On the road again. [4 miles]

• 4 miles. Gloriously manageable distance.
• Somewhere in between 39 and 42 minutes. Didn’t keep time…and I’m glad.
• Tune of choice: None! So much better to run with friends and talk about life!
• Dog poop count: 1 (technically two pieces… but looked to be from one source.)
• # of times almost run over by car: 1 (a record low!) Feels good to be alive : )

Inspiration

As a repeat runner, I’ve wondered quite a bit how I’ll ever be able to re-motivate myself this year. After such a magical experience a year ago, how could I possibly find the inspiration I once had? And here I was – 7AM on a Saturday, driving a familiar route (no GPS required) into Newton Center, joining my teammates – some old and some new – for our first training week. Strangers meeting. Smiling. Ready. And THERE it was.

Inspiration.

In the face of my coach, who has trained more than 15,000 runners and seen only 2 of them fail to finish.

In my friend Kate, who runs Boston again after being sidelined in a marathon just a couple months ago- a marathon in which she’d already completed 17 miles. She is just now getting over her injury. A disheartening blow, yet here she is again.

In a former teammate, who does not run this year, but who joined us to relive the experience.”My goal was to finish in the same day, ” he joked. “The only person I trailed on Boylston was the street cleaner… but I finished.”

In a new teammate, a marine, who is just back from active duty and runs for the Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester, a program that helped him as a kid.

Charity runners are a special breed. They train selflessly. They train to give hope. They train to give opportunity.

What was I thinking? There is inspiration all around me.

So with that in mind, I surge forward. Looking to accomplish my goal of finishing under 5 hours, inspired by all the amazing people who will be with me the entire way.

See ya next week!