What a fun and motivating post to work on the day before heading out to Hopkinton!
With about a month to go I put a call out for my “virtual cheerleaders” to help keep me motivated in the final push to get to the start line of my first ever marathon. The results were awesome and I’m feeling so loved! To all my cheerleaders, I would not have been able to take on this challenge without you. Each of you, and all of your pictures, will be on my mind as I make my way 26.2 miles!
These next 26 pictures, 1 for each mile, were sent to me from my dear friends, starring their son Ben (aka Chewie). Leslie said that posing for 26 pictures was like the equivalent of a marathon for Chewie. But with that, I feel he really captures the the emotions, and the pain(?), I’ll be experiencing mile by mile with each of his expressions.
I tend to wear heels pretty often (though near the end of training I cut it down a bit on the daily to try and keep my feet/legs rested). When I got this pic from my aunt, I thought it was perfect! Maybe I’ll train for my next marathon in heels!
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| This picture from Krista opened the flood gates to my animal cheerleaders! |
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| All the way from Seattle, Bo is exhausted at the idea of running a marathon and Juan captured it perfectly. Don’t worry dude, I’ll run it for you! |
Took me a good minute of analyzing this pic to understand what, exactly, my mother had in her mouth. When I realized the marathon was Easter weekend, the fact this was a bunny mouth all made sense. Kind of 😉
One night Scrimmage was looking at me and I could tell he wanted in on the action of cheering for me (yes, I’m one of those pet people at times!) So “we” started using his toys to spell out “Go Mom.” It looked ok, and was even partly legible, but Scrimmage was confused and thought we were playing. He ran through the piles, I was urging him to “stop, stop!” and we ended up with this….some piles of toys and a confused looking dog.
My best friend, Lesley, (or really I should say one of her bunnies) got into the cheer zone all the way from NJ. I do not accept your challenge, Gilbert. I have to work on pacing!
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| Can’t go wrong when babies and animals cheer together! Thanks Amanda, Joe, Lauren & Bailey! |
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| Little nugget cheerleaders are the best! Thanks Nikki, Brian and Davin!
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I was told capturing this next picture took patience, but it was well worth it in my opinion! Thanks Karla!
I saw this next picture from Gino and thought “wow, what commitment to costuming!” Then I found out everything he is wearing are edible pieces from a cake and the words just totally escaped me…. 😛
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| I wish I looked this great when I run, but all that matters is this is how I THINK I look 🙂 Thank you Karen! |
Caitlin truly represented cheerleader style and went all out with the makeup, ribbons and signs! I love that Smithsonian, the trusted travel buddy, also got in on the action! See you at the finish, Cait!!
I can be a total goof, as many of you know. Well this picture gives an insider look into where I get it from. Thanks, DAD!
Lots of love from two of my favorite little people ever, Riley & Brynna (and their parents Alexis and Jason)! I love the details of the sign and am totally feeling the love!
It was great leaving work on Friday having received this card from my colleague, Sarah! Too bad no costumes were allowed this year!
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| Was a bummer to hear you’re sick, Rebecca, but don’t worry I’ll do the running! |
This next post is a bit of an inside joke, though I think many have been let in over the years so it probably makes sense to more than I even realize! Brad you keep me posted, ok? 😉
Oh, and did you know that a marathon is 319,236.92 jars of Fluff long? Yup.
Q-town love from my girl and ski sistah Randi! Wish I could have spent some time at the expo with you, but this sign totally rocks (not as much as you!) Thanks for thinking of me & I can’t wait to be your cheerleader for your Antarctica marathon adventure!
Got this on Easter Sunday, the day before the big run. I’ll let the Facebook post speak for itself. Thank you so so much Meghan and Tim!
An oldie, but a goodie, this picture was resurrected to send me some love from my friend Todd, who was our BU mascot Rhett! I remember this day so vividly…Rhett wore my Patriots jersey on the ice!
Dawn, and her chicks, have spirit! Love!!
Thank you all so so much! This was so much fun, having a virtual pep rally and the loves and support is both overwhelming and inspiring!
Remember, if you’re out on the course tomorrow try to call me over for an ussie along the way! I look forward to seeing any pics you are able to snap (but maybe use some good judgement before posting, especially if you’re near the finish when I bet I’ll be looking a bit rough. Might I recommend “blast shot” mode? 1 picture out of 50 will have to look decent, right?? 😛 )
Eat|Play|Run|Kirby 