Last Wednesday, I wanted to get a quick 6 miles in before my husband left for his business trip.  When crunched for time, I seem to run better under pressure in my training runs.  I was so impressed with myself.

6 miles
Time 1:03
Ave Pace 10:32
Max Pace 8:30

Hubby has been working on the yard and therefore, the garage is a disaster. As a result and there is no path get in or out.  I managed to maneuver through the garage before my run, but somehow I slipped trying to work my way back inside after my run.

I tripped over my hubby’s recycled oil container and used motor oil glubbed all over my shoes.  I went into hysterics and probably woke the neighbor up with my cussing.  I immediately took the shoes off and vigorously attempted to scrub them clean with an old toothbrush and Dawn dish detergent.  I then threw them the shoes in a bleach cycle in the washing machine in the hopes would come clean.  Another Dawn scrubbing and two more bleach cycles in the wash and the motor oil stains and smell remained.

I was devastated.  These shoes were less than two months old and now I needed to replace them, however, I’ll hang onto them until Pretty Muddy.  I’ll wear them for the mud run and then donate them at the end of the race.  Hopefully, their industrial commercial washing machines can remove the smell and stains.

So, ordered a new pair of shoes form Brooks in the hopes they would arrive in time for Iron Girl, but they didn’t.  They arrived on Monday by Fed Ex in this nifty shoebox free packaging.

Following the directions printed on the packaging, I turned the FedEx envelope inside out and it become a groovy tote.  Don’t you just love that!  It’s so green.  Earth Day came a week early!

But oil spill shoes, new shoes and fun totes seem so trivial after the events that unfolded in Boston yesterday.  I had been watching the live streaming on Facebook to stay up-to-date on my friends, Marcia and Andrea, but the live stream marathon updates were overshadowed by devastating news of explosion near the finish line.  Patrick (Marcia’s husband) couldn’t locate her for about 40 minutes and we were all on edge until we had word of their safety.

When I finally watched the news footage later that evening, I cried.  That could be any of us at any race.  Why would someone do this? Is it some anti-government person trying to make a statement on Tax Day?

Well here’s my statement to the sick bastard who bombed the Boston Marathon.

You didn’t just bomb some race. You bombed THE race.  Boston Marathon is the race that all runners dream and aspire to in a lifetime.  It’s on every runner’s bucket list and some, like me, only qualify in our dreams.

Yes, these marathons are our dreams.  Marathons are our goals and while your goal was to put fear in a nation with dodgy explosives, we don’t fear you.  You make us stronger.  You make us want to run more.  You make us long for Boston even more.  We will train harder and thanks to your cowardly ploy, you made Boston Marathon attainable.

We survived 911 and stupid shoebombers and we didn’t stop flying.   We fly more.

You may have caused another massacre in Boston, but you messed with the wrong community. Runners are a resilient bunch.   We are a strong people.  Runners compete in wheelchairs and others with prosthetic limbs.  Even bombs won’t stop us.  Our will, our love and our passion makes us stronger.  Just give us a reason to run and we will run until we die.

Though it turns my stomach to learn of the death of a young child who died while cheering for the world’s finest athletes, it won’t stop me from bringing my children to races.  My children will keep running with me and we will keep cheering for others.

Furthermore, the actions of a lone lunatic won’t stop me from applying to the NYC marathon again this year, because I refuse to live in fear.  Much like those who ran Boston, NYC is my dream.  Once we stop dreaming, the terrorists win.

For Boston, I will keep running and dreaming.

And so will my children.

To prove it, my girls and I ran 26.2 minutes for Boston after dinner.

Today’s Track Tuesdays speedwork is dedicated to the speedy runners, the spectators and the lives lost at the Boston Marathon.

“I got sole, but I’m not a soldier.”

1.1 mile warm up
Time 10:45
Ave Pace 9:48

Lap 1 – 0.25 mile
Time 1:58
Ave Pace 7:54

Lap 2 – 0.25 mile
Time 2:00
Ave Pace 8:02

Lap 3 – 0.25 mile
Time 2:00
Ave Pace 8:03

Lap 4 – 0.25 mile
Time 2:00
Ave Pace 8:02

1 mile cool down
Time 9:34

Total Time 28:18
Total distance 3.1

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