Jose left really early in the morning on Monday to catch the bus that was taking the athletes to Hopkinton, which was where the start of the race would be. Our apartment, that we had rented, was so centrally located that everything was within walking distance, which was wonderful. I asked him: Honey, are you ready to run BOSTON? Jose said he was ready and he had a BIG smile on his face. I feel 100% he said. He wanted to try to break 3 hours (run sub 3 is what they call it) but since this was his first time running Boston and it was BOSTON, you never know what is going to happen. It is a pretty tough course. He was going to give it his all and enjoy the race. Lance Armstrong was also running the race, which was really cool.
The race started at 10am Boston time and so I had plenty of time to get ready and get the kids going. It was on TV and so we watched the start from the apartment. It was so exciting to watch this and when the gun for his wave went off, it was very emotional for me. I saw all these people running and knew he was in there somewhere. I shed a tear. I was so proud. Joey was jumping up and down with the sign he made for his dad, holding it up to the TV, saying: Go papa!! It was great see him get so into it. :0) I tracked Jose on the computer and saw that after 5K he was running 6:20 minute miles. I was worried he was going out too fast, but when I saw at 25K that he was still running 6 minute miles, I knew he must be feeling really good. It said he was scheduled to run the marathon well under 3 hours. I couldn't believe it. His time at the half marathon mark was 1:26 minutes, the best time he has ever had and I was getting pretty excited thinking he might make his sub 3 goal. He had managed to stay ahead of Lance Armstrong up to this point. Pretty impressive. I decided to head out and try to find a spot where I could see him come around his 2nd to last corner before the finish. The people there were amazing. So many people, just incredible. All extremely nice. They were standing on roof tops, hitting their pots and pans...just making a lot of noise. I loved it. We were able to see the elite runners finish, including the women, which was an extremely close race. I posted a video of it on the blog. Just scroll down and you'll find it. After not even an hour, Jose came around the corner and we went nuts. These people next to me helped me hold up two Team Pena shirts. I was hoping he could spot us this way, but unfortunately he didn't. He was hurting and so focused on just finishing!! I was so proud of him. Joey said: Can we go pick up daddy now? It Hahahah...Yes, off to the finish we went. It was so crowded that it took us about an hour to get there. Honestly. But finally, after Jose had to spend some time in the Medical Tent, we were reunited in the family meeting area. It was great to see him!! He was in pain. Lots of cramps and mentioned how tough the course was. But to me, he still looked great.
Well, this was Jose at the finish. Looking good. But hurting. He got cramps at mile 19 that never really went away until the end. Overall, a great run. He finished in 3 hours, 8 minutes and 56 seconds. For his first time, he was very happy. He qualified again for next year and we might go. But first we have to get Arizona Ironman out of the way. That is in November. Another thing to look forward to. :0)Great job honey. We are so proud of you!!
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