Well after begging, pleading and asking very nicely I did hit my goal of $1000! In fact, I raised $1005 for the Home Base Foundation!
I almost felt like I was at Disney again since we had to be in a seat at Fenway at 7:10. So that means getting up at 4:30, eating a bagel by 6:00 and hydrating before 6:30. Best part there must have been some sort of freak heat wave, it was warm and sunny to boot. Now I haven't had an organized run since Disney. I was signed up for a few but life got in the way and there were more important priorities.
There were some amazing speakers and I felt myself tearing up a few times. People forget that if a soldier comes back and you can't see an injury it doesn't mean they aren't suffering from an unseen injury. The only thing that kinda sucked is Kelly and I weren't in the same wave so she started 10-15 minutes before me. But I did get to see my friend Kennedy, who I haven't seen in forever, so I was glad to start with her.
I would have killed for a tree or maybe a cloud along the way, but alas that was not meant to be. Highlight was passing my friend Andrew and getting to smack him on the head on the way into Fenway. I was just really ready to be done running and it seems like the warning track is so long! And the actually crossing home base is very anti-climatic, it's more of a keep walking and look to the right when you are crossing. I tried my best to do something Erin like and cute and then they have a receiving line where you can shake hands with soldiers and a few politicians. But my favorite person to meet was the girl who was handing out cold powerade. I was so thirsty and the water wasn't very cold afterward. It was cool after they opened up the park and you could go up to the Green Monster, walk around the warning track and get pictures.
I guess to keep with the theme of clumsy Irish girl, we went to Remey's afterward for a beer and I went to the bathroom and saw there was a TV IN the mirror. So of course I had to go get Kelly so she could see it too. I had a little oopsy dropsy with my phone and it got a little wet! Yeah, so in the end I had to get a replacement (thank you phone insurance I pay for every month!)
I can't wait to do the run next year! Next up is the Hollis 5k, which was the first 5k I ever ran. It seems surreal that it's only (and already) been a year since that run. The accomplishment that I felt was one that can never be repeated. Every time I cross the finish line the feeling is different but always the same. Somewhere along the run I always think about making the decision to take back my life and change. There's been bumps along the way, but I can honestly say that I'd take a pair of sneakers over a glass slipper any day. Ok maybe I'd take both!
Daily Mantra: The only real failure in life is the failure to try
