Week in Boston

The Boston Skyline as viewed from the Charles River

It's now 5AM, and I've just gotten back to LA after a very pleasant week in Boston. Some of you may have eagerly opened this post, wondering if I ran the Boston Marathon, but in fact, that isn't the case. I was here for a weeklong radiology conference, and missed the actual Boston marathon which actually took place 2 weeks ago. The signs were still up everywhere in the city, which is a keen reminder that I still have some unfinished business with the marathon, even though I am reserving this year for triathlon training.

I stayed at a very nice hotel, the Sheraton Boston on Dalton street, which is in downtown Boston adjacent to the Hynes Convention Center. The hotel has a surprisingly respectable pool, which I definitely took advantage of, and I also had the luck to have splendid weather in Boston here, which apparently was a stark change ot the cold weather and winter storms that occupied Boston for the past winter as recently as the past 2 weeks.

With perfect weather and perfect resources for exercise, I was ready to keep up or even ratchet up my training even on the road. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to strain my neck, either from the swimming, or on the long cross-country flight, or some other way. I'm now dealing with a very annoying nonspecific pain in my lower cervical spine that worsens when I turn my head.

The pain was enough to keep me from working out on any discipline for a day, but it lessened up slightly enough to allow me to get back on the run yesterday, and I capitalized on the picture-perfect 60F temps, blue skies, and gorgeous sunshine to do a run around the Charles River. I went to college in Boston, so I know that such lovely weather is anomalous and meant to be enjoyed, so I really enjoyed rerunning my old route around the Charles. Of note, my run route which circled the banks of the Charles river from Cambridge to the Science Museum of roughly 9 miles, used to be one of my longest runs in college, and one that I generally reserved for weekends. This time around though, that 9 mile distance is a very typical off-season training run distance for me, and in fact would be considered a short day during peak marathon training. Nice to see that I've progressed since then.

Here are a collection of the lovely views I managed to take with my camera en route on the banks of the Charles River on one of the most beautiful days I have ever recalled in New England.

One of the many parks along the Charles

Crew (rowing) is a distinct part of collegiate life

More views

Cherry Blossom season in the Northeast

The famous CITGO sign along the Boston Marathon route