The Boston 26

Running long distance is just as much about the mental game as it is the physical game. For most races I come up with 3 to 5 reasons that I'm running. With as important as Boston is to me, I came up with 26 reasons. Most of the them are people but some are just things that got me going. Here they are (some of them you will never get to know...just deal).

Mile 1: Mom & Dad who, even though they thought i was putting myself in danger, still supported me from day 1 of my first marathon.
Mile 2: The Baf mile. Because he's dealt with something harder than I ever will and did it with an incredible sense of humor.
Mile 3: Scott. My brother who ran my third marathon with me. The best finish line ever.
Mile 4: Val, who first gave me the idea to do a marathon.
Mile 5: Suzanne, who gave me my own non race number piece of memorabilia that has made my wall.
Mile 6: All six of my neices and nephews.
Mile 7: Zschiel's mile for being my first running partner.
Mile 8:
Mile 9:
Mile 10: The top 10%...of everything.
Mile 11: Post race food. Lots and lots of post race food.
Mile 12: Ammie's mile for freezing her tail off during my qualifying race and for teaching me a whole lot about myself.
Mile 13: Half way home. Keep your form, keep your pace. You'll be fine.
Mile 14: Racing fork lifts with Michael.
Mile 15: Because feeling awful can still feel good.
Mile 16: Lohner. The man who showed me how murderous yet satisfying hills can be.
Mile 17: As it turns out, I left mile 17 off my cheat sheet and only discovered this when i went to copy it to my arm on monday morning. So i guess i only came up with 25.
Mile 18: Tiff and Ethan for cheering on Scott and I at mile 18 back in Chicago.
Mile 19: Because just like life, hills are hard. Get used to it.
Mile 20: Heartbreak hill. The legend of Boston.
Mile 21: The RMCF crew. If I didn't have such a great, reliable crew, I'd still be working 100 hours/week.
Mile 22: The Hebda Challenge. Hebs managed to extract the most competitive beast in me yet and taught me that i can force myself to do damn near anything for 4 miles.
Mile 23: Tonya's mile. No matter how bad my legs will hurt at this point, she's dealt with worse and always with a smile.
Mile 24: Eric, who made Boston (or Somerville) his home for 7 years.
Mile 25: Tim & Holly who were there for both qualifying and the victory lap to check this one off.
Mile 26: This mile was all mine.