Thursday, July 03, 2008

boston marathon























Monday, April 21, 2008 - what a beautiful day for a marathon! The Boston Marathon more than lived up to its reputation for being a challenging course, especially the long hills beginning around Mile 19 at Newton, MA. The hills, especially the infamous "Heartbreak Hill", were almost my undoing. It took all the willpower and determination I could muster to keep pushing on to the end. I had to break the final part of the race down into 100-yard chunks to motivate myself to keep going. My thought process went something like this - "If I can just make it to that next stoplight, then maybe I can summon the strength to go another 100 yards." I finished the race at 3:49:28, completely spent, but satisfied that I had given it my all.

One of the highlights of my first trip to Boston was the cheerleader who accompanied me - my 20 year-old daughter, Elisabeth. We arrived in Boston on Saturday evening and spent all day Sunday exploring the city. Some of our stops were Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, the Paul Revere House, the Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burial Ground, and Long Wharf. After the race on Monday, we picked up where we left off, walking from the finish line at Copley Square to Boston Common, and then to Quincy Market for a post race snack. Elisabeth and I concluded our day with dinner at one of Boston's finest seafood restaurants, Legal Sea Foods. We drove home Tuesday morning, full of fun memories from one of the nation's most historic cities.

Live free! Live in Daddy's affection!