Running for Boston

Over a week ago I ran my first race of the season, the Shamrock Shuffle. It's the largest 8k out there, and it's held in Chicago each year. I've run it most years of the 10 years I've lived in Chicago. Approximately 45,000 people sign up each year and about 35,000 show up to run it...plus tons of fans cheering along the way. I have a love/hate relationship with this race, but I do tend to love it more than hate it which is why I've run it 8 times. That race is the official start of running season in Chicago so I tend to find lots of motivation to run once I've completed that 5 mile race. I was feeling pretty good last week and was motivated to run more than I had been.

That doesn't compare to Monday, April 15.

On Sunday, April 14 I went for a short run with my dog to make sure I keep the miles in and start building up to running more days than not. It's getting more tolerable in Chicago for outdoor running so I like to build up my miles. On Monday, April 15 in the morning I went for a longer run, nothing big, but I love running on Patriots day...I'm an east coast transplant so I remember things like Patriots day and I like to think that I'm running in the spirit of Marathon day. I love Marathon day and tend to read up on it during the day. In October each year I cheer on the marathon runners in Chicago (except for the year that I ran it) and it's just so inspiring.

So I run on the 3rd Monday of April each year just to feel even more connected with the running community. That late afternoon though, my running desire increased about 100 fold. That runner inside of me that has been hiding for the past few years woke the f up. After the watching and reading and listening to the news, I knew that I needed to rejoin my fellow runners. We are a funny lot...we run to eat, we run to drink, we run to reduce stress and anxiety...but we run. If someone tries to stop us, it makes us want to run more.

After this explosion, I want to run more than I have in years.

I am fortunate enough to live in a very strong running community. The Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) posted that there was going to be a unity run on Tuesday, April 16. I didn't know if I could make it there in time, but I was going to try. When I started to waiver a bit...my husband said, "Go, you know it's what you really want to do" and I went. I am so happy that I went. I was able to run with 100+ runners on the lakefront of Chicago to show our unity with runners all over the world. I was able to run with runners who had completed Boston the day before, the year before and many years before. I was able to run...no one could take that away from me.

I am a runner, I will continue to run...I will not be scared away from running...I will not be scared away from racing...I will not be scared. Try to stop me and I'll go stronger...it's the stubborn New Englander inside of me perhaps...but I will not be stopped...I'm stronger and more determined now to run even more.