Thanks, Boston!

After 16 years you’d think it would be like, “oh yeah, here we go again.”
But each April, my trip to Hopkinton is as remarkable as the first.
Maybe that’s why people have been doing it for 112 years.
At least that’s why I’ve been coming back for almost two decades.

It’s called Marathon Monday in Boston.
If you’ve never heard of it, you really should learn.
It’s right up there with Christmas and the Fourth of July.
The major difference is that on Marathon Monday the Red Sox play Santa and the twenty-four thousand runners provide the fireworks.
Running shoes aren’t required for the experience.
Trust me on that.
I experience it from a racing wheelchair.

My first time was in college.
And I look forward to it every year.
To me, it’s a feeling and not a distance.
It’s a multidimensional thing that’s hard to put into words.
You might say it’s like winning the lottery and getting kicked in the groin at the same time.

There is more to it though.
It’s feeling nervous energy a month before race day.
It’s carbo loading with 15 family members and friends two nights in a row.
It’s meeting another runner/triathlete in the elevator.
It’s the emotions that come with hearing a happy little “Make me proud, Uncle Mike” from a two-year old the night before the race.
And it’s the tears or joy, relief and hope that flow when the starter’s gun finally sounds.

Along the way, it’s the love of family and the support of friends.
It’s the energy boost that comes with hearing familiar voices scream your name as you whizz by.
And it’s about smiling right back even when you are hurting.
There is no substitute for love on Marathon Monday.
Or on any day for that matter.
I’d argue that true love is as important as the months of training, the sweat and the pains it takes to qualify.

Whoever said that a marathon is a solitary affair doesn’t know what they are talking about.
No one ever does it alone.
We bring more than our fitness to the starting line.
We bring love.
We bring friendship.
And we earn so much more than a medal when we cross the finish line.

Be well.

PS – I’ll be back for Boston #17 in 2009. While I already had a fast qualifying time (25 minutes faster than needed from the 2007 Jacksonville Marathon), I feel equally proud to have earned another Boston qualifying time along the hilly Boston course last week. Wanna know what’s cool about it? I earned this one by 4 seconds. Tight!

Check Yo' Self!

My Boston Marathon race number is W11. In 2008, my reason is simple...pushing myself means living life to the fullest. It's just ONE week away. Tight!

Frisco - fun and fanfare.

Just returned from a work week in San Fran and thought I’d share this. The photo is of the protesters who hung a "Free Tibet" banner from the Golden Gate Bridge to protest the human rights conditions in China as the Olympic Torch is set to arrive in the city. San Fran is fun!

I enjoyed my trip…who wouldn’t like Alcatraz, the outdoor cafe culture, biking in Marin and Olympic protesters climbing the Golden Gate Bridge to hang a banner?

Peace.

Jus' Peachy! ING Georgia Half Marathon.

So, it's been a couple weeks since my last posting and I've managed to push a half marathon in Atlanta then jet directly to San Fran for a week of work (culminating in the always enjoyable Red Eye flight home - BTW, thanks, ATA, for going bankrupt while I was there so every pissed off, stranded traveler who was supposed to go San Fran to Hawaii on your crappy airline had his/her flights cancelled and then had to head back east on MY USAir flight resulting in a "first time ever" Red Eye for me that I did NOT have an entire row to myself). But I digress. Marin is cool. It was worth it.

Anyhoo...a half marathon just a few weeks before Boston? Yep. Columbus figured the world wasn't flat and I'll add NEITHER IS ATLANTA! I knew it before I entered...just wanted to test my new racer before taking it to "Bahston" for THE marathon and thought the race might be a good hill workout for yours truly. It was. It sucked. The potholes, rain, wind and broken glass ALL OVER downtown ATL - added bonuses - made the race feel JUST LIKE BOSTON. I'm glad I went.

Highlights?
1. Seems a tornado touched down in downtown Atlanta the week before the marathon and popped all sorts of glass windows out of skyscrapers. The glass proceeded to shatter all over the roads. No fun even a week later. I'd hate to be a shoeless, homeless guy in that city right about now. Also, I heard that of the 50 or so wheelchairs, about 12 of them got flats before the race even started (on their way to the starting line) and a few more flatted after the race started. Good thing I got lost between the hotel and the starting line and took a different (read "less glassy") route. Less competition. I still finished out of the money.
2. I suffered on the hills in my current seating position. It was better to learn this in a warm-up race then in Boston. Let's hope the seating mods I make are the right ones. It's the little things, right?
3. Emory Rehab was the wc division sponsor and kudos to them on a great bike escort, putting us up at the Hyatt and great hospitality and support. Much appreciated.

Lowlights?
1. Wet roads + cold temps = slick racing. Case in point...mile 6-ish...I hit my brakes at the top of the hill near the Carter Center and didn't stop skidding until 100 yards later when I needed to make a 90 degree right turn on a downhill. Lesson? Chair handling and stopping the new racer is different than the old one. Whoa. The fans straight in front of me sure where scared (and happy to see me make the turn). I don't blame them.
2. Whoever laid out the new, modified finish should have their head checked. Sweep up the glass, don't change the course. 20,000 people had to run up a curb cut and along a sidewalk before negotiating a "mouse finds the cheese" maze to the finish line. Forget the runner congestion, it wasn't fun in a chair. Looking at the bright side, I suppose I now know how my chair turns in tight quarters.

I'm shipping up to Boston...

Be well.