Mike's Marathon Blog

This time tomorrow I will be entering Natick around the 8 mile mark. My bags are packed, my outfit is laid out, my number is pinned to my bib……is it Marathon Monday yet!?!? 169 days is a long time to wait.

Yesterday I spent most of the day in Boston and was the last time I will see the course before tomorrow. Yesterday was the Miles for Miracles team reception dinner and also the day I needed to pick up my number for the race. My parents, sister and Jacky were coming to the dinner with me and since we were headed to Boston, they thought it would be a good day to drive the marathon course since they have never seen it before. After an hour and a half in the car together, I was about ready to jump out and run to Boston. And I thought running 26 miles was bad! It’s a close second behind driving 26 in a car with your entire family, let me tell you.

The team reception dinner was held at the Westin Copley Hotel. The 1,000+ people in attendance were made up of the 175 or so runners, their friends and family, many of the patient partners, the team coaches and all of the Miles for Miracles staff. There were speeches, some awards and an amazing food buffet. Some of the best coconut chicken I’ve ever had. And from a safe distance, I pointed out Pace Girl to everyone.

Afterward we traveled through Copley Place and made our way to the Hynes Convention Center for the Sports & Fitness Expo. I picked up my number and Adidas goody bag and walked around the 175+ booths. There must have been 10,000 people in there. It was absolutely insane. Every athletic company on the planet was there from Nike, Saucony and Asics to GU, Garmin and PowerBar. We even saw the Hoyts!

Since it was now dinner time, we headed over to the North End and ate at La Galleria 33. After dinner, dessert, some cocktails (some water) and a few fiascoes, we were home………10 hours later. I watched the Celts and actually got a good night’s sleep. Maybe because I didn’t have a 10 pound squirrel-dog waking me up every hour by trying to dig a hole under my pillow?