#24754

I watched another documentary last night called, "The Marathon Challenge." It was about 6 people who were pretty inactive (i.e. one woman said her idea of exercise was bowling) and challenged them to train for a marathon for 6 months. There was a woman who was 70lbs overweight, a 68 year old woman, a woman who had just lost 40lbs, a woman whose mother had just died, a man who had HIV, a 50 year old man who had suffered a heart attack 3 years before and a man who used to be an athlete in college but then "let himself go." All these people formed a group and trained. It took place in Boston and the people were going to run the Boston Marathon. 

I think this was a good thing for me to watch b/c it allowed me to see how incredibly crowded and exciting it is at the start line. It reminded me not to go out too fast (those that did had to walk a lot), it reminded me to hydrate and, most importantly, it reminded me to take the experience in. It also made me aware that I might actually be kind of emotional at the end of this race. Every single person on this documentary who trained ended up finishing. Most of them finished in 5.5-6 hours. The past athlete finished in 7. However, each person that crossed the finish line showed some sort of overwhelming emotion, whether it be "giddyness," exhaustion or pride that led to tears. 

Most of you know that I cry at weddings and hallmark commercials but I'm not usually one to cry in public. However, yesterday when I walked in the Hynes Convention Center to get my number, I found my heart beating fast and my eyes welling up just a little. I've come a long ways since my training started in December. I was true to myself and to my training. I did the hard work even when I didn't want to. So, when I saw my number, I couldn't help but smile ear to ear. The guy who was working at the number's counter said, "Have you ever done Boston before?" I said, "I've never ever run a marathon before. This is my first." "Well Congratulations," he said, "It's something you'll remember forever."