Well, the marathon didn’t go exactly as planned. Monday in Boston ended up being even hotter than predicted and it reached 90 degrees, with very little humidity.
The weather was so hot that the marathon organization did something the’ve never done before: they offered a deferment to the 2013 Boston Marathon for participants who decide not to race.
In addition, they highly recommended that only those who qualified for the marathon should race, i.e. not the charity organization runners because they’re usually not as highly trained. They also stressed that people pay very careful attention to their bodies and stop the second they felt any signs of heat exhaustion or dehydration.
And finally, they kept the finish systems open an additional hour on race day to allow people to run extra slowly so they didn’t hurt themselves.
Basically the only point in running was really to say you ran a marathon (which Nate had no need to do), because no one, not even the elite athletes, could get a personal record on this race.
In the end, Nate decided not to defer. the combination of the fact that Nate had a full fan club (my parents flew in, his aunt took the train down, his mom and I came along) and the fact that he actually worked with a trainer for this race compared to just training on his own for the others made him really not want to wait til next year.
He hydrated a ton but got to mile 8 and just felt like crap so he stopped. A ton of other runners dropped out midway too, including last year’s male winner. The winner this year was a full 10 minutes slower than last years time, so you can imagine what the situation must have been like.
I think for Nate it was a physical plus a mental exhaustion. It had been a stressful choice just to decide to actually run, but he just didn’t want to hurt himself and ruin every race after because of an injury or bad memories of running.
Nate was definitely bummed by the whole thing and we all felt really bad for him. I was worrying so much about him before he even left for the race. When I stopped getting text updates about his progress in the race I was silently freaking out. I was SO glad when he had gotten back to the hotel and was able to call me!
I definitely think it was the wisest decision he could have made and I’m so glad he didn’t hurt himself.
We got back yesterday and were all a little drained. I really didn’t want to cook up some extravagant dinner, so I made this really easy meal I saw over on Confessions of a Chocoholic.
I also didn’t feel like dragging out the camera, so I experimented with taking pictures on my new iphone app Camera+. What do you guys think of how the pics came out? Not bad for a camera phone I think.
I very slightly adapted the recipe and made some buttered Pastina to go along with it. Yum!
Dijon Roasted Potatoes and Sausage
Very slightly adapted from Confessions of a Chocoholic
Serves 6-8
36 oz. chicken sausage (the fully-cooked kind), cut in quarters
2.5 lbs small red potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp water
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Whisk mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend.
Add potatoes, tossing to coat. Place potatoes in a large baking sheet lined with foil, leaving excess mustard mixture behind in the bowl. Roast for about 45 minutes or longer, turning potatoes midway, until the potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside.
While the potatoes are cooking, toss the sausage into the remaining mustard mix. Spread evenly on a separate baking sheet lined with foil. Place inside the oven about 20 minutes after the potatoes, and roast for 25 minutes. (i.e. the potatoes and sausage should finish cooking at the same time.
Take out both baking sheets from oven and toss potatoes and sausages together. Serve warm or at room temperature.
