As of today at 10:24am, I officially became a Boston-qualified marathoner. I’ve talked about my journey in running a lot (click here or here for more), so today I’m focusing on exactly what it was like to run the One City Marathon and do it under my goal pace of 3:30. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at running a marathon, I’m breaking it down mile by mile - with all the before and after, too!

The week before the race was taper week, which meant I still ran every day but cut way back on mileage and intensity. All my runs were easy/slow pace, as much as I could hold back. The day before was mostly rest after a 3-mile shakeout run. By the end of the week, I felt completely out of shape, like I had lost all my fitness during this time. I knew this wasn’t true, so I had to fight against it mentally, but for months I’ve been pushing and running hard and increasing mileage, so to cut all that back right before the race was not my favorite feeling. Saturday felt incredibly long, and I just wanted the race to hurry up and start.