I can't believe it! All of my long training runs are behind me! Looking ahead at the start of a marathon training program is overwhelming. And now, I am practically finished. Crazy. It is funny to think that my 9 mile run this weekend is a piece of cake. It sure helps that the weather has taken a major turn for the better--beautiful, sunny, warm! I can actually wear shorts again.
So...in 17 days I will wake up around 6 am and gather with my Dana-Farber team in the lobby of the Boston Marriott Copley. Then we will walk to the buses parked along side the Boston Common. Trek it out to Hopkinton and wait. Nervous anticipation. Lot's of chit chat and milling around. Second-guessing and double-checking. "Do I have my this and that?" "Did I train enough?" "Did I eat/drink enough?" Well, too late now! At 10:30, wave 2 will start (that's me) and off I will go.
I am also realizing that April has begun. For me, April is more than just a month. It is the month that my mom died 16 years ago...and I can really replay the entire month day by day in my head. Easter fell on the same weekend in 1994 as it does this year. That was not a fun holiday--Mom was really sick and I learned that she was not going to survive this cancer. Life was really never the same after that point. I returned to Gettysburg and coasted through the next 2 weeks on autopilot. Thank GOD for my very best friends--I will never forget that call on Sunday the 17th. "It's time to come home," says my Dad on the answering machine. Anne and Murph were there to help me pack. What do you pack when you know you are going home to watch your mother die? Anne and Lee drove me to the airport. I boarded that plane and flew home. I have never been so scared in my entire life. She was waiting for me and I got to spend 4 more days with her before she died at 10:45 pm on April 21, 1994.
I ran the Boston Marathon 2 years ago...on April 21, 2008. It was an amazingly beautiful day--a bit hot for a marathon, actually. I raised over $10,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (my team) that year! It felt amazing to be running in honor of my mom supporting the hospital that tried to save her on the day that she died. Regan and I actually saw the sliver of a rainbow on our way home. It was magic!
17 days until the marathon and 19 days until April 21st.
XO
amy -
ReplyDeletei am so amazed and in awe of your strength even now. for me, march 2 comes and goes so eerily that i really wish it could be skipped over. my mom passed away on march 2, 1998. i remember so much about that day/night. who was at the house, what we were all doing (trying to be positive and remember the great times) and the incredible look on my dad's face when he stepped into the room my friend and i were in as we were looking at pictures - more a look of relief than anything. i know he dealt with so much more than i had and he was relieved that her pain, maybe as well as his, was finally over. march is somewhat of a crappy month because her birthday is march 31st, so that is a rough time too.
luckily, like you, i have a great family and wonderful friends who are willing to talk about anything when i need to. if you ever need someone to chat with or someone to agree with how life would be so much better today with our mom's still here...get a hold of me.
you're doing a great thing by running in your mother's honor - i know she's proud of you!
love you,
lee