In 19 days I will be almost halfway through my first Boston Marathon. Less than three weeks. One little 15 mile run and then very short runs. Lots of stretching and clamshells (the workout, not the mermaid accessory). Very little alcohol or fried foods.
I ran 21.5 miles from Hopkinton to Boston College last Saturday (I wasn't sure if I wanted to do 21 or 22 so I compromised). I haven't run more than 19 miles since the last time I ran a marathon. As I pushed up and down and up and down those famous hills I crested towards the BC chapel and saw that beautiful skyline. The same one that I remember seeing on the airplane about a year after I moved to Boston. coming back from visiting my mom on the heels of my massive breakup, heartbreak and meltdown. That skyline that made me say to myself "home, THIS is what feels like home. MY Boston" for the first time.
That skyline that I always love to see when we drive home from a visit to the Cape or Maine or anywhere outside of city limits. It calms me, this city. It gives me a sense of peace. This life that I built after getting off that plane and picking up my pieces. Finishing grad school here. Falling in love with a Bostonian. Devoting my career to helping the people that live here. Discovering Boston Cares and being able to give back to the city. It's all my story, my life, this life that I sometimes wonder how I ended up with. A poor white trash kid from out west, surrounded by drugs and alcohol and pain and unhealthy relationships. That should have been my path but I made sure it wasn't and Boston was a huge factor in that. Maybe the hugest outside of my own determination.
When I crest that hill in 19 days I won't be stopping and getting in the car and going home to throw my baby her first birthday party. I will have 5.1 miles left to go but the skyline will carry me. The life that I have and the people I get to know and love will be on the course with me, on the streets cheering for me and waiting at the finish line for me. And there will be my skyline, right up close on Boylston Street, ready to carry me home.
If you haven't already and would like to, please donate to my fundraising efforts for Boston Cares and read more about my love affair with this city here.
I ran 21.5 miles from Hopkinton to Boston College last Saturday (I wasn't sure if I wanted to do 21 or 22 so I compromised). I haven't run more than 19 miles since the last time I ran a marathon. As I pushed up and down and up and down those famous hills I crested towards the BC chapel and saw that beautiful skyline. The same one that I remember seeing on the airplane about a year after I moved to Boston. coming back from visiting my mom on the heels of my massive breakup, heartbreak and meltdown. That skyline that made me say to myself "home, THIS is what feels like home. MY Boston" for the first time.
That skyline that I always love to see when we drive home from a visit to the Cape or Maine or anywhere outside of city limits. It calms me, this city. It gives me a sense of peace. This life that I built after getting off that plane and picking up my pieces. Finishing grad school here. Falling in love with a Bostonian. Devoting my career to helping the people that live here. Discovering Boston Cares and being able to give back to the city. It's all my story, my life, this life that I sometimes wonder how I ended up with. A poor white trash kid from out west, surrounded by drugs and alcohol and pain and unhealthy relationships. That should have been my path but I made sure it wasn't and Boston was a huge factor in that. Maybe the hugest outside of my own determination.
When I crest that hill in 19 days I won't be stopping and getting in the car and going home to throw my baby her first birthday party. I will have 5.1 miles left to go but the skyline will carry me. The life that I have and the people I get to know and love will be on the course with me, on the streets cheering for me and waiting at the finish line for me. And there will be my skyline, right up close on Boylston Street, ready to carry me home.
If you haven't already and would like to, please donate to my fundraising efforts for Boston Cares and read more about my love affair with this city here.
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