Apr 20, 2014
Not that I would want to hide from YOU delightful humans! (Unless it's Mile 25, at which point I am absolutely unfit for human eyes).
If you would like to track me tomorrow - as those of you with a heavy/$10 investment in my finishing time might - here's how you can:
First things first: I am number 14996, starting at 10:25am! (If you've already signed up for alerts by phone or email, make sure to update it - the BAA lost my number (ehhhh happens to the best of us) so they issued me a new one!)
Second things second: You're going to want to:
a) Text that bib number to PHONE number 345678 (real original, BAA)
b) Sign up for email updates here
Third things third: Will you be on the course? Let me know where you're at so I can keep an eye out for you! And please review this handy checklist to help determine if the runner you see before you is ME:
1. Is she wearing a white visor, black shorts, and a purple singlet that says "CAIT" on the front? (Dead giveaway.)
2. Is she barreling toward you at full speed, arms outstretched?
3. Is she blowing kisses/yelping "WOOOOOOOO" at the top of her lungs? (Applicable to Miles 1-20 and 25-26.2 only)
4. Is she looking at you with murder in her eyes? (Applicable to Miles 21-25, particularly if you are drunk).
If yes, you may have found your Caitlin!
Last things last, but not least:
Thank you again, dearhearts. Your love and support has meant more to me than I can say or even photoshop into a picture with R Kelly. It's because of you that I will be running tomorrow with a happy heart (and only occasional bouts of murder-eyes).
Love you from Hopkinton to Boston and back again,
Cait
Apr 15, 2014
There's been a lot written recently about what happened last April 15th. Everyone has their own memories from that day. These are mine:
I remember running down Boylston, blowing kisses to every police officer I saw.
I remember standing by the buses 10 minutes later, seeing the expression change on the face of the officer in front of me as the second bomb went off.
I remember stopping breathing when I found out Chris had been on Boylston, and that no one had heard from him yet.
I remember starting again as one by one, all of my friends and teammates checked in safe.
The rest is a blur. If I tried, I could probably remember more. But what I don't have to remember, because it has been a part of my life every day since, is what came next.
Tuesday morning I remembered that I'd seen my former teammate Sean Biggins cheering on Boylston just before the finish and texted him from an ice bath. I didn't know him very well (we didn't ice-bath text on a regular basis), but he responded right away, saying how worried he'd been about me and how glad he was to hear from me. Wednesday my mentees crowded onto my couch, eating pizza off paper plates and huddling as close to each other as possible. Thursday I met Biggins and some of my other long-time teammates out - we told our stories, we reassured ourselves that yes, we were there, we were okay, everyone had made it. Friday, from inside our locked houses, we did it again.
There was a lot of sadness in our gatherings those first few days. But eventually, as the sadness faded away, the love that had been right there alongside it grew. The relationships I leaned on in that first week - the teammates who had been there, the ones who hadn't, the friends in other cities who called every day to check in on me - have been the source of more comfort, joy, and laughter over the past year than I could have imagined. Biggins has become one of my closest friends. The runners I mentored are absolute anchors in my life, as integral a part of it as if I'd known them for years. And because of you, our amazing, bursting-at-the-seams team has raised over $1 million for charity.
Everyone has their own memories from the marathon last year, and everyone has their own reasons for running this one. For some, it's to take back a finish line they were kept from crossing. For others, it's to reclaim the spirit of the Boston Marathon. For me, it's to celebrate the incredible strength, generosity, and love that flooded through a shattered city on April 16th and hasn't let up since.
Last year after the marathon, I wrote about the card my friend Anna sent me the day before the race. I still think about it, and what she wrote, nearly every day:
"Run tough. Run strong. Run beautiful."
On Monday, I know that we will.
Love,
Cait
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Apr 11, 2014
As previously documented, I have a LOT of time on my hands in taper. So what better to spend it on than creating absurd fundraising incentives designed to appeal to - at most - 5 of my friends and loved ones!
For any donation received now through April 21st, I will Photoshop (okay okay okay, MS Paint copy and paste) a picture of you with songbird, national anthem aspirant, and Italian Hero Sandwich of Love Robert Kelly!
FAQ
How many questions could there possibly be about photoshopping me and R Kelly together?
More than you'd imagine. READ ON, FRIEND.
What if I already donated?
Donate again! I will do this for literally one dollar. Clumsy MS Paint hackjobs are one of my greatest joys.
How will you get a picture of me?
My ability to Facebook creep far exceeds my Photoshop skills. It's about time I put it to good use!
Can I choose my R Kelly picture?
If you have one in mind, absolutely! However, I just started following R on Instagram and I would STRONGLY recommend you allowing me to select from that absurdly-hatted goldmine.
Do I really want to donate for this?
Well, take a look at the masterpiece below and YOU tell ME.
Apr 02, 2014
One year ago today, we lost Fulvio. When I started writing last November, I could not imagine Team in Training without him - his smile, his infectious enthusiasm, without the love that pulled everyone in the room closer to him and each other. It turns out, I didn’t have to. Fulvio was with us every Saturday, on every step of every run. He was there in the stories that those of us who knew him told, of course - in the extra hugs we made sure to give each other, in the way we tried to welcome every new team member the way he would have. But I watched my mentees, these people who had never even met him, as they poured their whole hearts into every aspect of this experience, and I knew that his memory, his presence, was with them too.
We ran with Fulvio’s initials on our singlets on April 15th, and I know he was with us then too. I talked to him when I was struggling (nobody batted an eye, talking to yourself is kind of par-for-the-marathon-course crazy behavior), and I felt him running next to me, heard him telling me to “Smile, baby!” I know that if he had been running when the bombs went off, he would have done everything he could to keep us all safe. I believe that he did.
I could not imagine the team last year without Fulvio, but we pulled together and we loved each other through it. I can’t imagine what the marathon will be like this year. We can’t change what happened, or fill the holes in our hearts left by too many losses. But we can let our love for running, for our city, and for each other pull us through.
I’ll be running tonight with my teammates, to remember who and what we’ve lost. I miss my friend. I miss his hugs. But I think of Fulvio every time I smile at a stranger and every time I lace up my shoes, and I know that the best way to honor him, and Boston, is through the love and joy that I find in running.
Thank you. For the love and support you showed me and my team on April 15th and every day before and since. Your donations have allowed us to make tremendous gains in the fight against blood cancer, but they've helped healing in so many more ways than that.
Cait
Apr 02, 2014
THREE DAYS TIL KICKOFF! Three days! Would you believe me if I told you I'm just sitting here in my home office, fully dressed in my carefully selected Kickoff outfit, nervously tapping my foot in a way that would knock HUNDREDS off Nancy Clark's recommended daily calorie budget? If you know me well enough to be on this website, I'm sure that you do.
HI GUYS HI GUYS HI GUYS HIIIIIIIII
As excited as I am to meet my 200 NEW BEST FRIENDS, I do have a case of the first-day jitters. Some of my TEAMmates have already raised actual THOUSANDS of dollars! Coming to Kickoff with less than A thousand of dollars would be the TNT equivalent of showing up on the first day of school with last year's Trapper Keeper. EMBARRASSING.
I've got $204 to go - can you help me out? I promise I'll trade you my peanut butter Gu at lunch!
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