Iron Woman

Hey, all y'all. So first off, I must throw some serious props in the direction of my wife, who finished her first official Boston Marathon on Monday (second overall, when you count her bandito run in '98). The weather was great (50s and cloudy) for running a marathon, but Deb had to battle through some serious stomach issues that hit around mile 10. She could have bailed, but she was determined to finish. I was waiting for her at the 16.8-mile mark, near the Woodland T stop in Newton, just before the turn onto the dreaded hills. She had called me from mile 10 and said she didn't feel good, but she kept going. I got a text message that she had passed the halfway mark, so I figured she was probably 45 minutes away or so. Deb was walking with two other people when she came up the hill to where I was waiting; by this time, she had some calf pain as well. My original plan was to see her there and then jump on the T and meet her again at the top of Heartbreak Hill, and then see her at the finish. Then I decided to walk with her to the top of the hills and then take the subway to the finish. After a few minutes, I figured I might as well stick with her to the end. So there I was in my jeans and carrying a backpack, finishing the Boston Marathon. A lot of our friends were concerned because Deb's times weren't tracked after the 25k checkpoint, but she got it done. After we made the final turn onto Boylston Street, we ran the last half-mile to the finish line and got in at a little after 7 p.m. At first, it looked like she wouldn't get a medal, but we found out we had to walk almost another mile down the street. Deb was pretty emotional because it certainly wasn't how she had planned it, but she was also proud that she stuck it out. I know I was pretty damn proud, too.

Of course, it's two days later and I'm still sore. Yeesh. Those hills are brutal, even when you walk them. It didn't help that I had run 6 miles Saturday and 12 on Sunday, I suppose.

Hot tamale:

• Well, the Leafs beat Ottawa Saturday night and depended on the Carolina Hurricanes to beat Tampa Bay and keep their playoff dreams alive. The game went to OT and was just about to go to a shootout when with 10 seconds left, TB's Martin St. Louis raced in on a breakaway and scored a ridiculously nice goal to win it and send the Leafs packing for the summer. Oh well, it was a good run. Serves them right for sleeping through January and February. The playoffs start on Friday, with some pretty good matchups: Ottawa vs. TB; Carolina vs. Montreal; Rangers vs. Devils; Flyers vs. Sabres; Red Wings vs. Oilers; Colorado vs. Dallas; Calgary vs. Anaheim; and the red-hot San Jose Sharks vs. Nashville. I'm picking the Wings to take it all, but I hope I'm wrong. I'd love to see Joe Thornton and the Sharks run the table.
• What's worse than coming down with a nasty case of the scurvy? How about a little bout of bubonic plague?
• If you had a 103-inch TV, would you ever leave the house? Would you be able to leave the house?
• Gas prices are on the rise again, with some estimates predicting they'll hit $3 a gallon by the end of the year. It's times like these I wish I had a Flintstones car.