Baptism by Boroughs

Baptize Me. I had my spiritual baptism when I was about 7, now, at 27, I will receive my running baptism. In 4 short days, I will be completing my marathon. The marathon I've been obsessing over. The marathon I've been dreaming about. The marathon I have talked incessantly about. The marathon that I've trained for. Boroughs, Baptize me. I can't wait to run the greatest city in the world. I can't wait to enter the group of people who can say, "Yea, I did New York." And everyone knows you mean the marathon...okay, at least most people, especially runners. I can't wait to be baptized by:

Staten Island: Baptize me, Verrazano Bridge.

Brooklyn: Baptize me Gatorade Man on 4th Avenue.

Queens: Baptize me Queensboro Bridge, in my borough, where I will see my family.

Manhattan: Baptize me 1st Avenue roar.

Bronx: Baptize me Andre Correa d'Almeida, personal friend and musician, as I enter the Bronx.

Manhattan: Baptize me Central Park, you and I go way back.

Is 26.2 miles just the start? We'll see how I feel after the race. I know I've got the taper crazies. I feel so lazy. I think to myself, wait, I'm running 26.2 this Sunday?! WHAT?! I'm not prepared! Oh wait, I trained. For months. And months. And MONTHS. I hope this will not be my last marathon. I hope it is, in fact, just the start.
I visited the finish. Orange bleachers, I'm so ready to be welcomed by you with open arms! You're a sight to behold. These sore legs will be thrilled to run through your orange carpet to the end. I am a finisher.
My family made a last minute trip to NYC! In case you haven't heard, Connecticut has massive power outages. My sister, Coach Jen, and her lovely family decided to hightail it out of outage land and visit the city. It was my nephews first time visiting the city, and they loved it. They saw where I would run my marathon. This makes me proud. (Coach Jon ran the Hartford Marathon last year. Coach Jen is an accomplished sprint triathlete and 1/2 marathon runner. I foresee a couples marathon on the horizon!)

I've been obsessing and fretting. I needed my family's visit to distract and entertain me. I need my husband to talk me through my crazy moments. Mr. Miller shared this quote with me, and I think it goes well with the feeling of this picture, and with the impending marathon:

"Thinking too much about what happened, and what is about to happen, will wear you down. Live in the moment and take it one step at a time."

- Seal Team Six Howard E Wasdin and Stephen Templin

Here's to not thinking too much about the past, living in the moment, and taking the next four days one step at a time. Cheers to finishing.

4 Days until the ING NYC MARATHON!!!