It's been a while!

I have been out and around for the last few days, and what an awesome few days it has been.  I guess I should start where I ended last week as it is all very tri relevant and part of this fun time I am having becoming a triahtlete!
Once a month I get a massage to allow all the work to sink in and to take the knots that I am to lazy to work on out for good.  Getting a massage this time was a benefit in many ways!  It turns out my massage therapist is very modest when she speaks of her triathlon experience.  She has been to teh worlds a couple of times and was a competitive swimmer.  So, the swim coach I was searching for seems to have come along.  Then, we talked about my upcoming weekend.  I told her that I was heading to Boston to cheer on many friends who were doing the marathon.  In the course of discussion I mentioned my desire to qualify for Boston after IM and that I needed to get some good direction and coaching. Having only run one prior marathon at a 4:06, I need some solid direction to get me to 3:20.  It seems she comes by her athletics well. Her dad has brought 5+ athletes up to the Olympic level as a Level 4 running coach.  He was the winner of some big league races when he was an athlete and is well respected in the community.  Best part, he is accepting new athletes, as long as you are committed to your gaol and to working for it!  I am committed!  Actually I should probably be committed!  SO 2 strokes of luck in one good massage and discussion!  I am finding things that I have searched for and they are kind of falling on my lap!  I am looking forward to the next 12 months and the transition that takes place!
As I mentioned above, Saturday was a day of driving to get to Boston to support our friends at this awesome race called the Boston Marathon(ever heard of it?)  A group of 10 friends were down there to give the race another good run.  For the second year in a row I was there to cheer them on and enjoy the event.  Saturday night the whole group went out for dinner and then continued on for some pre race  celebration.  Some of the runners were very well behaved, others, well NOT!  We ended up out until 2:30 drinking beers and tequila!  I had nothing to lose as I figured I was cheering after going out for a long run.  No pressure for me, no need to behave!  We had a great night, Boston is an awesome city to play and party in.  We listened to some great music and had a ton of fun!  not in the way that marathon runners do, but I was not one of them!

Sunday morning we all gathered to go and do some group pictures.  As we walked to our photos, one of the people in our group asked if I might know of anyone who needed a bib.  Why I asked?  It turns out she was injured and thought she might still be able to do the run, unfortunately the injury would not allow her to, so she had to bail.  As she told me more I started to think about the race.  I have not done any training to run a marathon, no miles other than the 30k i did last month.  Otherwise I have done a lot of 5-10k runs, a few hills and cross training.  But, I continued to think that all I could do was go out and run it easy, use it as a good training run.  As she continued to tell me more, I finally said that I would take her bib!  Not how you are supposed to get to Boston Marathon, but what the hell, I was there and someone else was going to take it, so it was worth it!  WAHOO!  I was in for Boston!  Holy crap!  All the beer and tequila from the night before was not that great an idea now!  Oh well!  Time to shift gears and get into race mode!  SO I went back to the expo bought some gels and a Boston Marathon shirt!  With that taken care of, I needed to get some water into me, so started drinking and gettting rehydrated.  Oh, did I mention I had a head ache at this point?  I was so excited to be able to enjoy the experience of a Boston Marathon.  I had been talking for 3-4 days about the work I am going to put in to get myself a qualifying spot for the event.  Now, I get to run one before the real deal!
We spent Sunday afternoon watching  Redsox games(them getting beat) and relaxing.  Yes, I did have a beer at teh game, but focused on getting water and electrolytes into myself at the same time.  It was an awesome afternoon.
After the game it was time for a pre race dinner, as you can imagine it was going to be pasta and lots of it!  We all headed out and I had a great dinner, and then off to bed.  I was exhausted, barely keep my eyes open.  Less than 10 hours and I would be on my way to the start!
I will give you a race report tomorrow with the great details of what I consider to be one of the funnest events that I have been at.  I did finish the run, with tons of fuel in the tank and with a PB by almost 10 minutes!  More to come on the day and the fun details!
CHeers