The Wind Has Returned

... and with a vengeance!!! I took off for Cherry Creek park about 10:00 today for my 8 mile run. Suppose to run it at a 9:20, which is where Rob wants me to run Boston, I think, but I couldn't do it. Well, not initially. For whatever reasons, I felt I had to go at a hard pace for a few miles. Runstoppable had me at about an 8:05 pace for the first 2.5 miles. Just a tad off of a 9:20. Hopefully, Rob's not reading this. I slowed a little bit but not much, not until I got to about the 3.5 mile mark where my phone started ringing; it was Dennis and he wanted to know where I was so he could meet me. We had planned to head out together today and then meet up along the route here and there as he runs a lot faster than I, but he was running late and I had to get going so this actually worked out a little better as I found him when I turned at mile 4 (which was actually mile 4.3) and headed back the way I came. Which was directly into the wind! And the wind was BAD! And this is where I slowed considerably, even walking a few minutes. I told Dennis that if Boston is this bad, I'll be walking by mile 2. One of Dennis' friends, Jeff, told me that the winds can be bad on the Boston course. Great, wind AND hills. I think I encountered this scenario in Big Sur...and I don't think I really enjoyed it much. The winds in Denver have not let up all day since my run and even managed to knock down part of my backyard fence. ugh.


I changed Boston hotels today. Surprising that there were openings, but just like St. George where everything was filled months before the marathon, things open as race day approaches and people begin to bail and cancel reservations. I'm now at the Marriott Copley .. and don't even ask how much I'm paying!!!!!! I'm trying not think about the money; it's all worth it for the experience, right? I was at the Marriott on the Wharf up until today, which I booked like 6 months ago, because back then they (hotel personal) told me that the wharf hotel was close to where I would get on the buses to take me to the race start. Well, I'd been having nagging doubts about this for awhile now and finally today, in an attempt to actually FIND my hotel, I found that it's not even close to the park where I meet my race bus. They said that the marathon provides these shuttles to the start from the hotel but I couldn't find one thing to confirm this so I bailed on that hotel I had and re-booked (for a lot more cash, mind you) at the Copley, which is easy access to almost everything marathon related. It's worth the cost. Isn't it? Yes, for this panic-stricken girl who worries about almost everything, this IS a good thing.

Colored eggs with the kids. I have pictures but for whatever reasons, my blog page keeps locking up when I try to upload them to show you. I'm too tired to figure it all out! Maybe I can post them tomorrow.

Getting some writing done and having fun sharing many words with Elaine :). Hard to believe that I will see her again in a mere 5 days or so...we are so similar in many ways - scary! Doing a little Boston research and thinking about cleaning my house some. How's that for a Saturday night!

And, btw Dennis, that "scrap" I got on my leg today running has turned into a very lovely purple bruise! Along with 4 fairly large scrape marks. Pretty!!

8 miles run