10 days post Boston Marathon 2024

 Have you ever second guessed yourself? Ever sat and tried to figure out what went wrong? It's now 10 days post Boston Marathon.  I kind of feel like I should be on a high.  I mean they say the Boston marathon is the super bowl of marathons.  Like several others I'm not on that could 9 high.  I actually never really got that high.  Yes, I'm very happy I completed Boston...... but.... it's not the high I had hoped I would get.  And maybe I'm blue because it's over.  All the months of training and now it's over and done.  I always thought I'd dance once I got to the finish line... instead I told my mom all I wanted to do was get to the hotel.  I had no interest in hanging around the finish line.  My stomach was just not feeling well.  Heat really changes things for me.  I live in it and should be real use to it, but running in the heat just doesn't sit well with my stomach most of the time.  Many have a goal of doing Boston every year and several runners that I met have done it several years in a row... and all I could think was this is not a race I want to do every year.   I'm sure race day weather didn't help in those feelings... and another reason is I don't live close and man it is expensive to travel and stay there several days!  Now If it was a race you could do with your friends and share room expense, that would be more feasible.  The crowd support is INCREDIBLE..  I don't have one thing negative to say about the town.  Boston is great!  However, I don't think I'm alone in my feelings of the race.  I've now seen so many post on social media by different runners with their take on Boston and many had several of the same feelings I've had....... what happen, what could I do differently, why, why, why...  

As for me, I've sat while working this week after the race and the thoughts keep creeping up in my head on the race.  I know I held back and I didn't push myself.  What if I had not held back that 1st half of the race and I had just let myself run as fast as I could???  Would I have crashed?? Or would I have made a much faster finish time??   Why can't they start the race at 7am so we would be done before that 70 degrees hit??? (oh I heard it's the media that determines the race start due to it be televised!)   Why did I walk so much in the 2nd half?  Why didn't I push myself to just keep running ... even if I fell out at the end...  

We can't really control how these thoughts keep popping up in our heads .... But we can control what we do with them.   And I'm not good at it.. 😄  Last night I was doing a peloton ride and Matt said something that really spoke to me...   I wish I could remember his exact words...   it was something like this:

"Forget the past, look to the future, by living in the present."  How awesome is that?!  We can't change the past no matter how much we dwell on it.  We don't get a redo in life.  Let's live in today.  

I'll never know what would have happen on race day if all my "what ifs" had happen .... The only sure thing is that I finished. 😍  It was not my best marathon time, It was by far a race in which I felt really good, it wasn't a race that left me feeling amazing..... BUT it was BOSTON and I finished standing up.  I have to remind myself that most people don't even do marathons.  I had someone ask me recently what motivates you to do it again when it's not all great....   That's a really good question because most would say well I'm not doing that again..  it hurt, it was awful, etc.    But I think if you ask most runners that question, you'd get very similar answers to my WHY.  

I keep doing them because I want to show my kids / grandkids that a marathon is hard like life, but you can't give up.  You must keep moving forward.  I also do it for myself... for my health, my mental state and to forever try not to get old too fast. 😂😍  I want to inspire others.  You don't have to be the fastest or best... you simply have to put one foot in front of the other and move. 👊

Boston Marathon 2024 (Part 2 - The Marathon)

 Once again I say, I just can't thank you enough to Susan Hurley, Founder and Owner of Charity Teams and Kim Chisholm, Executive Director of the 26.2 Foundation for giving me the opportunity to run the 128th Boston Marathon!  I originally talked on the phone with Susan after applying to a couple of charities.  She was real sweet, but told me that most runners could promise to raise $20,000 - $30,000 right off the bat.  She told me that most of the charities team under her were full, but for me to not give up.   A week or so later I got an email from Kim asking If I'd like to do an interview for the 26.2 Foundation, which was a charity listed with Susan's charity teams.  I was so excited to get another interview.  Kim and I hit it off right off the bat.  She had St. Jude experience, so my years of fundraising for them probably sealed the deal with me getting a spot on on the charity team.  💓  Meeting Kim's dad the founder of 26.2 Foundation, Tim Kilduff, along with her mom and sister at the Charity Brunch was icing on the cake for me.  What an awesome family that is doing great things in the running world.  I can't wait to see the marathon center finished one day. 💙💛

Every week I would get emails leading up to the race from Susan and Kim.  We were giving loads of information and tips.  I can't stress how much this meant to this Mississippi girl that had never been to Boston.  Several of the charity runners were from Boston and every weekend they got together and ran on the course.  I was so jealous of that, but I was thrilled to be on the charity team. 💓

It was finally race weekend and I was in Boston! At the expo they  had a replica of the famous "Spirit of the Marathon" sculpture which sits at the one mile mark along the Boston Marathon course.  It depicts Greek marathoner, Stylianos Kyriakides, a marathon legend and considered to be the first charity runner.  I'm so glad I got a pic at the expo because mile one of the race was so crowded I could not get over to the side of the road to get a picture.  

Monday, Patriots Day, was RACE DAY (4-15-24).  Since I was on a charity team, I was given the opportunity to ride the charity bus which was a charter bus with bathroom to the start line instead of the school busses that everyone else was riding.  For the marathon they bus you out 26.2 miles to Hopkinton to start and you run back to Boston.  It takes about 45 min to an hour for the bus to get you to the athletes village on race morning.  We met up at the Cheesecake factory to get on the busses.  Look at some of my teammates.. they came dressed to impress.  I don't think it was their first rodeo. 😀

I had met the young lady below, Vinh Hoang, at my charity brunch table and we sat together on the bus and ended up hanging out at the start line until time to start.  She was real sweet.  I enjoyed getting to know her.  Boston was her 6th star! 

A sweet girl gave us her float when she went to start and we relaxed until our time to start.  It was kind of cool early that morning.  We had to catch the bus at 7:30am, but our wave (wave 4 .. last wave) didn't start till 11:15am.  So we had a good bit of time to wait in the Athletes Village. 

You can see how crowded it was trying to get into the village.. runners were everywhere..

The wait time really kind of went by pretty fast.  We ate our breakfast and waited in line for the porta potty and sat for awhile.... and then it was 11:15 am time to line up.  By then it was getting pretty warm.  There was no wind as they had promised me on that marathon tour on Saturday!  The guy had said that he thought we would have a nice tail wind the whole race! He was WRONG.  Weather there changes like here in Mississippi!  I had shed all my extra clothes I had worn that morning and was down to my shorts and tank.  I'm so glad I had got my name on my tank at the charity brunch.  So many spectators yelled for me while I was running. 💓 and I always shorten it to "Dee" because most don't know how to say, "Deleica". 😁

Of course I had to get the Goodr Boston glasses 😍

Flat Deleica ready...    The book "Dream Big" is a book we got at the charity brunch written by race director, Dave McGillivray!  He spoke to us at the brunch.  What an inspiration!  He's ran tons of marathons and across America like 2X!  As race director he normally runs the Boston marathon at night the night before the race, but this year he returned to run it in daylight with the other runners.  He's ran Boston every year since 1973! For 16 years he ran it with all the other runners and then when he began working with the race he ran it at night until this year.  and Guess what.. he failed the first 2X he tried to run it.  He was a small kid growing up and always picked last in sports.... but he's accomplished BIG things in his life! Never doubt the small guy. 💗
Click here to see his story

Did I mention that Meb signed my bib at the expo!  I will forever cherish this bib! 💙💛

  It was an honor meeting him at the expo! 

My goodies I got at expo! 

Yes, I got a spike! I had been told if you don't get there early to expo they are sold out.  So glad I got one. 

Did I mention that my foot had been bothering me leading up to the race?  I had ran a very hill half marathon like a month prior in Jackson and then another half 2 weeks prior to the race and I kind of turned my ankle or something.  This one foot has bothered me off and on a couple of years since I sprained it badly at the MS50 race on year.   It had really been bothering me the whole week prior to race and I only ran 2 miles the week of the race.   Once me and mom got to Boston my foot was swell during the day and ached so bad as we walked around touring the city prior to race day.  I had really begin to wonder if I would be able to finish the race.  I was feeling pretty down about that, but tried not to think about it or talk about it.  Race morning I had KT tape all over my foot.  I promised myself that I would just keep moving.  Even though what you read online says there is a 6 hour time limit for the race, they had told us at the charity brunch that technically they do not shut the finish line down... there will be volunteers there waiting to hand you your medal and they really go by 6 hours from the start time of the last person that starts.  I knew I was not in the last corral so I figured if I had to walk then I had time to make it. 

 

Our wave was called to line up around 10:45am and I crossed that start line around 11:27am.  It's pretty fast once they line you up.  They are very well organized!  I felt good once I started.  My foot wasn't even hurting to start.  I soon noticed I was running faster than I had planned and reminded myself that EVERYONE had said ...... pace yourself the first half... slow down.... the downhill will really work your quads and if you run it too fast then you'll be toast when you reach the newton hills which start around mile 15 or so.  Most people who don't run think a downhill would be easy... well, go run a few and see.  They really work your legs differently.   So I slowed way down.  It was so hard to slow down!  Those that know me know that I tend to go out too fast from time to time.. I could hear Penny in my ear saying, "D, slow down.. we aren't going to keep this pace 26.2 miles".  😂 All these runners were zooming by me and I wanted to just zoom right behind them... but those voices in my head kept saying.. slow down... save yourself.... So I ran very easy.  I stopped and waited a good bit at mile 8 1/2 for the bathroom.  I had tried to hold it, but couldn't any longer.  All that liquid I had drank that morning while waiting to start need to come out. 😁  

When I got to the half way mark I was starting to get really HOT.  My time for the first half was 2 hours 30 minutes.  Longer than I would have liked, but I had slowed way down trying to save my legs for the 2nd half which would be very challenging with the hills after running downhill for so long.  By mile 15 or so I really started to feel like I was going to throw up.  The sun was just relentless.  No shade! and NO BREEZE.  Yep, it was only like 70 degrees which doesn't seem hot, but when you are running it is especially in the direct sun.  Your body always warms up 10-15 degrees warmer than the temperature.  That's why I really like 45-55 degrees to run in. 😁  

I had reached the Newton Hills and I thought well this isn't too bad, but my stomach just kept feeling awful.  I could barely choke down an energy gel and my LMNT in my water bottle.  I knew I needed them, but I almost lost it every time I had to take one.  I just kept telling myself, you've got to take in some electrolytes or you are not going to make it.  I was sweating so bad.  I could feel salt all over my face.  I started grabbing water at the aid stations and pouring it on my head.  Runners all around me were walking and looking sick.  I saw several heading to the medical tents.  It was at this point that I knew there was no way I was going to make a sub 5 hour marathon.  Oh did I mention that my foot was now hurting along with every bone in my body. 😒  My hips hurt, my lower back hurt, my quads were tight, and my dang right foot felt like it was being squeezed to death by my shoe which meant it was swelling again. 😠

So I converted to my jog - walk intervals.  I wanted to cry because I really wanted to have a good time at Boston!  My training had been really good prior to the half marathon that made my foot hurt.  But I also wanted to finish the race and finish standing up!  By the time we reached heartbreak hill, I had saw 2 runners taken off the course on a stretcher. 😢   By this time I had to stop again for the bathroom.  As I stood in line with other runners they were all saying it's the hottest race I've run here.  Many of them had ran Boston several times.  I was like I so wish it had been like Saturday or Sunday when it barely got to 56 degrees in Boston.  But a marathon is a lot like life.  Life has many ups and downs!  It's how you deal with those ups and downs that truly show what type person you are in life.   A marathon is the same way.  Some can be magical, some can be failures, some can be fun, and some can be dang HARD.  You must dig deep and find that MENTAL strength.  Your body will say quit... but you have to say NO back to it.    I always rely on my faith in JESUS.  I draw from his strength.   I will quote scriptures.  I will admit there may have been a few ugly words spoken on that course too. 😂  And I thought of every friend that was praying and cheering for me! I could feel them.  I remembered each person that donated to the 26.2 Foundation for me to be able to run.  All those things gave me the strength to keep moving forward and I even saw this sign:

The crowds along the streets are AMAZING.  There are only two other marathons I've ran that comes close to Boston as far as crowd support and that's London and New York.  It's truly amazing to have someone cheering you for 26.2 miles.  The scream tunnel through the Wellesley college is exhilarating! 

Once we turned on Boylston street finally headed to the finish line, I knew I was going to make it.  I stopped and walked to go live on Facebook with a video.  In hindsight I probably should not have done that because there are no good photos of me coming across the finish line like so many others I've seen of other runners.  I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:33.  Not what I had wanted, but a FINISH. 💙💛🦄  I finished my 5th star!  I'm so very happy about that... just one more to go to be a 6 star finisher. 🙏  I give God all the glory.  🙏

Some pics on course:

I started with some calf sleeves that I thought would help with the hills, but soon ditched them because it was so HOT!

Got a coke at an aid station around mile 22 I think.. so good! 

 Notice the other runners walking.. 

coming in to the finish finally! 

My mom was at the finish line and had her phone up to get me coming in and just as I got close, the people beside her threw up a huge poster board for who they thought was their runner coming in!  My mom missed the photo opportunity to get me and then the people said dang that wasn't their runner.   So basically they threw up the poster and blocked mom and it wasn't even their runner.  Mom was FURIOUS.  They could of hung their poster down some and not blocked others from trying to see their runners.  I never saw mom when I came in.  I heard someone calling my name that I thought was her, but when I looked it was KIM! She was in the bleachers cheering for me as I crossed and my finish picture is of me looking at her in the stands.  😍

waving at Kim

We had a LONG walk to get out of the finish chute... so I didn't see mom for a good 25-30 minutes after I finished.  And security was so tight which I appreciated... but mom could not cross the street to get to the side I was on.. she had to walk many, many blocks to finally be able to get to me.  


The hotel had decorated while the runners were gone and they gave mom flowers to give me!  The hotel even cheered us as we walked back in the lobby and they had it all decorated so nice.  I'm glad because mom was able to get some pictures of me there. 

Me holding the flowers mom gave me at the hotel "finish" line. 

right outside our hotel at Boston Common park

Mom had also did a really GREAT thing for me!  I had always wanted a "traditional" Boston jacket in the blue & yellow with the embroidered emblem.  They had not had those in the last few years.  I guess they trying to save cost....  And the 2024 jacket was blue and red.    Anyway, a good running friend of mine had told me that you can find the original jackets on ebay from time to time.  I was skeptical about this, but looked.  To my surprise I found one brand new on ebay in perfect shape for like $35!  Thanks Jane for the tip! I got it and mom changed the date on it with her sewing machine to 2024 for me! 💓😍

I had to wear it out to supper even though it wasn't cold that night.. 😂😁

Many have asked me if I'm ready to do Boston again and so many runners I met in Boston try to do Boston every year!  Yes, I'd love to do it again, but I have other states I want to do and Boston is very expensive especially if you want to stay close to finish line, expo, etc.  My hotel was $600 a night!  I know they jack the prices up like other races on race weekend too!  The food is also pretty expensive.  I don't think there was a single meal under $100 for the 2 of us.  I don't regret spending the money at all!  It was a fabulous trip with mom, but it's not a trip I could afford every year and do other races across the US. 😁😛😏

Added Boston to my bracelet

Tuesday after the race I was still feeling blue about my race time and a friend sent me this and said be proud you finished.  I had also started to see several news post on how so many runners struggled in the heat.  Here's a recap from one coach:  

So I'll take my finish and be happy with it.  Maybe one day I'll get a do over in cooler weather and a body that is 100%, but until then I'm going to celebrate my achievement and remember my journey to get here.  Thank you sweet Jesus for allowing me this opportunity.  finished my 35th marathon!

My sweet niece went to Boston 8 years ago on a school trip and brought this back to me and said maybe one day you'll run Boston.  I never thought it would happen!  Dreams can come true! 

 Keep dreaming friends! 💓 and CONGRATS to those other Mississippi runners that finished.  Most with amazing times! The local Zach, aka lightening,  ran it in like 2 hours 50 minutes! 💪

Boston Marathon Weekend 2024 (Part 1 - Travel with mom)

 I decided to break this post into 2 parts because there is just so much to share about Boston. 💛💙

First, my mom went with me to Boston.  Several have asked why my husband didn't go.  Well, there are several reasons for that and I'll just give a few ... first... his knees have really went downhill over the last couple of years and he has a ton of pain just walking and trouble climbing stairs, second... he told me several months back that he knew I loved to travel and he loved for me to do that, but for me not to ask him to go, and third.. he rarely goes to races with me anyway.  That's just not his scene.  So I asked my mom which I was thrilled to do because I love our mother - daughter trips. 💗  I feel very blessed to still have her where we can go.  So many of my friends have lost their mothers.  💔

So mom and I left on Thursday, April 11, 2024 traveling to Boston.  Neither of us had ever been to Boston so I had several things lined out for us to do so we could try to pack in the most things in a short time. 😍  Thursday was basically an all day travel day by the time you drive to New Orleans, Fly to Boston, and get to the hotel and get settled.  

My friend Penny had shown me a pic of this shirt and I just had to get it from etsy. 

Hotel  (The Godfrey)

Beautiful Church we saw on our walk to Boston Chops for Supper. 

Friday I had a walking tour of the Freedom trail booked.  All week I had been weather stalking and the 100% chance of rain never changed for Friday 😞  But there was no other time we could change the tour too.  By then tours were sold out all weekend.  So we hoped for the best.  I actually kept expecting an email from the tour company saying they had canceled our tour, but never got one.  So we walked to the meeting place with our rain jackets and umbrella.  Our group consisted of like 10 people so it was a small group.  The tour guide was real sweet.  The weather WAS NOT so sweet!  One minute it would be no rain and then next a massive downpour ... AND ... the WIND... OH my it was horrible.  Wind gust up to 20-35 mph!  My mom was literally holding on to me at times hoping she wouldn't get blown away.  It tore up her umbrella which she finally quit trying to fix and trashed it. 😂  I would love to have a redo on this tour in good weather!  We did see several things, but it was hard to enjoy them in the weather.  The tour consisted of the following:  We started at the Boston Foundation Monument, then went to the following.. Massachusetts State House, Boston Common, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King's Chapel, King's chapel burying ground, Statue of Benjamin Franklin, Old city hall, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South meeting house, Old State house, Boston Massacre Site, Stature of Samuel Adams, Union Oyster house, The Paul Revere House, Paul Revere Statue, Copp's hill burying ground, and Copp's Hill Terrance (overlooks the Charles River, and 2 major landmarks: The USS Constitution and Bunker Hill Monument).   

Notice all the water all over the ground.. my boots were soaked!

Paul Revere's house

Where the Boston Massacarre happen

Our little tour guide

The tour ended around 1pm.  We were both starved and I had planned on us grabbing a quick sandwich and heading to the race expo because it was only open till 6pm and I wanted to get there before they sold out of things.  Well, due to the weather we decided to go inside a restaurant and sit down a bit to have lunch.  We had some nice pasta at a place our tour guide recommended and then hit up Mike's pastries for a Cannoli. 💓

We made it to the expo finally around 3pm.  I was so worried there would be a huge line to get in because everyone had told me to be prepared for that.  I guess the weather changed that because there was no line and we walked right in and got my bib! 😍 but once we walked on into the expo.. Well, I think that is where everyone was at trying to stay in out of the weather.  It was shoulder to shoulder trying to walk around and SO HOT!  People were everywhere.  The lines were so long for the photo props they had there.  But I told mom that it would probably be my only time to run Boston so we had to stand in line a several of the lines so I could get a picture. 😍  Just as we were about to leave and walk out, I heard some voices coming from the back of the room where they had a small stage and some chairs.  I decided to go check it out and I'm so glad I did!  It was MEB!  So we sat and got to hear the last few minutes of his interview and then he said he would stay and sign autographs for anyone that wanted one.  I was in a good spot in the area they said to form the line so of course I had to get in line.  It was wonderful meeting him in person.  He signed the front of my bib which I'll keep forever! 💙💛  We finally made our way out of the convention center and back to our hotel pretty beat.  😁

Walking back from Expo to hotel we found the Finish line and Old South Church which had a blessing of runners on Sunday.  I wish I could have gone to that too, but it was the same time as Charity brunch and then the ballgame.  The church is right at the finish line. 

We also found a place to get a Lobster roll for supper.  It was so GOOD.

Saturday was the B.A.A. 5K and I was able to get mom registered so I planned to walk the 5K with her as my shake out run. 😁  She wanted to beat the hour time limit and she DID! We finished in like 55 minutes and we even stopped and took some pictures and facetimed Erin & Lydia and my run friends. 💓  I'm so proud of my mom!  What an amazing experience to share that with her in Boston! It was my biggest highlight of the trip! 💓

This was at start waiting to start... the start line is like a mile down from  us! 

She's so happy crossing that finish line. 

After the 5K I surprised mom with a tour of Fenway park!  She was so excited when I told her.  Her eyes were gleaming.  She was like oh my your brother, Brian is going to be so jealous.  He LOVES the red sox and played baseball himself!  We were late getting to our 11am tour due to not really factoring in how many would be doing the 5K.. (10,000 they said!) and how long it would take us on the subway to get to Fenway.  However, the little guy at the ticket booth was so sweet and said I'll get you in on the noon tour.  So we spent a few minutes in the gift shop and then went on the amazing tour.  It was really cool going in the park.  It was smaller than I imagined.  Many of the seats are the original seats.  Very OLD. 😀  The guy showed us lots of stuff and we got to sit in the green monster seats! 💓 We loved every minute and looked forward to going back on Sunday to the game!  

mom's first time on a subway... it was PACKED

The red chair everyone wants.. 

sitting in the green monster chairs!

beautiful trees every where

Saturday afternoon the Marathon Tour group offered a tour of the marathon course so I had signed us up for that.  I wasn't sure what all it would entail, but figured I might learn something.  We loaded busses and they took us out the start line so I was able to grab some pictures there that I knew I would probably not get on race morning.  The ride back was on the course.  Our guide had ran Boston like 20+ times so he pointed everything out and was very knowledgeable.  It was interesting.  The tour took 3 hours so our day was gone by the time we got back.  

We found Cheers when we got back close to our hotel. 😍

mom's watch... 😂😍

Sunday morning I had the charity brunch which I was able to take mom to.  Let me just say .. WOW!  It was at the Boston Harvard Club and they had a huge breakfast spread.  The vibes in the room were so exciting.  Susan the Charity Teams director is a former New England Patriots cheerlead so you can just imagine her energy.  I wanted to just soak it all in!  The Boston marathon race director spoke to us and what an inspiration he is! He's literally ran across America like 2 X.  By the time I left there I felt so good.  They really cater to the Charity runners! Almost $50 million dollars was raised this year. WOW!   I love that I was given the opportunity to run for the 26.2 Foundation!  I met Kim, her sister, her mom and her dad.  They are an amazing family doing great things. 

Kim, me and Susan

Vinhl, who me and mom met at the brunch.  She was also running for the 26.2 Foundation and Boston was going to be her 6th star! 

Sunday after was GAME day!  Several had asked me before the trip if I planned to go to a game and I was like probably not.  But the more I thought about it, I decided yes, I am going to try to go if I can get tickets.  I do NOT like watching sports on TV much at all.  The sports commentators ruin it for me.  I get so sick of listen to them talk.  I just want to watch the game.  Well, that's exactly what we got to do!  I didn't have to hear the TV with them talking about every play, etc.  We watched the game and what a game it was.  The whole atmosphere was amazing.  We had awesome seats close to the home plate.  We could see everything.  Mom was smiling from ear to ear.  😍  And the Red Sox won! 

We bought matching sweatshirts at the gift shop to wear. 💓

After the game we had to take the subway across town to our dinner reservation.  I had made a reservation for the night before race day and on race night to make sure I had somewhere to eat. 😂😍 The food was fabulous.  

Salmon, sweet potatoes and lots of BREAD ha

Monday - RACE DAY (more on my marathon race in part 2).  I had worried what would mom do while I was gone all day in a big city before we got to Boston.  Especially not ever been there.  I knew I would leave the hotel around 7am and would not be back until after I finished the race and with a late race start of 11:15am.. well, it would be late in the day.  Let me just say... MOM made it GREAT.  I had shown her how to use the subway and where to go and I had shown her right down from our hotel was several shopping places such as Macy's.   She went to several shops and made it on the subway to the finish line!  She was even at the finish line when I finished and was ready to get my picture and just when she was about to take one of me coming in the couple beside her throw up a big poster board and blocked her!  Mom was so mad.  She didn't get a photo of me and then they wouldn't let her cross the road to the other side to where I was at so she had to walk again like a mile and half to finally get to me.  I'm thankful for all the security they have at the race, but I should have really checked out exactly where mom should have been when I finished for her to not have to walk extra to get to me.  I'm so thankful she got to see me finish though! 💓  Our hotel had decorate for us runners while we were gone and they gave mom flowers to give to me.  How sweet was that!  She was so excited to hand me the flowers.  

at Hotel with my flowers before I took a shower after the race. 

After the race we had a fabulous dinner at the Oldest Restaurant.. Union Oyster House.  The food was fabulous and had the best clam chowder I've ever eaten.  💓

Tuesday.. our last day... and recover day for me... ha   We took a bus and then a ferry and went over to Martha's Vineyard.  It was a very relaxing day because the bus ride was 1 hour 45 min long and then the ferry was 45 minutes long. 😉😀  I had expected that, but what I didn't expect was when we got off the Ferry... well, the Island is bigger than I thought and you need a plan!  The Island is 20 miles long and like 10 miles wide.  So many miles if you think you going to walk it all.  I thought we'd just get off in a cute little town where we could shop and eat.  NOPE... if you want to see things, you need to get on the bus and use their transportation system, rent a bike (which mom said no too), or rent a car.  We ended up getting on the bus after several minutes of walking around trying to figure out what to do.  Oh did I mention that it's off season there so some things were closed and even in the info building there was no one.  So we ended up on the bus that took us out to one of the 5 lighthouses on the Island where we spent some time and then it was time to get back to the ferry so we would not miss the last bus at 4:45pm to get back to Boston.  It was a short stay on the Island, but we can at least say we've been there, at lunch there, and saw 1 lighthouse.  And my legs got some rest too. 💓  Overall it was another GREAT day with mom 😍

mom on the ferry... notice lots of empty chairs.. like I said.. it's the off season but that's fixing to change come MAY.. Summer is busy there I hear. 

mom getting on the ferry

Wednesday -- long travel day back home. 

I'm so thankful for safe traveling mercies for us on our whole trip! 🙏💓

 Another trip in the books with mom and I look forward to going on another one. 💕

Now on to Part 2 - Marathon Race for me.