IronMo Update #4 - Finally, finally

My many friends,

I hope this finds you well. I’ve been in hiding for about six weeks (and with a good reason), but now that it’s over, I can share why.

As part of my Ironman training this year, I’ve also been training for the Napa Valley Marathon. Napa was run this morning, and I am deliriously happy to report that not only did I finish, I also qualified for the 111th running of the Boston Marathon (2007)!

For those who’ve known me a long time, you probably know that I have wanted to run Boston ever since I decided to go to Wellesley (Wellesley is famous on the Boston course not just because it is the halfway mark, but also because the women of Wellesley form a “scream tunnel” that can be heard a mile away. Fourteen years after I first set sight on this (15 by the time I run it next April), I will get the chance to run past Wellesley with an official race number. Hooray!

The race was cold, wet, and miserable (if you remember my first half Ironman at Wildflower in 2003, it was like that, plus a raging headwind). I found myself wondering why I was doing this, and I struggled with cold, bodily aches, and an overwhelming desire to quit. And then, right when I was at my absolute lowest point, with 10 miles still to go, I was given a vivid reminder exactly why. I ran past two friends from the South Bay Ironteam, and started chatting with another guy who looked vaguely familiar. Turns out he is part of Team in Training in San Francisco, for both the Napa run team and the Wildflower tri team.

Was he a participant running his first marathon? Nope. He was a Patient Honoree – running his fourth marathon, and his first marathon since he ended his chemo for a rare form of CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) 9 months ago. All my whines and blubbering? I sent them packing. It could not have been more perfectly timed. Thank you, fabulous Honoree and in-remission Mark Zafra, for reminding me, when I really, really needed it, that the ability to be miserable, cold, and wet while running a marathon is actually an incredible gift.

Because I’ve been training for this marathon, I’ve missed a lot of the seminal Ironteam workouts and bonding over the past two months. I’m looking forward to joining up with the team fulltime again next weekend. Ironman USA is less than five months away.

Thanks to your generosity of both pocketbook and spirit, 53 donors have helped raise over $5100 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. THANKYOU! I continue to be humbled by your generosity, and by your unfailing belief in me. It’s belief like that, coupled with story’s like Mark’s, that make what Ironteam stands for so incredibly important.

My unending gratitude to each of you for your help as we work to eradicate blood-related cancers, and to live our own lives to the fullest extent possible.

With much love,
Maureen