Boston Recovery

We all know the things that need to be done in the days following a marathon - good nutrition, hydration, sleep, easy movement, gentle stretching, and a return to normalcy. Mentally, you have to catch yourself from the fall, from the months-long focus that carried you to the top of the mountain, where the only direction left is down. This time around, the way down has been extra rocky.

I don't need to rehash the events following the 117th Boston Marathon that shut down a city. I am just so relieved to know (pending due legal process) that the perpetrators have been caught. I am amazed by the work of law enforcement and the citizens of Boston. It's one for the good guys, one that we simply could not lose. We needed this one.

Immediately after the race, the papers and local media tried to contact me but I did not engage. I felt that the attention needed to remain on the victims and those directly affected. I had finished, I had survived, and my friends had too. Where is the story in that?

As it turns out, there was a story, but a different story. It is the story shared by probably everyone who was in Boston -- that from such a terrifying and publicized incident such as the Boston Marathon bombings, you find out you matter more to people than you knew, and you are reminded how much they mean to you. How often in a lifetime do we get that opportunity?

The young, stupid, short-sighted, deranged minds of the bombers could not have predicted that their actions would also steel our resolve and bind us to one another more firmly. Ha, take that!

My 2013 Boston Marathon chapter closes, and the triathlon chapter begins. The body feels good, the spirit is healing, and the energy is returning, but I've got a ways to go. I think it's going to take some time for all of us.

A few more pics from the Boston Marathon before the focus returns to triathlon and my first race in two weeks.

This looks like a finish line shot but was somewhere midway when I was still fresh and had the energy to ham it up. (not the case at the finish!!)

I'm going to assume this guy in the next two shots was getting ready to high-five someone. I'd like to point out that his number is way lower than mine, so he started ahead of me. Just saying. It IS a race ;-)

 

Me and my pocketed peanut butter and jelly sandwich crossing the finish line.
I only ate part of it, but I was glad to know I had it!