Go Get 'Em Kid

Hope everyone had a great week, but I would have to imagine I wasn't the only one who found myself tearing up at the news of Tim Russert's sudden death. Hey look, I obviously didn't know the guy, but each Sunday, I invited him into my home by way of Meet the Press so that he could provide me with snippets of what I needed to get by for my very few and far between political discussions. I found my relationship with Tim developed much like how many of the great ones do...once I realized the depth of his character and values, it became more than a crush.

So, maybe it was Tim's passing, I don't quite know, but last week I found running to be as challenging as a hill on the 23rd mile of a marathon. Wednesday night, in particular was difficult. I had come home from a long day at work and when I turned on the TV, I was overwhelmed by the outtakes from Tim's memorial service with his son, brother-in-law, Maria Shriver, The Boss and many more laughing, crying, singing, sharing memories. What really struck me though was the impact he had on so many...I started to wonder if I could even impact a handful.

All of about two minutes later when I shook this self observation, I kicked myself in the ass, (easy to do with a budunkadunk like mine!) laced up my sneakers and ran. I'd be lying to let you believe it was pure self motivation. If that's all I relied upon Wednesday night, I would have failed miserably. Motivation came from thinking about The Race on August 10th; the first round of donations for CF from friends and family for The Race; words and some literal pats on the back from friends and family; but the biggest source of motivation last week came from an unlikely source. It was an e-mail from an old college friend, Dave.

Now let me tell you, Dave and I met each other about 20 years ago (eeks...I'm getting old!) at Stonehill College. While we were always cordial to each other and shared pleasantries, it wasn't until last year, when Suz and I were planning for the 15th reunion that we had the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better. We discovered that we both were into running - an immediate common bond.

So, we communicate from time-to-time, but last week's e-mail had a powerful impact on me. Not only did he give me the play-by-play of the race course, but offered to pace with me, "sacrificing" his own race. Wow...it's completely selfless and amazing. I was so inspired by this that I've already paid this forward. (I''ll tell you how next posting.) Here's an excerpt:

Hi Annie,

This is great! Michelle and I will definitely make a donation. Have you run the Falmouth Road Race before? If not - some advice: Don't worry about your time. there are 10,000 people jammed into Woods Hole (an area about the size of the old cafe @ Stonehill). If you normally run 9:00 miles, your first one will be closer to 11:00. unless you're in one of the first corrals, you won't be able to get into a comfortable stride for @ least 2 miles- if you can, hill train...

If I'm healthy (injured right now) I'll be running again this year. If you're looking for someone to run with or help with the pace, LMK.

Thanks Dave for this...and thanks to everyone that's dropped me a line of support and made a donation. I'm extremely humbled and hoping someday soon I can return the favor.

So I did it. I ran my 4 mile hill run in West New York, New Jersey while enjoying the spectacular view of the bright New York City lights across the Hudson contrasting against a deep blue evening sky, accomanied by Springsteen pumping through my iPod and "Go Get 'Em Kid" through my head...a perfect end to my day.

Stay tuned for next posting: I'll talk about passing the running torch to the next gen...my nieces run the 6.22.08 Hope and Possibilities kids race.