Rocked it.

Let's face it.

Running the marathon is not easy. That 26.2 miles will be filled with excitement, fear, anxiety, happiness, pain, pride, and relief.

My cousins ran their first marathon today, through the Kids Run Philly Style program. And Ted and I promised early on we'd be right there with them, cheering them on. We pulled up to their house at 6:00 am, and everyone loaded into the van to make it to the race before the start.

Some things I noticed:
1) The weather was not suitable for the wheelchairs to complete the full marathon, so the field opted to do the Rothman 8K instead.
2) This year was the first year the marathon started in waves, which seemed to work from a spectator perspective, but it took my cousins almost a half hour to cross.
3) I'm not sure how many people were dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2, but they seemed to be everywhere.
4) I saw the guy in the pink tank top and tutu and princess wand...I think it's the same I've seen in my magazines.
5) Two girls were running for the husband of one who was in Iraq. I made sure I told them "thank you". When I read that, suddenly the idea of running 26 miles seemed like a walk in the park.
6) My mother realized races aren't just tall, thin people in leotards. Races are made up of people of all shapes and sizes.
7) As Ted and I were waiting for the cousins, around mile marker 24, one lady stopped and asked if we could please cheer for her and asked if she could make it. We both responded with a full "Absolutely!" and she didn't look convinced. I smiled, and said: "This sucks big time, doesn't it?" She seemed to relate to that pretty well--"Yes, this sucks!" "But," I said, "You are so close. Don't let this pain take it away from you." She smiled and headed off.
8) It was cold. Very, very cold. I warmed up pretty quickly when Ted and I jumped in and ran the last three miles with them.
9) Just as Ted's family encouraged us at the end, I hope we had the same encouragement for my cousins. They seemed to pick it up a bit when we fell in beside them, and I got a great shot of my cousins with their older sister. Even their parents and my mother got into it, and we all ran together at the end, before branching off and letting them take the glory.

Congratulations to everyone who ran today! You are all rockstars!

Daring to Dream.....????

Throughout life, many of us have goals we set for ourselves. We use these goals to get use through our daily life, and as a placesetter to give us a reason to work hard. But once these goals are reached, we find ourselves at a crossroad--now what? We either accept the accomplishment, or inadvertently set a new goal...and the entire cycle begins again.

A few years ago, my goal in the running world was reaching a distance past a 5K. Then it was a half-marathon. Then one day I held my breath, closed my eyes, and hit "submit", and suddenly my new goal was finishing a marathon.

Now I've done a marathon, and I'm looking for a new goal. I didn't realize I was, necessarily...I was content with the idea of running other marathons and leaving it at that. Then in some random conversation, the idea of Boston came up, which led me to checking qualifying times...

The qualifying time for my age group is 3 hours and 40 minutes. That's pretty fast.

But then somewhere in me I wonder if I can do it. I think I can never run that fast...then I think once upon a time I thought I could never run that far...so can I? Can I run that fast and at some point meet the qualifying time for Boston and actually earn a spot, something I never, ever thought I would be able to do?

I find myself wondering if this is a plausible goal for me...if this is something I can do and accomplish. When Ted and I ran Philly last year, we finished in 5:07 and change. Is it reasonable for someone to shave an hour and a half off their time?

The idea of qualifying for Boston is amazing for me, and as much as I think it's outrageous, I can't imagine not being able to do it, either...it's not that outrageous...is it?

Now here's a bad run...

And I thought I'd experienced bad runs before...

(from the AP)

Jogger runs mile with rabid fox locked on her arm

Nov 5 03:27 PM US/Eastern

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - With a fox locked onto her arm, an Arizona jogger ran a mile to her car, where she was able to dislodge the animal, throw it into the trunk and drive to a Prescott hospital. The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said the fox, which later attacked an animal control officer, tested positive for rabies.
The unidentified Chino Valley resident told deputies she was on a trail Monday at the base of Granite Mountain when the fox attacked, biting her foot. The woman said she grabbed it by the neck when it went for her leg and it latched onto her arm.
Thinking the fox was rabid, she wanted to make sure it didn't get away so she ran to her car, where she was able to pry open its jaws, wrap it in a sweat shirt and toss it into the trunk.
The woman is receiving rabies vaccinations, as is the animal control officer.