8 - United Technologies Greater Hartford Marathon, Hartford, Connecticut

I ran the Hartford Marathon with Dave Edwards, who I coached when I worked for Team for Kids.

Kent Bradley, Mark's brother-in-law(married to Mark's youngest sister, Mary), also ran this marathon, but we didn't run together.  Kent ran this Marathon in an attempt to qualify for The Boston Marathon. In order to accomplish his goal, he needed to run really fast— faster than I wanted to run for this race.

Kent needed to finish this marathon with a time at or under 3:30:00 to qualify for the Boston Marathon. He did it, with a finishing time of 3:29:59!

7 - Boston Marathon, Boston, Massachusetts (April 16, 2007)

To marathon runners, the Boston Marathon is the Kentucky Derby, Superbowl, World Series, World Cup, Tour de France, etc of running. Why? Because not everyone gets to run it—you have to qualify.

After running for as long as I had been and initially qualifying in South Carolina in February 2006 and then again in Maryland in October 2006, I was very excited to FINALLY be running THE BOSTON MARATHON!

Saturday, April 14, 2007:

• Mark and I took the train from NYC to Boston - taxi to our hotel, Millennium Bostonian.
• Met with Karen from Alphabet Fitness about using her program in my Wellness classes at The School.
• Had dinner at McCormick & Schmick's at Faneuil Hall.
• Wasn't feeling too well all day.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

• Relaxed at the hotel in the morning.
• Then went to marathon expo at the convention center to pick up my marathon number.
• Met Mark's brother-in-law Kent (married to Mark's youngest sister, Mary), Kent's bothers (David [CA] & Stephen [Boston]), and their families for lunch at the food court in the convention center. David was also running the marathon.
• Had dinner at Villa-Francesca with Dave Darcy and his friend Megan, who was running the marathon.
• Still didn't feel so good all day.

Monday, April 16, 2007

• Woke up with a sore throat, and when I looked outside, a nor'easter storm was in progress.  Not an ideal day to run a marathon, even if it was the Boston Marathon.
• Mark told me he would completely understand if I wanted to do Boston another year. But I told him—no way, what was he thinking?!?
• Walked over to Boston Commons to get the bus to the starting line in Hopkinton.  Heavy rain and wind continued.
• Starting area was a mud bath.  Fortunately, I found a cup of hot coffee and a small raft that someone had left behind (this raft allowed me to sit down on the muddy ground under the cover of the tent).
• Luckily, the rain stopped in time for the start of the race.
• At mile 5, however, the rain started again.
• As we approached Welsey College, I could hear the screaming and cheering a mile before I got there.
• Despite the rain, I took pictures up until mile 23 when I was ready to be done; then I picked-up the pace.
• I developed a cramp at mile 24 (still 2.2 mile to go)...I slowed down again for a mile and the cramp disappeared.
• Tina, from The School, had champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries sent to our hotel room; they were there when I got back to the room.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

• Mark and I took the train back to NYC.