Running of ago...

Well I thought I would get my act together and start a running blog. So a bit about me and how I started running might be a good way to start this first post off.

The road to running:
I used to use the gym at my work, but it is closed during the month of August for renovations, cleaning, and such. So I decided to try running. Now this was about four Summers ago now. Once the next Summer of 2011 hit I signed up for my first official run in Quincy a 5 miler and got a 40 minute finish time. I did a couple 5ks also that year. Once 2012 hit I decided to sign up for the Quincy Half Marathon in March. It was a great experience I have to say. I went to see the Boston Marathon in Cleveland Circle on Patriots Day with my friend Amy and boyfriend Christian at her place on the route. It was on that day, in 96 degree weather, with dehydrated and collapsing runners abound and around us that I said to Amy that I was thinking of signing up for the Boston Marathon the next year. About a week later I signed up for my first marathon in Philadelphia in November 2012. Ohh the lessons I learned from this idea. Definitely a learning curve from 13.1 miles to 26.2 miles. When I started training I swore to myself that my longest run would be from my apartment to Castle Island in Southie (Boston) and back. I did meet that goal, but disaster did strike that day with four weeks until Philly to go. My running shoes gave out on me as I turned back and I hurt my left knee. My taper period ended up being 4 weeks. I wasn't letting the injury keep me from running my first marathon. Although I had to take a few breaks during the second half of the marathon I did finish in about four hours and forty minute.

Boston Marathon 2013:
I had no plans to run Boston this year at all. I had even forgot what I had said to my friend Amy in April 2012 about it. In late January 2013 my friend Julie who I used to work with at Chili's back in the day started posting on Facebook about her Boston Marathon team. I ended up joining her team and raising money for Franklin Park in Boston. I wanted to finish in about 4 hours, but I had so many friends on the course to cheer me on that I stopped quite a few times to chat with them and take photos. It was in Cleveland Circle this year that Amy reminded me of what I had said to her just a year before about running this year that I had totally forgot I said. Once I reached a bit after Kenmore Square in Boston near Mass Ave. we got stopped. For many of us it was a "What is going on moment?" I heard many of those words being spoken. I don't think it was until at least 10 minutes later that we got word of what actually happened. No one had heard the bombs go off near me. The buildings must have muffled the sound. It wasn't until people started walking back from closer that we actually found out what had happened. From then it was just where are we going? Where are our friends and family? Is everyone we know okay? People were crying. People we jumping over the barricades to get out of the city. Getting a hold of anyone on the phone was rough. text were going through, but very slowly. I luckily had my phone with me as it fits inside the pocket of my hand held Nathans water bottle pouch. My friends near the finish line got a hold of me after about 15 minutes and meet me were I was and my boyfriend got to me soon after. We found a way to the hotel our team had to shower at post marathon to get our belongings and get out of the city then headed back to the car. On our way back we watched the National Guard coming into the city on the Mass Pike (I90.) It wasn't until then that I got the real scope of what had happened and how bad it really was. I am glad all my friends and family are okay, but wish I could say the same for everyone else that was there.

Two days after the marathon one of my Facebook friends tagged me on a post about Boston Magazine looking for runners shoes from the Marathon for a photo shoot. I emailed them and they called me a bit later for a quick interview. The next morning I brought my shoes to the magazine for the photos. The amazing photos showed up not long after online. They sent me a poster of the cover just a couple days ago with a nice letter. I'll post them both at some point soon.

Next Up Bay of Fundy Marathon June 23, 2013 and Chicago Marathon Oct 13th. Let's do this.