So Much Love

Excuse the admittedly sappy title for this blog post, but I can't help it! There IS so much love! I have been supported everyday by Graham and consistently buoyed up by the CrossFit, running (both virtual and what, real?) and blogger communities. I have overwhelmed by the support and well wishes of people who read my ramblings and still have the energy to supply advice, encouragement and inspiration.

I had reached out to a fellow blogger named Crystal, aka Carpe Diem Crystal, to ask her for any tips she might have about dealing with the hip/IT band issues I was having. I thought I had remembered reading something along those lines in her blog. I was expecting a short reply (if I got one - come on, people are busy and I was a stranger) with some link to a YouTube video. Instead a I received an incredibly heartfelt (and helpful), lengthy response where Crystal detailed her experience and retold similar experiences of people she knew. She offered some tips, asked me more questions and managed to convey, through one Facebook message chain, so much genuine support for me and what I was attempting to do even though she didn't know me from Adam...well, okay from Eve. She has since sent me a couple check-in messages, hoping the hip is feeling well and that taper time is wonderful. Remember, we've never met! I barely remember to stay in touch with my best friend (I'm a lazy communicator) and Crystal remembers to check up on my taper time! That's awesome!! Check out her blog, as it's fantastic (www.carpediemcrystal.com and www.facebook.com/CarpeDiemCrystal)

Babies playing soccer our freshman year of college (2003)

And if we're going to go ahead and talk about my best friend, CD, it's definitely worth mentioning that SHE IS THE BEST! We trained and did the San Francisco Half Marathon together a couple years ago and both agreed that there was no way in Hades that either of us would ever even consider running a full marathon. Ha! We were both soccer players since forever and in college tended to view running as conditioning as opposed to a sport in it's own right. Safe to say in the near six years since graduation, we've taken a different view of running, but still, marathons were out...

Best Maid of Honor ever!! (2012)

...until Boston wasn't :) When I decided to give this whole marathon thing a try, CD was so supportive and has showered me with compliments and encouragement throughout my training process. Then today, I get home and am flipping through the mostly junk snail mail when I grasp a thicker than usual envelope. Inside is a card from CD that referenced a statement I'd made in one of my blog posts about not looking forward to beer at the end of the marathon, but Lululemon. Enclosed with the card was a gift card for Lulu. She said that she was so excited for me and the achievement of running my first marathon that she wanted to show her support for my "awesome-ness" with a contribution to my post marathon Lulu shopping spree. She went on to offer encouragement and the reassurance that if I didn't crap my pants during the race, that was a victory in her books. How freaking awesome is that?? 

Yeah, admit it...you want her to be your best friend too!!

To all the awesome people that have offered me so much support along the way, THANK YOU!