What best way to find out this isn’t a dream I am gonna wake up from than watch the replay of the entire race! Here we go!!
3. Friday morning: I am exhausted, but I can’t sleep in. I have no appetite, lunch comes around, I feel like I am about to race, not hungry or care about food. I am freaking out for real! Oh and my quad is on fire, same place as my stress fracture but in the muscles.
By Friday afternoon I am okay, tired sleepy but mostly okay. Tim and I do our usual pre-race run after the tech meeting, I don’t feel my quad while running, cool, my strides are fast and smooth. I eat a hearty dinner provided by the race at the aquarium, I am back to being myself 
4. Friday night: now my shin is hurting too, same right leg as quad, both are painful @dr_ajgregg &Tim (both medical professionals) calm me down, they advice I take a sleeping pill,that I should be okay. Took 3 baby Benadryl, & painkiller; slept like a baby midnightish -9:40 am.
5: Saturday morning, I am rested, “like New😁” but nervous. Tim gets me 4 slices of bread with jam &coffee, I eat everything, (forcing myself of course). Shower and meet the group to head to start line. Intentionally Left my phone in the room. I am very emotional
We walk to the start line, they won’t let anyone that’s not athlete into the athletes area, I cry, for no reason, @Steph_Rothstein @kellyn_taylor are surprised, we all say our goodbyes and head to the tent.
Oh and when I woke up Saturday morning, I not only had the pain on my quads and shin, but not the right hip too, I think I am definitely screwed. Probably the moodyness & emotional. I was hoping to feel like I did @nycmarathon where absolutely nothing hurt. Took 3 ibuprofen.
5. Warmup with my teammates feels good, the crowds are just wild, it’s maddening. Nice temperatures but pretty windy & gusty at times.
How about that kind of false start? Thanks it’s a marathon😊. I am strategically upfront, you know to show off #allietresiliencybeanies😁😎, well and because the first 15 seeded athletes were up there.
2:30 min into the race, okay my show off is done, time to tack-in now and enjoy this experience
Mile 1. I feel absolutely amazing, this is very easy, I am zoned in. Oh wait was that a 6:10s minute mile? Oh shoot, now that makes sense, well whatever, just go with the flow.
>oops I got a little carried away & forgot an important fun fact. On Friday evening, @runmeb came to my room and gave me some last minute advice, he also asked me how many people were predict a win from me, I thought probably very few.
>As Tim and I walked to get dinner on Friday night, we ran into @runmeb and a couple of @hawisports team at the hotel lobby, we had a group hug, then Meb was like, look, there is 5 of us, the Olympic Rings, I thought “hmm yeah you are right, is this a sign”
7: As we passed the guys for the first time running opposite ways, I saw one guy clearly ahead of everyone else, and thought you go brother, then was like wow he is bold, there is along way to go, oh well moving on
8. Somewhere between 5&6 miles, I looked around, most everyone had ditched their extra layer, I thought “ok don’t be too stubborn and a weirdo”. As I was taking my long sleeve off, my beanie came off too and dropped on the road, too late to get it back, I hoped I wouldn’t freeze
As I watch this, from a second person perspective, I am worried about me, I am not showing any signs of distress but I am also not showing any signs that I look and feel great!. I am all over the place. Just a little over 11 miles in, there is 15 more to go😳
9. I do zoned out for a while, half way in, I glanced at the clock, we were running a little under 2:30 pace, I was pleased. I reminded myself that we still had a long way. My left calf was tightening up occasionally, luckily, I do forgotten all about the pain on my right leg!
@ryanhall3 we’re you on a scooter or was that a bike? I remember seeing you yelling right next to us, before a certain right turn.
About 16 miles in, I take a moment to appreciate the fact that both of my @NAZ_Elite teammates @kellyn_taylor @Steph_Rothstein & I are in the lead pack, almost right next to each other, just like we practiced many times during this buildup, wow what a day we are having so far❤️
10. Okay we are now onto loop 3, the last loop, y’all, shit is about to go down, anyone knows that this is where the magic happens, just a matter of when! I am at a high alert so I don’t miss any moves, like I have in some of my past races. Mindfulness Allier T, mindfulness.
Okay, a little scoop of the up to this race. I was very fit, I didn’t really struggle in any of my big workouts, I was closing them faster than ever, regardless if whether they were hilly or not. My last big session, we ware running average of 5:40s for 11ish miles.
I closed down and had 5:36 at the end of 15 miles some were uphill, and was feeling great! But then, once taper begun, I felt a little sluggish, workouts didn’t feel that smooth/easy anymore. I never felt peppy during my taper, this was different from all my previous marathons.
In the past, all the races that I performed poorly had one thing in common, I start feeling the pain from the race, I focus on how I feel, for instance a tight and painful back/legs then I black-out. I stop living in the moment, I lose sight of the end goal, basically stop caring
Knowing this course and the depth of the US women marathoners, I decided to seek help from a performance psychologist. We talked about a lot of stuff, we might have figured out how this started. We worked on steps to mitigated it. As a skeptical person we settled on hypnosis
As well as lots of visualization. I was elated during our last session, I felt like I had already won the race. It was hard to bring myself back to reality, but we had to. I can’t conclusively say that this worked, because I was never put in an extreme situation to use it much.
I definitely practiced mindfulness in the last 2.5 miles, fatigue was setting in, my body was getting tired, and those hills become monster mountains, and then it was time to actually go for the win. It had been fun sharing the load with @ByGollyMolly12 for those last few miles
11. We are now around 20 miles in, it’s been a long way, I am anticipating moves to be made soon, the hills are going to be relentless from now till the finish. I think, there is probably going to be a a steady pace increase for at least a mile, @ByGollyMolly12 picks up the pace
12. For a split second I am unsure whether to go or wait, but I decide to just follow, a moment later, I take a glance back, we had separated, with Sally between us and the rest of the field. I feel a glimpse of hope, I tell molly, okay let’s go, in my head thinking now or never
Sorry to keep you waiting. I do been fine watching this race without being mentioned till now, because we had a big pack. But now, I am not very sure about how I feel, maybe a little disappointed, emotional, then just like that, I am crying. I will be back with the finish promise
13. Seconds later, we hear it’s 10 sec lead. We were going downhill & going hard, I think to myself wow this could happen, then it was 20 seconds. I pull out the gel I do tucked inside my bra, for a quick boost in this critical miles. I had 2 gels at 18, & 2 at 22, preparedness😁
14. It felt like a while before we went down the bridge for the final 2 mile loop. By now, Molly and I had worked together very well, we do made a big distance between us and the group, at some point I do thought “this is great, I do be fine with 2nd place”. I felt comfortable
15. We finally made our way to the Olympic Rings’s turn, we could see how far second place was. It was a gradual uphill, I saw both of my teammates and hoped they do gain ground. From the opposite direction @kellyn_taylor encouraged me. It was decision time again, who would win?
16. About 24.5 miles in, I chose to give winning a shot, it didn’t feel good to stop encouraging the woman I do shared the last few miles with, but the decision had to be made. I put my head down, mindfulness in place. This was probably the hardest Mile of the race 24.5-25.7ish.
17. Oh this hurts so bad, I grimace, I feel like walking, but I am being hunted down so I gotta keep pressing on, this was the first time that I felt some real discomfort. I reminded myself to get through that mile, that a downhill was awaiting.
18. Up the hill, @dr_ajgregg is going nuts, he is screaming and jumping moving his hands as if it do propel me forward. And then, the hills were over, oh thank you Jesus, what a relief, I was refreshed. I quick glance back, Molly was doing great powering up, but I was safe ish🤣
19. I fly by a guy with American flags, I grab one for myself. Oh wait, here is a baby hill, or was that a flat? I just want a straight downhill. I see the bridge of the Omni hotel, I know that the finish is very close, another glance back, and a small fist pump celebration.
20. Nothing prepares you for this moment, not even an intense hypnosis or visualization. The crowds are going nuts, it’s a beautiful view, last down hill! More fist pumps, then a big smile &hands up as I break the tape, held on the right by none other than @runmeb .
21. I blackout, videos show me turn around to cheer &hug my new friend and fellow Olympic teammate @ByGollyMolly12 . Moments later @sallykipyego comes in 3rd, we hug and celebrate. Videos also show me congratulate @des_linden @thweatt11
22. While in this state, I spot my teammates @Steph_Rothstein @kellyn_taylor I head over to them for the group-hug moment of our lives, as I have now come to realize. With my winner’s American flag wrapped around both of them, I break down, I cry uncontrollably, we all cry.
