In Honor of Marathon Monday

Marathon Monday in Boston just might be one of the best days of the entire year.  Obviously in my 8 month pregnant state, I was in no shape to race this year.  But this was also the first year in 9 years that I haven't lived in Boston and I truly missed the excitement that comes with the Boston Marathon.  This excitement was even greater given the AMAZING performances at both the elite level and of many of my friends!

It was a great race for American distance running and makes me excited to see how these people will do with the Olympics coming up in 2012.  Desiree Davila came within 2 seconds of breaking the tape and becoming the first American to win in over 25 years.  Ryan Hall set a new American marathon record.  Kara Goucher ran a minute personal best just 6.5 months after giving birth to her son.  Plus the men's winner, Geoffrey Mutai (Kenyan),  ran the fastest marathon time EVER with a time of 2:03:02.  (not an official World Record though because Boston has a net downhill and is a point-to-point course)

And while I watched all the race coverage from the comfort of my living room and was sad to not be a part of it this year, I do realize that the running I've been able to do during my pregnancy is nothing to be sad about.  Not only am I keeping myself in shape (and somewhat sane) by continuing to run, but a new study says I might just be making B-Fo's heart stronger and more efficient in the process!

So HUGE congratulations to all the Boston Marathon finishers out there!!  Whether it was your 1st or 10th time toeing the line in Hopkinton, I hope you realize just how special this race truly is.  And to all you other runners, keep at it no matter how slow you think you are....I promise that right now I know at least one two (B-Fo counts, right??) people you are faster than ;)

I think my pace is inversely proportional to how tight my running shirts get! 

(For you non-math people that means the tighter the shirt, the slower the pace!)

                             20 weeks                             27 weeks                            31 weeks
                                                  (Click the pictures to make them larger)