Woke up this morning with great anticipation for those that I know running the Boston marathon.
Weight was up a bit from pizza last night, so opted for the granola bar breakfast. Opted for the Subway lunch as I was short on time and no snacking at all today. Dinner was baked bbq chicken with pineapple and pasta. All reasonable portions but got plenty of protein and carbs today! Diet = A- (I'm eating a chocolate chip cookie as I type this)
I can still feel the knot in my lower back, and it is tender to the touch to the point that I'm guessing it's bruised from me constantly rubbing it, but at least I was mobile today...until...around 5:30. I bent down to pick something up and it locked up again dropping me to one knee and barely able to stand up. Fair amount of pain at the moment, so I made the call...to a massage therapist. I met Jenny a couple weeks ago when she was doing chair massage at Telesale, and she loosened me up good for the Henry County half. I'm headed to her place tomorrow night to get worked on and see what she can do for me. May hit up a muscle relaxer tonight as well. Health - C- (I'm also dealing with some increased allergies and need to get to the store to pick up some Claratin-D)
Today is Patriot's Day in Boston - a city-wide holiday that focuses on the Boston Marathon. By now, you surely have seen, read, or at least heard about the horrific events surrounding the bombings at the finish line. Many of my followers have connections of their own, but I will share mine from the day.
As a proud member of the Yorktown Running Club (YRC) I was anxious to follow my buddy John Mickle today. I was receiving the text alerts from his progress throughout the morning and was posting the updates to the YRC facebook page throughout the day. John was out strong with a 7:07 pace through the first half, and after lunch I was excited to watch the Kenyans strut their stuff to a 2:10 finish (I can run a half in that). I couldn't feel more pride for John when I got the FINISH text on him - 3:24:10! Outstanding.
I went about my day at that point, and was on the phone for most of the afternoon. When I finished with a call around 3:40, my assistant LeAnne ran in to tell me what was happening. I pulled up facebook first, and then CNN second. Both screens were littered with details, speculations, videos, photos, and pure chaos of the situation. I checked my phone and had text messages from several - Ted, Pete, Chuck, and Molly specifically. All of which were of great concern for John. It was only seconds later that John had posted on facebook that he was safe, and was already in his hotel room and showered, packing to head home. THANK GOD! Second to John, I have a colleague in Columbus who was running today. Andy is a financial advisor and quite fast. I couldn't find his time online (I'm guessing the timing system was jacked up at some point), but I did eventually find that he finished in 3:14, and while I have not got confirmation, I can assume that at that pace, he was also finished and long since gone from the area. I also know Roger Tyler from Connersville who checked in on facebook that he ran a great time of 3:26 and was fine. (Thankful to have such fast friends today!)
Everyone else that I "know" is only through social media. People that I follow or more specifically am a chocolate milk team refuel teammate with. These are people that I've never met, but communicate with daily online and feel like I know them well. Many of them are incredible people that you can follow on twitter or their blogs. Dani (@irisheyes1982) is the author of weightoffmyshoulders.com and was unaccounted for longer than anyone. She and her wife Tori finally checked in safe and sound, but you can read Tori's account of the day on her blog post here. So thankful that they are all safe tonight.
I was made to feel quite special by many friends today who upon hearing the news were quick to message me, text me, or even call me to be sure that I was okay, and all of my loved ones were safe as well. My mother was so overwhelmed with messages of concern for me that she updated her FB status with to say that I was not in Boston this day.
While the impact of today's events will weigh heavy on my mind and heart, they will NOT change who I am, what I do, or how I do it. I am a runner. This was not an attack on runners. I am an American. This may have been an attack on Americans, but I stand proud to be an American runner, and will run this weekend with renewed pride and honor for who I am and what I do. I will pray for all the victims and their family with every mile, and I will find strength in their pain.
5 more days and it's go time...I will be ready!
#prayersforboston
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