One year ago...

     One year ago today will be a day that I will never forget. The memories of that day...as bittersweet as they are...will forever be vividly stuck in my heart, mind, and soul. You see, on April 15, 2013 I ran in the 117th Boston Marathon. A race that runners from all over the world put in hours of training just to get a chance to have the privilege of earning a spot in. For as long as I have been a serious distance runner I had wanted more than anything not only to qualify for Boston, but to be healthy enough to go and run this race. I qualified 3 different times before I was finally able to actually go and run the race. I had pretty severe injuries in the months after my first 2 BQs that prevented me from going to Boston. If I remember right this was in 2006 and 2007. Despite the fact that I had developed a partial labral tear in my left hip and had surgery on my left leg just months before the race, my sports doctor gave me the go ahead to run Boston in 2013. With only 7 weeks to train due to the labral tear and surgery...which for a marathon is not nearly enough time...and knowing that I most likely would not get a PR, I was just overjoyed that I was finally able to go run this race that I had been dreaming about for years. It was a long time coming for me!

    I remember waking up early that morning at our hotel in downtown Boston and turning to my best friend, Amber (a side note here...back in 2006 and 2007 when I had qualified two times and was unable to go to Boston my best friend knew just how bummed I was about that...she promised me that WHEN...yes WHEN bc she has always been one of my biggest supporters and she knew that with out a doubt that I would get there someday...I finally was able to qualify again and make it to Boston that she would be there...you see this was not only my race, but OUR race) and telling her "I get to run Boston today!" Seriously, I was over the moon excited about that! I got ready and left her and my parents (my other biggest supporters) and took the famous bus ride to Hopkington. I was dropped off there along with thousands of other runners...many of us there for the first time just waiting to fulfill a dream of ours...I being one of those runners...and many Boston Marathon veterans as well. I warmed up knowing that I would most likely finish at a much slower pace for me due to my lack of training time, but just so grateful to be there.

    My heat finally got started and I remember just having this huge smile for majority of the race. I was running a quicker pace then I had expected and there were times I would tell myself that I needed to slow down because I didn't think that my body was ready to be running that pace; however, despite having the labral tear my hip was feeling strong...God was really holding me together in a way that I shouldn't have been able to due to my short training time for this race. I remember running by Wellesley College around mile 13 (one of the many famous spots you run by during the race) and just starting to cry tears of joy because that was a moment of the race that I had always wanted to experience. Mile 13 of the Boston Marathon has always been a tradition and the experience at that spot will be one I will never forget...hearing the students cheer from a mile away before even getting up to the school was just overwhelming and amazing. The other big landmark that I was looking forward to was heartbreak hill around mile 20 and I still remember getting to the top of that hill like I did it just yesterday. It was crazy...it was painful...but it was oh so worth it! At this point I was still running at a very decent pace, but I can't lie because I was starting to run out of fumes. Then when I least expected it there they were...my best friend and mom were right there around 21.5 miles into the race. My bestie gathered a huge group of people in that area and she had them chanting my name like I was a champ lol. She and my mom gave me a big boost of energy right then and there and I kept my pace. I stayed strong right up til the finish. I finished in 3:23 and some change and ended up finishing just over a minute shy of getting a new PR...totally unexpected! I should not have run that pace that day...period! It wasn't til about later that day...after (for a lack of better words) things had settled down somewhat, that I would be reminded that everything happens for a reason. You see I finished the race about 15 minutes (give or take) before the explosions went off. Had I finished slower like I was expected to then who knows what could have happened. My family and I were very blessed that day that things worked out the way they did.

     Today I am forever grateful that we were okay physically...sometimes not always emotionally because I always think about that day. It has been on my mind a lot lately and I cry here and there just thinking about it. I cry when I read articles on it and when I see it in the news. I know I shouldn't, but I'm only human and "what if" questions go through my head...often. I catch myself getting nervous at times at races since that day...I'm sure many do. Sometimes I feel that I don't have a right to have these emotions because we were okay, but like I said...I am only human. There is one thing I am sure of though and that is that I am proud to be part of this ever growing running community. We are a strong group of people...both emotionally and physically...and we are so supportive of each other. We have gotten through this together...whether you were there in Boston on that day or somewhere totally different. Wherever you are today, say a prayer for Boston...say a prayer for all us runners, spectators, volunteers, etc that make up this running community...say a prayer for next weeks Boston Marathon.

~Christina~