Hopkinton to Boston: A mile by mile account of one of the greatest journeys ever!

As a preface to my journey I must day that if it wasn't for a brave little girl named Malia then I may have skipped out on this experience! With the heat and the fact that I wasn't an "official" runner I decided to make this 26.2 miles a journey and not a race! This is a journey not for a medal or a time etched in stone but a message that running can be fun

Monday April 16

5:15 am - Nerves are a little shaky and it must have woke me up before the alarm clock.

6:30 am - Passed first school bus full of marathon runners. Pretty happy I'm not on the school bus at that moment.

6:50 am - My roommate wants a full account of how many runners I see poop their pants! The official runners who poop themselves while running count is on! Hopkinton city limits!

7:00 am -Dropped off at the shell station in Hopkinton!

7:26 am - I saw the most amazing sized collection of port-a-johns ever (coffee up and poop out)!

7:40 am - I follow runners into an oblivion called athletes village. Wait, this isn't where we're supposed to meet up!

7:45 am - Get turned around in the right direction! Walk down the street and get asked by a bunch of teenagers to sign their board. I oblige and give my number as bandito!

7:52 am - Just curious about a lemonade stand when the girl working it says it got shut down by the board of health...cute.

8:01 am - Found my running team so let's do this!

8:45 am - Tried to find a Dunkin Dounuts! Foursquare says it is 1.5 miles away! Went with Hopkinton Gourmet. Afterwards, I'll go to the city of port-a-johns for a visit to deploy the troops.

9:30 am- I walk down to the start line to catch a glimpse of what the beginning looks like. Pretty impressive!

10:00 am - Announcer officially announces at the start of the race that it is the "2016" Boston Marathon. No really he did!

10:55 am - Bandit start

20 ft - Fuel belt pops off and I have to retrieve it. This "unofficially" puts me in last place at the Boston Marathon!

.25 miles - WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

.50 miles - Passed my first official runner with a bib. That was quick!

Mile 1 - I haven't broken a sweat yet and I am going at a 7:45 pace! I also passed Elvis!

Mile 2 - "Welcome to Ashland": For some reason I may have over hydrated and I have to make a pee break. I attempt to tweet but the amount of sweat I am letting out is flooding my phone. I hit the send button. Message doesn't go through. Also two miles into any race is too soon for a pee break. Well except I had to go to the woods because the five port-a-johns were full.

Mile 3 - The Thirsty Irish Runners were doing a great job but were swamped so I decided to help the pour water for a few moments to help them catch up!

Mile 4 - Hey it's Kier Byrnes!
I'm gonna give Kier Byrnes a big hug!

Mile 5 - "Welcome to Framingham": B-good burger looks delicious while running but more tasty in my mouth. Seems like I have ran by several of these already!



Mile 6 - I was thinking about the idea of since I was a "bandit" runner I would pet every puppy and dog along the trail. I was not thinking about that at this moment.

Mile 7 - Decided to stop and tweet this time around. Guy watching the race asks me what I am doing. I inform him that I am tweeting the race. He tells me, "Tell 'em you're hanging with some Ricans in Framingham" Actually tweet says: Mile 7 - chillin w/ some...well I can't say it but rhey are some awesome peeps!

Mile 8 - "Welcome to Natick" After making a second stop Kier Byrnes caught up with me. Why? Santa! I know him! (it also took 10 minutes to get this picture to work and load).

Mile 9 - I saw a sign that says "Don't poop yourself running!" Also something started to smell like poop for a moment. Poop count: One (unconfirmed).

Mile 10 - I run into Mr. Snacks and he gives me water and more water! A trampoline, I also tried to get a picture of a high five moment with a toddler wearing a Malia shirt but here comes twitter with a bunch scribble and the Santa pic. Fuuuuuudddggggggeeee!

Mile 11 - Ooooohhhh nice a mist tunnel to run through. Oh no! Chest chaffing. Time to stop by first aid while there are seven other dehydrated runners laid out on stretchers! Actually there wasn't but maybe one at this point. No more chaffing for the rest of the race which is a positive!

Mile 12 - "Welcome to Wellesley" Signs that I saw on this mile of the journey:
"Kiss me, I'm hot!"
"Kiss me, I'm a Georgia Peach!"
"Kiss me, I'm from Korea!"
"Kiss me, My boyfriend is into it!"
"Kiss me, I'm single and ready to mingle!"
"Kiss me, I'll make all your wildest dreams come true!"
"Kiss me, I'm and Eskimo who has one arm, one leg, and can juggle and ride a tricycle at the same time!"

It's official I'm a kissing whore (I still didn't make out at beer summit).

Mile 13 - Road muck all over my shoes and socks. For those of you who do not know what road muck is it is when the cups and water from a race get so soggy it rips to shreds and gets all over your shoes and socks!

Mile 13.1 - We're halfway home but this has turned into more of a walk than a run with all the heat signs informing everyone to walk instead of run!

Mile 14 - You can't twitter when your phone is about to die. Not good but the announcement got out!

Mile 15 - Cookie? I don't mind if I do. Also my back is killing me. I need a ton of advil!

Mile 16 - "Welcome to Newton" Woooooooo another downhill and I-95 or 128 as the locals call it is crossed. I feel like the city is in reach.

Mile 17 - I just saw a marine go down. Not one in full camouflage but dressed in regular running clothes. The heat is NO JOKE!!! I will also recognize that you are cheering me on if you are screaming out Malia even if it is mispronounced!

Mile 18 - SSAC and My friend Ryan's water stop and a massage. Probably the most welcome water stop and massage in my entire life! He also took my fuel belt because it was an annoyance with boiling water in it!

Mile 19 - Yes! The SRR water stop and Paul G is there to give me a sponge, banana, and more water. It was well received and I found out that my friend who is running Chicago is 20 minutes ahead of me! I can deal with this!

Mile 20 - Here comes heartbreak hill! Dreaded heartbreak hill but at the very top is the Race Menu tent. Spiderman was there and I gave him my bib that fell off at mile 4. Also My friends from The Most Informal Running Club Ever was there to douse me with water. I was also thankful that Ray was there to take my phone and give it back to me later. This might have been the most welcome spot in the entire race.



Mile 21 - "Welcome to Brighton and Boston College" Once you make it here there is a boost of energy that hits you and the BC students are an obvious awesome push!

Mile 22 - "Welcome to Brookline" Bacon wrapped asparagus looks delicious but I am going for plain at this point. Four miles to go and I don't want an upset stomach. I would take a beer at this point however!

Mile 23 - If I would have been kissed there would have been no mile 12 on the marathon course! I also got great advice at this mile of the race as well!

Mile 24 - I have an older lady telling me that we have been back and forth for the past few miles. This in helpful information!

Mile 25 - I see a girl I used to date so I stopped and got another kiss. Reliving Wellesly all over again. Also the older lady and I are still in a back and forth race. She says that she hopes "I beat her".

Mile 26 - I pass by the lady one more time and then catch up with Peter Mcneil who organized "Bandits for Maila" Crossed the finish line and the marathon was completed. My garmin said 4:42 but I stopped several times along the way and enjoyed it. This was a race for fun. No need to take it hard on one of the hottest days of the year! Also I look good after the race as well!

5:00 pm - I get out on the platform at Sullivan Station waiting for the 101 bus to drop me off by my house.

5:10 pm - Here comes the 101 bus but no it is going out of service!

5:20 pm - Alright, another 101 bus and nope we're going out of service again!

5:30 pm - I'm done waiting. I'll take the 89 bus even though it is only halfway to home.

5:50 pm- I get home and see that others are running in the neighborhood. Inspiring to know others are inspired.

6:10 pm - shower time

6:11 pm- Just realized I showered with my garmin on.?

6:52 pm- Ray has my phone and I picked it up.

7 pm- Stopped in Sligo for post marathon beer and chicken nugget.

8 pm - Dinner and beer with the freedom runners.

10 pm - I get home.

10:02 - I passed out!

Rooms for Rent!

So there are a couple of rooms in my apartment that are uninhabited that could use someone to fill the space. Would you like to see the entrance to the rooms.



You have to come through my room. That wouldn't be a big deal I hope. Regardless, you should see the next picture because I know you will be impressed:



Oh, that's my wardrobe. Let's take a look to the right:



Those are stairs, those are in my closet. So who wants to take a look at the first room? Of course you do:



Of course this room could use a little bit of cleaning. How does $200 a month sound for rent? Is it a deal? I think so. I mean I know this room looks like what an attic would look like but it is livable. And the other room:



I'll take $250 a month for it unless you want to clean the mess then it is only $200 a month. It is more furnished though. It doesn't look like it would have insulation on the floor so we will leave it at that.

But it is in a closet so it wouldn't have a closet right?:



Bam! Closet within a closet. It also comes with the swaggerful leather coat with the fuzzy collar.

But aren't you a week late pasting this?

I am but better late than ever!

Super Sunday will Save us all!!

Has anyone played the game asteroids?

Adventures in Road Racing (The so far in January 2012 edition)

So yes you got me and road racing is a big part of my life. However the first weekend of January might have been the most interesting weekend of running in my life.

It first starts off at the Resolution to Kick Cancer. I actually had my best race I have had in a really long time and was just a few seconds from breaking my 5k record. That being said I went looking for my friend James at about the 40 minute mark of the race (18 minutes after I had finished). Walking towards this finish line I ended up watching a guy as he was coming up on the finish line. He looked more in place at a phish concert and not a road race but still. He was at the finish line when he had lost his footing and then the cartwheel faceplant.

The next day I did the Winter Challenge up Winter Hill and through Somerville. It was less than eventful running time wise and I felt worn down from the previous day. However, during the middle of the race and turning onto Medford street and off of Lowell street there was a lady who was yelling out "my baby, my baby!" It seemed ironic until I looked behind me to see a car that looked to be driving slowly in the opposite direction. A. Car had baby in it. B. No one was driving it. So another runner and I worked to stop this moving car. He got in the car and somehow stopped it while not in park While I pushed to make sure it would stop rolling. After the woman said her husband was coming I decided to bolt because I was doing a race!

Monday I needed to get another long run in so I did the 6.5 at the Lululemon run in Boston. On Mass Ave close to the end there are two guys in the middle of the street in a shouting match. I mean one of the most traffic filled roads in the middle of Boston and here is two idiots about to fist fight.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. Doing my long run of 13 miles for the week when 1/2 of a mile from the end I run in between what seems to be two girls yelling at each other on Broadway Ave in Somerville. I was expecting to see a slap fight but then again when I hear the word cops I think it is time to walk away. I don't have time to waist in court for other peoples stupid disputes.

Now come to February and I can say that I have put in about 100 miles of running for January and even more. More stories? Maybe. We'll see what life brings. As for now my body has a date with Miss Misery.

Home

So another holiday trip to Sparkle City S.C. is in the books. I can say I had an unhealthy diet and I feel like a whale but at the same time I am starting to question a lot of things. I guess there is that fear that I don't know what the future holds but in some ways I do. I know that my parents are not going to be around forever. They are both at the median age of 70. I'm concerned as to what happens once they are gone. Of course Spartanburg is home originally but ........


I realize now that I have been lazy and I haven't blogged in over a month. I'll do better. I promise. I blame the holidays.

xoxo

G

The spirits that guide your way!

Last Wednesday I had a wonderful opportunity to meet and get to know the race director for the Cambridge 5k. Somehow this was familiar territory of where I had been. Seeing that most of the shoots were done in Cambridge (well all really) it felt oddly familiar and maybe symbolic that we would do the shoot in Niketown. See, Niketown is where I first found out about TMIRCE . If it hadn't been for a woman named Pauline I would have never known about it. I remember going and meeting a few people right off the bat then roughly a year later I met more people who would later become some of my closest and favorite friends in Boston.

How did I end up doing Niketown? Well there was a running crush that I had who might have announced this run to me. I can't remember for sure but I know she was there. At least for two weeks and then she disappeared. I had ran with her for the first time at the Burren prior to that and had met her previous through a mutual friend. The reason that I mention here (anonymously I must add). It is because somehow her calming force and being always seemed to make me feel better. I had ran with her the day after I had broken up with a girlfriend for good. A day that I was so nauseated and sleepless that I took a personal day from work. At the end of the day though and after her being at running club at the Burren I felt better. I felt ready to take on the world. I can't say that I have seen her in a year and a half at least but there is always ways to keep in touch with people. Facebook! Yeah it seems kitschy and dumb but you know how I found out about the Cambridge 5k? She originally posted it on her wall. I found out about it and then found out there was a team competition as well. I knew that TMIRCE had to get involved. And now with their second race it seems that over half of our club is running and is gunning to take Team Race Menu down at Yulefest. Would this have happened if I would have not see the link to the Cambridge 5k on her page? I don't know. Maybe this was meant to happen and somehow me seeing this on her page set a spark. Can I say for sure? No. But I am feeling positive that if it wasn't for her then maybe the support that TMIRCE has given to this race may not have happened. I wouldn't have found a race director who I have seen as a nicer and kinder person than any other race director I have ever known.

Even though these spirits are people I haven't seen in a year. Their actions and invites have led me to places I would have never known about and things that I have achieved in my personal life. They led me to Niketown to a photo shoot that had more symbolic meaning than anyone could ever imagine. It is where I first found out about TMIRCE, the club I will run for Sunday!

Thank you my running spirits and to you I say goodnight!



P.S. I hear Mr Bivins playing melodica in the background!

"That's just the way he lives!"

The Apartment search of 2011 was not as eventful as the apartment search of 2009. Somehow this time everything seemed like it would work out. I liked the second place I saw and the first place was with my current roommate. The first place was small and the shower head came to my lips. Not good unless you're a little person. Regardless lets move forward to the apartment on Summer street in Somerville. I didn't know what to think because the voice was super shaky. But, I need a place to live so I will check i out. After viewing a somewhat messy apartment I figured to keep looking.

What I found was a nightmare. I went in it smelled like 3 day old pot. Smelled like that faint smell that will never go away. I meet with him and the live in girlfriend. They were kind of befuddled I was there. I was set to meet with the people in the apartment at 6:30 on Friday. I knew from the smell I wasn't going to live there but I can't be a jerk about things. I meet the potential roommate who is around 30 and half of his teeth have rotted out. I go in and view the room. Not what I am looking for. However, he shows me the porch and no less than six inches there is a chair in front of the door. I think common knowledge of placing things would make you believe that the chair should have been placed over to the side. Not this guy. His exact words when I make a comment about the chair, "That's just the way he lives!" . So we view the rest of the house and the more famous words I remember from him at the end was "You know we just hang out, smoke a little pot." Not interested. Here goes the apartment search of 2009 all over again.

On the walk back on the bike path to a place called will I get a text message: "The apartment has been taken. Would you be into us getting a two bedroom like before? Maybe in JP?" His apartment was taken and we ended up with a place together but not JP. These are the things that are called fate!