Roller Coaster...Starting Now

Crying.  That's what I'm doing right now, sitting outside, writing this post.  I'm listening to my Boston Marathon play list, and I'm just bubbling over with so many emotions.  It's a gorgeous, sunny day, and I want to go back to the icy, frigid winter days when I'd just started training.  We had so much of this journey ahead of us then, and it's almost over.  In nine days, we will run the 118th Boston Marathon, we will take back the race that evil tried to take from us.  It's an end point that I dread and look forward to at the same time.

It's funny, when I was at the orthopedic last week, getting my IT band issue sorted out, the doctor asked me if I trusted my coach.  She wanted to leave the training advice to him, so long as I trusted his expertise.  Without a doubt, I trust him and his advice.  He lives and breaths marathon raining, he truly cares for each and every one of his runners and he told us this emotional stuff was going to creep up on us, and I trusted that it would happen, but now that it has hit, I fully understand what he meant.

I'm a writer, so when I'm feeling like this, I write.  It helps me process and move forward.  So, in honor of David Letterman's upcoming retirement, here are my top four take-aways from training, but unlike Dave's, mine are in no particular order:

1. Fundraising.  For as long as I've been able, I've always contributed to charities that mean something to me.  From the American Cancer Society, for the too-many family members I've lost, to the local Babe Ruth league, for the kiddos that wouldn't otherwise get to play ball.  I've written checks, and I know it's so appreciated.  This experience, however, has been entirely different.   I hold The Greg Hill Foundation in such high regards, and I now fully appreciate how fulfilling it is to be actively involved in a charity that means so much.  This is only the beginning.  Good luck getting rid of me, GHF!
2. Aiming High.  I never believed I could run a marathon.  Ever.  I've always been a runner, but I never thought I could run 26.2 miles.  I also never thought I could fund raise to this degree.  I will achieve both in about nine days, and that still blows my mind.  But, it also makes me feel like I am absolutely capable of anything I work hard enough to achieve.  That's a pretty powerful feeling.
3. My Family.  Training for a marathon requires sacrifice.  You can't cram it in.  It is a long, methodical process that takes many hours away from your loved ones and your responsibilities.       Without a strong support system, it simply cannot be done.  I honestly cannot imagine how I can make up for it all to the people who have supported me.  I hope that, someday, there is a way.
4. The People.  Okay, I said there's no order, but this is tops, 100%.  This experience has brought people into my life that I never would have met otherwise.  I know this is the source of my tears today.  I missed them this morning.  I didn't go to training because I'm fighting some sickness, and I wasn't going to be the person who brought down the entire Marathon Coalition with my germs.  I am a better person for having spent every Saturday morning running with them.  Through the ups and downs, the snow and ice, the injuries, and the doubts.  Erin, Adam, Ashley, Kevin, Lisa, and Rick:  You will forever hold a special place in my heart.  

In nine days we run.  We finish a race left unfinished by evil, because we are people who are work hard enough to come back a million times stronger.  We are Boston Strong, and I am so fortunate be one of you...forever.