Kris, Isobel and I are here in Hyannis the night before the marathon. (The older kids are at their MMs for the night.) We got into town early in the afternoon and hit the race expo, where I got to meet (briefly) Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter and grab their autographs. Bill Rodgers even took a little extra time and asked me some very kind questions about my plans for the race tomorrow. The expo also had some amazing deals of running shoes — Kris and I were both at or past the 500 mile mark on our current ones and this was a great chance to get some new ones, same make/model, at about a third the normal prices.
The Cape Cod Times has a good story today on the race and on Rodgers and Shorter.
After the expo we checked into our room and went to Mass at Saint Francis Xaviar. This historic church was the summer parish for JFK and his brothers, and he was an altar boy here. More recently, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver were married here. It was a pretty church inside, and the pastor delivered an interesting and well-crafted homily. After Mass we headed over to race-sponsor 99 Restaurant and ate a huge amount of pasta. This was my third pasta meal in a row, and after tonight, I’m done with the stuff for a month. Consider me sufficiently carbo-loaded.
Now back at the room we’re chilling, having a glass of wine, trying to shake the jitters. (Well, I am, anyway.) The weather looks grim tomorrow, and I’m past denial and resigned to the fact that a good chunk of the run is going to be in wind and chilly rain. Ah well. Just it’s water. Overall, I feel pretty good. Well rested. Mentally prepared. The majority of the work is already behind me, on about 500 miles of winter roads since December. There’s just tomorrow’s last, fierce push and marathon two will be behind me, goal time hit or not. Looking forward both to the run, and to being done with it!
Tags: hyannis marathon, JFK, marathon, Running
