·      Volunteer in Hopkinton treating her post guarding the corrals like lockdown 7

·      Trying to check in—glare was the worst (makes me understand the Kindle v. ipad debate)

·      The fake “Welcome to Brookline” at mile 2

·      Not seeing Katy and Matt at mile 5

·      The lull in Natick where there is a lake on the right and no spectators on the left

·      Pounding feet and legs (and subsequent numb big toe today)

·      Feeling blisters develop

·      Jellybeans from a spectator (gross!)

·      Gatorade making the road all sticky at every water station (that’s what killed our time)

·      Super absorbent legs that won’t sop up Vaseline

·      The anticipation of Heartbreak Hill

·      Heartbreak Hill.

·      Surprise knee pain

·      Walking down stairs

·      Walking in general

·      Stomach pain from too much candy

·      Super-nice volunteer who let us jump in with the last wave (before the rest of the bandits went)

·      Checking in to the start line

·      The first mile (all of which is downhill)

·      Passing TJ’s in Ashland—Biker bar with rowdy fans at 11am

·      Running alongside Ray Allen’s mom (yup, the one from TV!) for a while.  I gave her the “great shot last night” and she was very gracious.  Awesome.

·      Spotting my uncle at mile 6

·      Spotting Katie’s family at mile 8

·      Starbursts at mile 10 (first time we walked!)

·      Passing mile 11 (we’re in uncharted territory now!)

·      Trampolines in Natick

·      WELLESLEY COLLEGE.  It is all it’s hyped up to be and thensome

·      Getting water from Penny Simon in Wellesley

·      Twizzlers from the Crowleys in Wellesley hills

·      Saying NO to the power bar gel at mile 17

·      Sign: “Chuck Norris Never Ran a Marathon”

·      Seeing Katie’s students ON THE FLAT PART of Heartbreak Hill

·      Making it to the top of Heartbreak and having the fans say “It’s all downhill from here!”

·      BOSTON COLLEGE.  They were awesome!

·      Spotting unexpected friends in Brookline

·      Advil from BC

·      “You’re running the Boston Marathon!  That’s awesome!”

·      Two random girls: “We’re following you on twitter!”

·      Turn onto Hereford, spotted Andrew + Allison

·      Turn onto Boylston

·      Spotting: the Crowleys, Marcus, Haydon, Katy + Danny.  We were like royalty

·      Crossing the finish line

·      “I did it” upon crossing

·      Baked potato foil blankets

·      Sitting down

A taste of Wellesley College

They say you aren’t supposed to try new things the day of the race…

Sara’s a duct-tape artist!

It’s artistic! 

So… we know a guy.  We just got word today that good friend Katy’s dad will be running the camera that dictates what is on the jumbo tron at the finish line.  Now there is even more pressure to pick the perfect marathon outfit!  Notice there is no more pressure to run.  

As always, be sure to follow us on twitter @barelytrained.  We’ll be checking in during the race so you can see how this disaster plays out first hand!

According to WeatherCenter5’s Harvey Leonard, we’re going to be blessed with a tail wind on race day!  Kindly disregard all of that complaining I had about the wind, and not running because of it.  It turns out everything is going to be OK.

In order to make the most of this positive turn in events, we should probably affix some sort of material to our shirts to give us a sail-like effect.  That, plus the heelys… we’ll be closing in on 2 hours, no doubt!

Today we broadened the meaning of training yet again.  Now, with six days remaining until the race, we have added “playing catch” as acceptable exercise, and “eating oreos” as appropriate carbo-loading.  

Nowhere in the training schedule does it say “go skiing, then run 3.5 miles.”  Nowhere.  But it should come as a surprise to no one that this is exactly what I did today. 

This was the first nice weekend of spring—60˚ and sunny—and I was determined to get in at least a couple of days of real spring skiing.  Days 17 and 18 at Sugarbush greeted us with bluebird skies, mashed potato snow, and goggle tans all around.  And no running. 

Saturday night I carbo-loaded to the maxx (read: entire pizza and plenty of miller lites).  Today we got in another fantastic day, and due entirely to the weather being so nice, I made the bold step to run when I got home. 

It should be mentioned that I’m moonlighting as the Real Housewives of Middlesex County this week, watching my 2 younger cousins while my aunt and uncle are in Colorado with the youngest for the USASA Nationals.  That’s freestyle skiing, if you’re not in the know!

During my time in the suburbs I have learned this—there are a LOT more hills here!  I did 3.5 miles, sure, but those uphills are the worst!  I guess it should help me out during the race, but I just so do not enjoy them.  At all. 

Now I am feeling inexplicably confident about the race.  It is likely because I am certain I will dominate the training schedule this week.  I will carbo-load like nobody’s business—pasta, pizza, pasta covered pizza, you name it! 

If you have any delicious recipes, send them along!  One week!