Boston

Yesterday morning I tried to watch the live stream of the elite woman's start before I headed off to the chiropractor. Actually, I got to see the wheelchair start before that, and the men's start after. Then I struggled through a bit of the very spotty live feed with the horrendous commentary. I thought it was just as well that I had to leave.

I could have predicted that Rita Jeptoo or Sharon Cherop would win, just from watching the ladies on the start line. Shalane and Kara were fidgeting with their outfits, doing some nervous stretches. Shalane bent down to re-tie her shoes. The Kenyans on either side of them just should there, all loosey goosey and cool as cucumbers, in the zone.

By the time I got home from the chiropractor, the race was over. I had given up trying to get into the wifi network at the chiro's office. And of course, I could learn nothing about the results from listening to my car radio.

Back home, I guess I could have done a Google search but that would've just been too easy. What I really wanted was to watch a race video. Or read a mile by mile account. I didn't really want to know the results too soon. The Let's Run servers were down. I went to the Runner's World web site and read their live blog of the event, which is where I found out I had been right about the results of the woman's race. It seemed like Shalane's race plan wasn't so bad---staying in the pack with the eventual winner---but she made a mental error by waiting too long to make a move. Instead of reacting to the Kenyan move, she should have made her own move, and sooner.

But what do I know?

Anyway, felt kinda bummed about no American win yet again. Headed up to the vet with Maggie, and while we were at the vet's office the bombs went off at the Boston finish line. The first I heard of it was in the car driving home, and from the way NPR was barely interupting their coverage, it didn't sound like it was any big deal.

I mean, I have a kid living in Boston with her husband, and I wasn't even worried because NPR was more concerned with continuing to run its program about exonerated prisoners. An important topic, but  kind of a fail on a big news story, NPR.

Back home, I texted my daughter and verified that she was fine, her husband was fine, they were no where near the site of the bombing, and she didn't know anything more than I did.

Watched the news and found out it was a big deal, after all. Still, the implications of it hadn't really hit me yet. I had acquaintances running but no close friends. Can you count someone who has unfriended you on Facebook?

Kept watching the news---not the best idea---and managed to let it get me all agitated. Tried to text daughter, who clearly wanted to be left alone. Switched TV coverage from MSNBC to CNN because MSNBC persisted in trying to connect the bombing to gun violence. Yes, Americans, if we took away all the guns, those bombs would not have gone off in Boston! Or MSNBC would like us to believe. I suppose on FOX they were telling people that it was all Obama's fault.

Gradually it began to dawn on me that the timing of the bombs going off, around 4:09 into the race, coincided with what might have been my finish time on a good day. In fact, it was my goal time from two weeks ago. So I could then readily imagine myself finishing the race in the midst of this nightmare, or being stopped somewhere just before, with my husband and maybe even my daughter and her husband waiting on the sidewalk where the bombs went off.

And then I started thinking about how this could ruin marathons, ruin the things we love about them. Make it harder for people to casually spectate from the sidelines, Make it harder for our loved ones to join us on the way to the start and meet us just past the finish line. Make us nervous and suspicious as we line up to start (where lots of people are discarding random items) and approach the finish (where there are people everywhere carrying backpacks and lots of drop bags just laying on the ground).

And I thought about the families who had lost loved ones, and the people whose lives had been changed forever by this horrible tragedy. And how it doesn't matter anymore about the results of this race. And that's a little sad, too, because that's another thing the terrorist(s) have taken from us. And how there was almost no coverage of the Boston Marathon in the mainstream media until the bombing, and this morning that was almost all the coverage was about.

I wore my Heartbreak Hill socks today, but it was too warm to wear any of my other Boston gear. The year I ran was, I think, the only year that the gear was not designed in the iconic blue and yellow. Instead, my stuff is red, white and blue. More patriotic but most people probably wouldn't even know what it was about.

Now I wait with the rest of the world to find out who was behind this horrible act. Debating whether or not to go ahead and enter the Flying Pig Marathon. (Current thinking: no). Hoping it doesn't change my beloved sport too much. Wondering if it will now be even harder for me to gain entry into Boston again. (Current thinking: yes). Wishing peace and recovery to all those directly affected by the tragedy. Glad that all my acquaintances are safe, even the ones who have unfriended me on Facebook.