Boston 2010

We had a great long weekend in Boston, and with Billy's marathon time, it looks like we'll be back next year again!  This trip was a little more relaxed than the previous year's trip to Boston, as we were able to have a few extra days there, so that was fun. 
We flew into Boston around 2:45 on Saturday and were checked into our hotel by 4, ready to relax for a bit in our 31st-floor room with a great river view and then go explore.  The weather was a little iffy, so we waited until around 6 to head to The Cask n Flagon for dinner before going to the Red Sox game.  By the time we got to the game, it was very chilly, so we bought Red Sox sweatshirts, feeling like true Bostonians for the rest of our trip :)  (people in Boston have lots of team pride, as we constantly saw Red Sox, Bruins, and Patriots gear)  We had awesome seats at the game (thank you sooo much, Daniel and Adair), and despite the Red Sox's loss, we had a great time experiencing Fenway Park, got in a nice visit with Adair, and got to see the newlywed's apartment.  So, that was lots of fun!! 

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day with a morning jog along the Charles River to Cambridge and back, lots of walking around the Back Bay area where we were staying, browsing some upscale consignment shops, witnessing a "Quidditch" game in Boston Common (yes, people actually play this in real life), and grabbing a pizza for dinner before heading to bed pretty early in anticipation of the early morning ahead.  Billy was pretty anxious about the race, but we were still able to get in a decent pre-race sleep (which is never as good as a normal night's sleep :)). 

Monday morning, we headed to the bus area (Boston Common) where I waited with Billy for a little while before heading back towards the hotel, getting some good early-morning pictures of the park area and finish line area.  I was back in our hotel room by 7:07AM, to give you an idea of how early this all was!  I ate some breakfast, got a workout in, talked to my mom, watched the race start, and was on the street near the finish line by around 10:15.  And with the massive crowds, I was very thankful that 1) I got out on the street early and 2) I had bought a folding tailgate chair at CVS the day before.  That made the race-watching experience much more comfortable, even though as people started coming into the finish, we were all standing and cheering. 

I was so proud of Billy when he passed me at around 12:50 (just 2 hours and 50 minutes after the start), finishing with a time of 2:50:23!!  So, looks like we'll be back for the 115th Boston Marathon next year!  We were excited to meet up with our friend Steve Speirs after the race (missed seeing his wife Ally though!), who also finished with the impressive time of 2:54:26! 

After the race, we went back and relaxed for awhile at the hotel...after Billy ran a few more miles, of course!  Crazy runner!!  We walked around for a little while that afternoon before going to the Cactus Club for margaritas and Mexican food, stopping by the grocery store on our way back for a beer to split as we watched 24...in our traveling, we have no shame in purchasing beverages at grocery stores rather than out at restaurants in order to save a few bucks :) 

Tuesday, we got up fairly early again, worked out, and went down to Fenway to make an exchange at the store.  We dropped off my chair at Daniel and Adair's (which I may ask to use again next year - haha!  or, we'll just add another one to their collection) and walked back down Boylston Street to our hotel in the finally-great weather.  Tuesday was definitely our best weather day - 60s and sunny for the most part!  We checked out of our hotel and took a cab to Harvard Square to check out Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage (recommended by lots of different sources and definitely lived up to its reputation!).  After that, we walked around Harvard (pretty, but we are very biased that UVa is still the prettiest college campus around!) and took the train back to Boston Common/Public Gardens where we sat on a park bench watching the swan boats and the eclectic mixture of people in the park.  We grabbed drinks at both an Irish pub and Top of the Hub, a restaurant at the top of the Prudential Center which overlooks all of Boston - definitely worth the $6 Budweiser!!  Then, we headed home after yet another fun trip to Boston.  On next year's agenda may be a Duck Tour (or Trolley Tour) and a trip to the waterfront district, which we have yet to get to in our two trips to Boston, so we're looking forward to that!!

Here are some pictures from our latest adventure...

View from our room

Fenway!!

Green Monster

Yawkey Way

Quidditch "athletes"

You could sort of see the finish line from our room...

View of the Prudential Center

VERY early on Marathon Monday

Endless line of runners waiting to load the buses

Sunrise in Boston Common

Swan Boat

Public Garden Lake

Finish Line

Ryan Hall, first American finisher

Soldiers completing the marathon with full packs...so moving!!

Billy approaching the finish line!!!

Billy and Steve (notice their matching Brooks Launch shoes :))

Looking a lot more rested at the finish line this time!

Bison at Cactus Club

Pretty boats on the river

Harvard

Swan Boat in action

View from Top of the Hub

Our hotel definitely did NOT look like 37 stories from here!!

back to the races

Billy is finally back up to speed with his running, which he proved to me by racing this past weekend for the first time in 6+ months!  He's been training a good deal - not quite up to his pre-injury mileage, which I think is a good thing for longterm healing - and getting back into racing not only provided a boost of confidence about being ready for Boston but also helps with his Brooks sponsorship (no racing = no more free and/or discounted stuff).  So, we made a quick, spur-of-the-moment trip to and from C-ville for the 10-miler on Saturday morning.  It was probably the quickest trip to and from there I've ever done, but it was a beautiful day for being outside and traveling!  And, to top things off, Billy finished the race with a 6:00-pace, which was great, especially considering all of the hills!!

Race Start

Can't miss him in that lovely neon jersey :)

9.99 miles!!

The next race pictures I'll post will be from the Boston Marthon finish line!!  Yay!!  (we are also excited to get to go to a Red Sox game - we're hoping to get to see Daniel pitch in person! - and do more sight-seeing than we were able to do last year with a couple of extra days in Boston)

Spring is here!!

Last week, our weather finally turned the corner (hopefully for good!), and it is now HOT and sunny and wonderful!!  My only complaint is the pollen...everything is yellow!  Our cars, our mailbox, our porch, our entire yard, and even Jefferson's pool has a thick yellow film over it!  It's supposed to rain later this week, though, so that should be good for the pollen/allergies :)  We are so excited for the great weather though, which has meant running outside, laying in the hammock reading, multiple walks a day for Jefferson, and riding our bikes.  We rode our bikes downtown for dinner the other night, and I loved it! 

Here are some of the latest pictures of Jefferson's busy life...

Hook 'em horns! (aka Jefferson's punishment jersey :))

Pool time...Jefferson will be excited to go to the big pool next time we're in Atlanta!

Jefferson loves to attack the hose, so we let him win occasionally :)

Running to get in the car for his haircut

Pre-haircut

Post-haircut (he looks a little sad here, but Bob the groomer said he was the best behaved he'd ever been at a haircut!)

Much better post-haircut picture!!

Hanging out with Breezy when we were dog-sitting

I couldn't resist the sale on dog snuggies when I was at Petsmart, but Jefferson was not impressed, so I think this will be going back to the store...he wouldn't even look at me!

So, we continue to stay busy but have had a chance for some good relaxation the past couple of weekends, which will continue up until our trip to Boston in 10 days!!