2017 Boston Marathon

Marathon weekend was pretty epic this year. It was also Easter weekend and Phoebe's half-birthday, which she claims is super important. You're only seven-and-a-half once. My parents drove in from Ohio on Friday. The kids were so excited that they kept asking all day, "How much longer until grandma and grandpa get here?" It was the reversal of the usual, "Are we there yet?" that I hear in the car on our long drives to Ohio. One of my besties, Anika, flew into Boston on Saturday. We were cross country and track teammates at BYU, roommates for a few years, and running partners at Boston a few years ago. Anika is a fast-talking New Yorker, often breaks into song while running, has six hilarious kids and a zillion funny stories about them, and is just super-fun to run with. We both trained with the goal of running under three hours and we hoped to run together.

 On Saturday we picked up our bib numbers from the marathon expo. I also got the opportunity to be a panelist in a "Run your best Boston" seminar. I mostly talked about the course, but also gave tips on avoiding the mobs of kissing girls at Wellesley and using proper running form on the hills.

 Everyone was freaking out about the weather, so someone asked the panelists how our strategy would change with the heat. I gave some awful "just go for it" advice mostly because I didn't want to believe it was going to be that bad. Forecasts throughout the week predicted Marathon Monday would be in the mid-60s, so I didn't think it'd be too bad...

 ...but Marathon Monday came and it was warm. Sunday was in the 80s and it didn't cool off much over night, so Monday morning we headed out the door without much on and we were fine (not a good sign!). We took the train downtown, dropped our gear bags near the finish line, hopped on the bus to Hopkinton, and hung out in the Athlete's Village with thousands of other runners. We eventually made our way to the starting line. Anika and I were placed in the same "first wave" of runners, but were assigned to different corrals. Anika moved back to mine so we could run together. We were in the very back of about 8,000 other runners, so when the gun went off it took us about three minutes to actually cross the starting line. We were sweating in the first mile and by then knew it was going to be a warm one, so we ran conservatively. We went with the flow of runners, trying not to dart around groups from side to side too much. It was so much fun running with Anika, chatting and singing. We drank lots and lots of water and Gatorade and miraculously stayed together even through the crowded fluid stations. We came through the halfway mark at 1:31 and felt good. Around mile 15, we spotted a runner ahead that looked like a teammate of ours from BYU. Courtney was a senior when we were freshmen and we recognized the bouncy stride. We caught up with her around mile 16 and she informed us that she was just "taking it easy." We know better though; we are a competitive bunch and Courtney is one of the most fiery competitors we know. We ran through the Newton hills together, finally coming upon this bunch:

 They waited at mile 19 for hours along with my parents (my dad took all these pictures) and friends from church. When I ran by, I almost missed them altogether.

 Here I come for some high-fives...

 That's Anika in the white shirt in front of me and Courtney in the white tank and red shorts behind me. I wanted to high-five all the kids, but they weren't all lined up conveniently and I was worried I was going to lose my running buddies.

 So I grabbed a waterbottle Scott threw at me and kept going, blowing a kiss on the way. Despite this, our group got separated about a mile later on a hill after a fluid station. We had a backup plan and it didn't involve slowing down (it was called see-you-at-home), so when I crested the final big hill and felt good I let loose on the downhill. I felt really good through about mile 24, then felt the exhaustion setting in. Still, I never hit a wall. I didn't have much of a sprint though. Right as I turned on Boylston Street for the final quarter-mile, Courtney sprinted past me. "I just wanted to get it over with faster," she said afterward. I finished in 3:03:54 and Anika finished about 10 seconds later.

 Victory! We grabbed our gear bags and Anika and Courtney chatted while I laid on the ground for a few minutes and caught my breath. We waddled to the train and got the royal treatment: Scott picked us up at the train station close to home so we didn't have to waddle the last half-mile. After a shower and a massage, we celebrated with Thai food and then took Anika to the airport. We are already plotting our next reunion, hoping to get our other roommates there next time.

 And now for the other highlights of the weekend. Phoebe had soccer practice on Saturday morning. She is super intense on the field.

 And so so fearless. After her game, she dumped an entire waterbottle over her head.

We also had an egg hunt on Saturday. We hid eggs in the park and let the kids find them. I was wondering if Bruce would be too old for egg hunts now, but no he is not. He ran around like a wild child just the same as ever. Oliver and Bruce have birthdays next month: Bruce will be 12!!!! And Oliver will be 4. Time to start party planning...

I'm also planning out what I'll be running next. I'm thinking about running a trail 50K in June, then marathon training while racing shorter distances in July, August, and September before running the Hartford Marathon in October. I ran my PR at Hartford in 2006 and it's time for a return - and hopefully a PR or close to it. I am older but I am stronger and more experienced. I really think I just need the right day to PR again. Hopefully that day will be October 14.

Sistah Time!

My sister got a ticket to Boston for her Mother's Day gift, so it was like an awesome gift for me too! Thanks Andy! Karyn brought Baby Cora along. She and Oliver really loved on each other sometimes, and really did not at other times. I think Oliver has that perky-in-the-morning Raymond Gene. She liked to take things a bit slower.

We had four wonderful days together and we used every moment! We went to Harvard Yard (that's the library above), walked around the North End, checked out Longfellow's house where General Washington stayed, got treats at Mike's Pastries, went to a few parks and playgrounds, got fresh fish at Legal Sea Food, sampled ice cream at Toscanini's....

Oliver and Cora sometimes got sick of being cooped up in strollers, so when we could we let them roam. Here they are roaming at the Copp's Hill Burying Ground in the North End.

Karyn and the babies and I went for a whale watch one day.

Our boat followed five humpback whales. Karyn got much better pictures of them. Pictures don't do whales justice though; it's hard to see just how huge they are when they are swimming in a big ocean. If you ever get the chance to go on a whale watch, do it. So cool!

Happy Halloween!

 We started our Halloween celebrations off right by visiting Phoebe's favorite guys who are always in costume. I guess since she dresses like a firefighter 364 days out of the year, she decided to be a "radiologist" for this one day. Bruce was a skeleton and Oliver was a pirate, complete with marker-made beard that he contributed to.

 We went to the school's fall party and did the usual games and pumpkin painting and such.

 Phoebe wanted to get a picture with her new best friend from school. Of course it couldn't be one with a straight face.

Continuing with last year's tradition, we brought Miss J - a fairy princess - along with us. After the party and a bite to eat at Miss J's, we went trick-or-treating on Beacon Hill. The kids got a ridiculous amount of candy and have been binge-eating it ever since.

My favorite part of the experience was hearing people comment on Phoebe's costume. When it got cold, she put her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sweatshirt on.

Nice person passing out candy: "Oh how cute, we have a Ninja Turtle!"
Phoebe: "No, I'm a radiologist."
Nice person: "You look like a Ninja Turtle."
Phoebe: "Look at my ID badge."

Camp Mom

 I have not been posting much this summer, but it isn't for lack of stuff to post about. It is the lack of time to blog at all. We have been hitting up the local splash parks, modeled above by a hyper Oliver. He took his first step on his "due date birthday" (July 16) at 14 months and just this week started letting go of the couches and walls to finally walk across whole rooms. And now he is everywhere.

 We went to a few outdoor movies at the parks. I think I love going to these as much as the kids. It's like going to a drive-in movie theater minus the cars.

 Bruce signed up for two weeks of summer camp this year. One week was a Lego-building-themed camp through his school; he saw lots of his friends there, played with lots of Legos, and visited the new Legoland nearby. The other week was a youth safety day camp run by the county sheriff. Bruce was a "cadet" for a week and did police training, fire drills, trust exercises, and the like. He got a deluxe tour of a fire station one day and Phoebe was terribly jealous. Pictured above is his graduation on the last day of camp.

 At graduation, we got to eat lunch with the cadets and check out a few emergency vehicles. Phoebe still prefers firetrucks, but this motorcycle is a close second.

 Phoebe learned how to meditate from a neighbor, so does it when she is super-bored - like when picking Bruce up from camp and waiting for him to go potty...

 The rest of the summer was Camp Mom. We did lots of fun stuff, only some of which is properly documented. We went to the Children's Museum...

 ...checked out the snakes...

 ...ate lunch outside and fished for crabs...

 ...and spent some time in the toddler play area. Oliver loved having a space to crawl around in and not get run over by bigger kids.

 Look at those giant teeth. We need to stop breastfeeding. For reals.

 Oliver is still a little behind developmentally, but he is making progress. He just started imitating sounds - "nonono" and "ahhhh-choo" are two favorites. He loves pointing at airplanes and is obsessed with all things that spin. At his 15-month well-baby check-up, he was 19.5 pounds. He is in the 8th percentile for weight, but the 78th percentile for height. I think that's a Raymond thing?

Finally, here is another we crossed off our bucket list: bouncy houses. Check!

 And another must-do on the list: the Arlington Ward campout! Phoebe followed Firefighter Brian around, we all hiked and hunted for bugs, and we got a lot more sleep this year than last.

 Speaking of firefighters, we have been seeing a lot of "our guys" this summer. This is what Phoebe calls our local crew at the firehouse. She makes them art work and they have been hanging it up in their kitchen. There is a "Phoebe corner" at the station.

 She gets the royal treatment.

 And I have to post this: this kid is so funny. Now that he is walking, nothing is safe. More childproofing is needed!

Urban lockdown.

As it turns out, Monday's bombings that felt a little too close for comfort got a little closer to us later in the week. I was glad that Bruce missed all this action because he's old enough to get it and be scared by it, and I'm glad Phoebe is young enough to not be scared of anything really.

Late Thursday night, I woke up to the sound of sirens. Not just one or two emergency vehicles, but what sounded like dozens of them racing down our street. I fell back to sleep and woke up a half-hour later and heard more. It seemed that they just kept coming and coming. Phoebe woke up, so I put her back to bed.

I grabbed my phone and checked the news. A police officer had been shot and killed two blocks away, just outside the building where Bruce would have gone to Cub Scouts had he not been in D.C. this week. I was disturbed by the news, but rolled over and slept a few more hours until morning.

I had planned to go running on Friday morning, but my running partner (who knows me well enough to know I don't check the news or emails before heading out early in the mornings) called and said, "Don't go out! There's a manhunt..."

And the story unfolded from there.

The police officer that was shot by my house was shot by the men suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings. Coincidentally, there was a robbery at the 7-11 just around the corner (one block away - yikes!) at about the same time. When the police reviewed the security footage at 7-11, they spotted the marathon bombing suspects and thus began the chase.

The governor issued a lockdown for our community. Although most of Friday's events (a shootout or two, a day-long search, and the final capture) occurred in the next town over, Phoebe and I stayed indoors behind our locked door for the entire day. It was genuinely scary. I kept checking the news on my phone and found out the identities of the suspects, found that they lived only a few blocks away from us (one block from where Bruce goes to school - that's probably the scariest thing for me to think about), and frequented the same parks and restaurants. It freaks me out to think that we could have passed them at some point - hanging out at the park or getting a Slurpee after a long run. And although I had felt safe earlier in the week after reassuring myself that those bombings were some random event probably caused by some disgruntled people that lived somewhere else, I felt wronged all over again.

I felt some relief once the suspects were captured. I spent my Saturday out and about; Phoebe and I went for a run with friends (we ended at the site where the police officer was shot and left flowers there), went to the circus, went to the playground, and tried to have a "normal" day. I couldn't help but to wonder who I was passing on the streets: Who is this person? Is this person a terrorist? 

Then it occurred to me that 1) I cannot be at peace thinking that everyone in my neighborhood might be a terrorist, and 2) It's just not fair to even think that thought about everyone I cross paths with. And so I'm back to where I started - you know, trying to be nice to everyone. The same thing I tell my kids to do. 

Throughout the past few days, I've had a Christmas song in my head: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I think when I woke up in the middle of Thursday night I thought something along the lines of "there is no peace on earth" and as soon as I had that thought, this song started playing on repeat in my head, especially the last two verses.

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong, And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

And so while we may have terrorists in the neighborhood, random robberies of my favorite place to get Slurpees, and certainly plenty of things to fear, I will not let fear paralyze me for God is in charge and will prevail.

Boston 2013

Marathon Monday started out beautifully. The weather was perfect - 40s in the morning warming to low-to-mis-50s during the day. There was hardly a breeze, a few clouds in the sky; truly perfect marathoning weather. Of course, I thought, the weather is perfect because I'm not racing this year.

Scott had to work all day but I had the day off from Miss J, so the kids and I headed to Mile 19 in Newton. It's out in the 'burbs with grass and trees lining the course, so there's room to spread out on the curb and let the kids play on the grass. Bruce and Phoebe snacked, watched DVDs, played with other kids, and petted lots of dogs while I watched the elite women, then elite men, then waves and waves of runners pass.

Honestly, I felt a little sulky. I was already a little jealous of the nice weather, then to watch something so inspiring while sitting in a lawn chair 28 pounds heavier than a year ago - it just felt weird. I wanted to be running down that yellow line in the middle of the road, not sitting at the sideline. Don't get me wrong: I wasn't feeling regret, just longing. Hopefully the longing that will get me back into shape someday soon.

I had lots of people to cheer for - Anna Novick (my long-time running partner who still puts up with my slow pregnant 5-mile runs every morning!), Emili Lawson Smith (former BYU XC teammate and next-door locker neighbor while a Cougar), Carolyn Quebe Williams (also a former BYU teammate who now lives in Boston), Darcee Burnett (former member of the church congregation we went to while we lived in Arlington and super-inspiring person), and the dozen or so runners wearing Greater Boston Track Club singlets.

I positioned myself beyond the 30K (18.6 miles) timing mats but before the 19-mile marker and kept checking my phone for text message alerts of my runners. Emili was the first to go by - according to my text anyway. Unfortunately I never saw her; huge crowds were streaming by and it occurred to me that I should have asked her what she was going to wear. Oops. Anna came by next, but I missed her too; I think I might have been changing Phoebe's DVD or something at that point. I was bummed about that because I had a bunch of signs made up and a waterbottle to hand to her. I did see Carolyn and Darcee, but I'm not sure they heard me in the sea of spectators.

I sat and sulked a little longer, watching runners and clutching my phone waiting for text updates. Anna went on to run a near-perfectly paced race in a PR of 2:56. Victory! Emili came in at 3:06, Carolyn at 3:24, and Darcee at 3:27. Once everyone crossed the line, I packed up the kids and headed home. When I walked in the door, I got a phone call.

"Emily, are you okay?" My sister-in-law called. I thought she was just being nice and understanding of my sulky pregnant-runner status, so I started whining about my sulky sidelined morning. She gave me the news and my phone started buzzing with texts and incoming calls.

I reassured everyone that I hadn't gone to the finish line this year (I have in the past, and was toying with the idea of meeting up downtown with runners afterward, but decided against it being pregnant/lazy and not wanting to chase two kids around crowds of people), then started making texts and calls of my own. All of my GBTC teammates, their families, and my friends that I tracked were all out of the finish area when the bombs went off. I confirmed that everyone was okay, then followed the news for the rest of the day trying to make sense of it all. I still can't make sense of it.

If anything, this event has only stoked my desire to race the marathon even more. I've been thinking of a Boston Marathon return in 2015 because it will give me ample time to build up mileage and get fast post-baby, but now I'm eager to be part of the marathon in 2014 even if I am not in top shape. I'm not sure it's realistic; I have to re-qualify (my 2012 time will be considered too old for the 2014 registration requirement) and registration is in September (a month after having a baby?!), but there are back door methods of getting in (charity, waivers, etc.) so there's still a chance.

I would just love to run down Boylston Street as my own personal flip-of-the-bird to terrorism. You can't run me out of Boston! I will run you out.

In 2014 if I can.

In 2015 for sure.

Boston Blizzard

On Friday morning, I went for a nice quiet run. School had already been cancelled and the streets were quiet as everyone prepared for the coming storm. Around noon, light snow started to fall. The wind picked up a little. Soon there was a dusting on the street. (Excuse the ugly photos, but this lovely parking garage/ office building is the scenic view I get when looking out my living room window - nice)

 The wind steadily picked up until it was howling and gusting into a full blizzard (sustained 30+ mph winds with 70+ mph gusts) by the evening. The snow stuck to the windows and blew sideways and every which way. When we went to bed, there were 3-4 inches of snow on the ground.

 When we woke up, there was nearly 2 feet of snow on the ground. Scott still had to be at work by 7 a.m., so he woke up early, dug out the parking garage entrance, packed his shovel and emergency supplies into the car, and ventured off. There was a state-wide ban on driving so as to avoid this situation (from the 1978 blizzard)...

...but the ban didn't apply to healthcare and emergency workers. So Scott set off, took a few detours to avoid big drifts, stuck to streets that had been somewhat plowed, and made it to the hospital without getting stuck.

 It snowed another couple inches on Saturday morning, the wind quieted down a bit, and the kids and I watched lots of plows and construction vehicles roll by.

 We ventured out onto the sidewalk. Someone had shoveled a small path by our building, but once it ended we either waded through waist-high drifts or walked right on the road. People were cross-country skiing down the usually busy streets; it was surreal.

 We found a pile of snow that didn't have a car under it and tried to go sledding, but the snow was so fluffy that we sunk down faster than we could get to the bottom of the tiny pile.

By Saturday afternoon, snow shovels were in demand as people were digging their cars out of the mess. Bruce and our neighbor found a tunnel someone dug and played in it for a long time. Phoebe happily ate the snow and was pulled around in the snow, but had a hard time walking through it. In the end, we got 25 inches of snow, with drifts up to 6 feet in places. This is a storm the kids will remember.

Fall back.

 Fall has been good to us. We went apple picking with friends.

 We ate apple pie and apple crisp and plain old apples for weeks following this little trip to the orchard.

Scott joined up with some friends to run the Ragnar Adirondacks Relay. It was an "ultra" team, so it consisted of six team members rather than the usual 12 (like the one I did at Ragnar Cape Cod). Scott ran three relay legs totaling 32+ miles. He experienced "hitting the wall," but came home hungry for more. He is planning on running a trail marathon in New York in May; I'll join him if my hip continues to cooperate. I ran my first speedwork since Labor Day this week. I felt out of breath and out of shape, but my hip is back up and running. Yea!

 In the anticipation of winter, we have been park-hopping and making the most of the (generally) mild weather.

 Perhaps the best thing to happen this fall is that my mom came to visit. There was a good deal on airline tickets, so she came. We didn't make huge plans because Bruce still had school, but it was nice to relax and talk to my mom all day and all night.

 The kids loved having Grandma around. Like the kids, she has lots of energy - and she slept very well at night!

 Bruce had one day off school, so we played all morning and then headed downtown to take a boat into the Atlantic to go looking for whales.

 It takes 45-60 minutes for the boat to travel to the bay where whales typically feed, so I brought a DVD player to keep Phoebe busy.

 She didn't last long enough to see whales. Thankfully, she was free.

 We saw a few humpback and fin whales. The coolest thing we saw was a humpback jump clear out of the water. Usually when the whales surface, you see their spout blow upward, their fin glide for a bit, and then their back arch and tail flap down into the water. The biologist on the boat said she couldn't remember the last time she saw a whale breach the water like that.

I'm glad we fit the whale watch in when we did. A few days later, Hurricane Sandy roughed up the waters (and land and air!) a bit. My mom ended up flying out ahead of the storm to avoid the inevitable delays afterward. Boston didn't get as much damage as anticipated; it was very windy and rainy on Monday (enough to cancel school) and some areas had power outages, but we stayed inside and were fine the whole time.