• Sculpture of a yellow unicorn, which a man peeking behind it

    Boston Marathon 2024 Recap

    Usually after a race, especially a big one, I can’t wait to sit down and write a race recap to share with y’all. I’m not really sure why it took me three months to get around to writing about this year’s Boston Marathon but here ya go. I hope you enjoy reading about it much more than I did running it this year. Good Beginnings The day of the race always requires an early alarm. We were fortunate to stay with some new friends in Cambridge at a great little Air BnB. Although Patrick and I were taking different routes to the start line, it was nice that we got…

  • Man in a kilt, sweatshirt and Scally cap standing outside a restaurant

    Rockin’ the Kilts on St. Patty’s Day

    As you may remember, we’ve been unpacking our time in South Boston where sang with the band, drank some golden ales, spied on some priceless works of art and smashed some lobster and chowder. All of it, leading up to the reason we were there…to catch the parade and mosh with the locals at the Dropkick Murphys concert at the MGM. Join us this week for an amazing time where we’re acting like locals and rockin’ the kilts, on St. Patty’s Day. The Pre-Game Since our hotel, the Cambria, was right on the parade route, we knew we’d need a strategy to get brunch and a good spot to watch…

  • Man in running clothes standing between a woman dressed as the Genie in a I Dream of Jeannie and a man dressed as the astronaut, Major Nelson

    Beating a Genie to the Finish Line

    Greetings Friends! Even though Halloween is just around the corner, we are going to take a break from all things scary to share Stephen’s race report from this last weekend’s Cocoa Beach Half Marathon. So let’s unpack our bags and talk about beating a Genie to the finish line. I Got No Plans Following my pacing gig at the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago, I didn’t really have any plans to run any more races this year. With my heart related health issues, my training has been sporadic at best. But then…I got a text from my friend, Phil on Wednesday. He wanted to know if I’d be interested in running…

  • Man running in a road race. Lifting his arms in victory

    The London Marathon – The Last of the World Majors

    It’s been over nine weeks since I completed the London Marathon, becoming the first kidney donor to earn the coveted Six Star Finisher medal for completing all of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. We finally had a little down time for me to get around to writing a recap of the historic race. Before we get into all that, I’ll provide a little background info on what happened leading up to the race. So grab a cold one, kick back, and relax. Here is the recap of the London Marathon – the last of the World Majors! The Pre-Race Injury As many of you already know I injured my back four…

  • Crowded bar in room with a low ceiling that has old wooden beams.

    Checking Out The Hidden Bars of London

    The Boston Marathon was behind us and we hopped the pond to jolly old England. Though the main purpose of our trip was to have Stephen run the London Marathon and earn the Abbot Six Star Medal, we had one other important mission in our minds – checking out the hidden bars of London! The Inspiration Since we’d been to London before, we wanted to find some new things to experience. We looked into some museums and shopping areas. And since we were near Whitechapel, I even looked into some “Ripper-themed” excursions. But then I found it, an article on The 15 Best Speakeasy Bars in London*. With this itinerary…

  • Image of a pint of light beer with a Tokyo Marathon Finishers medal on it. The bar beneath it is marble.

    How to Celebrate Surviving a Marathon while Concussed

    Our journey through Japan is coming to a close and in case you missed it, last week we shared about the “Great Cookie Toss at the Tokyo Marathon”. This unfortunate incident was caused by a significantly small room and one wrong move. But this week we want to share with you how to celebrate surviving a marathon while concussed. Hopefully you’ll never need to apply this to your life, but just in case, be sure to book mark this page. The Victor Returns Cold, concussed and triumphant, Stephen made it back to the crevice after completing the Tokyo Marathon in 3 hours and 20 minutes. After he unpacked the story…

  • Tokyo Marathon Finishers Medal in front of a cherry blossom tree

    The Great Cookie Toss at the Tokyo Marathon

    If you’ve been traveling with us on our journey through Japan, you know that each day has been leading us closer to the reason we were there. We visited grand toriis; drank sake in a roof top igloo. We played with snow monkeys and rode on fast trains. It’s been an amazing ride but now we need to unpack the great cookie toss at the Tokyo Marathon. First, remember the Collision at the Crevice In case you missed it, let me recap. Our hotel room in Tokyo was small. How small was it? If it were any smaller, the bidet could have doubled as a shower. It was so small…

  • Zoomed in look at Godzilla's head and claw above a building

    Visiting Godzilla on the Way to the Tokyo Marathon

    It was race day – 1 in Tokyo and time to ACTUALLY take it easy. But never fear, we still have a few fun things in store for you. Walk with us this week as we go visiting with Godzilla on the way to the Tokyo Marathon. Breakfast and a Covid Test As usual, our morning started at the Italian restaurant attached to our hotel (aka The Crevice.) And we had our typical Japanese breakfast of salad, rice with curry gravy and coffee. Frankly, I was REALLY into it by this time. What WAS new this day…taking a Covid test. Stephen had to upload two negative tests in order to…

  • Sumo Wrestling: The Best Way to Start Your Day

    With the Tokyo Marathon quickly approaching, we decided to slow our roll just a bit. This week join us as we unpack one of our last two days in Japan including visiting the restaurant wrecked by the Crazy 88s, and walking the Shibuya Crossing. Oh and of course, Sumo Wrestling: The Best Way to Start Your Day! Starting the Day by Running with the Sumos Traveling in the off-season has it’s benefits: But it also has some down sides, like missing out on some of the big draws of tourist season. For Tokyo, this included the blooming of the cherry blossoms and for us, watching Sumo wrestling. Not wanting to…

  • The Count Down to the Tokyo Marathon

    With the snow monkeys in our rear view mirror, it was time to look ahead. We had just a couple days left for sight seeing as we began the count down to the Tokyo Marathon. Join us for one of our last days in Tokyo as we crawl through squishy black holes, visit with Lady Liberty and eat mysterious things at the market in Kanda! The Bullet Train Back to Home Base We were a little sad as we headed back to “the crevice” aka our spacious hotel room in Tokyo. Not because we were leaving behind the mountains and the snow monkeys. It was because this was our last…