19 DAYS!

That's right readers, 19 days until the 2010 Boston Marathon - I can't believe it's already here. We had our last long run on Saturday, the first 21 miles of the course, from Hopkinton to Boston College. The run was organized by the nice folks at Children's Hospital for all of the official B.A.A. charity runners - about 1,000 of us. It was the longest run of our training and also the most nerve-wracking. I woke up around 4:30am on Saturday morning and tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 6. I was incredibly nervous, so much so I was pretty sure I was going to throw up. Upon arrival at BC, I looked around for some familiar faces, and once I found my running buddies Mike and Sarah I felt a little better. I nervously watched the towns go by on the bus there, Newton, Wellesley, Natick, Framingham, Ashland - and we finally arrived in Hopkinton.

The first 3 miles of the Marathon are downhill - and I didn't really believe it until I actually saw it. The starting line is actually on a decline. Everyone said that you need to start out conservatively and not go too fast, even though it's down hill. I thought I started out pretty conservatively, and we kept a pretty good pace through the rolling streets of Hopkinton and Ashland. It was pretty amazing to think that on race day, we'd be able to run in the middle of the road and not confined to the shoulder and sidewalks.

I would get excited every time we'd see a sign announcing we'd crossed into another town, and when we got to wasteland that is also known as Framingham, I was shocked. I thought it'd be all malls and stores like along Rt 9, but alas, it was anything but. After Framingham, we spent what seemed like FOREVER in Natick, although they did have a really nice Town Common. I again thought it was pretty cool that come race day, the streets would be lined with thousands of people cheering us on.

After Natick, we hit Wellesley and we were pretty much running through the woods, but I smiled because that stretch would be filled with the infamous screaming lasses from Wellesley College on April 19th. I hope some of them ask to be kissed, because I'll totally stop. We hit the half marathon mark in about 2:08 - we were blazing, faster than I had previously run a half, and we were just over 10 minute miles and I was feeling good. We hit a HUGE downhill that lasted about .5 miles that took us from Wellesley into Newton Lower Falls.

We then had to venture up and over 128 where I was convinced we would die, trying to dodge the highway on and off ramp traffic. Some motorists were none too pleased with us. We kept a pretty good pace past Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Woodlawn Country Club, but when we turned the corner on to Commonwealth Ave just after mile 17 my heart sank. I had forgotten (well, at least for the past 3 hours or so) about the dreaded hills of Newton. I had a hard time restarting after the water stop - Mike and Sarah soldiered on without me, and I pretty much trotted (not really walking but not really running either) the last 3.5 miles to finish at the top of Heartbreak Hill in 3:55 (Sarah and Mike finished in 3:50 in case you were wondering).

I felt incredibly accomplished and proud - I had done it, the hardest part of the course! The last 5.2 miles are, for the most part (literally and figuratively), downhill. I could see the Boston skyline as we crested Heartbreak - I got goosebumps. It was really encouraging to see a lot of people out along the route cheering their runners and everyone else out there, constantly saying "Great job! You look great! Keep it up!". I can't even imagine what it's going to be like on race day - I'm excited just thinking about it. I'm glad we were able to experience the course in real time, and I learned that yes, I do need to start a little slower out of Hopkinton to preserve my energy for the Newton hills and a nice, strong finish. I'm running down Boylston Street to the finish line if it kills me. Here's a pic of me at the top of the hills after the run - it was a beautiful day! Below are two visuals for you; one from the B.A.A. and one from MapMyRun.com for a little perspective. I think the 2nd one is more impressive, ha.

A nice, illustrated map of the course highlighting all the fun landmarks.

Yeah, that's pretty far...

On the fundraising front, I've passed the $4,000 mark. I'm currently at $4,200!! That means only $2,800 left to go to meet my $7,000 goal. Can I do it in 19 days? With your help, I certainly can! You can donate online via credit card or send a check to the Museum of Science, Attn: 2010 Boston Marathon with my name in the memo field. By donating to my run and the Museum of Science, you will help bring science and engineering programming to over 81,000 students throughout New England! And, you get a hand-written thank you note from me - what else could you ask for?!