A Spark in My Step

Shortly after I found out I didn’t get in to the Boston marathon I told Scott I felt like the spark in my step got put out, but now it's back, and it’s probably even sparkier than it was before!

A few days after finding out that Boston 2011 was full and they weren’t letting any more people in, I emailed them knowing there was a fat chance they would even read my email, and an even fatter chance they would respond to me. I still had a sliver of hope though, and it made me feel better to know that I at least tried. I spent at least two hours writing that email because I wanted it to sound just right, and I even had Scott proof read it. I was disappointed, but not surprised when I didn’t get a response back from them for well over a week. I don’t know exactly how many days went by as I waited to see a response from Boston in my inbox, but I do know that right about when I gave up hope that they were going to respond, I opened my inbox and about had a heart attack when I saw a response from them. My heart started pounding, my hands got all shaky, my eyes got huge, and I could barely believe what I was reading. They sent me a link and a password to click on so I could register. I called Scott at work and didn’t even feel bad that I interrupted him during a meeting so I could tell him the exciting news.

At first I thought that my two hour email was to credit for this miracle, but I later heard that they were letting the people in who had contacted them the day of registration about having problems registering. I had forgotten until I heard this that I did call them the day of registration to tell them about my problem in registering, but nobody answered, so I just left a message. I’m guessing they read my email, and then checked to see if I tried to contact them on registration day. Luckily I did. The only sad part to this story is that my friend Jenny, who also had the same problem as me registering, didn’t get in. I called her after getting an email from them and and told her to hurry and call them, but they told her they were only letting the people in who had contacted them on registration day. I was so sad for her, and so sad that we weren’t going to be doing it together again. It sure is fun to know someone to stand by in the massive lines to get on the bus, and to have a buddy to sit by and talk to on the bus ride, and it makes a huge difference to see a familiar face among the thousands and thousands of unfamiliar faces. She’s looking forward to Boston 2012 though, and it will be even sweeter since she had to wait so long for it.

When I qualified for Boston I thought I couldn’t be any more grateful and excited to run the Boston marathon again, but after getting crushed a month ago, and then getting that adrenaline rush of an email a week ago, I realize that it WAS possible for me to be even more grateful and excited to run the Boston marathon this April! All that sadness and disappointment and devastation was worth it because now I know that not a single ounce of me will take for granted how lucky I am that I get to go to Boston this April. It’s going to be all that much sweeter now.

I wanted to have these pictures in our blog book, and I never posted them on my marathon post, so I decided this was a good post to post them on. They are pictures that the marathon photographer took during the race. I like to look at them and remember where I was on the course at that time and what was going through my mind. Rather than spend $15 per picture, I decided to copy and paste the thumbnails, and call that good.

We all have a long painful journey ahead of us! How exciting!

I'm in pain, but I'll try to pretend like I'm not and see if a fake smile and wave will cheer me up a bit.

I can see the finish line. I'm pretty sure that's all I was thinking at this point.

This smile is not fake, it's small, but it's real. I'm seconds away, I can see the clock, and I'm not sure if I'm more happy that I qualified, or that I get to stop running.

Prayer of thanks and relief. I survived.

Lots and lots of mixed emotions. Mostly relief.

I'm in so much pain I can't even stand up straight, but I'm going to smile anyway.