It has been nearly a week since I have posted, we are home now from our awesome holiday in Boston. Despite lugging our laptops through 8 flights, security checks and all, neither of us bothered to so much as open them while we were away. The time away from the computers was lovely and much needed for us both. It will take me a full day to wade through the overflowing inbox, but I am not complaining. I am happy for the abundance of business that is flowing my way!
The trip was not as we had planned, but perfect just the same. We arrived in Boston Friday night and were stoked with our accommodations. I booked a studio apartment in the historical district of South Boston. The entire area consists of beautiful old brownstone buildings. Our apartment was only about 300sq feet but had a kitchen and everything we needed. The 8 flights of stairs proved to be the only undesirable feature :-O
Friday night we headed out for dinner and found a restaurant above a fitness club that looked good. We both had ahi tuna and it tasted great. After a walk around the area we headed back to our home away from home and hit the hay. About 1am I woke up to the horrible sounds of D getting violently ill. It sounded like something out of the Exorcist and all I could think was "oh god no..." talk about bad timing. This horrible nightmare continued all night, with D up pretty much on the hour every hour. I am sure he woke up the entire building and my entire body was hurting just listening to him. I kept thinking that I would be next, afterall we ate the exact same thing all day. Somehow I was spared. At 8am I was beginning to consider a trip to emerg, even though it would cost us more than our mortgage payment. Thankfully it stopped at that point and D finally fell asleep. He was completely wrecked, he looked like a skeleton and was as white as the sheets we were sleeping in.
We managed a couple hours of sleep, and finally got up around 11am. Although he looked and felt like hell, D sucked it up and came out with me to walk down to the expo and pick up our race packs. It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Boston, the sun was shining, the birds were sining and my poor D couldn't even enjoy it. We didn't stay long at the expo, it was jam packed and a lot to take for anyone, never mind someone with zero calories and zero sleep in the tank. We did manage to get new running shoes (2 pair for the same price we would pay for one here) and some Nuun to hopefully replenish some of D's electrolytes. We got 5 tubes for 20 bucks...the prices we pay here are about double for pretty much all the gear and training nutrition we saw there. Can you say rip off?
We headed home and after a much needed nap for both of us I was able to convince D to eat some crackers and Lipton chicken noodle soup (bring on the sodium!) Once I had him propped up with cup o soup in hands and UFC on the tube (anything to make him feel better) I headed out for a run.
It was a gorgeous evening and I was able to see a good part of the city core in a 50 min run. I ran across the bridge into cambridge, past MIT and along the waterfront path. I was taking a map check break when another runner approached me to see if I needed help. We started chatting and ended up running together. I got a guided tour of some of the sights including the beautiful Boston Common and the adjacent park with the Swan boats. Boston is an absolutely gorgeous city- so rich in history and culture. The architecture is amazing, with some of the oldest buildings and structures in North America. My new friend Gerardo told me of all the must sees, and ran me back to the apartment, where I snapped a pic and said good bye.
When I returned D was looking better, and I cooked myself a big pasta dinner and spent the rest of the evening relaxing with D and pushing fluids on him any chance I had.
Sunday the day started much better after a restful night's sleep and a good breakfast. We made our down to Commonwealth Ave to see the start of the Women's Olympic trials. It was amazing to watch some of the fastest runners in the US competing for 3 spots on the olympic marathon team. The course took the athletes on a four loop run which included passes down the place we were sitting 4 times before the finish.
D was not back to his normal self yet, but was definitely feeling better. We had lunch and went back for another nap. Both of us were unsure of what would happen on race day, but we were determined to do everything to try and get him back to a state of health. The gift behind the illness was a real appreciation for our ability to be there, doing what we love and realizing a life dream. We were determined to have the best day possible, to give 100% and be happy and grateful for the experience no matter what the outcome.
That evening we went for a jog and explored a bit of the area. We took it nice and easy and enjoyed the sun and beautiful weather. Then it was off for our pre race dinner and off to bed early, knowing we had a very early wake up call.
Race Report to be continued....
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