Words to live by

The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating—in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.

BAM!

Today I ran my first half marathon—a precursor to the big event in April—and I kicked butt if I do say so myself. As you can see from my results (click on the image to see it big enough to read, especially us folks who need bifocals), I managed to keep up with the Joneses, literally.

The absolute highlight was around mile 3.5 when I ran by Dick Hoyt pushing his son Rick (www.teamhoyt.com). I've watched them for so many on TV doing the Boston Marathon and I cry every time. And today, I got so choked up, the woman running next to me asked if I was okay. It took a few minutes to breathe evenly again, I must admit. It is such an amazing thing that they do, but then I realized, as I hit mile 11, it's a pretty amazing thing that I've decided to do. I enjoy the running so much these days, I forget that it is actually hard work and that there are many people out there who could never do what I am doing, whether because they have no interest or aren't physically capable or just think it's plain crazy. And I couldn't do this a couple of years ago myself.

I do wonder though if I will be prepared for the emotional part of the Marathon as I am not sure there is really training for that part. If I keep going as I am now, I'll be as ready as I can be for the physical challenge (the long run this weekend is 16 miles), but when I hit mile 20 and see the kids and families and hopefully Emma cheering on Team MGH, how do I not just fall apart and continue running for 6.2 more miles? Megan, one of the MGH team captains, said she cried there for 15 minutes last year and then had to run Heartbreak! It's a daunting thing.

But rather than worry, I'll do what I can between now ant then to train physically and prepare mentally by resting, eating right, and trying not to sweat the small stuff.

Yesterday

So I was beating myself up yesterday morning as I walked out of the house in the rain and my dress pants, which by the way, I never wear, dragged into a puddle. I was mostly upset because I had made some snarky comments to a colleague at work the night before about tucking her pants into her rain boots. Clearly I was being taught a lesson.

Then, on the commuter rail, I sat next to a newbie, who kept thinking we were at Back Bay station even though we hadn't stopped at Ruggles yet. I had to keep saying, "I too am getting off at Back Bay ..." Finally, she couldn't stay seated any longer and we both stood in the aisle for 2 minutes as we came into the station. And as many of you know, that is one of my commuting pet peeves. Where do these people think they are going to go when the train is still moving?

Then, as I was coming out of the station, I saw some money falling to the ground. I leaned over and started to pick it up and asked the woman rifling through her bag "Excuse me Ma'am, did you drop some money?" "No, I didn't" she said as she bent down and picked up the bills and handed them to me. I walked up the stairs looking to see if anyone was looking around as if they lost something, got to the top, saw no one, so I shoved the money into my pocket.

Stopped at the Starbucks on the corner for my venti latte and pulled the money out to put it in my wallet and when I unfolded the bills, it was 4 ones and 1 $100 bill. Yes, peeps, a Benjamin. I quietly put it away, went to work and sent an email to my friends, including the one I had made remarks to the night before, and invited them all for a 3 pm coffee break. It was a an excellent day ... 

After all these years

In my twenties, I learned to ski. I loved it. Leo and I rented a condo with a bunch of people one year. Then life took over and I took 10 years off, and then spent a week skiing in 2003. And now, more than 5 years later, I went again and took Emma. I enrolled her in ski school, hoping she wouldn't pick up my bad lazy habits while I got in the singles line time and time again and swooshed down Wachusett Mountain a bunch of times. At lunch, I watched Emma as she struggled to get up off the ground and then as her teacher led her down the bunny hill that she and I had come down before 9 this morning - her mostly on her bum, but at least trying. When I talked to her about it, she said that everyone was better than she was at it. I think it's the first time Emma has not been the best at something ... great life lesson, but on a very bad day. The other thing, because she's 9 and fairly tall, she got bigger skiis than she could lug around. 

I had a great day ... even got a little sun/win burned. She had a tough time, but we agreed, we'll try again and maybe take a weekday off to do it since President's Day has to be one of the busiest days on the slopes anywhere.

It's Official

I have been accepted as an entrant in the 113th running of the Boston Marathon. I know I am an entrant because I am raising money—and by the way, I am almost 2/3 of the way there—but it's still pretty cool. I was talking about it at the office today and was surprised that there are people in my group who don't even know that I am running. I feel like it's all I ever talk about these days, but I guess not. I did run 13.1 last Saturday around Dedham, finishing in an impressive 1:51 which means if I stay at that pace, I can actually qualify for my next marathon adventure, if there is to be one.

There's Emma, who not only is an Oompa Loompa the week of the marathon, but is also performing Miley Cyrus' "Girls Night Out" with her friend Alyssa at the variety show at Greenlodge on February 27th. There's also the fact that I picked up my brand new bifocals today, and although the frames are totally cool, I do still feel a bit old as I get used to seeing at different levels through the transition lenses. I know I'll get used to them, but it's weird. And to top it all off, it's February ... my favorite month of the year.

Super Sunday 10K

Somehow, I managed to place second in my age group at the 10K I ran last weekend. My time was 47:28, 7:39 minute miles and the woman who won the women, 40-49 age group, ran the race a minute faster per mile. I must admit, it was pretty cool to see that I was second posted on CoolRunning.com. My award included a medal, a gift certificate for a pair of socks and a bunch of goo, which I think I will try out tomorrow during my 13-mile training run. It's supposed to 40 degrees, balmy actually so I am looking forward to getting out there and pounding the pavement for while.