More Boston

The 2nd morning in Boston I woke up around 9 and went running with K and W. They were kind enough to wait for me to take the T over to the hotel, but the rest of the guys decided they were going to the expo early. We ran for about 45 minutes through a park and along the beach. It was really nice out, but my shoulder was still bothering me pretty badly.

After running my parents and David came over to the guys hotel and we ate breakfast, then headed to the expo.

I had been having trouble with my right arm. So at the Expo I had the guys with "The Stick" roll out my shoulder and neck. What a wonderful thing! My arm instantly felt worlds better. So my dad bought me "The Stick" and I have been using it to massage my shoulder, hamstrings, and calves!

The Expo was packed so I got in line to get the official Boston Marathon Jacket. It is really nice, embroidered and wind proof. After I got the jacket I went on a mission to find a tank top for the marathon and something to hold my gels in during the race.

I found the Adidas area and couldn't help myself and got myself another Boston Jacket, this one is lighter but more sporty and fitted, and a Boston Tank/Sports top.

By that time we were supposed to be meeting outside so I headed out.

We went to lunch with K and JG and B and his brother met us there. I don't think I have ever waited so long for food in my life. We waited about 30 minutes for a table. Probably another 30 before ordering and about an hour for food. K didn't get his SALAD that he ordered till after we were all done eating. It was ridiculous. We ended up getting 50% off the bill.

After lunch I went back over to the Expo to get a free Adidas poster that had all the names of the Boston entries on it. And took a picture of my name on the wall.

Then we headed back over to the hotel. My husband and parents took a nap and then we went out to eat over near Fanuil Hall. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but I got really good shrimp pasta. We went to the Cheers replica bar but by then it was late so we headed back to the hotel and I crashed while my family played cards.

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the Freedom run. This is a fun run that is about 2.8 miles long. There were so many people there! It is free and you get a free T-Shirt if you get there early enough. Unfortunately the shirts only came in large or extra large so my shirt came down to my knees. Curses on being 5'4"! I ran with B and his brother and my parents walked the run. It was really fun and amazing to see all the people running through the streets of Boston. And the finish was right where the marathon would finish the next day.

SERC club members met after the race and we took some group photos at the marathon finish line. This seemed to be a common thing because there were tons of people doing it.

After the Freedom Run my husband and parents and I went to check out the aqaurium. It was pretty amazing. I wish we would have had time to see the I-max movie but we just had enough time to tour the aqaurium.

Then we went for a qucik lunch where I ordered everyone clam chowder in a bread bowl but then realized that wasn't want everyone wanted. SORRY! But it was really good clam chowder and it hit the spot! We saw some cool street performers and a great high school jazz band from New York. Then I had to head to the "T". While getting on I saw the girl that I had run Youngstown half marathon with. I stopped and we chatted about the race and her friend gave me some great advice for the next day.

The whole reason for qualifying so early in my running career was that the running club I am in lost two members last year. One in a cycling accident and another to leukemia. Both these men were in their later 40s early 50s and both were great runners and huge Boston fans. The team wanted to get as many people to Boston as they could in their memory. We had a memorial service at the John Kelley statue Sunday and we were supposed to meet there at 3.

I had no idea how far away the John Kelley Statue was from where I got on teh "T" near Fanuil Hall, but it was over 25 stops! I knew there was no way I was going to make it in time so I told my parents to call K on their way to the hotel and let him know I was running late. Well about two stops in I see the girls waiting to get on so they hop on and we are running late together!

We get to about 4 stops away from the last T stop near Boston College and our driver hops off the train and starts running. No explanation, nothing! We have no idea where the heck she is going. Someone on the train says sometimes the driver will get off to go to the bathroom or get a beverage. We are like this is nuts! We are late and we have no driver on the train. D goes up to the front and we take some candid shots of her "Driving" the train! Then a few Boston College students tell us we should get off and hop on the shuttle to Boston College. We follow their advice and get on a shuttle a few minutes after our driver jetted. She still hadn't come back when we got on the bus. We had no idea how far the John Kelley statue was from Boston College but we knew we were nowhere near getting there on time. It was already 3:15!

We started asking a bunch of the students if they knew where John Kelley statue was and finally one pointed us in the right direction and said it was about a half mile away. Well we are hoofing it when B sees a large van. She jumps into the street and waves her arms frantically. This lady lets us in her van and we ask her if she can drive us to the statue. As we are driving we see about 5 of the SERC guys walking towards the statue. We get them to jump in the van. So now there are about 7 of us piled in the poor ladies van. And she is driving us along. About a mile away she is forced to drop us because the streets are closed in preperation for the marathon the next day. So we still have to hoof it about another half mile before we finally arrive at the statue.

We had a very nice memorial for our members and then it was time to head back because we had 6:30 reservations at Vinny T's. We got to hike up Heart Break Hill and after what seemed like forever we finally got to the "T" and rode straight to the restaurant. My legs were tired just from walking up Heartbreak Hill . I was starting to get nervous about the next day.

We met everyone at Vinny T's and crammed all 30 of us at a table for about 20. It was close quarters but I think everyone had a good time and the food was great.

I made arrangements to meet the girls at their hotel the next morning and headed back to the hotel for the night. I set out all my gear and got ready for bed.

Man this is a long story!!! To be continued when I have more energy!

On a totally different note I had a track workout tonight which I was super late to, so I just got in a mile warm up, a 200, 5 100's and a mile cool down.