The Road to Boston!

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!

That was my first thought as I opened the email from the Children's Hospital Boston Miles for Miracles Team. I was chosen!

Let's go back a ways..... I've been a runner, for, well, forever really. I didn't ever give much thought to running a marathon until recently. I was perfectly happy with my usual 4-5 mile runs, and when I did work up to a 10 mile long run I felt like that distance was a major accomplishment. More than double it? Crazy talk. Then I started training with a wonderful bunch of folks in town, and the questions began: "How long have you been running? Have you ever run a marathon? Do you want to?" Well, you hear those questions over and over again, while you watch people who seem quite normal, with lives and jobs and children, who have run not one, but MANY marathons, and you think it's not such a nutty idea.

"I'll run Boston someday."

The Boston Marathon is typically 1-2 weeks before my birthday in April, so at some point "someday" turned into "the year I turn 40." I thought it would be a fun way to basically thumb my nose at the whole turning 40 thing: "Who cares? I just ran a marathon! I am all that and a bag of chips!" What a GREAT idea, I thought, when I was in my early 30's and the big year was so very far away. Yes, it's a great idea, and I will do it.

It's here. The year I turn 40 is HERE. And with it comes a vague memory of a thought I had many years ago. "I'll run Boston the year I turn 40." Well, crap. What have I gotten myself into? I'm happily entrenched in triathlon training, which I started just a year ago, and I had a great first season. I can't possibly derail my tri training with this silly proclamation I made years ago, can I? So I begin to push the memory back from where it came, and was going to dump the idea. Or at least modify it. Yeah, running the year I turn 43 or something isn't nearly as snappy as the big four-oh, but it'll have to do.

But the niggling thought wouldn't go away. It was too perfect, really. The race is exactly a week before my birthday this year. Then I started chatting with a friend about her experience running Boston a few years ago, and find out that she ran with the Miles for Miracles team put together by Children's Hospital. I was a goner. Our family has strong ties to Children's Hospital, as our daughter had open heart surgery to repair a heart defect there when she was 4 months old. I'd happily give them my left arm if they asked for it, for all that they did for us. Run a few miles, and raise a few dollars? That would make them happy? Count me in.

So I filled out the application, spent a lovely hour on the phone with the coordinator of the team, and I waited for 2 weeks until the email came.

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!

Now, here I am, taking a few weeks to recoup from my recent 1/2 marathon last weekend before I start training for Boston.

Wow.