The day I fainted

That's how we will all remember this day. I always wondered what it would be like to faint. I never planned on doing it, though. But a trip and fall in the Paul Revere Mall gave me a concussion, and taught me what it feels like to faint...or more like what it feels like to come to after fainting. After I had recovered, Abram took this picture of me.

The pictures below were taken at Dorchester Heights, in South Boston. It was about a 1.5 mile walk from the nearest T station to get to the park, but it was well worth it. The view of Boston and the Bay were amazing. It was super windy this day, so my hair looks a little crazy.

We were all pretty happy to find Dorchester Heights. Well, actually Jacob didn't care at all, but Abram and I were sure happy. The inscription on the stone says, "At this place the cannon brought by General Henry Knox from Fort Ticonderoga to deliver to George Washington in the winter of 1775-1776 were used to force the British army to evacuate Boston." Notice the proper use of the plural of cannon--cannon.

We spent about an hour on top of the hill, and then we started our long walk back to the T. We stopped for lunch and ice cream, and then Abram noticed the "South Boston Lithuanian Citizens Association" and wanted his picture by it because it was so random.

And then I talked the boys into the long walk from the T to the Paul Revere Mall. I tripped somewhere near where you see the car parked in the background and hit my forehead on the bricks. I got up and stumbled over to this bench where I sat down.

After the boys caught me, and shook me awake again, I realized what had happened and was freaked out. Then the boys told me that my eyes had been awake the whole time, and that at first they thought I had been joking, and I started laughing really hard. When I laugh really hard, there is this tiny moment where I start crying. Not just tearing up, but literally crying. Sobbing. And then I was sitting on the bench sobbing. The boys thought I had bumped my head harder than I actually did. I told them I was fine, and Abram went off to buy me some water. I was very dehydrated after all the walking we had done this day, and that could have contributed to my fainting. I am sure I had a minor concussion, as I was shaky and cold for the rest of the day, but I was fine.
Just sitting and waiting until I could get up and walk again.

I know you all could recognize John Hancock's signature on the Declaration of Independence. I bet you could also spot his headstone from across the Granary Burial Ground as well.

This is a picture of Abram standing next to Paul Revere's grave.

We saw this quaint little street as we were nearing Quincy Market on the way back into town, and we decided to walk down it. I am so glad we did, because right in front of my face, there it was in real life.The Green Dragon Tavern. The hub of secret revolutionary meetings.
We skipped the pre-race pasta buffet that Mark went to with some of his friends, and instead we met up with our cousins from Connecticut who drove into Boston to spend the evening with us.

We had Chinese food in Chinatown with our Chinese cousins. It was delicious.

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Then the kids wanted donuts. We walked to Dunkin Donuts. Then to another and another. They are EVERYWHERE in Boston, by the way. But everyone was out of donuts. Those darn marathoners had completely wiped them out all over the city.

So we ended up at McDonalds for ice cream, and then back to the hotel for early bedtime so that we could all get up early for the marathon.

Freedom trail pics

Yes, I love Paul Revere this much. He was one lucky son-of-a-gun. This picture was NOT taken on the day I fainted. I just loved this spot so much, that we had to walk back a second time the next day, which pictures I will post later.

Abram at the statue of Samuel Adams in front of Faneuil Hall. Without Samuel Adams brilliantly planning and organizing, our revolution could have never happened.

Paul Revere's house.
Abram at the Paul Revere statue.
Hungry Jill ready for a warm lunch in Quincy Market. We decided on Regina's Pizza.The boys between the North Market and Quincy Market.

Me at Faneuil Hall, where the Gilbert Stuart portrait of Henry Knox is located. Actually, it is a replica in there now, and the originally is in safe-keeping at the Museum of Fine Arts. But it is a beautiful portrait.
This is Abram imitating the Henry Knox portrait pose.
At Bunker Hill. Or was it Breed's Hill? At the Bunker Hill Monument either way. We climbed to the top.
Just to prove that Jacob did smile once or twice the whole time we were there. For a boy who cares nothing about history, he was a good sport tagging along with Abram and me.
Abram at Bunker Hill.
Abram hugging Bunker Hill. This is where Henry Knox got his big break. He was such a stalwart fighter here that he caught the attention of General Washington, and they became quite a team.
The boys at a random staute of a random former mayor of Boston. Who knows who he was? Who really cares?
Abram, Jacob and I walked the freedom trail in Boston. The whole thing. Up and back down and back to our hotel. I have no idea how many miles we walked that day, but I know it was at least 10. And it was 40 degrees and windy. I had told the boys to pack winter clothes, and all Jacob brought was a sweatshirt. You know, it is just not socially acceptable to be a teenager wearing a coat. Abram at least bundled up under his Red Sox sweatshirt and wore a hat and gloves. I was so glad I had packed my down coat. It was so miserably cold. We saw a group of Segways on a tour at Bunker Hill. That's the way to go. Ride a Segway the whole freedom trail. Maybe next time. At least all that walking kept us warm.

Home again

We made it home last night. I missed the kids so much. As much fun as we had in New York and Boston, it was nice to come home to my house and kids. And my car. Subways and taxis are fun and all, but I really like my car. And my bed. And my backyard. But I loved every minute of our trip.

I have much to get done today, but I thought I would first upload some pictures of Marathon Monday. Then I will get busy with some other pictures of our adventures in Boston and New York. Maybe I'll get around to laundry or something productive later. I am just so excited to see these pictures, and also to play with Zachary today.

Mark met up with an old friend from his freshman year at BYU. It was very fun to see him. I ran with these guys the Saturday morning before the race. It was their easy 5 mile run to just keep their legs working, and it was the fastest I have run in many, many months.This picture is of the thousands of runners going into Boston Commons to get on one of the thousands of buses to get to Hopkinton. This is our spot where we watched the race. We were just before the finish line, and it was amazing to watch the winners sprint by so fast. You can see the crowds were at least 8 deep all along both sides of the streets. It was incredible.Here is Ryan Hall, the first US Mens finisher, and he set a US record for the marathon. The time he ran this year beat last year's winning time, which was a course record. But Ryan finished 4th this year. He was so fast, and is leg muscles are so strong!
Here is Mark as he waved to us just before he finished. He was hurting pretty bad at this point. If you see him, tell him how much you like the outfit he wore. He loved the wings on the shirt and on the shorts. I wasn't so crazy about it, but he loved it. You've got to love what you wear for a race. It makes you run faster. Seriously. I have my outfit for Seattle all picked out already.
This is Mark and his brother Stephen. Stephen was so nice--he worked 18-hour days all day Saturday and Sunday before the race to get a project done so that he could drive from Hartford early Monday to watch Mark race. He is such a great brother and friend to Mark. We love you, Stephen!
Mark with his medal.

The Mens winner. Mutai. He set a world record of 2:03:02. But apparently, because Boston has an overall net elevation loss, it can't be considered a world record, despite the 6 miles of killer hills in the last 1/3 of the race. But it was the fastest marathon ever, and the second place finisher ran the 2nd fastest marathon ever. 2 records, and we were right there to see it happen!

When we got back to our hotel, they had left a card of congratulations and a laurel wreath for Mark.

I loved watching Kara Goucher come sprinting through the finish. She was 4th place, but she had a strong race--especially amazing because she just had a baby 7 months ago.
This last picture I debated whether or not to post. But I sort of decided to just so you can see for yourself what I was talking about it my last post. If you have a weak stomach, just stop reading.

This was the picture I took of the girl who pooped. What can we learn from this? Well, first of all, "intestinal distress" is the official runner's term for what happened. Bill Rodgers who won the Boston Marathon a few times many, many years ago has a famous quote that often "the race is won in the porta potty." This lady finished 20th overall for women. But she barely squeaked in an olympic-qualifying time. If she had stopped at a potty, she would have been too slow. I don't know that she was trying for that, but she had to be. It makes me feel better to think that she was going for an Olympic-qualifying time and that's why she didn't stop.

But sometimes you just have to wonder if something is really worth it.

Marathon Monday

What a day! It all started with a 5:00 wake-up to get Mark all situated for the race. He had to eat and put on his race day attire. I walked with him up to Boston Commons where the busses take the runners to the start line in Hopkinton. Thousands of runners. Hundreds of busses. It was an incredible sight.

After I said goodbye, I went back to the hotel to get the boys and our chairs and we walked down Boylston Street to the finish line to claim our spot. We knew the first women wouldn't be crossing for nearly 5 hours, but we wanted to be up close. We scored a great spot right across from Lord &  Taylor, 150 yards before the finish line. Within the hour, the streets along Boylston were packed 2-3 deep, and by the time the elites came racing through the people along Boylston were 8-10 deep. They say there were 1 million people on the streets of Boston watching the race. It was really the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

We saw the wheelchair winners come blazing through in a 3-pack. Then about 30 minutes later we saw the police lights and camera truck turn left onto Boylston, and a few seconds later the elite women came racing by. It was a close race between the Kenyan who won and the American Davila who finished only 2 seconds behind. Watching them crash through the tape with arms in the air was incredible. And about 5 minutes before we expected it, we heard a loud cheer down the street and we knew it meant that the men's elite runners were turning the corner. Sure enough, they came racing up the street. When the camera truck came by us it said 2:02:30 and we knew this was going to be a new record for a marathon. We watched as 2 Kenyans raced each other not only to win, not only for a Boston course record, but also for the fastest marathon EVER run! I will never forget the moment they crashed through their tape. We also cheered as Ryan Hall ran right in front of us about 2 minutes later to claim 4th place. Boy, does he have some amazing leg muscles.

One very...interesting....thing we saw was a women's finisher, I believe number 32. As she came near, we thought, "those are some interesting tights...no, maybe tattoos...maybe K-tape?" And then there was the moment I will never forget when we all realized that what we hoped we were not seeing was indeed what we did actually see. She had pooped. A lot. And it was everywhere, and all down her legs but she kept running. She placed somewhere around 12th. Hope it was worth it for her.

We started looking for Mark around the 3:15 time. That was his goal. He had strained his left calf about 7 weeks prior while running intervals on an icy track, and he knew that going for a sub-3 was not a good idea in Boston. He paced himself perfectly until mile 16 when he says things fell apart. His right hamstring began cramping, and his right quad as well. He knew he had to slow his pace down and shorten his stride in order to keep running and not end up walking.

In the end, he crossed at 3:24:25. Slower than he had hoped, but still quite an accomplishment. I am so proud of him for not giving up and not walking. He trained so hard and gave it everything.

Mark says that the Wellesley girls are really as loud as everyone says they are, and that the race itself was an incredible experience, despite his time. He also recommends that you don't run intervals on an icy track.

I was so happy when he ran by us at the finish line. He did it! Mark ran the Boston Marathon! What a stud muffin I am married to.

By the way, he didn't buy one of their dumb old jackets I blogged about a few weeks ago.

A dream come true and Paul Revere

Yesterday our adventure started with a visit to a local LDS church in Cambridge. Let me just say it was the most unique sacrament meeting I have ever been to. The organist was outstanding, but slightly neurotic. But boy, could he improvise counterpoint and interludes! The first speaker turned out to be the only speaker, as he never stopped talking, and the meeting ended with skipping the closing hymn in favor of a very odd musical number....very interesting to say the least. We caught the subway back to the hotel, and once again ditched Mark for an adventure.

Where did we go? Why, to Dorchester Heights of course. If you have not read about my obsession with Henry Knox, I have blogged about him a couple of times. He saved Boston from the British in 1776 by hauling 59 canon from Fort Ticonderoga 300 miles away and secretly installing them on top of Dorchester Heights on the foggy night of March 17th, 1776. The British woke up and thought they were surrounded by an immense army, and they left Boston with no bloodshed.

Abram and I had always dreamed of actually standing on the spot that Henry and his men had fortified. I absolutely love the story, and I wanted to see the spot for myself. It was amazing. Probably the highest point in Boston, with the bay on one side, and all of Boston on the other. There is a beautiful monument there, but sadly it is locked up because nobody visits there. It was well worth the subway ride and 1-mile walk through south Boston to get there. It is holy ground.

We walked back through South Boston, sticking out like sore thumbs. We had an excellent lunch at Broadway Cafe, and finally made it back to the T. We decided to go visit Paul Revere again, which meant a lot more walking. As we arrived at the Paul Revere Mall, a very crazy thing happened.

Actually, it wasn't too crazy for me. I tripped. I am clumsy and extremely uncoordinated--that's no secret. But this trip ended with me falling hard. Really hard. I cut up my knee and knocked my forehead on the bricks. After a few seconds, I was able to get up and walk over to a nearby bench. But I felt really, really weird and shaky and dizzy. The boys sat on either side of me, which is a good thing, because within 4 seconds I fainted.

That's right. I fainted right there at the feet of Paul Revere. Fell right back, and if the boys hadn't caught me I would have ended up cracking my head on the bricks. I was out for about 10 seconds, during which I started dreaming, until I was shaken awake by Abram and Jacob. I had no idea what had happened, but as I came to the red bricks clued me in to where I was, and I realized that I had fainted from hitting my head when I fell.

The crazy thing is that the boys say that my eyes were OPEN the entire time! So creepy.

I laid down on the bench for about 30 minutes and stared at Paul Revere while Abram ran to buy me some water. I finally was well enough to walk again, but still was rather shaky the rest of the night.

Good times.

Paul Revere--the only man to ever make me faint.

Then an early bedtime so we could wake up at 5:00 am to get ready for Marathon Monday.

Freedom Trail

Saturday was cold and windy and not a great day to go sight-seeing. But that didn't stop us. We had breakfast with Mark and then ditched him so we could walk the Freedom Trail. I have good pictures on the real camera, so you'll have to wait for pics until I get home.

We walked to the north end, and visited Paul Revere's house, where Abram found some revolution-era currency replicas for a souvenir. At about this time I saw a little boy wearing a 3-corner hat from a gift shop, and I asked if either of them wanted one. Abram said, "I already have one." Jacob said, "why in the world would I want one of those?" Two boys, same parents, totally opposite.

We scooted on to the Paul Revere Mall where we gazed at the magnificent sculpture of Paul on his horse. We continued on to the Old North Church, and then decided to make a trek across the Charles River to the USS Constitution. It was so stinking cold and windy, and the marathon had brought out ridiculous crowds of tourists, so we opted out of waiting 90 minutes to go onboard the ship. We instead decided to hike up to the Bunker Hill monument. And hike we did. When we got to the top, we saw the picture I have attached, which I cannot make go the right way. It shows a group of tourists on Segways. As we had walked at least 6 miles at this point, we thought the Segways looked like a good option. We decided to climb the 294 steps to the top of the monument, and the views of Boston all around were amazing from the top.

We walked back across the bridge and through Quincy Market, where we had planned to catch the subway to the Museum of Fine Art. However, there was an incredibly talented group of street performers doing cool gymnastics and feats of strength, and it reeled us in. Then we had just enough time to meet Mark for dinner--back to the North End for some pasta. Along with 26,000 other runners and their families.

Then an early bedtime, and more adventures on Sunday.

Boston day 2

Today was exhausting. But so amazing. We woke up at 6:30 am and went for a run along the Charles River. We saw some elite runners who also had the same idea, and that was pretty dang cool. On the way home we happened upon the Granary Burial Ground, where Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and many other revolutionary heroes are buried.

After breakfast, the boys and I ditched Mark so he could rest his feet, and we set off to tour the state capitol and to see Fanueil Hall. I was unbelievably ecstatic to find my favorite Gilbert Stuart portrait of Henry Knox there, along with a portrait of George Washington on top of Dorchester Heights. What treasures. The NPS ranger was amazed that I knew who Henry Knox was. He told me how to get to Dorchester Heights, which I plan to do tomorrow. Oh, Henry!

We then met up with Mark for lunch.  After lunch we went to the running expo where Mark picked up his bib and shirt, and we spent too much time and money on souvenirs. Hope the kids like their shirts when we get home.

We headed back to the hotel for a quick change into our winter gear to see the Red Sox play at Fenway. Again, Mark stayed to sleep, and the boys and I had an adventure, complete with" partially obstructed view" seats and a wrong turn onto Boylston after the game that took us on an extra long walk back to the hotel. It was so fun.

Abram is in love with all the quaint and historic buildings and streets--and he hasn't even been on the Freedom Trail yet. What will he say tomorrow?