fueling.
Before I move on to race day, I am going to outline my fueling strategy because it's a common question.
***Disclaimer: what works for me might not work for you! I am always tweaking my fueling.
In the three days leading up to the race I focused on hydration with electrolytes. I use Liquid IV because I
like the taste so it encourages me to drink more. As for carbs, I don't count them, but I try to eat as many stomach-friendly carbs as is comfortable without feeling over stuffed. My favorite things to carb load with are bagels, pretzels, and pasta.
like the taste so it encourages me to drink more. As for carbs, I don't count them, but I try to eat as many stomach-friendly carbs as is comfortable without feeling over stuffed. My favorite things to carb load with are bagels, pretzels, and pasta.
On Sunday (the day before the race) I had:
- A bagel and a banana for breakfast with a hot apple cider
- a Maurten Solid and pretzels as a snack
- A beet salad and a turkey sandwich for lunch, with cold apple cider
- Small jelly-filled donuts as a snack (from my hotel lounge)
- Pasta with chicken for dinner.
Race morning I had:
- A banana and pretzels at 6:00am (4.5 hours before race start) + electrolyte drink
- Half a bagel and a UCAN gel on the bus (2.5 hours before race start)
- Another UCAN gel 20 minutes before the start
During the race I had:
- Maurten gels at 0:40, 1:20, 1:50 (this one was caffeinated), 2:30, 3:00
- 3 Honey Stinger chews early on
- One packet of Skratch labs hydration + energy in my handheld bottle
- I carried a 24 ounce bottle of water and ditched it at around mile 11
- After that I drank water from 3-4 water stations
When I posted a photo of all my fuel beforehand, people were asking why I mixed Maurten and UCAN. UCAN I take to keep the blood sugar steady, Maurten is for ongoing boosts of energy. The chews are usually easy to digest so I take them when I can early in the race. My digestive system behaved for the most part. No bathroom stops like in Boston 2025, but my body was starting to reject fuel by mile 20 and it was hard to get stuff down. At the finish line I vomited quite a bit of liquid. But that is typical for me, and I haven't figured out how to avoid that. The good thing about vomiting at the end is that I feel much better afterwards. I think my body isn't very quick at absorbing the fluids, which is why I try to drink a lot in the beginning. After about 2 hours, my stomach isn't doing much with the fluids I give it.
Energy wise, I felt great. I also had plenty of energy in Indianapolis and Houston, and I used a similar fueling strategy. The problem in those races was leg cramps, not energy. And that was somewhat heartbreaking because I felt like I had so much to give but my legs weren't cooperating.
Before the Race
I slept about as well as could be expected the night before a marathon. I had been having horrible sleep issues for the second half of March due to an adjustment in my thyroid medication, but thankfully my levels had stabilized in time to feel good sleeping for the past two weeks. I woke up naturally at around 5:30 and started getting ready for the race.
I slept about as well as could be expected the night before a marathon. I had been having horrible sleep issues for the second half of March due to an adjustment in my thyroid medication, but thankfully my levels had stabilized in time to feel good sleeping for the past two weeks. I woke up naturally at around 5:30 and started getting ready for the race.
I drank water and ate food (see above) and put on my race gear. I wrote the course elevation profile on my arm so I would know when to expect the net uphill vs. net downhill miles along the way.
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| Before bus loading |
The bus loading was a disaster. They instituted a new system where you don’t automatically load the buses after security. Instead you wait in line to step into a yellow square. Once you are on a yellow square, they tell you which bus to go to. I guess they thought this system would be more efficient, but it was not.
Cera and I waited for about 25 minutes, and apparently runners in wave 4 had to wait for over an hour. I heard stories from runners in wave 4 who missed or nearly missed their start because they couldn’t load a bus. And it wasn’t a comfortable wait standing on your feet for over an hour. Apparently they realized this was causing a huge delay, so I think they ditched this system for waves 5 and 6.
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| Athlete's Village with Cera |
Once in the corral, I started chatting with the other runners, and some of them recognized me from social media.
My shoes had been loosely tied this entire time because I didn’t want my feet to get uncomfortable before the start, but I should have tied them how I wanted them in Athlete’s Village. I always tie and re-tie my shoes several times before I determine they are correct. I thought I had them where I wanted them 10 minutes before race start, but as we approached the start line, one of them felt too loose. I pulled off to the side to re-tie my shoe a final time. I think this led to me starting with corral 8 (I was originally in corral 7) but I was fine with that. It was important to get my shoe tied appropriately.
The weather was perfect. By far the best weather I’ve ever experienced at the Boston Marathon. It was in the upper 40s for the entire race with the first half being sunny, and the second half being cloudy. A tailwind of about 8mph. I give it a 9 out of 10 on my personal weather scale. The only reason it’s not a 10 out of 10 is because I was getting warm during the first half when it was sunny, given that the course is not shaded. The second half weather was 10 out of 10.
Miles 1-6
Once I was confident that my shoe tying was correct, I proceeded to the start line. The plan was to run a pace of 7:35-7:40 for the first half of the race. The first mile is perhaps the steepest downhill of the entire race. My goal was not to get swept out too fast. I had read many articles about how to save your legs and everything said high cadence, don’t lean back, let gravity do its thing. I was so paranoid of going out too fast that I went out too slow. Normally I consider the first mile to be a warmup or throwaway, but I could have used some extra seconds in the bank. I ran this mile in 8:00, which wasn’t disastrous, but a missed opportunity. In my race plan, I wanted to run a 7:40 first mile, so I didn’t execute.
But not to worry, I had 25 miles to run fast! My average cadence for the first mile was 204 steps per minute, so I succeeded at taking quick steps to preserve the quads.
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| Around mile 3 |
wave due to my last minute shoe tying. My focus was on relaxing, engaging my core, focusing on my cadence and posture. The goal was to save my legs for the Newton hills in miles 17-21. I knew I was running slightly slower than I had in 2024, but I was afraid to go any faster.
The sun was out in full force and I was getting warm and it didn’t feel as easy as I had expected. I executed my nutrition plan as outlined above, carrying the water bottle and taking my Honey Stinger chews at 20 minutes and my first Maurten at 40 minutes. I sipped from the bottle every 15 minutes.
During these early miles I had a few mini conversations with people who recognized me from social media. I had my name written on my back, so people would come up from behind me and say things like “I follow you!” or “I love your content!”. Surprisingly, many of the spectators also recognized me and cheered for me by name.
I felt pretty good. Not as amazing as I did in 2024, but decent. One thing I noticed was that having crowds cheering so loudly early in the race wasn't ideal for me. When I am trying to relax into a rhythm and be zen-like, I think I would have preferred less spectator hype. It's awesome having the support once you get to the Newton hills and afterwards, but I realized that my personal preference for early in the race is to have it be more quiet. Boston is NOT the race to run if you prefer a quiet, low-key race! And I love the hype of Boston generally. This was just an observation from someone who was trying to go out conservatively and establish a cruise feel!
With the exception of miles 1 and 5, I ran all of these miles in my target range of 7:35-7:40
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| At the 10K point |
Mile 2: 7:34
Mile 3: 7:38
Mile 4: 7:35
Mile 5: 7:48
Mile 6: 7:34
Miles 7-13.1
After crossing the 10K, I knew to start looking for Greg, who was waiting and spectating with Stephanie's husband. I was excited to see him so I sped up a little and tried to look good for the camera! Greg took pictures of other runners as well, so if you ran the Boston Marathon, maybe he photographed you! You can view his gallery and download photos.
After crossing the 10K, I knew to start looking for Greg, who was waiting and spectating with Stephanie's husband. I was excited to see him so I sped up a little and tried to look good for the camera! Greg took pictures of other runners as well, so if you ran the Boston Marathon, maybe he photographed you! You can view his gallery and download photos.
We ran through the Wellesley scream tunnel and boy was it loud! I do enjoy that part because it is a key part of the Boston experience. The sun was still making things warm and I was tempted to toss water over my head, but I didn't. I continued to drink from my water bottle every 15 minutes and I think I finally tossed it at a water station around 1:15. It felt amazing to be hands-free, and that's when I started to feel more energized and more pumped up.
The miles kept coming and I was executing mostly to plan. I was pretty much staying with the same group of runners. Some runners passed me and I passed others. It was about equal parts being the passer and the passee!
My official half marathon split was 1:41:21, which is on target for a time of 3:22:42. I had planned to be at 1:40:xx to give myself more buffer, but I remained confident in my ability to turn on the gas once I hit the hills and beyond. Generally these miles were paced according to plan, but that super slow first mile is what had me a bit off my target.
Mile 7: 7:31
Mile 8: 7:46
Mile 9: 7:42
Mile 10: 7:46
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| At the half marathon point |
Mile 12: 7:36
Mile 13: 7:39
Miles 14-21
Thankfully the clouds started to roll in, and at some point, I shifted my sunglasses from my eyes to my head. I started to feel more energized and I'm pretty sure it was due to the cloud cover. The fuel was also kicking in. Per Greg McMillan's advice, I needed to make a mental shift as I approached the Newton hills. I had been in "cruise mode" up until this point, and now I needed to go into "power mode". This doesn't mean go all-out on the hills, but it does mean that the effort level needs to increase so as not to lose too much time on the hills. Some of that time is baked into the plan, but the plan assumes running strong over the hills with legs that haven't been over cooked.
My legs felt the best they have ever felt as I approached the first Newton hill. I feel like the first Newton hill is the longest. Potentially not as steep as heartbreak, but it seems to go on forever. My right quad was beginning to feel sore from the impact of the hills, but my left one was still 100% fine. I really focused on using my glutes to power up the hill. My mental approach was to focus on a spot about 10-15 seconds up the road and just get to that point, and then find another spot. I like to imagine these anchor points pulling me up the hill as I focus on them. I pumped my arms, engaged my glutes and increased my cadence. My cadence had not stayed at 204, but had gradually decreased to 195 steps per minute.
At this point, I was passing a greater number of people than were passing me, and that felt awesome. There were a few times when I was passed by someone who saw my name on my back and said something like "you inspire me!" as they passed me. How ironic that they were passing me and I was the supposedly inspirational one. I would yell back "no- you inspire me!"
One of my goals for this race was to run my fastest ever Heartbreak Hill. I had been doing Pilates religiously and training on more hills than ever, so this would be my year. And sure enough, I set a PR on Heartbreak Hill according to Strava. The official segment is 0.54 miles long and my pace was 8:31, which Strava says is a "Grade Adjusted Pace" or GAP of 7:35. I was very pleased with it, given that this was my 6th time running up Heartbreak.
The Newton hills were hard, but they didn't destroy me, and when I was done, I felt confident that I could make up some of my lost time back. The question was - how much?
Mile 14: 7:38
Mile 15: 7:45
Mile 16: 7:35
Mile 17: 8:04 (first Newton Hill)
Mile 18: 7:56
Mile 19: 7:44
Mile 20: 8:04
Mile 21: 8:08 (Heartbreak Hill)
Miles 22- Finish
I enjoyed the massive downhill that was mile 22, but my legs were by no means fresh. They felt the effects of the hills and I could only get them to move so quickly. I knew I would have to run with my heart, push through the discomfort, and trust that my body could continue on for another five miles at a fast pace. I knew that if I let myself wimp out, I would never make up the time I needed for my course PR.
I enjoyed the massive downhill that was mile 22, but my legs were by no means fresh. They felt the effects of the hills and I could only get them to move so quickly. I knew I would have to run with my heart, push through the discomfort, and trust that my body could continue on for another five miles at a fast pace. I knew that if I let myself wimp out, I would never make up the time I needed for my course PR.
The course started becoming narrow and thus getting more crowded again. I was passing a ton of people and weaving through runners like crazy. This felt great, but I had to be careful because the pavement was a bit beat up and there seemed to be sewer covers and train tracks in a lot of places. I navigated through it nicely and fed off of the energy of the crowd. I knew I was in the home stretch and I just had to stay strong for a little bit longer. I reminded myself that this is what I trained for and this was my favorite moment in running.
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| Mile 25.6 |
I saw Greg about three minutes before the turn on Hereford street. It was so packed, but he was easy to spot in his fluorescent yellow jacket. I glanced down at my watch and realized that I would not be getting my course PR of sub 3:24, but that I could run 3:24:xx if I ran really fast.
From that point onwards I pushed SO HARD. If I wasn't going to set a course PR, I at least was going to tie the 3:24:xx. According to my Garmin, I ran the last 0.46 mile at a pace of 7:17. I wanted it so badly.
I crossed with an official time of 3:24:52.
Mile 22: 7:40
Mile 23: 7:46
Mile 24: 7:40
Mile 25: 7:36
Mile 26: 8:03
Mile 23: 7:46
Mile 24: 7:40
Mile 25: 7:36
Mile 26: 8:03
Last 0.46: 7:17 pace
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| Gunning for the finish line |
I crossed the finish line, took about 15 steps, pulled off to the side, and vomited. Greenish yellow liquid. This happens almost every time I race a marathon or half marathon at full effort. My digestive system shuts down and my stomach stops emptying whatever I give it. On the plus side, vomiting makes me feel a million times better.
One of the race officials recognized me, called me by name and handed me a medal. I proceeded through the finish line chute, which was moving slowly because everyone was taking selfie photos and videos. I did not even have my phone with me. I'll also mention that in all of my years running Boston, I had never noticed as many people taking selfies on the course. Usually this doesn't bother me, but this time it was so many people, most of whom seemed unaware of their surroundings.
I chatted with lots of other runners at the finish line, and I didn't know it at the time, but Bill and Hilary Clinton were there, giving Chelsea her medal. Chelsea started in Wave 1 and ran a time of 3:40:52, so she crossed about 8 minutes before me. It would have been so cool to see the Clintons, and they were probably still there, but I didn't notice them.
And totally off topic, but when I looked her up in the results and saw that she was 46, I thought to myself "no way, she's not 46 - she's like 15". I guess in my mind she never aged and was still the same age as when her dad was president! Hahaha. So that means she is in my age group.
Anyway, I knew none of this at the time, and proceeded to have my photo taken and then meet up with Greg. We recorded a quick video for Instagram and then went inside the hotel because I was getting cold. I took a very long shower and then relaxed while posting about my race on Instagram and Facebook.
Stats:
I placed 298 out of 1,786 in my age group (46-49 Female)
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| Marathonfoto low-res finish line pic |
First half: 1:41:21, Second half: 1:43:31. This is a positive split by 2:02.
I ran my fastest ever second half of Boston, which was most notable during the final 5 miles.
According to Greg's analysis, I was rapidly closing the gap on my 2024 self, and if the course had been a mile longer, I would have run faster this year.
My official finish time was 45 seconds slower than my course PR from 2024, which means I missed my time goal by 45 seconds. I did not leave myself much margin for error, and that's kind of where I am kicking myself.
My finish time was only 9 seconds slower than Houston in January, but Houston is fast and flat, so a 3:24 in Boston is much more difficult to attain than a 3:24 in Houston.
I ran this race 24 minutes faster than my first Boston Marathon in 2016.
I qualified for Boston 2027 with a buffer of 20 minutes and 8 seconds.
Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
There's so much to say about this one! I've already hinted at a lot of the key takeaways but I'll be more explicit about them here.
There's so much to say about this one! I've already hinted at a lot of the key takeaways but I'll be more explicit about them here.
As far as pacing, I generally agree that Greg McMillan's approach worked for me, but it does assume you can really gun it at the end and make up the time you lost on the hills. If I had to do it over again I would have run the first mile 20-25 seconds faster and then shaved maybe 3-4 seconds off of some of the other early miles. But then again, it's impossible to know if that would have been the tipping point for what my legs would have tolerated.
The shoes worked well! They were comfortable for the entire race. My feet never hurt and I didn't get any blisters. When compared to the ASICS Metaspeed Sky that I wore in 2024 they were not as propulsive or bouncy, but they got the job done reliably. If I had to choose a shoe, I would likely pick the ASICS Metaspeed Sky simply because they worked well and they were faster. The ASICS didn't feel particularly fast because they were so squishy and not as responsive as the Saucony, but the data suggests otherwise. Both are great options, and it's good to know that I have two options that won't cause leg cramping early in the race. They say that the ASICS Sky is for runners with a long stride and the Edge is for runners with high cadence (me), but I dunno - the Sky worked well and I guess I need to spend more time in the Edge to really test it out.
Zooming out - my biggest takeaway is that I did almost exactly what I set out to do from an execution standpoint. I wanted to feel strong at the end. I wanted to run my fastest Heartbreak Hill ever. I wanted to walk away feeling like I could execute a strong marathon without leg cramping. I wanted to nail my nutrition, fueling and hydration. I wanted to confirm my theory that it was the Alphafly that caused cramping issues in Indianapolis and Houston. Most importantly, I wanted to enjoy the experience and soak in the positive Boston vibes! I ran with gratitude and positivity throughout.
As competitive runners, we have a tendency to be critical of our races and wonder what we could have done differently to squeeze a few extra seconds off of our time. That's true for almost every race I run. That doesn't change the fact that I had a really strong race and I am proud of completing Boston number 6 (or 7 if you include the virtual) and marathon number 40.
