3 Bests – What aspects of the Boston Marathon did you like the most?

The absolute best part of the race is the crowd and the atmosphere. There are almost no silent parts of the race. You have support the entire way, and that is not something you find in many marathons.

I was also really impressed in how many water stops there are. They have one every mile after mile 2, again, this is something I have never seen before.

Not so much – What aspects of the Boston Marathon didn’t do it for you?

There wasn’t anything I would say that I didn’t like about the race or the experience, but the course was more difficult than I had anticipated. For me Heartbreak Hill was not the problem, but more so the first hill you encounter in Newton. For me that felt more like a mountain than a hill. After that, the other three Newton Hills were small in comparison.

Highlights of your race – What did you do well and enjoy about your marathon in particular?

Something I felt I did well was staying calm under pressure and in situations I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with. From the gun, the other elite women were running a strategic race, and no one wanted to take the lead into the headwind. I had a race pace in mind that I planned to stick to, and to my surprise that was enough to lead the race.

I personally use visualization all of the time, so I certainly didn’t feel unprepared for this situation, but never in my wildest dreams did I feel like I would actually be leading. Even though I tried mightily to allow someone else to take the charge, the other women were content with me setting the pace. I had to stay calm and keep my emotions in check during that time of the race.

Lessons for others – Share your pro-tips on the Boston Marathon to help the next runner

While you may not ever find yourself leading a World Marathon Major; you will more than likely find yourself in a position during a race that is less than ideal. You can combat these situations with visualization.

When you’re training you have a lot of time to think about your race. It is super fun to think about all of the ways the race could go well and imagine all the great possibilities that could unfold. And I encourage you to visualize those situations and enjoy that time. BUT also take time to imagine the weather being too warm, too cold, and too wet. Think about how you will feel and how you will adjust not only your race, but also your mindset. With all of the training you put into longer races you have time to think through thousands of scenarios.

Lessons you learned that will help you next time around

Next time I will have more appropriate expectations for the hills. For those who haven’t run Boston and want to train for it, I would train on hills bigger than you imagine the Newton hills to be.

Logistics – Does it require a special handshake, registration a year in advance, hotels all booked? Give us the low down on the nuts and bolts of making the race happen.

Book hotels and flights early, they get expensive quickly.

Aid Stations – Standard fare or anything special to know about the aid stations in terms of what’s available or when?

Every mile they had water and gatorade. They also had three Maurten stops.

Spectators – Is this a friendly course for your friends?

It is a straight shot, so in the aspect of friends and family seeing you on the course, it is not spectator friendly.

The Overall Score – How many stars do you give this race and do you recommend that others run it?

5/5!

Dakotah Lindwurm is a coach with Team RunRun. To learn more about her or to work with Coach Dakotah, check out her coaching page.