Boston appears to be a GU town. Well, at least that's all I could find at the Expo and a bike shop. Well, PowerBar is an official sponsor, so there was PowerGel, too, but there was no Hammer Gel to be found.
Okay, rewind to the beginning of the day. It was even colder this AM when I went out on my run. And the wind had turned 180 degrees and was now blowing straight out of the east. Not good. What was a glorious tailwind Thursday and Friday had turned into a nasty headwind. Since Boston is a point-to-point course that runs east... well, you get the idea. I ran 5 easy with some strides, and then set off for Panera Bread to get a Cobblestone. If you've never had one, they're basically a baked apple fritter somewhat shaped like a muffin. Chased it down with some more Starbuck's coffee and I was set to head off to the expo... which was absolute chaos. The number and packet pick up was easy.
If I would have been smart or more claustrophobic, I would have stopped there. But, no. I decided I had to look in on the paraphenalia associated with any expo. And, of course, it appeared that all 25,000 runners and their families had the same idea and timetable that I had. But I eventually got out of there without finding any Hammer Gel. I was told that there might be some at a bike shop down the street, so I stopped there first. Out of luck there, but they suggested REI, which was just down the street across from Fenway Park. Under normal circumstances, not a huge deal. However, because the Expo/Packet pick up was accessible from my hotel without venturing outside, I only had on a sweatshirt. And the wind was cold and whipping around. And I had this big bag of STUFF from the Expo. Still, I thought it would be fun to wander by Fenway Park, since the Red Sox were playing today. If I had been dressed more warmly, I might have considered getting a ticket; they were selling on the street for around $20.
I returned back after successfully finding my Raspberry and Montana Huckleberry Hammer Gel. After thawing off in my room, I headed down to the pool for a quick swim and a massage. The pool was 15 yards long, so I got dizzy with all of the flip turns. But getting into the pool for the first time in a couple of months was nice. The massage helped my IT band quite a bit. Then my big decision: what to have for dinner? Pizza or a burger? I decided to try the 5 Napkin Burger place that I had passed on my morning run (what else to do on my runs than to scout out where to eat?) After two tries to get a burger that was medium well (the first two were medium rare- for ground beef? No thanks), I finally got one that I could eat. Of course, I had nearly finished my fries and beer before the burger made it to me. At least the manager comped me the burger. The woman next to me had a burger that was overcooked, and her friend's burger was undercooked. You would think that a burger place would at least know how to cook their burgers. Still, the food and beer were pretty good. I'm hoping to get to sleep a bit earlier tonight; still haven't quite got my body clock regulated.
2 days to go!
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