Boston Week

Well I'm sitting here on Saturday afternoon, waiting to head out to the airport to catch my flight to Boston for Monday's race.  It's been a mad old week alright - here's a brief summary:

Saturday 7th
Ran 12 miles in the morning.  Midway through, started getting shooting pain from my foot.  Not entirely happy with that.

Sunday 8th
Broke down about 2 miles into this morning's run with foot problems.  Limped back to the car cursing my bad luck.  Subjected the foot to several rounds of the ice water torture and warned it to behave.  Decided not to run all week.

Monday 9th
Left Austin for Little Rock to teach a class.  Picked up 17 training books from the printers in the morning, so had not much space left in my suitcase.  Decided as I wasn't running I would just throw my vibrams in there instead of my running shoes.

Delayed for hours at Love Field.  Of course.  Got into Little Rock around midnight.

Tuesday 10th
First day of class went well.  Had dinner with a buddy at the Big Whiskey bar and grill in downtown Little Rock.  Enjoyed some local beers.  News came up on the TV that the Arkansas Razorbacks football coach had been fired for some scandal or other.  The entire place went quiet.  Felt very tempted to shout "Gig 'em Aggies", but thought better of it.  Left when the TV crew arrived to interview people at the bar, else would have had to admit I had no idea what it was all about and cared even less.

Wednesday 11th
Went to the gym and stupidly decided to run a few miles on the treadmill in my Vibrams.  Not my best idea.  I lasted about a mile before the foot started complaining.  Stopped and decided I would tape it really well for the race, and hope for the best

Went to the Flying Saucer and enjoyed a few pints of Lucifer.  Felt much better.

Thursday 12th
Last day in Little Rock.  Got to the airport in plenty of time.  The flight was delayed.  Both in Little Rock and Love Field.  Of course.  Finally got home around midnight.

Friday 13th
Discovered they are predicting record temperatures for Boston - mid 80s on race day.  Not surprised - can only laugh and shake my head.

Saturday 14th
Got a heat advisory email from the Boston marathon advising people not to run unless they are in absolutely tip-top shape.  And even then, to take walk breaks.  They will also be "monitoring the weather for race day decisions", leaving the course open for longer, and are offering the option to defer to next year.  As tempting as that all is, we've booked flights and hotels, so I'm going to just suck it up and try to stick with Clea for as long as possible.

While packing, I noticed when switching from my recently retired running shoes to my current ones, there was a significant difference in support - the old ones felt so much better.  Wondering if my foot problems may be down to the shoes.  Pondering whether or not to run the marathon in my old shoes.


Ha.  Whatever happens I'm going to just enjoy the experience.  I ran hard to qualify for this thing, and I intend to have fun, and enjoy exploring Boston. This is such a historic race which many people try for years to get into.  It is a privilege to run it, and I am grateful for the opportunity to experience it.