First Prize

Saw this guy on Dartmouth Street this afternoon. His outfit brought me back to 5th grade when we had a week of themed outfits. He would have won 1st prize on Clash Day, although I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have found the prize as exciting as we did then ($5 gift certificate at the school store!)
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Let's See What's Behind Door No. 1

Despite the fact that it's supposed to in the low 90's today, I wanted a light jacket to bring into the office in case the AC was cranked up to arctic levels. So, I walk over to the hall closet...

Open the door...

and...

ARGH! Closet fail.

Once I dropped an entire bottle of olive oil on the floor. The immediate realization that it was going to be a major pain in the rear end to clean up was so depressing that I left the mess as it was for about an hour, just to regain my composure (although secretly hoping it would somehow take care of itself.) In this case, I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Florida with my mom and I'm hoping that the coats, fleeces & parkas will have resumed their normal hanging positions by the time I have returned on Sunday.

Seen in Kenmore Sq

This is awesome.
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Boston Marathon Photos: Athletes' Village

A little over a year ago, I posted how many runners had to hop off the Boston Marathon buses to pee on the side of the highway. During this year's marathon, I finally got around to using all of the film on the disposable camera I had with me last year. As promised, here's a photo of the scene:

Not sure if this photo was worth the wait...

Here are some other photos of the pre and post marathon scenes, or lines, rather. Most of the day is spent thinking about getting to and from various lines.

Here I am in line for one of the many school buses that will take us to Hopkinton.

The buses drop everyone off at the Atheletes' Village

Runners hanging out before the race (2008)

I took this shot while waiting in line to use a porta potty. It was a LONG wait.

Post race, waiting for my mom to meet Nick & I at Family Meeting Area "P". I was happy to lean on the hydrant for support!

Posing for the disposable camera's last picture: My new friend, the fire hydrant, me, and Nick

I Think Goldenstache is More Fun

I have seen 3 or 4 of these taped up around PO Square the past couple of days- this one is taped to a building across the street from the IKON building on Milk St. They're all written on mailing labels. I visited the site and it's, Operation Clambake: undressing the Church of Scientology since 1996. Has anyone else seen these around the city?
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Another Glamor Shot to Add to My Portfolio

MarathonFoto takes your picture about 100 times before, during and after the Boston Marathon. Photos are posted to MarathonFoto's site & runners have the option of ordering prints and plaques commemorating their accomplishments. This is a good idea in theory, and they do a great job of capturing your race throughout the course; however, most of the shots serve as a reminder that it's hard to run 26.2 miles and look good at the same time. Sadly, the one below was taken before the start on the race. I think I'll use this for our holiday card this year... Gah!

(photo from MarathonFoto.com)

They really only get worse from there... I think I'll pass on the $124.95 Collector Edition Plaque.

26.2 Miles Later...

After months of training, yesterday was finally race day! I woke up at 5:45 and made my way to Park Street Station where the BAA arranges for the school buses to bring us to the Runner's Village in Hopkinton. Once again, I was blown away by the BAA's organization and efficiency. By the time my bus arrived in Hopkinton and I spent close to 20 minutes in line for the porta potty, it was already time to check my bag and move to the starting line. Like cattle, runners are corralled by number and shuffled forward in an orderly manner until we cross the starting line.

My former company staffs volunteers at mile 5's water station, so I was greeted by several familiar face and friends. Two friends from my old department told me that there had a been a sign, but there was a small issue with it. I kind of forgot about that until this morning when they emailed me a photo of the sign and explanation as to what exactly went wrong.

It's a little known fact that my dad's side is from Western Africa

My favorite part of the course is mile 13 at Wellsley College, where hundreds of girls are screaming like crazy for everyone to give them a kiss. I saw signs that said, Kiss me, I'm Latina, and Kiss me, I'm Asian, as well as, Kiss me, I'm from Ohio. A guy looking to be in his 40's or so running directly in front of me took advantage of about 8 girls offering everything from a peck on the cheek to a wet one directly on the lips. He turned to his running buddy afterwards and said, "Now that was awesome!"

I was cruising along until mile 16 or so, until my legs started to feel like lead; however, I kept plugging along and crossed the finish line in 4:14:43. I felt so happy to finish; however, it was quite painful trying to remove my chip from my shoelaces. After two unsuccessful attempts to squat down and reach my sneaker, a helpful volunteer was able to assist me and give me my medal in exchange for the chip.

When we got back to my apartment, I saw Nick had a decorated the apartment with lots of signs congratulating me on my finish!

This was taped opposite a mirror on our wall

Taped to the coffee table

Recently, I have spent a lot of time soaking my feet in the tub, so this was taped to the shower curtain

Taped to wall over our pillows.

And taped to the toilet seat...

Thanks, Nick! And thank you to my parents for coming up, cheering me on, and then taking us out to dinner last night! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who donated to Team Eye and Ear! Now, I'm going to relax for a while..!

Let Me See that (mara)Thong-tha-thong-thong-thong

The Boston Marathon Running Expo (I think) is the world's largest. There's so much to look at, that I get overwhelmed and don't spend too much time exploring the vendors. It's the same feeling I get in IKEA. Also, much like IKEA, it took me a little while to find the exit. Here are some photos I took; you can find everything here... Even a "marathong."
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Will Work for Fish

I'm at Park St waiting to meet up with some BU students that I'm assisting with a project, and I see a polar bear before I see them. He's walking with a woman holding a sign that says, Will Work for Fish. There're definitely no shortage of characters on the Common. I also see a lot of tall, lean people with Boston tour books and/or running gear. I bet the out-of-towners didn't expect to see bears in Boston.
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Bib Number Update- Corrected From Last Post

Whoops! So, my correct bib number is 25654 (not 25645) Thank you to Bill (my esteemed teammate) for pointing that out!

Click here to set up the AT&T Athlete Alert on your phone! If you're looking for a particular person, you can search the registered athlete database. I searched 06033 and see there are 9 others from my hometown that are also registered! Go Glastonbury, CT!

Bend Me, Shape Me, Anyway You Want Me

Marathon Monday weather watch continues.

Raindrops are back in the picture...

Also, if you're going to be keeping an eye out for a particular athlete, you can sign up to receive text or email updates via the AT&T Athlete Alert. If you want to follow me, please do! I'm bib 25654. (My bib number helps put into perspective just how many entrants there are, not even including the bandits.) Wow!

This post's title is a line from the American Breed's 1968 song, "Bend Me, Shape Me." I started singing "Track me, follow me, anyway you want to" after reading about the different ways you can track runners via the AT&T Alert...

Weather & Karaoke

Well, things are looking a bit improved from yesterday's forecast for Marathon Monday!

At least the raindrops have been edited out of the clouds.

Also, unrelated to Monday's weather forecast, I was thinking the other day that my next 3 karaoke song selections will be:

*Under My Thumb

*Squeezebox

*Big Man on Mulberry Street (I've tried singing this one before, but it's never in the song selection books...)

I love to sing karaoke, we even went for my bachelorette party.

Once in a while, I like to relive my crazy days as a single lady & wear my hottie whistle & sash around town

Despite the fact that I love to sing karaoke, I am a TERRIBLE singer. I've been practicing each of the above-mentioned songs on Dwayne though, but my singing is so poor that even he goes running for the hills.

Seeking refuge in the Lazy Susan

A Plea to Mother Nature!

Please don't rain on Marathon Monday! I'll take 30 degree weather over wet sneakers, socks, and stomping through puddles. Also, I am extremely clumsy and there's a 95% chance I'll slip and break an ankle if the ground is slick. If it does rain, keep an eye out for entrant 25654 sprawled across the pavement and someone shouting, "Alicia's down!"

Deal or No Deal?!

I just received an email from Ivy Restaurant announcing a Pre-Marathon Carbo Load special.

On Sunday, April 19, Executive Chef Mark Cina is serving up bottomless bowls of spaghetti and meatballs for just $16.
Throw in a bottle of wine from our flat-priced $26 wine list and you've got yourself a complete meal for less than the cost of new running shoes.

Normally, I don't pay much attention to these offers, but I don't really see what the "deal" is. $16 is a lot of money for spaghetti and meatballs, even if you eat 2 bowls. Ivy's food is very good, but for bottomless pasta specials try "Pasta Mondays" at Cafe Porto Bello in Southie. For $9.95, you get soup, salad & bottomless pasta. Their food is excellent and the wine by the glass is usually filled to the brim. Mangia!

My Television Debut! (Not Counting the Time I was on the Jumbotron at Conte Forum)

Last Wednesday, fellow Team Eye & Ear member Dr. Dean Cestari (check out his inspirational fundraising page for HONORS here) and I met with WBZ-TV's reporter, Peg Rusconi to discuss running and caffeine. Peg and her cameraman were very nice and asked us a bunch of questions related to whether or not we drink coffee (or other caffeinated beverages) while training. I had never been interviewed for television before, and was definitely not used to being filmed.

Peg & I smiling despite the fact that it was about 30 degrees outside!

Peg wanted to get some shots of us drinking coffee, and it was hard for me to keep a straight face while sipping from the cup and sort of staring into the distance while the cameraman was about 1 foot to my left. He had to gently remind me a couple of times to "just look straight ahead" because I kept glancing at him out of the corner of my eye while drinking...

You can view the video here: http://wbztv.com/video/?id=75212@wbz.dayport.com

Go Team Eye & Ear!

"Or else Pizza is gonna send out for you!"

I was walking down East Broadway on my way to the T and thinking about how sunny days like today remind me how much I enjoy living in the city. Birds were chirping, moms were pushing their babies in strollers and toilets were on display. In a cruel twist of fate, these people had been dumped on by a toliet.
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Opening Day in Photos

Yawkey Way pregame crowd

Welcome to Opening Day!

Relaxing before the game started & it was still sort of a pleasant temperature

As we got closer to 4:05, the winds picked up and we added more layers...

Layers + beer = warming strategy

The guy next to us started doing jumping jacks... then he asked us for our leftover pizza

A friend of ours couldn't make the game, so we were the lucky ticket recipients! These seats on the Bud Deck were awesome; you get a $50 food credit with them, so we splurged on an entire pizza. When the pizza arrived, Nick used the heat emanating from the hot pie to warm his hands for a bit before chowing down. The fact that the Sox won, we got to see Beckett pitch, Pedroia and Tek hit homeruns and Papelbon save combined with being at Fenway on Opening Day was very cool. The only downside was the weather, which was also very cool; however, that's a small price to pay for such an awesome experience. Go Sox!

An Impulse Buy that I Actually Use

The "Onion Saver" was an impulse buy at the Stop & Shop in South Bay, and I'm glad I didn't talk myself out of it in the produce aisle. This thing does actually keep odors contained and the onion fresh. Plus, it's kind of a fun addition to our crisper.
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A Fundraising Success!

This post is a little late; however, I wanted to have the final tally to report before posting on the April Fool's fundraiser. Thanks to everyone's donations, $429.54 will be donated to Mass Eye and Ear! That's fantastic, and I'm so thankful for everyone who came out to support MEEI and Team Eye and Ear!

I also wanted to thank Laura at Mantra for helping to organize the event. She and the Mantra staff really went out of their way to make sure the evening was a success, and I'll definitely recommend them in the future. I'd also like to thank Kathleen at Downtown Crossing Partnership for putting me in touch with Laura.

Oh, and congratulations to Penny for winning the Dustin Pedroia photo! Penny and my mom came up from Connecticut for the event and even worked at the check-in table. I'm glad that she was able to take the photo home with her!