Lia Beast: Boston 2011

Lia Middlebrook, known in the racing world as Lia Beast, ran in the Boston Marathon on April 18, 2011. Below, she recaps the training, kisses, milk shakes and beers that made up her Boston experience.

Boston was my fourth marathon. I ran Twin Cities in 2006 and 2007 and the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee in October of 2010. The Lakefront Marathon was my qualifier for Boston -- I ran a 3:39:34, snuck in with 1:25 to spare!

Training for Boston wasn't as bad as it could have been, considering the kind of winter we had. I decided early on that I would just train to finish and be able to enjoy the race -- non of this training to PR business like I did for Milwaukee. I didn't too much speed work, just focused on getting my miles in and running at least five days a week. I made it through the winter without any major hiccups -- I only fell once, I only got sick once and I managed to keep my mileage in the mid- to high-forties each week, and even had a week over fifty miles. Just getting out and getting the miles in felt like enough of an accomplishment. I'm proud that I never touched a treadmill, and I only took shelter in the Dome four or five times. Looking back, it wasn't so bad, training through such a brutal winter. It was wonderful though, once the snow melted, to finally have traction again and be able to run faster. And to not have my eyelashes, Gu and water freeze on my runs. That was a plus too.

My expectations going into Boston were 1) that it would feel monumental, and 2) that I would have a lot of fun. In the end, the race didn't feel quite as monumental as I thought it would (I think that tends to happen in life when there's so much hype around something), but it was still pretty incredible. Half the time I was thinking, "this just seems like any other marathon" and half the time I was thinking "Damn, this is Boston!" I did have a lot of fun though -- I completed all five of my goals that I set the day before the race: 1) Finish, 2) Finish in under four hours, 3) Kiss a girl at Wellesley, 4) Kiss a boy at Wellesley, and, most importantly, 5) Drink beer along the course.

Highlights from the marathon include: walking into the convention center to pick up my race packet and thinking, "This is it! I'm here. I made it to Boston!"; lining up at the start and sharing knowing smiles with the women around me; running past Wellesley and their crazy cheering; cruising up Heartbreak Hill and feeling surprisingly strong; chugging warm beer from a pitcher at Mile 25 (it tasted really good); rolling into Boston and crossing the finish line.

Best thing I ate in Boston: Is it sad to say the chocolate shake from McDonald's in the airport post-race? Probably. Discounting that, I'd say it's a toss-up between butternut squash soup and buffalo chicken mac and cheese. Yum.

Would you recommend Boston to other runners? I would most definitely recommend Boston. It's not something I'd want to do every year, or even every other year, but it's an incredible experience. It was worth training through this awful Minnesotan winter for (including the 18-miler I had to do in snowy, two-degree weather), which I think says a lot.

My Boston theme song? Hmm. I'd have to say Dynamite by Taio Cruz. It was my song for Milwaukee and it carried over to Boston.

Finishing time: 3:53:35.

Go, Lia Beast!