You know by now that I lie through my teeth when it comes to running, or the promise not to do so when I am injured, but I swear I had a good reason this time. It was Falmouth!! This is one of those road races that you just have to do once in your life, and considering the fact that I had to enter the lottery to get a race number (and I did succeed) and that I may not get the chance again in the next few years, I just had to be there. Here is the problem – even if I am injured, chances are I will run if I do show up anywhere near the race. In order for me not to run, I have to just be kept away from the race location altogether. I would say 50 miles would be a safe distance (Note to Friends).
So, to cut a long intro short, I did go to the Cape last weekend (http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=Cape+Cod) and participated in the Falmouth Road Race – for the first 3 miles I did manage to actually run, whereas miles 4-7 I pretty much hobbled at a pretty sluggish place, but you know what? I did have a good time. The Falmouth Road Race is a beautiful event – 7.2 miles starting out in Woods Hole - a crowd of 10,0000 runs alongside sandy beaches and the Atlantic Ocean past the Nobska Lighthouse (http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en&q=Nobska+Light), Oyster Pond, into Falmouth Harbor with a finish at Falmouth Heights.( http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en&q=Falmouth+Harbor) Mother Nature challenged us on this lovely days with 85 degree temperatures, and the race organizers, doing their part, challenged us with their unique placement of porta potties right near the starting line. Most of us had no idea if we were in line for a bathroom or just lined up for the road race. Anything was possible at that point.
I do have to hand it to the fine people at Cigna (aka the sponsor), they did put on a wonderful road race (after doing it for 35 years, one would think they have some things figured out), and the logistics were less of a nightmare than anticipated. The merry group of Stephanie, Jen (her sister), Billy, Chip and myself headed to Falmouth early in the morning, and spent a lovely time together pre- and post race. This included a school bus ride, which brought up some unpleasant memories for Chip, who kept expecting at any moment to be called up to the front for a little chat with the bus driver. The actual race itself is thoroughly enjoyable –and it is not just the view of the ocean. The crowds are unbelievable!! In particular toward the end of the race approaching Falmouth Heights, massive amounts of people line the streets, sitting there in picnic chairs, cheering on the runners, and on this very hot day, thankfully quite a few of them turned on garden hoses and gave the runners a much needed cool-down. I became very adept at zig-zagging across the street, visiting every water stop and garden hose there was.
All of us were very fortunate to be able to stay for the weekend at the Cape in the town of Sandwich, where Steph’s Dad Bruce had kindly allowed us all to invade his (beautiful) house. Most of us arrived there Saturday, spent some time at the race expo in Falmouth, and then had ourselves a lovely little cookout in the evening. Post-race we stayed around Falmouth for a while, were treated to some excellent clam chowder by our host Sue Ellen, and overall life was pretty good. I will send some pictures your way from the race soon – I actually did manage to take my camera with me for the run since I knew I was not going to break any speed records that day.
So, the injury for this season happens to be a solid case of plantar fasciitis – extremely unpleasant and running is pretty much out for a while. Physical therapy is about to start and I have resorted to other things such as biking, spinning classes, swimming and the occasional Pilates class. I actually have been enjoying the biking part a lot, and this morning joined some new friends, John #1, John #2, Rob and Marika for a nice little outing – we cycled the Minuteman Bikeway (http://minutemanbikeway.org/Pages/intro.html) from Cambridge all the way to Bedford. The distance is a nice and comfortable 11 miles from Alewife Station to the final destination, and we had a wonderful time. The weather was unusually windy this morning, and I almost want to say (without aggravating any of my Boston friends who would love to have a longer summer) that I felt fall was in the air. After the past couple of weeks, where most of us would have preferred to be shipped to Siberia rather than being in the hot and humid Boston summer air, the breeze was a welcome change.
Well, what else is new? Karl Rove is resigning, but you know that, and it really only marginally affects that exciting life of mine. Oh yeah, I got tested for allergies and turns out I am allergic to lobster. How sucky is that? This means I have to be careful with all kinds of shellfish and the likes. Bummer.
I am going to cut this short now and focus on the rest of my weekend, which includes a party in the North End, the Italian part of Boston, at my friend Diane’s house. The party does center around one of the summer’s famous “feasts” during which the Italians celebrate a saint every weekend (I think it is St Francis tonight). And tomorrow is my annual pilgrimage to Fenway Park where Renee and I will be attending a Red Sox Game against the Anaheim Angels. There you have it, never a dull moment!
On that note, be well, enjoy the summer!
Pet:)
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