Tears for Boston

Before I write anything about my
adventures, day to day happenings, training, and complain about the
weather, I feel the need to address the Boston Marathon shooting
incident. Almost a week later, I still can’t comprehend why this
happened or who would do such a thing. I’ve cried several times,
especially after hearing about the 8 year old that lost his life
while watching and then running to greet his dad at the finish line.
How absolutely terrible… I absolutely, positively cannot imagine
that family’s pain. I am always so grateful to have spectators
waiting for me at the finish line – my husband, my parents,
siblings, friends, etc. It’s an honor to have them share in my day.
To think that that honor could be turned around in a blink of an eye
is just horrifying. I also cannot wait for the opportunity to have
my own kids watch me finish a marathon. I can picture them waiting
at the finish line, so excited to have seen me cross…

I thought about Ryan (age 12) at
Whidbey Island – how he stayed around after the event to watch
other finishers. How inspired he is to run, run fast, and chase his
potential. How similar to that 8 year old he probably is.

I also know that this could have been
us. I told Nate the night after Whidbey that I sort of wished I had
chosen to run Boston as my spring “A” race. I’ve never run it
and would love to be able to race it while I’m competitive. I
briefly considered it but wanted a more low key Spring marathon
(after big target races last Fall, NYC, and upcoming Chicago). I
know, though, that if I would have raced it that I would have been
carted to the medical tent afterward (always!) and after 30+ minutes
of recovering I would have been out watching and cheering for other
finishers. That’s just who I am – I love being around and enjoying
other people’s finishes/triumphs. So there’s a chance that it could
have been me there.

The response to the bombings has been
just awesome. It shows what a close knit family the running
community is. I won’t post links here because I won’t get them all,
but please consider checking out the relief efforts. There are
things from collections for prosthetic limbs for those that are in need (how neat is that) to T-shirts showing support of Boston sold
by the NYRR. Hands down, awesome.

I’ll sign off for now, but will recap
my Washington adventures over the next couple of days (there was a
lot!).