I'm still on a high from Boston.
It was the BEST 5 days of my ENTIRE life, so far! That's saying quite a lot, because I've really had a large number of great days in my 28 years. Truly, I loved every second of each of our 5 days in Boston to watch the Boston Marathon, cheer on Julie, and run our own 5k race through downtown Boston.
We flew to Boston on Friday, April 15th in the middle of sunny, cloudless skies, with high hopes for the weekend ahead. Julie, Sharron, and myself would be meeting Char in Boston, who was flying from B.C. to Montreal, and then from Montreal to Boston. The trip was flawless, which is a VERY good thing for a girl afraid of flying (to be sure, the plane ride was my least favourite part of the trip, both there and back. Not because it was a bad flight, but because I can't control the anxiety I have rolling in ,my brain thinking about the "what if's..." and "this happened..." associated with flying). Luckily, I was fortunate to be sitting beside a man who fly's all the time and, when he saw my face and labour pains way of breathing, he started talking to me to distract my thinking and assure me we'd be ok.
Once in Boston, it was a bit of a scramble to find the right subway train to our hotel, Holiday Inn Brookline... which you'd THINK would be on Brookline, but was actually on BEACON ST. We did get there, thanks to the many wonderful, friendly people who saw us struggling to understand the transit map!
That first day, after settling into our hotel room and reuniting with Char, we made our way to the expo, which was held in the convention center in downtown Boston. THE EXPO WAS LIKE NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN! It had anything and everything you could imagine to be running related. In comparison, the Around the Bay expo is a small garage sale... the Boston expo was two ENORMOUS halls packed with displays from running magazines, sports products manufacturers (Adidas, Nike, Saucony, New Balance, Brooks, Mizuno, Asics...), Cliff, races across North America (including Southern Ontario!)... you name it and it was there! I managed to pick up my running shoes (Saucony Omni) for only $95 with NO tax, while at home here they are $136 BEFORE 13% tax! We got so many free samples, including my new favourite thing to eat a lot of... GREEK YOGURT! Sooooooo gooooood!!
That night we met up with Liz and Ann, a mother-daughter duo who were both running the marathon, and who were friends of Julie, Char, and Sharron. We met at a fantastic restaurant called Rock Bottom, in downtown Boston, which was jumping because of the Jays-Red Sox game. I guess mac and cheese is a big thing down there, it was on every menu we read during our 5 days. At this restaurant, you had the option of adding chicken to your mac and cheese, which is what the three ladies I was traveling with did, while I did not (being vegetarian and all!). When they brought the bowls of mac and cheese, they mixed up my non-chicken order with Char's, but by the time I was ready to dig in (I tend to eat slower and was still on my salad while the other 3 were already half done their mac and cheese), and when I did the first thing my fork pulled out was a piece of chicken! We called the waiter over, explained my diet specifications, and he sent it back for a new, chickenless order. It came out 7 minutes later, piping hot. It smelled delicious and my mouth was watering for it. Only when I stuck my fork in for that first bite, the first thing that came out on it was ANOTHER PIECE OF CHICKEN! By this time my friends were on the last quarter of their own bowls of yumminess, and I was yet to have a single noodle. Julie called the waiter over and asked to see the manager. When the manager came over to our table, she was extremely apologetic and assured me that anything I wanted to order that night.... drinks, food, dessert... was on her. While I never took advantage, it was tempting! And that is the story of how I saved $17 on my first day in Boston.
Our second day brought us back to the expo for a little while, in addition to a bit of shopping. I CAN'T BELIEVE ALL THE STUFF THEY HAVE IN THE U.S.! Banana Republic, Niketown, Coach, Lord and Taylor, Abercrombie and Fitch... all 5 floors a piece! Just a little nutLinks with the stuff, and a little overwhelming for those of us who are not 'shopaholics' or understand the difference between a coach purse and any other purse on the market, but kinda awesome all the same.
Saturday night ended up being the best night of our entire trip. About a week before our departure, Phyllis forwarded us an email about something called the Cliff Pacer Party. Cliff is a line of organic energy products designed for endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, triathletes, outdoors people, etc). They make energy gels, energy granola bars, and the like. The Pacer Party email said the event would include free food, drinks, and talks by members of the pace team (the pace team are a group of individuals who pace runners to run races, marathons and half marathons in particular, to complete the distance at a set time. The times range anywhere from a 2hr 45min marathon to a 6hr marathon). You had to get your name on a guest list, pick up these pace bands at the Cliff display at the expo, and come to the party. We thought free food and drinks would mean free samples of Cliff products. BOY WERE WE WRONG! We got there, the Lennox... a PRIMO upscale hotel..... and were treated to a full pasta and pizza buffet, roasted vegetables, risotto, salads, an open bar, talks by the members of the pace team (one of whom has run 98 marathons, 18 of them Boston Marathons!), JOAN BENOIT!, karaoke, dancing, and just an AWESOME time! And it was all completely 100% free! Also, they had the Burins-Habs game on the tv, and I enjoyed watching Boston smoke Montreal in between talks and learning about how I can get my running times up and eventually qualify.
Sunday morning was 5k race day. The race started at 8am, which meant we had to be up no later than 6:30 to get the train for no later than 7 and bib’d and situated no later than 7:30. I was raining this morning, and we all prepared ourselves for a soaking and soggy race. 5,000 people huddled on Boylston St., on the reverse side of the marathon finish line. An unidentified singer belted out “God Bless America”, and then the Star Spangled Banner. And just like a faucet being twisted off, it stopped raining, just in time for the starters pistol to shoot and the race to start. My goal in this race was 25mins, but I didn’t quite achieve that. It seemed to me like there were a lot of ‘first-timers’ out that morning, many of whom weren’t familiar with the regular race etiquette shared in other races I’ve run…. Like don’t just stop running in your tracks so you can walk, but pull over to the side; if you’re slower run on the side to allow faster runners pass on the opposite, don’t run 4 people wide, and so on. There were also so many people and, on such a narrow course, I found it difficult to get around all the obstacles. So when I realized I wasn’t going to achieve my 25min goal, I decided to just run and enjoy the race. After all, I was running in BOSTON! Who knows when that would ever happen again?! The course took us past cheers, around one of the most beautiful parks on the planet, through the residential streets of downtown Boston, and over the very same finish line as the Boston Marathon itself, the same finish line all those amazing legends of running have crossed to win for 115 years. I found it to be so exhilarating, and I would replay that little 5k over and over if I could. Following the 5k were the invitational mile races. First were the high school students, and wowzers was I impressed. High school females were running a mile in 5mins 10seconds, and the elite men were doing it in a little over three and a half minutes! It might only be exciting to me because I understand what they’re doing (I say this because anyone I’ve talked to is like ‘oh wow’, but they’re not like “OH WOW!!!” like I was, haha)... My mind was just blown. After this we took Julie back to our room…. She was pretty sick with a terrible cold and not feeling even remotely well. It was important that she got back to bed to sleep and rest before her big race the next morning. Sharron, Char and myself went out and about in the town, trying to find a cycling store as our main focus. We did find one, and it was sweet ass, and now I’m a little bit dying to get my hands on a road bike so I can start cycling and into triathlons.
5:45 the next morning, Monday, was the wakeup call. Julie needed to be on the bus to Hopkinton no later than 7am. After putting Julie on the bus (and freezing our arses off in the process) we went for breakfast at Au Bon Pain (they had delicious oatmeal!), and were off to the end of the D-Green line to see Julie at the 16.5mile mark. But first we would see the wheelchair wave, then the elite women, then the elite men, then wave one, then wave two, and finally our Julie! First of all, YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE THE STRIDE AND SPEED OF THE ELITE RUNNERS! I swear to goodness, ONE of their strides is equal to 5 of mine. ALSO, I was like less than a meter away from Kara Goucher (who finished 5th…. not too shabby for having a baby LESS than a year ago), and I have it on video to prove it. I am so inspired by these runners, SO inspired!
The rest Julie took on Sunday afternoon did Julie wonders… she felt great the day of her marathon. She looked great too, very strong, happy, and determined. She did amazing in the race, finishing in a 3hr55min time, thereby re-qualifying herself for Boston next year. Julie Menzies is my real life hero. Next stop for her is Ironman Canada in B.C. this August!
During the marathon cheering, I wore my Canadian flag around my waste like a dress. We cheered loud and hard (thanks to some free cowbells at Niketown!!) and every time we saw someone wearing a maple leaf we cheered louder and harder! Eventually runners were coming up to us and telling us where they were from in Canada, and it was SO AMAZING! I have been on the receiving end of cheering, and for the first time ever I was on the giving end. It’s a tough job, let me tell you, keeping your energy up to energize the spirits of the runners. But I enjoyed it so, so much, and I hope it helped the runners passing our way. OH! I also got to see the author of my favourite blog, NO MEAT ATHLETE, run past me at 16.5miles! SUPER COOL!!
We celebrated with Mexican food after the race and were too full for a real supper later on. It was worth it, the nachos were the best I’ve ever tasted.
Tuesday was home day, but we made it to Quincey market and Fennel Hall before our rainy departure. The rain was suitable for this day; we were all pretty down on having to leave such a fantastic weekend behind us. The three ladies accepted me, practically a kid, into the group, and we bonded quite a bit over so many things. I love them all and am extremely thankful for everything they shared with me and taught me throughout our trip. I am really very lucky to have been invited and to be welcomed into this group of women who have known each other for many years… why the heck should they take me in!? Whatever their reasons, I’m so glad they did. It was the best 5 days of my life, and this was the first trip I had ever taken that wasn’t a family vacation.
Anyone who would have gone would have been impressed. BUT, to go with a group of runners, and to see it from a runner’s perspective being one myself, it meant so much more and was so much more special just because we all completely understood what it took to be there running the marathon, or what the elite runners go through, or even the kids doing the invitational miles. Maybe I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it as much if I was with a group who didn’t ‘get’ running. I think it may actually have been torture for many of my friends (just judging by the way they react when I talk about running things during my day to day. I don’t blame them to be honest; I know it’s only interesting to me and fellow runners. I think I act the same way to them when they talk about Coach Purses and stuff ;-)).
I just feel so inspired now to be a better runner, to work hard at speeding up my pace and turning my legs over faster so that I myself can qualify for Boston and experience that marathon first hand. My goal, and you may feel free to quote me on this at any time, is to qualify for the Boston Marathon with a 3h35minute qualifying time by the year 2014. That’s my goal, and I know it’s going to take A LOT of hard work to achieve it. But I feel up to the challenge, and anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m more than determined to achieve the goals I erect for myself. I have GOT to get there. I want it so badly, even if I have to lose every one of my toe nails, even if I have to sacrifice every Friday night for the next 3 years for training the next morning, even if I have to run 800m and 1k intervals 100 times a week…. I’m getting there.
I just have to get there.
