Wow. What can I say? Hard. Hard. But amazing! I will try to highlight the good and the bad of my race.

• Morning of the race: driving to the starting area to find the exits closed. Bad. Got out and walked from the exit to the start. Bad. Miles ran: 26.2 Miles walked before the race: 2. Definitely not fun. Plus as I was walking I realized I probably could have just flashed the police my race number and Shayne could have driven me all the way there. Oh well.
• Starting the race. Good. Very exciting. I mean I was running in the Super Bowl of Marathons.
  
• Miles 1-6. Good. Energizing. Lots and lots of runners. Nice down hill slope.
  
• Mile 7 + when I realized that they weren't going to have any sports goo or gel until mile 17 and I didn't pack any with me. Bad. Very Bad. Seriously, I was dieing. I almost begged some off other runners. I wish I had. Thankfully I was able to grab a couple of orange slices and bananas from people in the crowds.
• At each 5K I would run over a mat that would read my chip and electronically post my time and pace over the internet so family and friends back home could track my race. Good. That was cool.
  
• Hitting the half marathon mark knowing that the worst part of the race was still ahead of me. Bad. I don't like to complain. Well maybe I do, but this marathon was HARD! I have only run in the St. George Marathon which has significantly more downhill..long stretches of downhill and the second half lots of steep downhill. Not so in Boston. There is up, up, and even more up. I mean there is a spot in the race that is called Heartbreak Hill!
• Running through Wellesley. Good. This was just after the 1/2. It is a famous spot because of the noise. You can hear a ringing before you see anything and then there is a line of girls (Wellesley is a girls college) and they are screaming and yelling. It was SO awesome. I'll tell you the best thing I did was wear a sign that had my name on it. At the expo there was a station that was handing out large stickers and a sign that said wear your name, crowds like to yell out your name. I grabbed one. I kind of thought it would be dumb. But it was so great. When ever I was feeling crappy...which was kind-of a lot I would run close to the sides and people in the crowds would read my name and shout out encouragement. I cannot tell you how great it was to hear my own name yelled out....even when I knew it was from people I didn't even know. So when I ran through Wellesley, I ran over to the line of girls, they all had their hands out to give fives and for probably a quarter of a mile I gave constant fives and heard my name yelled out over and over. It was such a boost!
• Seeing Shayne (and Josh) at mile 17. Good. I was counting down the miles. Here I was really hating it and it was so good to see someone I knew and get a very much needed pep talk.
• Mile 17. Power gel station. Good. Finally! Advice to anyone planning to run the Boston Marathon : Pack your own gel!!!!!
• Water and Gateraid stations every mile. Good. These saved me. Mentally I was struggling. I was feeling weak and depleted. I just told myself to run to the next water station where I would grab a drink and walk through it. Again here I heard a lot of support from the volunteers reading my name and telling me I could do it.
• Mile 19-21. Bad. Here is where you just keep going up and then still have to run Heartbreak Hill (one of the steepest spots on the course).
  
• Mile 21. Good. Here is another great crowd spot. You run by Boston College. There were a lot of loud noise that really pumps you up. Plus only 5 miles to go.
• Mile 24. Bad. Only 2 to go. I knew I was going to be close to 4 hours. But my legs would not go any faster. It was here that I came to peace with that fact that when I told people my time at Boston it would have to be with a 4 in the front and not a 3.
  
• Mile 25. Bad. Missed seeing Shayne. He was there. And he is still not sure why he never saw me run by. Maybe it was because there were lots of runners...25,000?
• Mile 26. Good. Turning the corner and see all the crowds, all the runners, and especially the finish line.
• Mile 26.2. Good. Finished. 4:01.26.
  
• Mile 26.3. Bad. My calf cramped. But no worries a medic was near by and she stretched it out good.

So even though the race was hard. I am glad I did it. My favorite was definitely having crowds of people throughout the whole race. Their were a lot of people handing out ice, water, popsicles, orange slices, or sponges soaked with water. I even saw this little boy, who was probably 4, holding a half empty water bottle asking the runners as they went by if they needed some water. So cute. So great. Amazing experience.