Boston Learns to Run Again!

This morning when I woke up I turned on the news and I usually do. ABC news is my choice, mostly to catch Good Morning America. This morning I turned on the TV before 7am for local ABC news and was lucky enough to catch this story, a story of inspiration, of strength, bravery, hope and victory for many.

Boston Bombing Victims Learning to Run Again

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. October 6, 2013 (AP)

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer.

 Celeste Corcoran, in her yellow "Boston Strong" hat, navigated her way across the artificial turf on her artificial legs, a volunteer on each arm to keep her upright.

One of her assistants had a pair of prosthetics of his own.

"Normally you walk around and you see everybody with two legs. Especially in the summertime — all you see is legs," Corcoran said, pausing to choke back tears. "It's easy to miss yours.

"But when I see everybody here walking and running, it's OK," she said after a running clinic for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and other amputees. "I just want to be able to do the things that I did before. ... So many people have my back, I feel like I can do it. I'm trying my hardest to enjoy being alive."

Dozens of amputees showed up at the Harvard athletic fields on a rainy Sunday morning along with their family and physical therapists and other volunteers to learn how to run — or run better — with prosthetic legs. Corcoran, who lost both legs in the explosions at the marathon finish line, wasn't much of a runner before, but she said she hopes that she will someday be able to join in a 5K or fun run.

"I've always wanted to be a runner but I used to get shin splints," she said. "I don't have shins anymore, so I'm hoping,"

The joke has apparently been repeated so often that her daughter is ready for it. Sydney Corcoran, 18, is wearing a matching yellow hat along with ankle-length tights that showed the effects of the shrapnel that scarred her legs but did not require amputation. She was on Boylston Street with her mother when the bombs went off, waiting for her aunt to finish the marathon.

Across the field, a boy with two prosthetic legs, no more than 4 years old, was learning to kick a soccer ball with the carbon fiber blades. Two older boys wrestled playfully while the bigger one played keep-away with the younger's prosthesis.

"The most inspiring stories are at the back of the pack," two-time Boston Marathon winner Joan Benoit Samuelson said at the start of the clinic. "Our motto is 'There is no finish line.' There are always more challenges out there. You people who came out today are the spokesmen for those challenges."

 

To read the rest of the article from ABC news, click here

There was a video as well which was more of what I saw, it was short but to the point and just amazing!

Photo courtesy of FOX News

We are Runners. We Are Strong. We are Boston. We are BOSTON STRONG.

 

-Stephanie

 

Fabulous Weekend: Part 2!

It is race morning. My alarm goes off at 4:30am. That's early, but still not as early as the Princess 1/2 Marathon mornings....woo....those were some early mornings and I would do it all over again!

Anyways, back to the race. So I got up at 4:30. I went to the kitchen and hit start on the coffee maker, which I had set up the night before so all I had to do was hit "start". Just like many of you smart runners, I had set up everything I needed for the day the night before. My outfit was all set out, my running gear was pretty much packed for the bag check, or at least for the car ride until I needed to put it on.  I wanted to be on the road by 5am. I was close, I almost forgot my coffee and had to run back inside.

Then I was on the road to Providence, RI for the Rock 'n' Roll Providence 1/2 Marathon!!
First off, since there were all these road closures and I don't know Providence that well, I wasn't sure how to get to the mall parking garage. So I pulled into the first one I saw off the highway. Not paying attention to price, I parked and then dilly-dallied in the garage getting my gear on, texting a friend, etc. On my way out I then noticed the price....$18 for 5hours!!! I said No Way!!! So then I had to waste more time by going out to ask someone how to get to the mall garage. I then paid my $6.00 for parking since it had been more than 15min of parking....and went to the garage at the mall....grrr...

Anyways, back to the good stuff! There was a meet-up set up for the race morning of RunDisney runners and other friends, so I headed over in hopes of finding someone.

Look who I found! It was Erin, a Run Disney enthusiast and a Rhode Island local! She was also looking for the meet-up group, but it seemed that some were late, so we didn't really see anyone else! But is was great to see her! You can read her blog For the love of Running Disney , and yes it is what is says, a blog about running at Disney! Erin is pretty awesome I must say!

 

So we said our hellos and got our picture taken, and then went our ways to our corrals!

There I was on corral 11. I was also waiting for one of my friends who was running her first 1/2 Marathon! She had arrived on the late side and had been texting me. She ended up just kind of jumping in at corral 3 or 4 since she was in a rush. I don't think anyone cared, there didn't seem to be anyone monitoring the corrals to make sure people were getting in the right one.

Along the course there were a lot of bands playing rock n roll music and a lot of other genres as well! This guy was cool and was hanging out in the middle of the street! There were also a lot of people with signs! As you can see I really enjoyed these girls' signs!

I caught up with some mischievous Minions along the way! There were one or two others, but they missed the photo opp! One Minion, not pictured here was someone I had met before and I didn't eve realize it until I was home on facebook! She had also participated in Run Disney races and all that and I even am facebook friends with her! Who would have known! I actually ran past another woman during the race wearing her Princess 1/2 shirt, so of course I said hello, good luck, etc.!

A selfie just before the 10 mile mark!

 

Here was the final hill, hitting mile marker 13 then the finish line!!

I have to give thanks to my mom for the awesome Finishing photo!

my well deserved Medal! And I have been shrink wrapped for the purpose of icing!

Here we are, two finishers! This was #3 for me and #1 for her! My friend Maria Elena did AMAZING! I was so proud of her. She had very little time for training, and still finished in 2:31:XX hr! I of course had a goal of hitting 3 hours or under. When I finished, the clock read 3:03:xx. So I knew by looking that I had done what I set out to do since the clock was the timer from the first group! But I didn't want to throw out any huge "hoorays" until I knew the official time!

 

So my Mom (who came to watch), my friend and I then skipped the free beer line and stretched a bit then went for some lunch! After which we parted ways to go home. I went home and sat in a cool/cold tub for about 5 minutes then a shower. I did a little stretching, then crawled back into bed for a nap before the Patriots game. Before the game I then went online to find out my official time....

 

2:50:43

How awesome is that! I did it!!

Not trying to be negative, but if the last 2 miles hadn't been such a struggle for me, I feel like I could have shaved 3-5minutes off of my time. But I am soooo thrilled with my time! It makes me want to do another just to beat that time! But I do know that I need to give my body a break. I will still run, and do short distance, but take a break from the long distance. If I can, I willl do this race again next year. It was a lot of fun!

 

-Stephanie

 

 

 

Fabulous Weekend: Part 1

So last weekend, starting Friday September 27th was the beginning of a fabulous weekend, which was what I was expecting!

So it began after I left work, where I went straight home after filling my car with gas! At home I quickly changed and got ready for the nights festivities!
Then I was off to meet up with a close friend then to the train into Boston!

Boston, you ask, what could be in Boston? Michael Buble is your answer!!

 

If you couldn't tell, I LOVE this man! Not just for his good looks either! Anyways, this would be my 4th show of his, and he never disappoints! It was Amazing, fun and just a grand old time!

And so it begins, Opening with "Fever"

A fan gave him a tiny Bruins jersey for the newest and tiniest Buble in the family!

 

It was just a fantastic way to start my weekend!

Now to move on to Saturday, another great day, but exhausting. I don't think it helped that I didn't get home until 1-ish am from the Michael Buble show, and then I was up around 8:30 to get ready to go to the Rock n Roll expo.

My friend Liz and I picked up our bibs, shirts and swag bag...then off to the merchandise/vendor area. It was a pretty good expo. I wasn't really sure what to expect. Again my only expo comparison is from the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon expo. So of course this was much smaller, but still good. It wasn't too crowded when we got there, which was around 10:30 in the morning and I believe it opened at 9.

 

So we walked around the expo and got plenty of samples of energy supplements to use during the race, as well as pumpkin ice coffee samples from Dunkin Donuts. Lets just say I think we both could have run the 1/2 Marathon right there from all the caffeine/energy we had in us from the samples. But as usual, we felt the crash hit us a couple hours later, especially on the way home from the expo.
 

 

While at the expo I picked up an energy supplement, I decided to go with PowerBar energy Blasts chews. They were pretty good, and seemed to work pretty well during the race. I also picked up some head bands from a group called Hippie Runner! They are similar to Bondi Bands.



I purchased the skull one to match my outfit for the race, but my favorite...well im kind of torn. I think the what about a Kenyan is hilarious and a really like the Cupcake one. I really hope I can put the Tiara one to use someday at the Princess 1/2 again!

 

After we left the expo, we decided to take a walk up to the start/finish area for the race to check it out. We also got some lunch and then some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory for the following day to enjoy after the race!

 

We even had enough energy in us to drive as much of the course as we could, to see what the hills would look like and what to expect! There were a lot of parts of the course that were "one way" roads, meaning we couldn't drive on them they were one way, but yet the course had us running the opposite direction that cars were allowed to go! But it worked out, because the hills that we wanted to see were on roads we could access, so that helped!

 

For the Race Post please read Fabulous Weekend: Part 2 !

 

-Stephanie