Mauri's Training

Ran early this morning with Marlin from the hotel.  Kept it a pretty easy pace just to get moving.  Hip was alright and hasn't been super super bad. I can feel it throughout the day when we're walkng.  Just want to get through the race tomorrow!!!!!   After that will take a new approach to training, I'm hoping.   After breakfast we went down and took a ferry ride which was pretty fun.  Marlin came back to the hotel and Malory and I walked down by Quincy Market some.  Looking forward to getting together with the running group this afternoon for an early dinner!!  Will be fun!!!

Have to start by saying running Boston was amazing and feel so very lucky to have done it along with so many others from our area. I ran it with Karen Smith from Idaho Falls who I’ve never ran with. We knew ahead of time that we were very similar and had the same goals.

Here’s how the numbers look:

10K – 53.38

Half – 1:58:02

Finish – 4:11:24

Starting place (bib number) - #19946

Finishing place - #10848 (I passed 9098 people!)

Age group (females) – 156th out of 808

Karen and I made it up to the Runners Village pretty early and ran into into Marlin, Jeff, Walter, Rob & Steve. Had just met most of them (Walter, Rob & Steve) the night before at dinner. They looked happy to be there and ready to go.

Once Karen and I got to our corral I couldn’t believe how hot it was and we were just starting! Karen had brought us white cotton towels that we got wet and put around our necks. I was happy with the pace for the first 10K and hoped that we would not pay the price later on. But, I wanted to bank any time we could early on. As we were going along there were water stations everywhere and we ended up stopping at them all. It was alright for a while because I poured water over me every chance I could. But then I started not to like stopping – to time consuming. Around mile 10 or so we stopped for pit stop #1 (PoP). For a couple of miles I could tell I was getting over hydrated so I knew it was time to cut back. We had found some kids passing out baggies of ice so we grabbed two. I stuck mine in my back top. It was pretty cold! A guy passed me saying he’d buy it for $100 and pay me at the end. Pretty funny. Karen had her husband and family meeting her between mile 16 & 17. Each time I looked back she was right behind me, but then was gone. I decided to run into a PoP to see if I could possibly find her afterwards. I did not see her the whole rest of the course! The remainder of the course was still just hot. I knew I wouldn’t make 4 hours but wanted to get as close as possible. It was fun running by Wellsely College hearing everyone yelling and giving high fives. Running up Newton Hill and Heartbreak Hill were a pain. I think more so due to the heat than anything else!!! I was happy to be within 5 miles to the finish and kept thinking just get it done!!! My legs were extremely heavy (this actually started around mile 10) and my hips were as tight as could be.

I’ve learnt that the race I run is completely different than what Marlin runs. It is a completely different experience with different expectations. There was a lot of digging deep to find the strength to run the whole course rather than break down and walk. Walking was not an option. I know everyone has their own reasons for running. One thing my father drilled in my head growing up was you're the caption of your own ship!!!

What an experience!!! Boston was AMAZING!!!

Time to catch up on FRB.  Spent the day traveling from Boston to New York City to spend a few days.  It was pretty traveling by Amtrak to see the countryside.  Once we arrived at Penn Station we walked to the hotel 1 1/2 (long) blocks. We ended up being in a Korean District.  Walked around later that night to find a place to eat. Who would think NYC had good fish taco's.  I found it kind of strange to find fish taco's. 

First full day in NYC.  We started out from the hotel walking to Chelsea's Market.  It's a cool shopping place with fun little shops.  Took the Subway down to the World Trade Center.  We got our pass and went through security to get to the pools.  Very pretty and neat to see.  We then walked down to catch the Staten Island Ferry to ride around the harbor and see the Statue of Liberty.  It was a ton of fun riding!  We ended up going to the other side over by Brooklyn and switching boats.  It was pretty interesting to think that this is how these guys commute to work in the city! 

Since we were down as far as we could we started walking back up.  We headed up on the first side of the city to get a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge and then walked inland to Wall Street.  Amazing!!!  We could see something going on so I asked a guy there what it was and he told us it Occupy Wall Street.  Of course we had to walk down there. It was pretty interesting to see I do have to say. The people just sat there with signs and every once in awhile someone would say something.  Like a quote or they'd say things about what they were protesting.  Police just stood there along with the spectators.  People like us taking pictures.

After Wall Street we walked back up to the WTC and then jumped on a Subway.  Riding the Subway was pretty strange.  One thing about this city is it seems like no one talks to anyone.  There was one nice lady that helped make sure which Subway to take and let us know we were the next exit as she got off at her stop.  Not the most friendly city.   

After getting up by the hotel again we went to eat in a little place that had a few different options for Korean food.  It was interesting to eat since it was where the local Korean's were eating.

Day 2 in NYC. We started the day walking up to Time Square. WOW!!! Fron the beginning when we got here we knew everything was big, but WOW. I'm not even sure how to explain Time Square. There was so much to see. We didn't stay there a super long time because we wanted to get up to the Natural History Musuem shortly after it opened (to avoid long lines). I just loved the Musuem! It was a ton of fun to see the different exhibits. Afterwards we headed over to Central Park. It was pretty cool walking through and seeing people rowing boats in the huge pond. There were different area's that we got to see and the park was huge!!! We only got to see part of it,too.

We started heading back down and walked down 5th Ave. When we got down by Rockefeller Center we walked into this chocolate store. We thought 'maybe they'll have a sample'. Pretty funny thinking on our part. This chocolate was $88/lb.

We had to go back to the hotel early in the afternoon because we were going to see a Broadway Play. When we left for the play my daughter wanted New York pizza so we headed back up towards Time Square to the Theater District. We ended up at this small pizza place where we could buy pizza by the slice. Man was it good!!! We've eaten some real NYC food!

We went and saw The Book of Mormon. She's always wanted to come to NY NY, along with see a play. We were there early so we went to use the bathroom and walk around the theater. When we came back Marlin was talking to the people sitting next to use. Low and behold there were from Pocatello!!! They didn't live in Idaho any longer, but had graduated from Poc. One girl was now living in London and the other in Connecticut. We could not believe it. What are the odds so sitting right next to someone so close. The play was amazing. If anyone ever goes to NY you have to see a play. After the play we stopped down by Time Square again and ate some dessert. Felt no guilt due to all the walking we've done. Time Square at night is completely different than the day. We got to see the Naked Cowboy. When I tried to get a picture of Malory he yelled out to her to come over, but she wouldn't! It was pretty funny.

Another exhausting day!!!

This was our last day in NYC.  We ended up walking around to some of the shops/stores.  I was looking for a birthday present for my sister.  We had gone to Macy's the first night, so we actually ended up spending some time there again before we left. I had left my glasses there and wanted to just check to see if there were there.  There were quite  few in lost & found, but they didn't have mine. 

Left the hotel and went to a hotel out by Queens.  What a different world out here, too.   Looking forward to going home tomorrow!  We're exhausted!!!