Tom is having surgery this afternoon

After spending nearly all day Sunday in the ER with chest/abdominal pain, Tom has been diagnosed with an infected gallbladder and will have surgery this afternoon to remove it. The infection is fairly far along, but the surgeon hopes to do it lapriscopically, rather than through his ab muscles.

Planes, trains and automobiles

Talk about a travel nightmare. I was scheduled to fly home from Chicago yesterday after lunch. Flight #1 was delayed until mid-afternoon, then after an hour sitting at the gate, the flight was canceled due to mechanical problems. I scrambled on the phone to United and was told the next available flight was Saturday night. Argh! The trick is to respond "this is unacceptable" and within a half hour, United booked me on a flight Friday evening on American. I pick up a second airport book and hang out at a chain restaurant for dinner, then work my way over to the gate for Flight #2.

By now, to paraphrase an old classic, the weather started getting rough and the tiny planes were tossed. Sure enough, Flight #2 is cancelled shortly thereafter, and I trudge over to the American customer service area. My cell phone is dying, but I manage to reserve a room at the local Marriott, expecting the worst.

After more than an hour, I arrive at the front of the line, and a tired customer service rep gets to work. Leave tomorrow through Toronto -- well, I don't have my passport. Leave Sunday straight to Boston -- I have plans between now and then back in Boston. Can't you get me there? Ah ha -- we could fly you to St Louis tonight, just to get out of this mess, then fly you to Boston tomorrow. Hello Marriott -- cancel Chicago and find me a bed in St Louis.

I finally got home 24 hours after I had started!

The Post-Marathon Report

Coming soon!

Marathon #11 in the books!

Hi all,

I came, I saw, I finished. Full report tomorrow, but rest assured, I toed the starting line and gallivanted across the finish with Amber 26.2 miles later. No injuries aside from a few minor blisters -- kudos to Tom for those 6am gym times all winter lifting weights. Full report sometime tomorrow -- but thanks to all for your support!

Pre-marathon prep

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow's the Big Day -- my 11th year running the Boston Marathon as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team! Many thanks for all the emails and phone calls I've received over the past few days -- I appreciate all the karma and good luck! Feeling pretty good, a few nagging injuries and a sore throat that I hope will lay low until after the deed is done. Weather for tomorrow looks beautiful -- much better than last year when monsoon conditions were predicted!

So, my annual answers to all your spectating questions!

What I'll be wearing: at the start, likely a light blue running jacket; further along, you'll see this year's singlet (colorful as always, but this year's is mostly blue). Boston College hat this year (alas, my faithful Wellesley hat was forgotten in the back of my closet in Plymouth during a quick trip down yesterday!). Black shorts or running tights. On my website, I've added a few quick photos of my shirt, as well as some from today's Runners' Expo and the DFMC Pasta Party:http://www.racedirectors.com/H/running_photos.html

What is my number: 22456

When the race starts: there are two starts for runners. 10am for the speedsters, 10:30am for the rest of us. Nearly all of the DFMC runners are in the 22000s corral with a 10:30am start.

How will you find me out on the course: Tom and I did some back-of-the-envelope math, and the following are the *earliest* that I will arrive in five mile intervals (we're expecting me to be slightly slower, but this is close enough)

Start: 10:30am

5 miles: 11:30am

10 miles: 12:30pm

15 miles: 1:30pm

20 miles: 2:30pm

25 miles: 3:30pm

finish: 3:45pmish

If you are planning to be out on the course, your best bet to seeing me is to let me know where you'll be standing -- it's easier for me to find a spectator than it is for you to find me!

How you can monitor my progress from afar: www.baa.org will have an electronic monitoring system up and running tomorrow morning. Enter my number and watch me truck along.

Is she really taking calls again? Yes, I'm running with my cell phone! Feel free to text or email me ANYTIME on Monday at 617-699-6914. I won't return text messages, but I'll try to take/return calls (if I don't answer, it only means I don't happen to hear/feel my phone at the moment). This has worked out great in recent years to hear from family and friends all over the country -- it really makes my day!

How the fundraising is going: Very well -- I just broke $4,000 this morning and am nearly halfway to my goal. Many, many thanks to those of you who have already contributed to my run. If you have not done so and would like to, please visit my website, http://www.racedirectors.com/H/marathon.html. I'll be accepting donations through the end of May and hope to reach $8,200. 100% of your contributions support incredibly important innovative research at Dana-Farber that otherwise would not find funding -- this is the REAL reason why I run every year!

And finally, a big shout out to my two angels, Brittany and Amber. Brittany got me to the starting line back in 1998, and her memory is the wind at my back pushing me along throughout the years. Amber waits for me at Mile 25 every year and pulls me home. I couldn't do it without either one of them!

Time for bed! See you at the finish line!

Just one week away

About this time next Monday, I'll be lining up for the second wave of runners at the Boston Marathon, my eleventh year in a row as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. Want to know what it'll be like? Check out this interactive guide to the marathon, from a runner's point of view. It's surprisingly accurate!

Ready, aim, fire!

Tom and I finished our pistol class tonight and passed our written exam. We're now proud owners of two pieces of paper that says we're qualified to shoot a gun -- next step is to convince the local authorities as such!