Boston

My dad is a marathoner. I remember waking up at 4am one morning when I was six or seven because we had to go and drop him off for a marathon. I think it was the Phoenix Marathon. Well, one day, I told him that I wanted to run too. The next morning he woke me up at 5am and I ran to the corner of Baseline and Rural with him. He then ran back home with me and then went off for the rest of his run. I've been hooked ever since. Well, this Monday, I reach the penultimate goal of my marathoning career, a mere two years after I decided to run marathons.

It's off to Boston. To be honest, I haven't thought about it that much. Qualifying for Boston last spring was 95% of the journey for me. Running Boston, beginning in Hopkinton, past Wellesley, through the Newton Hills, over Heartbreak Hill, past Boston College, and then on to Beacon and Boylston Streets will simply be the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, I will not be able to race Boston. My hamstrings and ITBs just haven't cooperated. I'll run it and enjoy it and then limp around next week with my finisher's medal around my neck.

I probably won't run Boston again until my father and/or siblings qualify. I'm going to savor it.

For those interested, you can go to the Boston Marathon and track me. The race starts at noon and there are checkpoints every five kilometers. Monday morning the home page will change and it will have a spot where you can plug in bib numbers to track athletes. My bib number is 4027.