My Journey to Boston

One of the great things about running is how it pushes us to set and achieve new goals. I’m a highly competitive person (primarily with myself) and I feel an immense sense of accomplishment when I am able to hit a new distance, a new pace, or shave some time off of a distance I have run in the past. I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling. My marathon journey is the perfect example, and I felt compelled to share it because I know a lot people who have said, “I could never do that.” I was one of them. My dream was to run a marathon, someday. Just one. Maybe. If I could. Well, I learned that I was able to achieve far more than I gave myself credit for. And if I can, I believe you can, too.

The first marathon I ran was the Twin Cities Marathon back in 2016. At the time, I was training for my very first half marathon, which would take place in late September. As I was ramping up my training towards the end of the summer, an email came through at work with a raffle to win a free entry to TCM. My heart started racing immediately. Running a marathon had been on my bucket list for a while, and this felt like an omen. I quickly googled marathon training plans to determine if it would even be possible to pivot my plan and be marathon ready by early October. It would be tight, definitely not ideal, but seemingly “doable” (I really didn’t know any better). What the hell, I thought, let’s give it a whirl. If I get in, it was meant to be. If not, maybe some other time. Well, I got an email back almost immediately that said something along the lines of, “Mel, you’re probably the only one who is going to enter this raffle. You win!” Oh boy, here we go…

To say I had no idea what I was doing would be an understatement. I wasn’t fueling or hydrating properly. My gear was less than optimal (I had my phone tucked in my sports bra strap for all my training runs and the entire race). But hey, I was out there getting the miles in, even if they weren’t pretty. My longest training run before the race was only 16 miles. I was grossly underprepared. But when the day came, I was excited and ready to give it everything I had. It was brutally hard, but I got it done. My “A goal” was a 4:30 finish, and I came in at 4:47:02. I blamed the five pee stops (for real, what’s up with that?). Overall, not too shabby for my first go, and I was honestly just happy to have finished!

My sister had FOMO and asked me to run it again with her the following year (2017), and I was happy to do it. As hard as my first one was, there was something so incredibly satisfying about it. It gave me a feeling deep in my bones that is difficult to put into words. I think it’s what building strength, resilience, and confidence feels like. But alas, the race was even harder than my first, and we came in at 5:12:07. Not quite the improvement I was looking for, but again, I was grateful to have finished. The marathon was a bucket list item for me, not something I ever thought I would do more than once. In my mind, I was winning at life!

After that race, I struggled with IT band issues and couldn’t run more than 2-3 miles without severe inflammation in my right knee. I decided I just couldn’t run more than 2-3 miles anymore because why try to fix it, right? It was almost 4 years before I’d attempt another marathon. It took months of chiropractic care and PT, but I got myself tuned up for Grandma’s Marathon in June 2021. I had been doing more research and running smarter, and I decided I really wanted to hit that sub 4:30 goal. Sure enough, I pulled it off, coming in at 4:25:32. It took three tries to hit my initial marathon goal and when I did, it lit a fire. Well shit, I thought, maybe I can hit sub 4:00! So I put my sites on TCM in October that same year (2021), and pulled it off again, coming in at 3:52:44.

Now my confidence was really starting to grow. Turns out when you actually train appropriately and treat your body right, you can get faster and stronger. Who knew?! I was ready for a new goal, and set my sights on qualifying for Boston. To be honest, it felt impossible. Only really fast people qualify for Boston, not mediocre at best people like me. But I felt the pull to go after something more, and this seemed like the next logical milestone. At the same time, I was also dipping my toes in the ultra running scene and loved pushing past the marathon distance. When TCM came the following year, I had put my body through some rigorous work with multiple ultra races leading up to it. I knew it would be a long shot, so I just ran my heart out to see if I could get a PR. Sure enough, I shaved another 9 minutes off my time, coming in at 3:43:30. Not nearly enough to qualify for Boston, but progression nonetheless!

Right around this time, a friend of mine who also had his sights on Boston was scoping out a downhill race in New Hampshire called REVEL White Mountains to be his qualifier. This piqued my interest. At my age, I needed a sub 3:40 to qualify. I also knew I needed a cushion as in previous years runners needed to finish up to 6 or 7 minutes below their BQ time to actually get in. So, I set my goal at 3:30, another aggressive target. A downhill race would definitely help make that goal a bit more achievable. But even with the elevation change in my favor, I knew I couldn’t do it alone, and made the decision to get a coach. It was the best decision I have ever made.

My coach introduced me to tempo runs, intervals, strides, and hill work. He had me incorporating speed work into my long runs. He had me pushing my body at paces I would have never tried and didn’t know I could do. Every time Tempo Tuesday or a long run rolled around and I saw the workout laid out before me, I had a visceral response to it. I would get nervous heading out the door. Like, race day nervous, not knowing if what he was asking of me was even possible. But every time I went out, I would prove to myself that I could do it. Was it hard as hell? Yes. Did I feel like I wanted to die at times? Absolutely. But I also never felt as accomplished as I did after executing those challenging training plans.

When the time came to depart for New Hampshire, I felt more fit than ever before. I had put in the work religiously, along with proper nutrition and sleep. I did everything within my power to prepare myself for a successful race. All that was left to do was to see if it paid off on the big day. There was only one problem - I had a pain in my right quad that left me very uneasy about being able to fulfill my race day plan. It was so concerning, I had my chiropractor meet me in his office over the weekend (on his day off, what a guy!) before heading out of town. He adjusted me and showed me some PT stretches that should help. All I could do from there was control what I could and hope for the best. Spoiler alert, my chiropractor is a miracle worker :)

It’s crazy how when you sign up for an event like this, it feels like it’s a lifetime away, but then all of a sudden it’s staring you right in the face. I was giddy when I woke up at 4:00am to pull myself and my things together before meeting my friends to depart for the airport. Not only did I have a race to look forward to, I was sharing the trip with a group from my hometown run club along with their significant others. The six of us would spend the next few days enjoying the most amazing VRBO, exploring the cute little town of Conway, New Hampshire, and getting to know each other on a whole new level. We found the cutest coffee shop with some unique and delicious flavors, a bagel shop with bagels made fresh every morning, a thrift store to pick up some race start gear, and numerous restaurants with amazing vegan and gluten free options to meet our group's needs. The view from our VRBO was out of this world. I felt spoiled and blessed to have this time.

Racing out east poses the extra challenge of a time change in a less than ideal direction. With a race start time of 6:00am, the shuttles were running from 3:15-4:15am, which meant a 2:15am wakeup that felt like 1:15am. While I was able to fall asleep early as planned, I woke up at 10:00pm with my nerves and adrenaline running so high I couldn’t fall back asleep for nearly two hours. I dreamt about the race, and then it was all I could think about when I woke. I was antsy and nervous and just wanted to get moving! I got less than 5 hours of sleep total and it messed with my head. Here I was trying to shave 13 minutes off my marathon PR knowing my sleep was suboptimal. But I couldn’t focus on that, I had to stay focused on what I could control.

I fueled myself with my classic pre-race breakfast - overnight oats with protein powder, apples, and blueberries. My vest was already packed with gels and a Quantum bar. My gear laid out meticulously the night before, ready to be put on. My pre-race robe and fuzzy Halloween pants that I scored at the thrift store topped it all off. I filled my mind with all of the positive thoughts I could. Let’s do this!

REVEL races are known for being downhill, that is their schtick. They would describe their races in two words: Fast and Beautiful. I couldn’t agree more. In addition, REVEL donates a portion of their proceeds to local nonprofit groups that are focused on health and environmental causes, which is something that I can definitely get behind. They have a handful of races smattered across the country, and I’m so glad we chose New Hampshire as it brought me to a part of the country I rarely travel to, and I got to explore two new states in the process. I was looking forward to the scenic views we would be engulfed in during the race.

We were en route to the shuttle by 3:15am, and were pleased to see an abundance of buses and a very efficiently moving line. We arrived at the start line just before 5:00am and immediately got in line for the Biffy. There was a magical mist blowing aggressively across the darkened sky. It was a little intimidating at first sight, but once we got out of the bus, the wind didn’t feel bad from on the ground. It was definitely chilly, though - low to mid 40s. The robe and fuzzy pants were perfect. We went for a few shake out strides up and down the hill leading to the start line, I snuck into the woods for one last bladder evacuation, and we got into position just in front of the 3:20 pacer. Soon enough, we were off and racing!

The beginning of the course was absolutely breathtaking. Starting in the White Mountain National Forest, the route would take us down the Kancamagus Highway, which was settled in between spectacular views of mountains and woods. The first 5 miles offered a steep (-5%) decline as we began to traverse down the mountain, and we took full advantage of it. By “we” I mean my friend Chris and I. Chris is an incredibly fast marathoner and has qualified for Boston several times. He graciously offered to pace me for the race, and I am so grateful that he did. He wore a wrist band with splits for a 3:25 finish, and mine was for the 3:30 finish (his confidence was clearly greater than mine). I told him my plan - keep my RPE in check and try not to get too worried if the pace is fast. Well, we stayed just above 7 minute miles, including one mile at 6:50, and I felt GREAT! With a goal race pace of 8:01, we banked a solid 3 minute cushion right out the gates, off to a fantastic start!

From there, the decline became less dramatic, and we settled in between a 7:30-7:45 pace before hitting the out and back just after mile 9, which is where we’d encounter our only significant hill throughout the course. I’ll admit, I fully underestimated this segment and as a result it felt incredibly hard. But we managed to stay below the 3:25 pace chart times throughout it and even continued to bank time. I was now 6+ minutes ahead of my 3:30 finish time goal, and feeling elated (and honestly dumbfounded) with that progress.

We quickly recovered from the effort and settled back into a sub 8 minute pace, albeit not quite as fast as we were previously moving. But I continued to bank time, and at this point I was really cushioning my ability to hit 3:25. I was definitely starting to fatigue, but I still felt strong. The downhills helped tremendously, and I let gravity do as much work as I could. I also realized early in the race that I needed to fuel more frequently than I had planned - every 30 minutes rather than every 45. I was so glad I decided to bring the two additional SIS gels (for a total of four), and I snagged a GU from one of the aid stations knowing I’d run out of what I brought with me before the race was over.

As I approached mileage in the late teens, the fatigue continued to build in my legs, especially my quads and calves, but I was making such great time I couldn’t seem to let off. It was about this point in the race that we had the Swift River flowing right beside us along the left side of the road. This gorgeous, rocky river flowed powerfully in the same direction we were running for the remainder of the race. It felt like a good friend, encouraging us along. In the absence of spectators (they are not allowed on the course), this river became my cheerleader. When things got hard, I would turn to it for peace, joy, serenity, and gratitude.

This was also the point in the race, right around mile 17 when I had planned to put down a serving of beta alanine, praying it would give me a boost. It didn’t seem as noticeably effective as it had on training runs, but I also don’t know if I would have been in worse shape without it. Then Chris told me he was going to run ahead so he could make a bathroom stop, and he would catch up with me. I wasn’t anticipating this, and I felt a shift in his absence. When he was with me, he stayed about a half pace ahead of me. Not enough to make me feel weak, just enough to help keep the pressure on. Keep me pushing. When he left me, my pace slowed. And then I got worried that I may not see him again, it felt like too much time had passed. I was mentally preparing myself for finishing the race alone, something I had not envisioned happening. But I’d been to low places in races before, and I leveraged those experiences to pull myself together and pick it up. I accepted that this could be my reality. Thankfully, he did catch up to me, and I couldn’t have been more relieved. I immediately got an energy boost back and clicked right back into the strong pace we had held before he ran ahead.

Soon enough we were closing in on mile 20, leaving only a 10k to go. I entered that segment feeling very strong and confident. We hadn’t lost any of the time we had banked, and were in maintenance mode now. I was still on track to hit a sub-3:25 finish, but at mile 22, I started to hit a wall. I had to call upon my training - all of that speed work at the end of my long runs came flashing back into my mind. “Just let your body do what it knows how to do.” That was my mantra during training, and that was my mantra during the race.

My fatigue really started to show at mile 24, where my mile slowed to 8:09, followed by mile 25 at 8:17. I couldn’t help it, my tank was emptying. I reminded myself that my goal was 3:30, and I just needed to hit that time and not blow myself up. Mile 26 was my slowest at 8:44. But then we turned right for the last 0.2 mile segment, and we finally had spectators, which brought a wave of energy throughout my body. Chris told me, this is it, you pick the pace, let’s get it done. As always at the end of a race, I found that extra ounce of energy that I didn’t know I had. We pushed a 7:46 pace to round it out, which brought me to the finish line at exactly 3:24:00 (or 3:23:60 by their clock haha).

I was in disbelief. I wasn’t even confident that I could accomplish this feat at all nonetheless beat my goal by an entire 6 minutes! It felt too good to be true. With a 16 minute cushion, there was no question. Holy shit, I just qualified for Boston!! At the expo the day before, looking at the splits on the 3:25 wrist band, I told Chris it was highly unlikely. I couldn’t imagine holding that pace for that long. He grabbed it anyway, just in case. I’m so glad he did. And I am so grateful to have had him there to push me when it got hard. To help me realize my mental toughness was stronger than I realized. I truly don’t think I would have gotten that time without him.

REVEL White Mountains was the perfect race in every way. My quad magically healed two days before the race. The inclement weather that was in the forecast a few days prior magically went away, leaving optimal running conditions. I somehow didn’t have to pee for the entire race (to the moms out there, you know this is a miracle!). I didn’t experience any GI distress. My fuel and hydration were perfectly on point. The result was a once in a lifetime experience that I may never have again. And I know how important it is to find gratitude for this rare occurrence.

I also think it’s important to note that I probably would not have even attempted to qualify for Boston without the influence of my amazing running community. I used to be a lone ranger on the road, but my husband started finding run clubs and encouraged me to join them along with him. It is not an understatement to say that it has been life changing. These people have enriched my life in many ways, and have encouraged me as a runner to see what I am capable of. And I’ve enjoyed watching them grow in their fitness and ability. I’ve made some incredibly strong friendships that will last a lifetime.

To recap, my marathon times have progressed as follows:

• October 2016 - 4:47

• October 2017 - 5:12

• June 2021 - 4:25

• October 2021 - 3:52

• October 2022 - 3:44

• May 2024 - 3:24

I started getting intentional about my training in 2021, and the results show in my times. To anyone out there who thinks they aren’t fast enough for Boston, I challenge you to think differently. There are proven formulas to get your body ready for the effort, all you have to do is put in the work and trust the process. And yes, the work will be hard, and grueling, and make you question your sanity at times. But it will fulfill you and change you in ways beyond just your speed that will make it so worth it. You don't need to have come from an athletic background either. I was never a runner as a young person. I was never even in sports after elementary school. In fact, I was a lazy smoker who ate like shit and barely moved my body for most of my younger years. I didn’t start running regularly until my 30s, didn’t get serious about it until my mid-30s, and I’m still learning and growing at 40. I know I haven’t seen my full potential yet, and it’s exciting to think about where I could go from here.

All this to say, don’t let preconceived notions hold you back. Don't let self-doubt prevent you from chasing big goals. Don't underestimate what you are capable of with the right knowledge and support. And for goodness sakes, don't do it alone. Accomplishments like this aren't achieved without help, and Lord knows I had my share. A special token of gratitude to the following people who were instrumental in getting me to my goal.

• First and foremost, my coach, Brian. Thank you for providing me with the road map to victory. Thank you for challenging me, supporting me, and believing in me. You made me want to lay down and die right in the middle of the road more times than I can count. It paid off.

• A huge thank you to Northstar Running for introducing me to my coach, and for the many enjoyable long runs around the beautiful lakes in Minneapolis. Knowing that many of you were training for big goals alongside me made the journey even more exciting.

• Thank you to Andover Run Club, my home town crew who I got to (and still get to) run every Friday morning with. Thank you for throwing down strides with me without hesitation. Above all else, your encouragement meant the world to me. Hearing much more experienced runners tell me they believed I could hit my goal gave me a confidence I never had.

• And last but not least, thank you to my husband, Elliot, for getting up before 5:00am to join me for nearly every speed workout I had on my schedule. You had no reason or need to train in this way. You did it to support me, and there were many days you pulled me through the pain and kept me moving. I love you so very much.

An excerpt from my journal the day before the race:

Everything is starting to fall into place! The weather was looking brutal for a couple days, but it’s taken a turn in a positive direction. The temp is still looking like mid-40s, which is perfect marathon temp. The wind is now looking to be no greater than 10mph, and that’s mostly towards the end of the race. And the rain looks like it going to completely hold off. I’m trying to contain my relief, but boy has it given me a renewed confidence!

My leg has also taken a positive turn. I think staying off it for most of the day yesterday really helped, the pain was nearly nonexistent, and I was ambulating almost 100% normally. It’s feeling great this morning, too. I almost don’t believe it!

All signs are pointing to a strong race. Just need to eat well today and get as much rest as I can. I’ve gotten great sleep these past few nights since I got back from Vegas. I know I’ll get less than I need tonight, but I feel that I’m restored and energized and ready to take this thing on. I’m nervous, yes, but I know I can do this. I’ve trained so hard for it. I’m ready. And when it’s done, I can relax for a bit. Take a week to give my body a much needed break. Allow my leg to fully recover. Focus on yoga and stretching and sleep. I just need to give everything I’ve got tomorrow. No holding back. No selling myself short. Push, push, push. It will get hard. It will get uncomfortable. But I will persevere. I will push through the pain.

Mantras to keep me going:

• Just let your body do what it knows how to do. What it was trained to do.

• Don’t make it harder than it is.

• Don’t worry about what’s to come, how do you feel right now? You feel good. Your muscles are in great shape. Your breathing is steady. You’re good.

• You choose to do hard things because others can’t, they don’t have a choice.

• You are building virtue and character. You are who you are because of running.

• Boston doesn’t care if it hurts.

• Every second matters, be smart and don’t get lazy.

• Listen to your breath, keep it rhythmic.

• Pay attention to your stride, keep it light and bouncy.

• Don’t make it harder than it is, you are trained and ready for this.

Whew, so good. I can’t wait. My nerves are already out of control. Just threw together my playlist, too. Lots of upbeat music to push me through. At the end of the day, I accept whatever outcome occurs. I’ve prayed on it, and I know that whether I hit this goal or not, I’ve learned a ton about how to train for speed, what my body can (and can’t) handle, and what I am capable of. It’s made me a better runner, and a better person. It’s given me confidence, and helped me realize that I have more to give. I’ve grown to love tempos. As hard as they are, they make me feel the most accomplished. The most satisfied. The strongest. I’m ready to kick some ass tomorrow. No matter what, I’m going to give everything I’ve got. Nobody can take that from me.