dream

i think i smiled the entire way.

i arrived in new york on the red eye and went straight to the hotel.  i grabbed a WSJ, a cup of coffee and cleared my head in the 40 degree weather that awaited me outside, i took a stroll through battery park and contemplated on visiting ground zero, still not ready.  i walked along the water front instead, stopped at the dedicated gardens sat and cried for bit.  i wasn't sure at that point if i was crying for 9/11 or crying because i'd made it here.  i cried a lot that day but none of those tears were sad.  they were just emotions.  emotions of the empowerment of a single city.  emotions of what i really think of as home.  i wandered back to the hotel and met my family who made the drive and train ride up the east side.

i thought of writing a full race report.  trying to describe what it feels like to start off on the verazzano in the toll lane with 47,000 others. what it felt like to hear languages from all over the world while running, seeing a blind woman being led by her husband at mile 22, holding hands. what it feels like to run up the bridge and into the bronx and slapping high fives with every single person under 4 feet.  the smiles on their faces were as big as mine.  gratitude is a large part of what i feel today. i loved every second of every minute of every mile.  new york you might really be my home in another life.

i anticipated this race to be epic. and it was.  i sometimes felt alone in a sea of 47,000? this is epic.  this race was epic. those supporters were epic.  and i'll be carrying on with this smile for a long long while.

you stopped for us and i can only hope we delivered.