Inspiration and Gratitude

This morning as I was running on the treadmill, a bit quashed by boredom, I noticed on the bookshelf in front of me the scrapbook I made after the Boston Marathon in 2007. Typically I do not make race scrapbooks, but the support and encouragement I received both before and after the race were so spectacular, I just had to somehow permanently capture it all.

The truth of the matter is that the "Boston effect" is downright amazing. You can tell people you are running your first marathon, or you ran your best marathon, or you are running New York, Chicago, Green Bay, Des Moines, and they say, "that's great, congratulations." On to the next subject. But when you say you are running Boston, it truly excites people. It inspires them. It impresses them. Prior to my race, I received probably 30 e-mails and calls from aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends wishing me luck, concerned about the weather, telling me I inspired them. Most of them were not runners. In fact, I'd venture to guess many didn't even know how far a marathon is. But they came out of the woodwork to pour encouragement and flattery on me. It was absolutely amazing. And overwhelming. I was so grateful.

After the race, I came home to even more e-mails and cards with people telling me they got no work done Monday morning because they were tracking me, that I was "one tough gal," that I was an inspiration. I even had a message that an abbey full of monks were cheering me on. Wow. I could have deleted all of these amazing messages, but I chose to keep them all and put them in a book with pictures, articles and my race report. I am so glad I did.

This morning, during what started as a very tedious run, I soaked it all in. Twice. Wow. The messages and my race report quickly created a big lump in my throat and I felt so very grateful. And inspired.

I will share with you portions of my race report that I am going to take with me through the remainder of my training:

"Boston was a beast, but oh so beautiful despite the nasty weather . . . The Boston experience was absolutely amazing - I have heard people describe the Wellesley screams many times, but it was absolutely surreal hearing the women screaming from 1/2 a mile away . . . I shook hands with Dick Hoyt . . . and got to hear Bill Rodgers speak, which was very inspirational . . . We had a great time out there in the rain, wind, mud and many layers of disposable clothes!! . . . I saw John on the course 2x (at much needed times too!) . . . It was all so cool . . . BUT, truth be told, it was a very, VERY painful and humbling experience at the end of the day . . . [but] All in all, I had a blast and I can assure you I will be back to Boston to redeem myself."

The time has come, and I really look forward to doing just that. Even if I don't run a PR or even close to it, I will put my work in, toe the starting line, and enjoy every second of it. My family will be there, I'll have many friends there, and I know people will be cheering for me from home while I am fortunate enough to participate - for a second time - in the world's most legendary road race.