Two Trials

Running on the Olympic Trials course!  After I arrived in Portland last night, I drove to Boston to run on the Trials course this morning.  I met up with Brett and Kasie and a few other BAA runners to preview the course.  It was a chilly morning; Brett and Kasie both chastised me to no end for wanting to wear shorts.  Luckily, I listened to them and donned the tights and a hat and gloves.  We headed out for our run at 8am, the same time that the Trials race will start in three weeks.  All of us wondered what the weather would be like on that day.  It did warm up nicely as we progressed.

Many people ask what the course is like.  Some wonder if it is the same course as the Boston Marathon.  It is a specially designed course, designed just for the Women’s Trials on April 20.  It starts and ends at the finish line for the Boston Marathon on Boylston St. by the Boston Public Library.  It consists of a 2.2 mile jaunt around the Boston Common followed by four 6-mile loops that follow the Charles River.  We started with the stretch around the Boston Common, which contains the only thing that even resembles a hill on the course, and then we did the 6 mile loop a few times.  I liked the course.  It is, as they say, “pancake flat”, which could mean fast times.  The wind off the Charles could be a factor, but it will be a headwind for part of each loop and a tailwind for the other part.  We logged about 20 miles at a leisurely pace chatting most of the way about the Trials, training, jobs, new homes, etc.  Jeff and Murphy met us at different intervals to check in on how things were going.  After the run, Brett hooked Kasie and me up with some pizza and banana bread for trip to VT and ME.  Thanks, Brett, the food kept me going on the drive back home.