"Time" - Hootie and The Blowfish

5:57am

Pita:  "Em, start it up, make sure it's all good to go."
[hit "on"]
[hit "off"]
Emz:  yep, we are good
Pita: [laughing] seriously?
Emz: you. bet. cha. holy. freaking. seriously.

[2.25 minutes pass]

Jay[camera guy]:  okay we are live in 45!
Emz:  [thinking that's nice].
Jay: ummmm...live in 30. [he winks at me.....]
[I'm a sucker for a wink]
Emz: I'm going Jay.  I'm going.  Get me one of those freaking muffins!

........ "And we are LIVE here on the plaza with mom, wife, blogger, marathon runner Emily ...... who has just taken the first steps in her 24 TWENTY-FOUR hour journey . . "

I. was. happy.

Like. smiling ear to ear. happy.
Like. wedding day. happy.
Like. Peanut's. "birth" day. happy.

No nerves.  truthfully.  none. 

this... coming from a girl who can send herself into a full blown panic attack just thinking about something random.  [ya, I've got some serious talents.]

Did I mention I totally dig this Scott Light guy?!  They do not come any nicer. 

The guy next to me running . . . is Aaron.  My 50 mile man vs. Horse .... Aaron.  Yes, the guy who called me "barbie" but he had 24 hours to make that up to me ---- and he totally did.

He was my pacer. 

He told "scotty" [sorry just wanted to say that all day] "I'm here to make sure she doesn't run too fast."  HA!  See, I had forgotten our Barbie incident within 30 seconds. ;)

Pretty sure that "too fast" thing never had a chance.
Speed = 5.6 [yes, I think I can walk that fast too]  BUT . . . this was a "marathon [x4], not a sprint" right?  right?

The interview went pretty well considering:

they kept it simple.
I was "running".
I hadn't planned any replies.

I got a great visit in with my friends at The Sojourner Center.

Awesome.

Scott came back out.
this time ........in his running kicks.  awwwwww yaaaaa.

So talk about multi-tasking.
running
interviewing
holding a microphone
steadying papers [notes]
and oh ya.....sorry Scott.....your treadmill is at a 0% incline but we are ramped up out here [not flat ground].....so you are actually running at a 3% incline....enjoy that!

Scott:  this is hard!
Emz: ummm weird, you out of shape? 

ok, I did not really say that.

but I also didn't tell him until he was done that he just ran 25 minutes at a 3% incline.  What?  I'm allowed to get a little chuckle at another's expense no?!

I was only thinking of him.

He jumped off.  Said he'd be back later 10pm news.

Emz [thinking]: OMGosh that's like *^%#@ hours from right now.

freaking. love. that.

Vemma/verve plug . . . . .seriously . . . . amazing company . . . . amazing product . . . . incredible staff.  Thank you so much Lynn!

7:15 - half bagel with PB [Dr. Dawn's orders] hee hee, one verve energy drink, one PoweradeZero, one awesome Peanut stopping by [at least] four times per hour asking me if I needed anything.  love my girl.

The pita kept sneaking by and lowering my speed. 

Yes, that's my grouchy face.

Tried to explain that sometimes slower is harder ......

[what?  he winked at me].

Ohhhhh and what does a 10.5 year old do when she gets "bored" at 8am?

Spi-belt has nothing on you kid.

We stayed out on the plaza until 8:20am or so......THEN......

hello AZ sunshine beating down on my backside.

Enter Treadmill Move #1.
So funny trying to explain to "movers" ........ "please don't unplug the treadmill."

them:  ummm why?
Emz:  because I'll lose my miles [have to start over]
them:  why does that matter?
Emz: well because I want to see 100.
them: really?
Emz: really.
them:  [eyeroll]
Emz:  all. smiles.

Enter Potty Break #1. [didn't need it but couldn't run while the Woodways were being moved sooooo....why not?]

Let me take this chance to show you my new favorite socks.

I. swear. by. them. now.
I had never run in them.  nope never. until Friday morning.

...shoot from the hip, what?

Successful TM move #1.
Time "lost" 15 minutes.

up. and. runnin'.

pretty non uneventful for the next hour.

Dr. DeRosa [the real Dr.] stayed by my side all 24.  Like all.  Watched my gait, my arms, my face . . . .anything for clues on my status/well being.  freaking awesome.

Here's a photo of her saying, "You better drink this by 10am".  Okay, she really said, "we need to get some protein in you, try sipping on this."

I'm not a fan of eating on long runs -- so I was just praying my body would take it.

I'm a good patient.  I'll do whatever she says.

Now this timing is super funny.
my phone just rang, yes, as I'm typing . . . .none other than Mr. Joe Dana himself.  Yes, Mom, he is going to get you a DVD with the video clips on it.

Now a little background here . . .

Joe.  We went to preschool though sophomore year in HS together!

and . .


he. was. my. first. super-serious 2nd grade boyfriend. 

which means . . . .  I made that huge commitment 27-something years ago and circled "yes" on that note his friend Arron Kellar handed me.

"will you be my girlfriend?  circle yes or no"

Hadn't seen him in about 17 years.  crazy.  Was great to see him.

Then next . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . .

KIM.

Kim came!
Kim came with a sign.

Kim also came with the best smile ever.

You bet I hit the "pause" button for her.  I needed a hug!
Yep - guess who she is cousins with . . . . Jen of M,M&M.  Their family "reunion" [coming up] has got to be a blast!

Thanks so much for coming Kim!

[enter Dawn text, tweet updates . . . . Caroline what?  Chris K huh? MCM is drinking what?]  a w e s o m e !

Enter food:  Jamba juice + protein like 74oz holy shnikes people. poweradeZero.  Pickle juice. yum. yum.

Enter my Peanut:

Yep, that's a "pit wash" you are viewing.

running with her "crazy" mom.

My favorite photo. below. [Thanks to Dawn, once again]

Up until then [about 10ish] I was doing pretty great on not crying.

Then these awesome people came.

Do I know them?  No
Should I have known them? No
Did they see me on TV and decide they wanted to meet me?  yes. [meant to get that in writing]
Did they donate all their coins [$100+] to Sojourner Center?  Yes.

Did I cry?  yes.  for a while after they left.  this just completely blew me away.  They saw me, went home, brought the coins back [together as a couple], oh and did I mention they had just come from another "charity" event.

my. heart. was. full.
and I wasn't getting a lot of air "in".

Enter Aaron, "So what was your favorite part of the Boston Marathon?"
Emz:  you are good, my friend.  Very good.

I wiped the tears away and chatted his ears off for the next 30 minutes.  I'm sure he wished he had never asked. ;)

He bounced off.  I looked up to see this.

awwww. ya.  sista's. fo. life.

Enter clothing change #1.
It's gettin' hot in here . . . I'm going to change my clothes . . .

.................you're coming back tomorrow right?