Celebrate!

Happy Patriot’s Day! Not that anyone outside of New England is celebrating, but here it’s a day off of work for many, a Red Sox home game, and most importantly it’s Marathon Monday! Shortly after this post goes live I and 24,999 others, give or take a few, will be running or wheeling the 114th Boston Marathon. Everyone talks about how daunting the marathon day is, and trust me, I am nervous, but really more than anything it is a celebration and culmination of months of work and dedication. The hard part is over, and today is our chance to shine!

Yesterday was spent mostly resting and preparing with a stop at the MSPCA to walk a few of my favorite four legged friends like this little lady. I wanted to stick her in my bag and bring her home. Look at that face!

I got my bag and bib number ready.

And my wonderful friends Meghan and Raija came by with a good luck basket.

Stocked with homemade salsa, gypsy juice from Gypsy Kitchen, 3 different chocolate bars, two types of beer, and Lush bath products, this gift is me to a T! I am lucky to have such great friends and can’t wait to celebrate with them post marathon.

And then we headed to the Tennis & Racquetball Club on Boylston Street for The ALLY Foundation pasta party. 

Founded in 1902, the T & R is truly old Boston. I couldn’t even believe they fit a tennis and racquetball court in there! The building does not look that big from the outside.

The room that the pasta party was in overlooked the tennis courts and was decorated in The ALLY Foundation’s signature pink and green, a color combination that I love!

The room was also decorated with photos of past marathoners, speaking engagements that Andrea, Ally’s mother has done, and a few of Ally as well.

And of course, as it was a pasta party, there was food, and lots of it! I started with an Izze sparkling juice which was perfectly light and refreshing, like sparkling water with a nice hint of natural fruit flavor. It was the perfect pre race drink.  Izze is a sponsor of The ALLY Foundation, so they are also doing good while making a tasty product, perfect!

I didn’t get the name of the caterer, but the food was excellent. There was an artichoke spinach dip that I would have eaten a lot more of if it weren’t for the whole marathon thing! I also had some pesto tortellini, chicken parmesan, and penne with peppers and sauce.

It was a lovely, early dinner which made it easy for us to head home and get some more rest before the big day. Since I am not sure he will be able to get a photo of me tomorrow, I asked the hubs to take a photo at the corner of Boylston and Hereford Streets.

Next time I am at a computer I will be writing my post race recap! What a journey. Spending last evening with people who knew Ally really brought this entire training and fundraising period together for me. They are all so kind and full of excitement and determination for the work that the foundation is doing. Being around them was a perfect, life giving reminder that despite the really awful things in the world, goodness and hope prevail in people like them.

Good luck to all of the other runners today, and I will see ya all later! 😉