Beantown Wine

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Yesterday I received an e-mail from my sister. "You have a package arriving today from UPS." I'm glad she gave me the heads up. When the doorbell rang I was sweaty and smelly from exercise and may not have answered, but the thought of "surprise gift!" lured me in. 

I signed for the long narrow box and took it back to the kitchen where I ripped clawed chewed carefully opened it. The box had "fragile" marked all over it and as I slid the contents of the box out I could tell it was a wine bottle, even through the layers of bubble wrap. Wine? Why was my sister sending me wine? I like wine, but I'm hardly a connoisseur. I can't tell the difference between a $3 bottle and a $300 bottle. Maybe they visited a vineyard (in Chicago?) and wanted to share the experience. I hoped they hadn't spent too much. 

Then I rolled the bottle over to read the label. Oh my God. New contender for BEST. GIFT. EVER. It's a wine bottle with a customized label celebrating my run in Boston. "Beantown 26.2 Winery." How fun is that? I'm going to find a special place of honor in the exercise room for the bottle. Wine and a treadmill all in one room - that's how you can tell I'm a serious runner. 

Thanks Nicole and Grant! I love the gift!!!

 

Say "Ah" if It Hurts

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I have reached the point in life where I make noises when I stand up or sit down. Getting out of bed in the morning produces a cacophony of groans, grunts, and popping sounds. I baby my right knee so as not to torque it. Bending over to touch the floor requires an act of willpower. 

Blair and I were in the car this weekend and as we parked and got out, I let forth with a few "ow's" and "oh's" as I shook the blood back into my legs. 

"I feel fine," said Blair with an annoyingly smug look on his face. 

"That's because you don't work out," I shot back. "If you were healthy, like me, you would hurt more." 

Crazy sounding, but I stand by my logic. Blair will probably die a peaceful death in his sleep, mobile until his final days. I'll end up bed-ridden and highly medicated for the damage I did to my body over the years.

But if I outlive him, I'll still have to crow a bit, and attribute it all to exercise. ;)

Cheers,

Dena

Boston Marathon 2010: The Recap

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At the finish line, the day before the raceForget the 26.2. I approached this race as a 20-mile training run. I knew I could run 15 miles on pace. Then if I could just hold it together for 5 more miles, my race would be over. I had no strategy for the last 6.2 miles. To me, it's a crapshoot. You either have something left in the tank or you don't. Twenty miles was all I set out to do.  

Enough chit-chat. Let's break down the day.

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Stats from the 2010 Boston Marathon

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Outside the Boston Expo in my favorite "No Meat Athlete" t-shirtHello readers! Blair and I are back from Bawh-ston although I'm pretty sure I left my quads there. Can you say "OW" with me?

I'll post a full race report tomorrow but here are a few quick tidbits to tide you over:

THE STATS:

  • Chip time of 3:41:47, a new PR (personal record)
  • Overall pace = 8:28/mile
  • 46.8% in field placement (all runners)
  • 30.7% gender placement
  • 42.4% group placement (female runners ages 18-39)
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