Boston Marathon weekend recap

What a weekend!  I have been going nonstop since september er, um friday, and its all because of the wonderful events that have taken part in the beautiful city of Boston!  First off, I ran 10 miles with Kristy on Friday, which went well, but could have gone better if I had stuck to my night before my long run routine.  It was hard to get myself to run fast and not stop.  Either way, once I got back, I had a little time to email companies asking for donation requests to my fundraising party.  So far, Trader Joe's and J. P. Licks, the best ice cream store in the WORLD, have signed up to say OK!  I babysat for the rest of the evening, then got back with very little time to sleep, only to get up for the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A) relay race challenge! (Also, please excuse the fact that I have very few pictures.  It was sometimes too awkward or too dark to take them....and then my camera died during the marathon, grrrr!)

We arrived with our team of kiddos ready to take charge!  It was a cold morning down at the finish line of the marathon, but I knew that the kids would make me proud and boy oh boy did they!  In each race we finished in 2nd or 3rd (out of 14 teams) and placed 3rd overall in our Mile Challenge relay team.  The kids were so happy with themselves because each year they get better, faster, and stronger!  They also won a medal and a Boston Marathon backpack...as well as a sweet 3rd place trophy to take back to school!  Look how proud I am of my little ducklings!

 

That evening, I got dinner with the girls from grad school, at the new restaurant Lolita.  That place had great food, but it was too dark to take pictures because it was housed in a Vampire cave off of Newbury street.  Well, that's what the decor looked like at least!

The next day, I woke up to run 5 miles, clean my room, and then attend the Boston Marathon Expo at the Hynes Convention Center.  I bought myself a clif bar and shot blocks for my next long run.  The Expo just made me excited for the big event that was about to unfold the next day!

The next morning I got up super early to get down to the finish line of the Marathon in order to snag a stellar spot with my teammates, Leigh and Stef.  Although I may or may not have forgotten to make a sign for my coaches, Becca and Scott, there was a Walgreens close by so I went there and bought poster board and markers.  I then proceeded to make a fancy sign in the middle of the sidewalk. 

 

Sadly, its at this point that my camera died.  However, I did get a sweet shot of Caroline Kilel, the winner of the female division of the Boston Marathon. 

 

I was also able to take a picture of Kara Goucher, who is my ultimate running heroine.  She placed 5th but she beat her time when she placed 3rd, and she just had a baby 7 MONTHS AGO! I don't look that good or fast before, after, ever, when I'm dead.  And she had a baby then killed it in Boston.  Pffft.

Next is an attempt to take a picture of Skinny Runner because I felt like I was seeing a celebrity run by, but instead I got this picture:

and then. my camera died.  Bahhh. That was sad.

I saw EMZ the superhuman woman of running go by as well, but she was too fast for me to get my cracked out camera to do anything but say goodbye.  That woman is amazing, p.s.  Check out her blog.

I continued the rest of the day by meeting up with Cecilia Bunny.  We stayed out until about 7 o'clock where we were able to see the last place finishers for the race.  

That was a heart melting moment because you knew that even though it took those people 8 hours+ to complete the race, they did everything they could to get to the end.  One woman walked with her cane the entire way and then bent over to kiss the finish line.

I then saw two biggest loser contestants from Season 10!  Elizabeth and Brendan!  They were both from the area!  Cecilia got a pic with us and Brendan, but unfortunately I have nothing to document that I actually saw them!

Then, in every New Englander's awe and jealousy, we saw THE Tedy Bruschi run in with the last contestant!  She was raising money for his charity and he made sure to cross the finish line with her!  It was an amazing and emotional experience!

I want to give a big shout out to my coaches Becca and Scott, for being such inspirations.  I also want to give my congrats to my soccer teammate, Sam, who killed it with a finishing time of 3:25, and Andrew, one of our San Diego Team in Training running partners out of Southie for completing!

I cannot explain how amazing it was to see people I know and admire finish so strongly in the race.  I was also excited to see Ryan Hall beat the American Men's record.  I just want to get out there and kill it myself.  To experience the highs and the lows, and to know I did it myself.  I did this, I'm doing this, and I hope to make not only you, but myself proud!  I can't wait for my own marathon experiences in June!!!

Anyone else have any inspirational stories to share?  What keeps you motivated?