Last day in Boston, time to reflect

We had such a great time here. It was stressful, with all the anticipation of the race and race preps, but it was a complete adrenaline rush with all the crowds, the race activity, and runners everywhere you went.

Even though it was cold most days we were here, we are so glad that race day was so awesome! Pretty amazing to get one great day flanked by 5 cold and wet ones, but it happened!

So, just wanted to post some of our favorite photos from the week that didn't get posted before.

Window shopping in Boston!

Love is in the Sushi!

American Idol!

Me on race day waiting for Kev at mile 18! It was a bit breezy. I had a $3 blanket (turquoise) from Walgreen's too!

Ryan Hall in the lead when we saw him at mile 18.



Crowds at the finish! Had to push my way through them!

  

Kev recounts the race, just minutes after his finish!

 

Martin and me in the cab to go to post race dinner only .8 miles away. Too long a walk for Kev at this point. He's in the front seat.

 

The medal!



And finally,the countdown begins for next year.....

See you then Boston.

The inspiring race...

If the Boston marathon was nothing else, it could just be a good jolt to just get you moving!

The fact that so many people run this race (just under 27000) is amazing! And most of those people (Some runners run for charity organizations) have to qualify even to run it. So, these Boston marathon runners are fast! As they say here in Boston, wicked fast runnah's!

And to that point, this year, the race was won at a time of 2:03:02...the fastest marathon time ever. But this is not considered a world record though because the course is mostly downhill. That is a pretty amazing fact too. I'm sure if you asked most runners out there, they don't believe that that course was mostly downhill!

The other thing is that on race day, the weather was the best that it has been for this race since over 100 years ago! And the race is 115 years old! Great day for a course record then! Sunny skies, cool temps and the wind at your back!

So, after the race, we went to the awards ceremony. There we saw 80+ year old men and women who had run in the race. We saw 60+ men and women who ran under 3 hours! We saw wheel chair athletes who sped by us on the course and finished with amazing times. The man and woman wheelchair race winners were from Japan. Amazing to know that they have been through so much and still have the strength to race AND win this race.

We saw Joan Benoit Samuelson, who is a past olympic gold medalist in the marathon, who at 53 ran the race in 2:51:29

We saw Kara Goucher, an elite women's runner who we read about all the time in running magazines. She just had a baby a few months ago is is back racing and winning 5th place at Boston!

Kara just getting her award

We saw Ryan Hall, an elite men's runner, who again is in all our running magazines and is the fastest american runner finishing at a time of 2:04:58!

Ryan just getting his award

And finally, my favorite finisher! Who can do no wrong really but definitely runs just right!!


Kevin already has his award ;)!



What a workout! What a day!

Ok, so how was it from the viewpoint of a spectator/cheerleader?....awesome!

Martin (Mars) and I got up at the same time as Kevin. Mars went to the buses with Kevin while I wrote my blog post this morning. He said the bus lines were amazing! They wrapped around the entire Boston Commons area! Then when Mars got back and I was done blogging, we left, hit starbucks and were on the subway to Woban, MA. Great stop for the race as there is a Starbucks right there. So, after another cup of coffee, we walked to mile 18, through a beautiful suburban neighborhood of Boston. We got to our viewing point about 9:30 and tried to stay warm for the next 2+ hours that we were going to be there before we saw Kevin (poor us). Luckily there was a drum core to entertain us the entire time and lots of people! It was awesome.

We saw the wheelchair racers, the women elite, and the male elite runners zoom past and then around 12:15 we saw Kevin!!! YAY! That was awesome! AND he saw us! Kev's on the left! Remember, orange Visor, orange tank!

THEN, OMG! to get to our next spot at mile 25! We had to haul butt to get ourselves back to the subway station that was about a mile away! Luckily, Mars is a fast runner but a patient coach and the 2 of us ran back to the subway station and got onboard a train that had only enough room left for the 2 of us and half of my curly hair (seriously, other passengers were worried that my hair would get caught in the door when it closed, lol). The subway trains were SO packed because everyone was going into Boston to watch the finish Here is a snapshot of the obstacles we faced today!!!



people on the subway



People on the streets around finish line


But, we made it and got to mile 25 with 1 minute to spare....I mean 1 minute! We saw Kevin!!! But this time he didn't see us. SOOOOOO, many people! There was no way he could see us! He's in the middle of the shot this time!

Then we made our way to the hotel as by the time we both made it there (individually as we got separated), Kevin was already over the finish and headed to the room himself! We got to meet him at the door! The Champ!

 

Later on, after Kev rested, and poor Mars and I got something to eat (we were famished after our hard work today), we all met up and went down for the awards ceremony. Very inspiring ceremony, very inspiring day!!!!

I'll post more on that tomorrow. We really got to see some real inspirations and some real champs. Right now, we are full and tired and the Finisher is ready for bed. So, good night for now! Thanks for all your calls, texts, posts and interest in this race!

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What a finish! What a day!

Eating dinner now, after everything is over, at Kevin's favorite Thai restaurant in Boston. Glad it's done and happy with the day! 3:01:05....what a result!

Kev says the worst part was the cramping at mile 22. He says there were 2 best parts of the day. One, was crossing the finish! And two, was the crowds, especially at Wellesley college, the girl's college in Boston. And yes, Kerri and Fermin, he did the Kev pose! But I only got to hear about it,darn it! Actually, there was another best part for him, and that was passing what we have estimated to be about 2500 people! Are you kidding me! And are you kidding me.......3:01:05!!! That's a Boston qualifier,...in Boston! You rock Kevin! Run Kevin Run! Next stop Fiji marathon! (...my choice ;) )

Ok...enough about our guy Kev ! How was my day?


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Eye of the tiger...

4:45 wake-up call and at 5:30 Kevin is out the door. He says he's feeling good,although he didn't sleep much, if any. But he's looking good! Seems to have plenty of MOJO to go!



So, he'll catch one of the buses leaving for Hopkinton, the starting point of the race. It is 26.2 miles away as this is a one way race (there is probably a racing technical term for that :) ). They say it could be about an hour and a half journey. Then he'll hang there till about 9:15 when they start loading corrals. Race for men starts at 10. Kev will start at around 10 as he is in wave 1.

The plan for me is to get to the 16.5 mile mark and be there for 11:45 in order to see Kev arrive at around noon. Then I will high-tail it to mile 25 to see him close to finish. Better chance there then at actual finish.

He just called at 7:30. Said they made it to the start. Says its cold and windy as it is a pretty open field that they are in....for the next 2 hours. Good thing we got him that $3 blanket at Walgreen's yesterday!

Go Kevin! Go!

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Surprise!

Rest day for Kevin ( and me :) ). Instead of running this morning,we got up and watched the 5k race that was on today. One of the Luke's locker Santa's helpers was out there, Julie, guess which photo is Julie...

Then we went on the bus tour again. Trying to keep Kev off his feet. Fenway Park was busier today then yesterday! Weather started clearing around 3pm, just as they predicted. YAY! for the weatherman today......

Kev went back and rested and I shopped ( what a surprise). THEN......Martin arrived! What a nice surprise!

We ate an early Thai dinner,.....I know... and off to rest and bed after that.


Everything happens tomorrow! But for now, here is what the finish line looks like...

Hope Kevin crosses it tomorrow!

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This maybe a perfect temperature for running, but...

COME ON! It is not for most anything else!

The high today was 43 degrees with a cold wind coming from the east. And I mean COLD!

We did go for a run this morning again. Kevin ran a short 6 and I ran a LONG 3. Perspective is everything. Yesterday, it was by the Charles river. Not today. Too cold by the river so we ran up Commonwealth Ave to Boston Common which provided a bit of shelter through the very nice townhomes that are on either side of it. Winston Churchill said this Ave is the most beautiful street in America.

We stopped by the EXPO again to pick up an orange tank top for Kevin to wear on Monday as he is worried about being the only one going topless. Really, it is orange....


Pretty in pink???


After that, we went on the trolley tour of Boston.  Saw a few sites along the way and stopped for a late lunch at a Thai restaurant (What a surprise, I know) but the best part was the warm bus!



Grey skies and choppy water


Then Kevin went back to our hotel, where we found out a lot of the other top elite athletes are staying ;), to rest, and I went to Filene's. Not as big or exciting as the last time I was there,but still good.

When I got back we went for a Thai dinner...I know...


A table with a view


Now at Starbucks for hot drinks before we head out into the cool evening air again.

Good thing is that they are forecasting 60s for the next 2 days with a westerly wind for Monday which would be great for the runners. Sure hope they get this one right!

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Paraphernalia

Today was all about the goods....

After a 6 mile run this morning for Kevin ( 3.5 for me), we headed to the expo to pickup Kevin's bib number and packet. First though, we stopped for some badly needed caffeine at a coffe shop called the wired puppy (Kerri, you would have loved this place!) and some lunch.

The expo was great! Lots of people, lots of vendors, and lots of stuff. The buzz was defintely on!

We saw Bart Yasso whom we met in Kauai last September. Kevin is a big fan.

They had a video that showed a car driving the entire race route, including the heartbreak hills. I think Kevin kind of got a new mind set on the race from watching that video....try not to go out too fast so you have steam for the hills.

Kevin even managed to sneak in a conference call for verizon! Which gave me time to do some shopping and create my own race essentials...

And finally, we ended the day with dinner at an "asian fusion" restaurant, room service tea, and a review of our Boston marathon souvenirs and new running gear.

Exhausted today. Wow, if that is just the "pickup your packet" day then what is Monday going to be like!!

Messages everywhere.

Of course God is a cheerleader!

And everyone is counting down!

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Made it!

Even the airport welcomes runners!

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helpful links to "watch" the Boston marathon

Here are a couple of links from the Boston Marathon website. The site is pretty overloaded so runs a bit slow in my opinion so hopefully, this info will save you some of the trouble of going there.

First of all, Kevin's bib number is 5669.

If you want to track him via emails or text messages, click here to get full directions from the baa.org site. Basically if you want to get text messages, then just text RUNNER to 345678. They will then respond and you text back Kevin's bib number. For emails, click on the link to get more details.

So, since I am going to have quite a bit of time on my hands holding my spot at the finish line (got to get there early to get a good spot) and waiting for Kevin to come across, and since I have a new phone (YAY!), I am going to watch some of the live coverage while I wait. Here are some links:

For all the info on watching from the baa.org site, click here. It basically says that these are your options:

In the USA

TV Broadcasts:

The race will be televised live in its entirety, locally in Boston on WBZ-TV (Channel 4). Please visit http://www.cbsboston.com/, for more information and bonus coverage of the 2011 Boston Marathon.

The race will be shown nationally on Universal Sports and online at http://www.universalsports.com/

In the U.K.

The Boston Marathon is live and free-view (unencrypted) on Premier Sports TV; Sky Channel 433 at 14:30 on Monday, April 18, 2011.

I'm gonna try

Ok, I am a collaborator with my friend Kerri on another blog, http://www.handmadesparkle.com/. You should check it out if you haven't already. It's all about one of the things we like to do the most which is make pretty jewelry!

But, since that one is dedicated to jewelry, sparkle and all things related, I thought I needed to start my own blog to document the things in life that happen outside of jewelry.

So, I am gonna try my hardest to post here occassionally. Partly so that I can come here later, read it and remember what all has happened along the way. But, I promise that I will post often in the next few weeks as there are some exciting things lined up.

Till then....