Marathon Recap

So you may not be able to see it very well in the picture but that is a fire engine. This is what showed up at my Hotel the night before the race. I went to bed at about 9:00 pm because I had to get up at 4:00 to get ready, drive to the subway, and catch the bus to the starting line. The race didn't start until 10:00 a.m. So as I'm trying to fall asleep in the hotel and I just get to sleep and the fire alarm goes off. I couldn't believe it. Luckily it only rang three times and shut off. So I went back to bed. I could hear the fire trucks pull up and the lights were flashing. It was also raining outside. So I was worried it was going to be raining during the race like it was when I ran it in 2007. Finally the Fire Trucks leave and I still can't sleep. I think I got a total of 3 hours that night. I made it to the start just fine and it was cold and windy. By 10:00 the wind had died down a little bit and it was a little warmer. I couldn't remember a whole lot from 2007, so this time I was prepared. I knew that right from the start there was a slight down hill for the first few miles. I held myself back a little trying not to beat my legs up in the first few miles. It was also slow going with all of the people on the course with such narrows roads. 27,400 entrants in total this year. It was nice and sunny the whole race with a slight tail wind. At mile 18 I started to cramp up a little in my quads and my left calf. This is where I had to slow down. I finished in 3:28:58. I was happy to be across the finish line. I made it back to the car and on the way home I stopped at McDonalds of all place and got some food. I was starving. I could smell food the last few miles of the race and it made me so hungry. Along the course you have spectators handing out snacks like orange slices, lifesavers, popsicles, and other snacks. I took a lifesaver from a little kid and a popsicle from a little girl. They tasted so good. So after I got back to my hotel room I showered and was resting and I could hear helicopters flying over the hotel. I didn't think anything of it until I turned the channel to the news and saw that the mall across the street was on lockdown because two ladies saw a man with a rifle enter the store. After a couple of hours they found the man and his rifle, which was really an umbrella with a sling. When he had is slung over his shoulder it looked like a rifle. It made for an interesting ending to my day. Overall, it was a great time in Boston. I'm ready to go back.

PS. I asked the girls at the front desk why the fire alarm went off. They told me that someone had burnt their toast and opened the door to the hallway. They asked how long I had to wait outside after evacuating. I told them I went back to bed. I had a race to run.