Friday April 19th: 3pm: I picked up one of the last copies of the Red Eye from that day and the cover said it all. It was a picture of a red reset button and under it read, "That was a rough one, who's ready for next week?" After a week of bombings, explosions, and flash flooding, I think all of Chicago was on the same page. But there I was on a Friday afternoon, ready to cash in my chips!
Monday was one of the most devastating days for runners everywhere. One of the biggest races in the world, that people work so hard to qualify for, for months on end, fell victim to a terrorist attack. About 4 hours into the race an explosive was set off just a few feet from the finish line. 2 minutes later another one went off just a few blocks down. 3 people died. Hundreds were injured. For the rest of the evening I was fixated on the television, watching this atrocity happen over and over again. I received quite a few phone calls and text messages from friends and family, some of them crying, because they thought I was there. More so, they knew I finished the Chicago Marathon this past year around that time. It became clear to me that Boston was targeted because of the large number of people that were that day, but it still leaves most of us inflicted with fear. The fact that someone would target Boston, a marathon nonetheless, is mind numbing. 
The very next day I decided to support my running family. I went to school in a full running outfit and safety-pinned my Chicago marathon bib to my shirt. It meant a lot to me that I did this, but the best was yet to come. Upon seeing this, my kids were concerned for me, was I in Boston yesterday? How was my family? Did I know anyone there? We had a talk in each class and I went home with a strong sense of compassion and love, even more so than before, for my students who cared for my and my values.
But for anyone who has ever had hiccups before, you know that they don't stop at one. The last time we had a flash flood was in 2008 and it hit HARD. This time around, it was worse. Needless to say: It's gonna RAIN! Businesses and schools were shutting down, while sink holes were opening up and eating cars! Surely this has got to be the end of the world right here! That or someone is playing jumanji....
So by Friday, I think I could speak for everyone in saying that we were tapped out. What an awful week! But the weekend was ahead, and I took every opportunity to soak it up. Caught up with some friends I hadn't seen, or who give me grief for not going out on week nights, ate breakfast-for-dinner and supported The One fund with my friend Alison and bought a "Runner's for Boston" shirt. It was a nice pick up. But even better was getting to take my bike out on the lake path Sunday afternoon for the first time since last fall. It was a good end to a series of unfortunate events.
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