Destination - the finish line - picture taken the day before the race.
These are the two girls that I trained with. Both ladies qualified for Boston. Needless to say they are fast! I almost died training the long runs with them. It was really hard moving my normal pace a minute (or more) faster in order to keep up with them. . . for 14 miles!
I felt incredible the entire race. Kristy Williams joined me at mile 20 right before heartbreak hill. It was really nice to have her to run in with!
These are the guys that I started the race with, Allen and Ryan. It was so much fun running with them . . . the jokes just kept coming and coming. It certainly kept my mind off the race for the first several miles!
I stopped for a moment to give Andrew a hug. He was so upset that I said goodbye and kept running. It took weeks for him to get over it. Every time he sees something with the Boston Marathon emblem on it, he says that "he doesn't want me to run it anymore. He wants to run it and win it!" I wish him all the speed in the world. Luckily, he's already off to a good start, my little Andrew doesn't stop moving!
The marathon was just as meaningful for me this year as it was last year. Catie is still battling cancer so I wanted to run and fundraise for Dana Farber again. I was a little more hesitant to put myself through all the training and the time commitment this year because I was still carrying injuries from the previous year, but I knew that I wouldn't feel right about it if the marathon came and went and I hadn't taken the opportunity to be a part of it. So, I started physical therapy and went weekly for about three months during training. A month before the race my therapist told me that I wasn't to run again until the marathon. I was instructed to cross train in a pool and run in deep water - as exciting as it sounds - it wasn't. Running in water for an hour gets a little boring, and redundant. But, it helped spare my body from further injury. Because of my injuries, the farthest I was able to train was 16 miles . . . after investing so much time and energy to get up to a 16 miler, I was really disappointed that knew I wouldn't be able to run the marathon like I had hoped. When I began the race in Hopkinton, I wanted to at least make it half way through. As the miles ticked away, I was shocked how good my body felt. I kept my pace slow and steady to preserve myself for the last few miles. Surprisingly, I felt stronger and had more energy than the first time I ran. I never hit a wall, I felt happy the entire time and, best of all, I finished!
All in all, the training and the fundraising went really well. We ended up raising over $10,500 this year. Thank you to all who supported and donated. Your help has made a difference in so many lives.
