The Boston Marathon
Decided to make a full day out of the Boston Marathon yesterday. I didn't run, but certainly felt as tired by the end of the day.
Started off bright and early with a 5AM wake up to drop my sister off in Copley Square so she could take the bus to Hopkinton. Then after quick breakfast and some coffee while I laughed at the morning news correspondents who couldn't figure out how many miles were in a 5K, I headed out on my bike.
I arrived in Hopkinton at 8:55 just a mere 5 minutes before the disabled athletes started their trek to Boston. Took a little longer then I had planned as most of the ride consisted of biking into a ~20mph head wind. But, 23 miles later, I managed to get a nice seat on top of a fence 10 feet from the start line.
It was quite a fun experience. I haven't ever been to the start before. Between singing of America the Beautiful, salute to the troops and other athletes an 1 hour and 40 minutes blew by and Hopkinton was empty again. Couple other notable things of interest were how happy the little girl in front of me was when one of the elite women gave her her long sleeve shirt at the start and watching how relaxed the elite men were posing for pictures and goofing around with the crowd before the race.
Next I headed out on some back roads through Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Wayland, Natick, Weston, and finally into Newton where I watched some more of the race (21 more miles). The weather was perfect for running (which meant it was a little chilly for the rest of us) and most everyone seemed to be having good races.
From here I headed to the finish. Big mistake as between the runners, their families and friends, and all the other crazy people enjoying the day off, you couldn't even move. After about 45 minutes of getting no where, I just headed home.
63.4 miles of cycling on the day (up 32 miles from my longest ride of the year). A little sore and tired today.
All and all a good day, and oh my sister knocked out a sub 4 hour marathon in her 1st attempt. Not to bad.
Started off bright and early with a 5AM wake up to drop my sister off in Copley Square so she could take the bus to Hopkinton. Then after quick breakfast and some coffee while I laughed at the morning news correspondents who couldn't figure out how many miles were in a 5K, I headed out on my bike.I arrived in Hopkinton at 8:55 just a mere 5 minutes before the disabled athletes started their trek to Boston. Took a little longer then I had planned as most of the ride consisted of biking into a ~20mph head wind. But, 23 miles later, I managed to get a nice seat on top of a fence 10 feet from the start line.
It was quite a fun experience. I haven't ever been to the start before. Between singing of America the Beautiful, salute to the troops and other athletes an 1 hour and 40 minutes blew by and Hopkinton was empty again. Couple other notable things of interest were how happy the little girl in front of me was when one of the elite women gave her her long sleeve shirt at the start and watching how relaxed the elite men were posing for pictures and goofing around with the crowd before the race.
Next I headed out on some back roads through Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Wayland, Natick, Weston, and finally into Newton where I watched some more of the race (21 more miles). The weather was perfect for running (which meant it was a little chilly for the rest of us) and most everyone seemed to be having good races.
63.4 miles of cycling on the day (up 32 miles from my longest ride of the year). A little sore and tired today.
All and all a good day, and oh my sister knocked out a sub 4 hour marathon in her 1st attempt. Not to bad.
Comments