A clydesdale no more!

I bet you are really getting excited for Boston. In response to your question about balancing the race with the rest of your time. I probably errored on the side of walking around too much the days before the race. One tour we did take which I really enjoyed was the Boston Duck Tours www.bostonduckstours.com, it was a nice tour that drove you through the city and out onto the water. I wish I would have spent more time at the running expo, but I was with my wife and parents who aren't runners and I could tell they weren't as interested in the expo as I was. We also walked around the finish line area on Saturday and found where the family meeting place was and made a game plan for after the race. You have probably already heard driving in downtown is pretty difficult, we rented a car, but ended up taking the T-line to almost everywhere we wanted to go.

The race- I had my father drive me out to the start, but that was just because we were staying closer to the start than driving into Boston and taking the bus.

One mistake I made was drinking too much, I had to stop two different times to go the bathroom.

Also, be careful not to push the pace to fast in the beginning. After my pit stop after mile two I took off and tried to get back on pace, pushing hard in the beginning wiped me out for the latter part of the race.

One thing I wish I would have enjoyed more was the last 3 miles coming into Boston. I was struggling and didn't really appreciate or feel the excitement that I thought I would coming into Boston.

I would really like to go back and run Boston again. It was only my second marathon and I ran a PR, but I really didn't feel like I had that good of a race or experience. I think running it a second time would be a better experience for me.

You have probably read some of the other bloggers that have ran Boston. I know Clyde Behunin (Ran Boston last year with me) and Dave Holt two guys I train with will be going out this year and should have some good advice.

Good Luck and Have Fun!