Priorities

So, I got home from the Relay with two days of PTO ahead of me. Why two days of PTO after the race? you ask. Well, because I was signed up to do this little race in Boston on Monday, and to fly home on Tuesday. I still have the Boston Marathon bib number pickup card stuck up on my fridge. Many of my friends have Boston stories to tell. They watched the trials, ran the race, experienced that one-of-a-kind Boston experience that they say no other race can replicate.

I've been running for many years now, but I've never run the Boston Marathon. I'd like to, of course. I'd like the experience and (yes) the bragging rights and the cool jacket. And when I got the chance to run the EAS Santa Cruz Relay on the weekend of Boston, I was really torn. I even tried to figure out a way to do both, but eventually financial reality and common sense prevailed.

I'm not the least bit sorry about not going to Boston. I wouldn't trade the weekend I had with my team for anything. Streets lined with screaming spectators could never compare to pitch-black California back roads. I'd take the mountains of Napa over the Newton hills, without hesitation. And I'd take cheering on my fabulous teammates, primal-screaming their way through the finish of a last hard leg, over watching Deena Kastor run in the Olympic Trials.

Thanks, all of you. I'm still flying high three days later. I expect the high is going to last for a good while.

And maybe I'll run Boston next year . . . but only if it doesn't conflict with this race!