I FINALLY DID IT!! I qualified for the Boston Marathon.
10 years ago after my 2nd marathon, I set the goal to qualify for Boston. Back then my qualifying time was 3:35. In 2013, I failed my first attempt (DNF Eugene, missed it by 5 min at OC marathon a week later). In 2014, I failed TWO attempts (bad day in Phoenix, great day at CIM but ended up collapsing before the finish line). In 2017, after having my first daughter, I tried and failed again at Mountains to Beach.
I then got pregnant with twins, and once I was ready to get back to marathons, the pandemic started. I ran a virtual trail marathon (“for fun”) with a friend in 2020, but in 2021 my heart just wasn’t into training for a full marathon, as I was more focused on my goal of top 10 coach with Beachbody & enjoying post pandemic travel.
In 2022, my heart was ready to train again. It felt like I fell back in love with marathoning this year, my heart healed from the previous heartbreak. My mindset was completely transformed from 6 years of personal development as part of my coaching business.
I was ready to go for my goal, even if it meant publicly failing AGAIN.
I’m happy to say, after a near perfect training cycle and a really, really enjoyable and fun training cycle, I qualified for the Boston Marathon at Revel Big Bear Marathon (with my “new” qualifying time of sub 3:40 as I will be 40 on race day 2024)!
If I get into the 2024 race, it will be exactly 10 years since the first Boston I tried to qualify for (which my best friend Asia ran)
And now I’m writing the blog post I’ve waited 10 years to write: the recap of my BQ! (Get a snack, or skim to the parts you care about – it’s long).
(In this post I’ll recap my race day and in another post I’ll share what parts of my training/preparation I think helped me do it.)
Why I Chose Revel Big Bear
I chose Revel Big Bear last year after a fellow running buddy on Instagram, Kerry, BQ’d there and raved about the course. I had done one Revel race before and honestly wasn’t sure how I felt about downhill courses, especially full marathon downhill courses – while gravity is on your side, they have their own challenges (elevation, hills, cold, and the 26.2 miles of pounding on your quads).
As a “larger” runner (I’m 5’9” and muscular), I wasn’t sure if my legs would hold up for the entire race, despite the incredibly consistent strength training I do as a BODi coach (now I know this was a limiting belief, ha).
In the end, I liked that Big Bear was a 2 hour drive from San Diego (vs a flight to CIM, my other option) and the timing was perfect – now I can use the holiday season as my recovery period. I also knew that Revel puts on a great races with lots of perks, the races are on Saturdays (yay for Sunday to recover) and 2 of my training buddies, Jen (a fellow Team Run the World coach) and Megan (from my run club) wanted to do the half.
It all lined up and I hit register and didn’t look back!
I will recap my training and answer the questions I got on Instagram in another post, but to sum it up: I started training in July and also started the program LIIFT More. I ran on average 5 days/week, with a tempo, speed workout, long run and 2 easy runs. I did 1 leg lifting workout/week and 2 upper body lifting workouts most weeks. I peaked at 53 miles and averaged
Revel Big Bear BQ: Pre-Race
The day before the race (Friday), Jen and I drove up, and did a quick stop at the Expo. Pretty much all day/afternoon (as the last 2 days) I was eating/drinking carbs non stop (this was the most carbo-loaded I’ve ever been going into a race – will share more in my training recap).
The expo was small and efficiently run & we were in and out in under 10 minutes. We happened to get there at the same time as Kerry so I got to chat with her and meet her friend who was also doing the full.
A lot of the discussion that I picked up around me was around the weather (it would be 28 at the start) & the “rolling” first 9 miles of the marathon course. Both of the things I had been thinking about the most.
We didn’t spend much time there (Jen is a run coach and she said not to spend any extra time on my feet!) and then headed back to the hotel and then to dinner at a fancy pizza place – I ate 3 pieces of bread and a pretty basic pasta with a little sausage.
The race takes place one week after the fall time change, so I had been going to bed early all week anyway. We got back to the hotel room at 7 PM, organized our things and read and turned the lights off at 8 PM! It only took me probably 15-20 minutes to fall sleep and I woke up on my own 30 minutes before my alarm at 2:45 AM. So I still got 6.5 hours of sleep!
Revel Big Bear BQ: Race Morning
We stayed at the host hotel and the bus pick up was .7 miles from the hotel, so Jen drove us there. She dropped me off at 4 AM (her bus loading was later than mine) and I found Kerry and Andrea in line (yay!). As an extrovert, I knew I needed some socializing before I spent 3 hours 40 minutes in my head alone on the course (there are no spectators until mile 18 and then very few – do not do this race is you need crowd support!).
The bus line was SO slow and inefficient but we didn’t care that much since we knew that the start line would be freezing (literally, it was 28 degrees). I had anticipated waiting at the start in 28 degree weather for an hour, so it was a nice, yet slightly frantic, surprise when we didn’t arrive to the start until 5:40, 20 minutes before the start.
To stay warm, I had bought a Hot Hands Lap Warmer (basically a giant hand warmer) and ended up using it on the bus because they didn’t run the heat for most of the drive. I also wore some Brooks warm-up joggers over my capris, and my husband gave me a hooded down jacket he decided he didn’t want. I wore gloves (revel gives you gloves in your goody bag) and I pulled a buff that I got for free at the San Diego holiday half over my ears, under my hat. I also brought the wearable blanket they gave me after the New York marathon that I had apparently saved in my closet for 5 years.
We immediately got in line for the port-o-potties (successful trip). While in line they were announcing gear check was about to close. Shortly after, they announced the start was delayed due to buses still arriving (not shocking consider the disorganization at bus loading). Kerry and I went to the start corral – which was basically just the lane of the road.
I headed back to the 3:40 pace group sign & started a conversation with a group of fellow runners because I was wearing my New York Marathon wearable blanket. Someone thought that I had run the marathon the week before and I told them that I’m actually just a hoarder who has kept the blanket in her closet since 2016. It was a fun moment of swapping stories and sharing goals for the race with complete strangers. It took my mind off what was to come & was such a heartwarming way to start an epic journey down the mountain.
There was no national anthem or even a countdown of any sort, and suddenly the runners ahead of me started moving. Once I got close to the timing mat I threw off the New York Marathon wearable blanket which had my lap warmer in the pocket and started running!!
Revel Big Bear Marathon: Breaking The Course Down
All Revel races are downhill races, that start in the mountains and run down. Downhill does give you a gravity boost, but it doesn’t mean EASY – training for downhill running & strength training is important. Revel Big Bear, from what I have read in the “Revelers” Facebook page (amazing group of people in that group!) is the best course of all Revel races since the fastest portion of the course is in the second half.
Revel has a GREAT run coach named Paul Carmona who does a very, very detailed Big Bear course preview on Facebook. His video and the notes I took from reading Kerry’s blog post were invaluable. Here’s how the course is broken up:
- Miles 1-2 “The Warm-Up” , some decline but elevation and muscles will be cold so don’t go out faster than goal pace
- Mile 3-4 The biggest hills . Focus on EFFORT, not pace. Expect Mie 3, which is 70% climbing, to be 1-1.5 min slower than goal pace.
- Miles 5-9, “Up Down”. Rolling hills with switch backs – running tangents is crucial here and being patient on uphills and utilizing correct form downhill. You are still at 6,000 feet elevation at mile 8.
- Miles 10-13. Pick it up. Still some switchbacks but way fewer uphills, pace really starts to pick up naturally here.
- MIles 14-20. Excelerate. Mile 14-16 in particular are the most intense decline of the course (over 300 feet lost per mile).
- Miles 20-26.2. Hold on & Finish strong. Course starts to flatten out but is still a slight decline. The final mile has almost no loss & 2 turns & feels completely flat.
I truly believe that studying the course and knowing how to execute and pace it was a KEY factor in my success, even though I actually ended up pacing it slightly different than I expected.
Revel Big Bear Marathon Miles 1-9: Cold, Elevation & Rolling Hills
The first miles of this race are significantly slower miles. My goal pace for this race was 8:24 (really 8:20 for a buffer), but I knew I would run nearly every mile in the first 9 slower than this.
Once I started running, It felt surreal to be running down a mountain road with snow all around, bundled up literally in a giant jacket. I am from San Diego and rarely run in weather below 40 (and only in the 40s for about 2 months in the winter) so 28 felt downright freezing to me. Mike had let me have a hooded down jacket that he didn’t need anymore to wear for the start of the race. I also had a buff wrapped around my ears, nestled under my hat.
I noticed at first that I was running a little faster than planned. I slowed it down and let people pass. I wasn’t expecting uphills on these first 2 miles but there were some small rollers. I also was shocked at the runners who were wearing shorts and tanks at this point (not many but there were some). One woman even picked up a guy’s abandoned sweats on the side of the road because she presumably regretted wearing shorts.
Thanks to the course preview from Revel Coach Paul, I knew that the first 9 miles would be slower. In fact, he even warned that we may be and should be up to 20 seconds PER mile behind pace by the end of this section. Knowing this information REALLY helped me mentally because if i didn’t know this, I might have overanalyzed even more than I did.
My legs felt great for the majority of this section, but I was working a little harder than I hoped I would be on this and although I hadn’t memorized my planned splits, I had a feeling they were just a little slower. I just tried to lock it into a 7 effort and accept what the course gave me. In the end, the splits were just slower than I had planned.
There were some spectacular views in this section – beautiful snow covered mountains. But there were also obstacles including ice on the course in several places (runners would yell it out ahead of time so people wouldn’t slip). I did slightly on one icy section. The road itself was slanted. I don’t think that I was running on even ground for much of the first 9 miles at all.
Mentally, I bounced around in this section and got a little worried I was taking too much mental energy focusing on pace and tangents and ice and all the things. I didn’t listen to music here & focused on the work at hand. There were a few moments when little thoughts popped in: what if I don’t do it? But I tried my best to replace them with good thoughts.
I just kept telling myself to stay in the mile I was in. At mile 8 I said out loud to a woman who was breathing REALLY hard “we just have one more mile of this to go!” and she said “really!?” and smiled really big. I realized at that moment my pacing was going well because I could easily talk. I just kept thinking how I was about to get to fly down the mountain.
| Mile | ACTUAL |
| 1 | 8:24 |
| 2 | 8:34 |
| 3 | 9:39 |
| 4 | 8:28 |
| 5 | 8:16 |
| 6 | 8:46 |
| 7 | 8:25 |
| 8 | 8:33 |
| 9 | 8:39 |
Average pace: 8:38
Revel Big Bear Marathon Miles 10-14
After just one speedy downhill mile at mile 10 where I felt like I was starting to gain momentum, my legs started to feel sore. The thought started to creep in : “If your legs are sore now, they’re just going to get worse.” That thought does NOT serve me at all, so I knew I had to reframe it. I reminded myself of the letter I wrote to myself the day before the race. One of the parts I had written: “The race will get hard. You’ll probably question things early on and then again half way and again toward the end. It will hurt. You will want to quit. You will question why you do this to yourself.”
One of the things that has crushed me in past BQ attempts is mentally giving up too early in the race because I think it should “feel” a certain way. Overcoming this mindset and staying in the mile I am running is a key shift I’ve made over the last several years.
Once I reminded myself of that, it helped. I knew I would doubt things at some point and here it was. Time to push past it. I also popped 2 of the Hylands cramp pills. At some point in this section, the sun started shining & I started to warm up. I also decided to put in my earbud start listening to music.
I had been on track with my fueling. I carry a water bottle so that I don’t have to wait for aid stations to eat and drink. I set an alarm on my Garmin to go off every 30 minutes to remind me to eat. My first gel was at 30 minutes – Spring Energy awesome sauce which is 45g carbs & 180 calories (the goal is to “fuel early and often” in a marathon). Second gel was at 60 minutes- Huma double electrolytes with caffeine.
I practiced this fueling in training & despite 2 productive bathroom breaks before the race, around mile 11 I started to feel the urge to use the bathroom. I knew the aid stations had portopotties and they were every 2 miles, so I told myself if it was still there at mile 13, I would quickly stop. When visualizing race day leading up to the race, I told myself that if I had to use the restroom (which happens to me during every long run), I would quickly go and not stress about it. I was confident I could still BQ even with a bathroom break.
Despite this, when I stopped at mile 13 to use the bathroom, a little panic set in. All 4 porta potties were full so I had to wait about 20-30 seconds to go in, which felt like a lifetime. Once I went, I felt SO much better and I gave myself another pep talk – you can’t give up now. You have to keep trying. In total, I think the bathroom break took me just under 2 minutes (I noticed my Strava moving time is 2 minutes faster than my finish time and this mile was a 7:45 on Strava vs. 9:29 on my Garmin). I also threw off my jacket and left it at the aid station here.
Right after the bathroom I crossed the half marathon tracking mat. I thought of those tracking me at home and wondered if they were worried that I had slowed down. My half marathon split was 1:53:31, 8:39 average pace. Now it was time to WORK to do to get my average down under 8:24 for that BQ.
| 10 | 8:00 |
| 11 | 7:56 |
| 12 | 8:01 |
| 13 | 8:22 |
| 14 | 9:29 |
Revel Big Bear Marathon Miles 14-22 – Gaining Momentum & Making Up Time
The first miles of the half marathon portion of the course are the biggest elevation drop of the course. I almost had no choice but to run fast despite my aching legs and sore feet. I started to pick it up now. I knew I had to make up time and the downhill was propelling me.
My legs still hurt. BAD.
When I passed the half marathon start area, I saw several people who had dropped out of the full in carts and very briefly the thought crossed my mind: what if I quit!?
It was actually REALLY helpful to consider quitting.
No, I decided, even if my legs are SO tired and it’s SO painful, and even if I miss my BQ goal AGAIN, I WILL finish this marathon. I signed up for this race before I even considered going for the BQ, and I would not be happy if I quit.
Once quitting was completely off the table, I asked myself: would you rather suffer through the next 12 miles in pain and run slow and miss your goal, or would rather suffer through the next 12 miles while chasing your goal? I told myself : It will hurt either way.
This is where the downhill really boosted me – the momentum helped my legs turn over. I realized my breathing was fairly relaxed. I wasn’t working all that hard, I was just kind of in pain. So I actually decided what I needed at this moment was a mental distraction. The course had opened up and I was practically alone. There are no spectators. There was full sun. Just me and my thoughts & my legs pounding down this hill.
I decided to turn on a podcast. YES! A podcast. I turned on one of Ali on the Run’s interviews with some pro athletes before the New York Marathon. It was entertaining and distracting. My splits were consistently on pace, so I just went with it. I kept fueling. My stomach felt great now. I had refilled my water bottle and I took a Nuun electrolyte drink at one of the aid stations to help with cramping. I took another serving of Hylands cramp pills (no idea if this is the right dose but they gave out samples at the Expo and I saved one just in case).
At some point I realized I was feeling better. My legs didn’t hurt that much. My breathing was normal. In fact, I noticed I really could be working harder. I was passing people. I watched mile after mile as the overall average pace on my Garmin went from 8:40 something all the way down to my goal pace of 8:24.
| 15 | 7:49 |
| 16 | 8:02 |
| 17 | 8:11 |
| 18 | 7:58 |
| 19 | 7:57 |
| 20 | 7:54 |
| 21 | 8:09 |
| 22 | 8:17 |
Revel Big Bear Marathon Miles 23-25: I’m Going to Fing Do it
At mile 22, I knew I was going to qualify for Boston. I didn’t feel GREAT, but considering I was at mile 22 of a marathon, I felt FANTASTIC. I can’t help but think this is due to my carb loading and fueling. It was worth the bathroom break if that’s what caused it. I was going to BQ.
I pulled out my final secret weapon – a double caffeinated Huma gel. I pulled it out and unfortunately it fell to the ground. I went back to get it and immediately noticed how stiff my legs were. But I knew I was strong enough to overcome it. I took half of the gel and immediately felt better.
This is when I knew it was time to focus and get it done. I knew I could do it. I just had to play it smart and stay strong. I focused on my effort and not my pace, and was happy to see my pace naturally was staying in the low 8s and even high 7s.
The course got considerably less scenic and less downhill at this point. Most of the course was on one full lane of the mountain road, with occasional traffic on the other lane. However, at one point as we entered the town of Redlands, we were running in the bike lane/sidewalk with traffic passing by us.
I started to get a cramp at the top of my right quad – it would suddenly come on and then disappear. I kept telling it to go away. I’m pretty sure I talked outloud under my breath.
I didn’t let anything distract me. I stayed focused. I started passing people one by one. But I wasn’t focusing on anything but myself.
Dedicating The Final 6 Miles
Before the race I had written down 6 people/groups of people to dedicate my final miles to. I started with the running community and my run club. I thought of them. Mile 22 was for my close friends – Asia, Shahara, Rachel, Allison, each of whom are such big supporters and encouragers of my running and coaching & who have helped me grow in so many ways. Mile 23 was for my Team Run the World coaches – I thought of so many of their faces, one by one, including Jen who was running the half with me and has become such a good friend, all my diamond leaders, and the entire coach community that makes our team incredible (Little did I know they were all messaging each other going crazy cheering for me during this time!).
Mile 24 was for my 3 daughters – I imagined them cheering for me! I thought of how strong I was carrying them in my belly, birthing them, soothing them, helping them grow and learn. I thought of how proud they would be of me (and siena did tell me last night “Mommy, I’m proud of you.” TEARS!). I imagined them high fiving me at the finish line (they actually wouldn’t be there, but it still helped!).
Mile 25 was for my husband Mike. I couldn’t train at the level I do without his support. He has been at almost all of my BQ attempts – he’s cheered for me, wiped my tears, he’s given me gifts of encouragement and drowned my sorrows of failure with beer and plan B race plans. He’s listened to my training plans & run recaps, carried my gear, and eaten pasta every Friday night before my long runs. He’s incredible.
Mile 26 – this one was for me. (Ironically Taylor Swift’s song “Me” came on my playlist during this mile). This one was for the hard freaking work I put in over the last 10 years becoming a better runner. The last 7 years of balancing motherhood with running. Of losing myself a bit, then finding myself again. For me following my heart to pursue things that are scary and hard. For me to NOT give up after 4 failed attempts at this goal.
Revel Big Bear Marathon Miles 26-26.2
When I started mile 26, I looked at my watch and did the math – I had 13 minutes to run just over 1.2 miles to the finish. It was happening. I turned a corner and as this realization hit, I felt my body start to give up. My legs got heavy for the first time. I started to slow down. It was like my mind told my body that we were done.
I had to remind myself: NOOO – we’re not done yet!!!
I literally spoke out loud: “It’s not over” “Keep going” “You’ve go this” “Celebrate after you finish”
My body responded! My pace dropped down again. But it felt harder than it had so far. But I fought for it. I kept pushing. It was happening.
I turned another corner and could see the finish line off in the distance (maybe ½ mile). It was surreal. I was going to finally achieve this goal. I couldn’t believe how strong I felt in the final miles. After so many times failing. So many disappointing marathons. So many “It just wasn’t my day” race recaps, it was finally MY DAY.
Just before the 26 mile marker, my friend Jen was there cheering and filming me. I shouted “I’m going to fucking do it!!!” and she screamed it back! I smiled big and stayed focus on that finish line!!!
And then I did it.
I crossed the finish line and looked down to see 3:37:xx & immediately got emotional.
I started to cry and I said “I did it!!!!” I FREAKING DID IT!!!!
I pulled out my phone and saw several texts including one from my husband. I called him and cried to him ‘i did it!!!’ I couldn’t believe it. It felt surreal.
| 23 | 7:57 |
| 24 | 8:00 |
| 25 | 7:59 |
| 26 | 8:03 |
| 0.2 | 7:52 |
The ultimate negative split – first half 1:53 second half 1:46:35.
BQ Celebration
I saw Kerry immediately after I finished and then Jen and Megan joined us. Suddenly my I waited in line to get my official results and was so happy to see “Congrats on your Boston Qualifying time” on the card.
I was giddy happy and kept saying how surreal it felt! Everyone convinced me I should buy a BQ shirt & were recapped our races while we stood in line for photos at the giant 26.2 sign. We got beers in the beer garden (yay craft beer!) and then took the shuttle back and got a delicious brunch.
Once I got home, the girls said congratulations and tried on my medal. Later, my best friend Asia came over and we poured everyone a drink (OJ for the girls) and we had a toast. 3 days later, my legs are still incredibly sore & I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose 3 toenails, but I’m freaking happy.
10 Years to BQ
“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up” – Babe Ruth
The real question is: WHY was qualifying for Boston so important to me? I really had to sit down and ask myself that. In the beginning, it was an arbitrary goal – it was about saying I did it. There was a time, if I’m honest when it was about what others would think of me and how I’d be considered a “fast runner” and hang out with the “cool kids” at Boston.
But after time, what others think didn’t matter as much.
What it truly came down to is MY desire to prove to myself that I could. From the girl who couldn’t run a mile in middle school, who never really found her stride with sports, who struggled with her weight & self esteem throughout high school and her 20s. I wanted to show myself that that girl could do something hard & that I wouldn’t give up.
10 years from when I first set the goal to qualify for Boston, I achieved it. 4 marathon training cycles that led to disappointing races. A marriage. A pregnancy and exploring motherhood for the first time. A TWIN pregnancy and TWO babies. A pandemic. A complete career change and rising to the top of my company.
This goal has sometimes been a huge priority and focus. Other times it hasn’t been a focus at all. But it’s still been there in the back of my mind. I knew one day I would achieve it, I just didn’t know when.
That’s the thing about your dreams – they don’t happen on your timeline. You just have to be relentless, patient, and persistent. You’ve got to learn from every failure and adapt and grow and move forward. Eventually all of this helps you become the person you need to be to achieve your goals.
My husband asked me as we toasted to my victory: “Would you do it all again if you knew it would take 10 years?”
My answer: HELL YES.