Boston Marathon Weekend 2022

This blog recaps the weekend leading up to the Boston Marathon. I will post my race report separately. 

Friday

Greg and I flew into Boston on Friday and arrived to our hotel at around 1:30. We relaxed for a bit and then headed out to the expo and to preview the finish line. The finish line is always buzzing with people and the vibe is absolutely amazing. I ran into my previous coach Andrew at the finish line. He was there representing adidas. It was so great to catch up with him and talk to him about his role in the shoe world!

Bib pickup went very smoothly. Vaccination proof was required to be submitted electronically a few weeks back, so I didn't have to worry about having my card with me. My number was 12827. A higher bib number than I had in 2018, even though my qualifying time was 3 minutes faster. But it was still the same wave/corral.  

At the expo, I didn’t buy nearly as much official Boston gear as I normally do because I wasn’t a fan of the color scheme (fluorescent yellow and pastel purple) or the style of the clothing. I did buy my 3rd Spike (the unicorn) and a few non-running T-shirts. I had already bought the jacket and two hats online about a few months back. Quite a few people recognized me from Instagram and came up to say hi. It was really nice to meet new people and wish them well in the race.

I made the mistake of tying my shoe laces too tight for walking and by the end of the day, the top of my ankle had swelled up and was killing me. It was a “rest day” from running but we were on our feet for hours and did so much walking around. Greg and I had dinner at Eddie V's near the expo and it was nice to relax. 

Spike!

Proudly holding my bib 

Saturday

On Saturday morning, I woke up with my SI joint area hurting. I knew it was from all the walking I had done, but I didn’t worry about it. There was nothing I could do about it at that point, and the race would be whatever it would be! I wanted do less walking on Saturday, but that’s not really possible if you want to enjoy the Boston Marathon weekend to its fullest.

I cheered for runners at the B.A.A. 5K while Greg did a long run. He’s running the Vermont City Marathon in six weeks, so he didn’t run the 5K like he has in previous years. After that, I walked down Newbury street and visited the various “pop-up” stores for Brooks, ASICS, and rabbit. A pop-up store is a store that is only there for the weekend, with brands selling special Boston gear. I also visited the Tracksmith store, which is not a pop-up, but their actual storefront location. 

At the rabbit store, they were screen printing any custom wording you wanted on an EZ T-shirt or tank. I ended up with a shirt that said “RACING STRIPES”. So cool that I finally have a shirt with the name of my blog. I also bought a fun shirt from Brooks, and shorts from ASICS with the 4-18-2022 date on them. I didn't get anything from Tracksmith because I had ordered some Boston gear online ahead of time from there. 

Racing Stripes shirt from the rabbit store

I then met back up with Greg and my coach Angela for lunch. Angela had run the 5K and this was my first time meeting her in person! We had been having virtual strength training sessions for two years but had never actually met.

Coach Angela, me and Greg

That evening, Greg and I went to an Amazon happy hour where we met the other women that Amazon had sponsored for the race. I had been getting to know them over social media so it was cool to finally meet them in person. Unfortunately, we stood the entire time (two hours) which wasn’t ideal after all the walking I had done on Friday and Saturday morning. My foot still hurt from the too-tight laces but I tried not to think about it too much.

Some of the Amazon sponsored runners

After the Amazon happy hour, we had dinner in the Seaport district. From there, we took an Uber back to the hotel, which cost $27 to go 1.5 miles! But I seriously did not want to walk given that the top of my ankle was still tender from overly tight laces the day before. 

Sunday
On Sunday, I did a shakeout run with a bunch of people who I knew from Instagram. I had a blast running with people who I have been communicating with for years but had never actually met. We ran for about two miles just to get the legs moving. Everything felt great- my legs, my back, my calves, and my foot!

Sunday morning shakeout run

After the shakeout run, I grabbed a half dozen bagels, one of which would be my race morning breakfast. Greg and I relaxed in the hotel until it was time to meet my friend Jonathan for lunch. And then more relaxation. I laid out my race outfit and all my nutrition to ensure everything was ready to go in the morning. I had chosen my race outfit earlier in the week:

• The "First Place" shorts from rabbit
• Matching orange crop top from rabbit
  
• Blue sports bra to match the shorts
• Zensah mini crew compression socks (which matched the shorts)
• adidas Adios Pro 2 shoes
• Tifosi SWANK SL sunglasses

Then, I finalized my race strategy with my coach. She called me and we talked about my fueling plan and my pacing plan. Greg wrote my target split times for the 5-mile, 10-mile and halfway point on my arm. 39:00, 1:17:30, 1:41:00.  More to come about my pacing strategy in my next post. 

Sunday night's dinner was spaghetti with chicken in marinara sauce. This is one of my common pre-race dinners as it’s easy on the stomach and has a lot of carbs. I also made sure to hydrate really well all throughout the weekend!

Finally it was time to go to bed. I was exhausted and I fell asleep easily.