for shits and giggles...

...and because my roommate deemed it blog-worthy.

Is it Christmas?

Pregunto yo que pasa hoy con el mundo, Que está tan absurdo...

I spent Thanksgiving on Long Island with a good friend of mine and her entire extended family.  My friend is Indian.  As her mom picked us up from the train station Wednesday night, she began to tell us what was unfolding in Mumbai.  

It was unnerving and surreal to spend all day Thursday cooking with the television on in the background, my friend's parents switching back and forth between CNN in English and Hindi, watching the coverage that has been labeling the terrorist attacks as "India's 9/11".  Don't get me wrong - we had a blast spending the entire day in the kitchen, cooking up a delicious feast for all the guests who came over later in the evening, but conversations amongst all the relatives kept going back to specific family and friends who were currently in Mumbai and what time people had last spoken to them over the past couple days.  

We came back to my friend's house this afternoon from a successful Black Friday shopping excursion and were numbed as we sat in front of the news coverage again, appalled that the death toll was continuing to rise, the gunfire raged in unpredictable spurts behind the journalists in front of the Taj hotel, the hostage situation and number of injured going back and forth.  For now, the siege has apparently been declared "over" and that these particular terrorists have been killed, but I have a feeling that this terror is far from over....

My heart goes out to all those directly affected by all this cruel, inhumane attacks.

I love my alma mater

One more reason why Madison is simply the best university around....

YES WE CAN

Ladies and gentlemen, we made history this evening.  

I have never been so proud to be an American, to live in the greatest city, the greatest country on Earth.  I am so proud to see my country wake up and take a stand for what they believe in, to make their opinions heard.  I am proud of my country for proving that we can see past racial barriers that once blinded us.  I am proud of my generation for tearing down the stereotypes that called our age demographic apathetic and uninvolved with politics.  I am proud that we did not give up faith in the strength and potential that we have as a country.

The sense of HOPE that maybe, just maybe, we could make this change happen grew with each state that was painted blue tonight.  I had butterflies in my stomach, not from the beer, but from the excitement as I looked around the bar and saw every person around me holding their breath and then cheering with each additional victory, as it became clear that we would not go home disappointed.  The countdown to the moment when the West Coast polls closed contained more anticipation and promise of a new beginning than any New Years countdown I have ever experienced.  People were dancing in the streets, shouting from the rooftops.  Thousands crowded in Union Square and sang our national anthem.

One of my best friends, Alex, had attended the Obama rally in Berlin earlier this year.  I remember her telling me about one banner that had stuck with me.  The World is Waiting to Love America Again.  That moment has arrived.

America, we've made the first step in the right direction.  This is just the beginning.  Now it's time to make that change that we have all declared tonight that we want.  Let's make this happen.  

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer"

 - President-elect Obama

run like hell....

I love living in a city that reveres running so much that there are fireworks in the Park the night before the Marathon.  Tonight the Empire State Building was lit up in the ING Blue, White, and Orange and tomorrow the streets of New York will be filled with 39,000 runners traversing all five bouroughs.  I'm so excited to be volunteering at the water station at mile 25 tomorrow, watching some of the best distance runners in the world - Gete Wami, Catherine the Great, Paula Radcliffe, Kara Goucher, Abdi Abdirahman, Ryan Hall, Paul Tergat, Hendrick Ramaala - approach the finish line in a city that has been so influential in the running boom over the past few decades, indeed the city that ignited all major urban marathons around the world.  If all goes well, I intend to run this course in 2010.

"The marathon is a charismatic event.  It has everything.  It has drama.  It has competition.  It has comaraderie.  It has heroism.  Every jogger can't dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon."

    - Fred Lebow, the brains, heart, soul, and passion behind the NYC marathon

many the miles...

I have never,  by any traditional definitions, been an athlete.  I did not play sports in high school, I hated running the four laps around the track in gym class for the presidential physical fitness mile test, and I only started casually running when I got to college in order to meet new people in my dorm and keep off the freshman-15.

Today, I completed my first marathon.  I wish there were words to describe the experience.  After I crossed the finish line of the Nike Women's Marathon, and received my Tiffany's finisher necklace, handed to me in a little green box by an incredibly sexy fireman, I burst into tears.  

Leading up to this weekend, it has been important to me and all my teammates that we were not only training for such a huge physically demanding test of endurance, but that we were doing so with Team in Training, supporting others who have fought much more difficult battles than we were trying to overcome.  I was very lucky that I did not have as close of a personal connection to the cause as many others do.  But it wasn't until yesterday that any of us realized just how much we were a part of something bigger and how much all of our efforts had impacted the lives of others.

After hanging out with Jenna all afternoon, at a kick-ass concert in Golden Gate Park, I headed back downtown for our team meeting.  The 220+ runners and walkers who had flown out from NYC gathered to share one story after another that brought tears to my eyes.  Stories of parents, brothers, sisters, spouses, children who had lost their battle to Leukemia, Lymphoma or multiple Melanoma.  Inspiring stories of survivors.  Testimonies from teammates whom I had never known were survivors.  I had trained with them all season, they looked just as healthy as the rest of us, were often the ones leading the pack, and never let on the horror stories of chemo, radiation, and years of sickness they had gone through in order to get to where they are today.

Emotions were running high as we all headed over to the pasta party.  One of my mentors had mentioned earlier that walking into the dinner was the best part.  I had no idea what she could possibly be talking about until we entered the convention center.  The mass of coaches, mentors, and honored teammates from around the US wearing purple and green (TNT colors), applauding and cheering for us, many decorated in crazy costumes, was overwhelming.  We passed under a huge ballon wreath and went down the two story-high escalators and the cheering continued.  Our beloved NYC coaching team and LLS staff were blowing whistles and clapping for each of us, huge smiles plastered across their faces.  I have never received such a heart-felt, genuine welcome and feeling of gratitude in my life.  

Thousands of athletes, family and friends filed in behind us; it seemed as if they would never end.  The ginormous hall filled with people laughing and crying and I realized just how incredible this organization is.  We were finally able to meet Katie's brother, a 22-year old cancer survivor, who we have heard about all season.  The speakers were phenomenal, congratulating everyone on their dual (fundraising & running) accomplishments and connecting everything so directly back to the cause.  I was touched that such well-known people in the running community, including writer John "The Penguin" Bingham, and the first-ever Olympic gold medalist in the women's marathon, Joan Benoit Samuelson, were the honored speakers for the evening, as well as an incredible survivor story from TNT Ohio.  I can't even begin to describe the effect that it had on all of us.  Everything was so well done.

The race was without a doubt the most physically challenging thing that I have ever done.  I ran the first 12 miles of the course with two of my close friends who were doing the half, until the course split, they headed for their finish line at the 13.1 mile marker, and I was on my own from there.  I knew that while the worst of the hills were behind me; it would be all mental from that point, pushing myself to keep running another few hours.  There were times throughout the course when all I could think was that I was crazy, that the human body was not designed to run 26.2 miles at once.  My energy level stayed high, but my hips started to ache and my knee felt like it was being twisted into a pretzel. There were times that I was running slower than I usually power walk around Manhattan.  I had synced my iPod with a playlist that reminded me of so many important times and inspirational people in my life which have led me to where I am today.  Tom Petty, U2, Juanes, Fonseca, Daddy Yankee, Big and Rich, Gwen Stefani, Bon Jovi, Rascall Flatts, Madhatters and all of the other classic 610 and Bros. songs that remind me of my roommates and best friends. That is what kept me running, kept me believing in myself until I crossed the finish line. 

Tina met me a little before mile 25 to encourage me and run me in when I could barely move my legs anymore. Ramon jumped on the course for the final stretch. Over and over throughout the season, I have realized just how lucky our team is to have a coach like him - he is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  He was blowing a whistle and jumping up and down in front of us, making me laugh through the pain.   As he came up alongside of us, he looked us in the eye, and in all seriousness, told that he was proud of us and that it had been an honor.  Then he told me to go cross the finish line, for I had earned it, and this was my moment.

This weekend has been like coming down off the high of an @ conference, where you share a life-changing experience with a group of incredibly inspiring individuals, and try as you may, you can't fully describe it to others the way that you want to in order for them to understand exactly what you went through.

I hope that this is one of those experiences in life where you subconsciously forget just how painful it really was, because I definitely do not want this to be my first and last marathon.

run like hell...

Inspiration from our pasta party, where over 5,000 Team in Training participants from around the country and more than 2,500 family members and friends gathered to celebrate the hugh accomplishment that we have already achieved for such an incredible cause before tomorrow's race.  Needless to say, the journey keeps getting more and more emotional.

"Think about who you were 20 weeks ago, and who you will be tomorrow..."

"You're giving others a chance to realize there is no finish line in life..."

"One day we will gather for the final pasta party because we will have cured blood cancers..."

...and we're off.

Go the distance....

There are experiences that are impossible to describe when you are right in the middle of them because the emotions are too high and the sensory overload is overwhelming.  I have been training for this week for the past five months; indeed, it has taken a very central point in my life and given me a clear sense of focus in which to channel my energy when everything else seemed to be crumbling down around me.  It still doesn't seem real that by lunchtime on Sunday, providing everything goes well, I will have finished my first marathon.

A couple of the other girls and I flew out here earlier this week.  We have enjoyed every minute in San Fran - cruising around Napa and Sonoma wine tasting, touring Alcatrez at night, carbo-loading to the max (sourdough bread anyone?), and catching up with some dear friends.  The city has Team in Training Marathon spirit more than I could have ever imagined, the wall of the Niketown store in Union Square is covered with the names of all the participants who will be running in the world's largest women's marathon this weekend, a tribute to the $18 million that we have all raised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

This incredible journey has all been worth it.