Ellie: The sweet patient who's making this crazy training worth it!

Yesterday morning I woke up to an email saying that I had officially been matched with my Boston Children's Hospital patient, as part of the Patient Partner Program.  Her name is Ellie, she's 3 years old and she has been a patient at Boston Children's since before birth.  I am SO excited and can't wait to find out more about this little girl, and will potentially share more information and her photo after I chat with her mom and she confirms how much info she would like to be shared.  She is adorable and seems so full of life, and that little spark in her eye is exactly what I have been needing!  

One of the biggest reasons that I chose to be matched with a patient is I knew that even on the darkest days of running, when the last thing that I want to do is lace up my sneakers and head out the door, I could think of this little one who I had been matched with and my annoyances at the moment would become so insignificant, I would realize I had no reason NOT to be training.  As I've mentioned before, my excuses can either be mindblowingly awesome or painfully pathetic, ranging from "My running capris feel snug... I'll just sit on the couch a few more minutes to make them more comfy" (pathetic) to "That 8 mile run on Sunday made my knee feel a little twitchy... Perhaps I should not run today and RICE it" (awesome).

The thing is, at the end of the day I can guarantee that whatever I'm going through is a heck of a lot less troubling and difficult than what sweet Ellie and the majority of the other patients at BCH have gone through, are currently working through, or will spend the rest of their lives trying to manage.  

It all brings me back to my reason for running for my hospital.  Yes, at the beginning, it was a convenience-- I saw an ad on our intraweb about running with Miles for Miracles so I sent off the application thinking I'd never hear back from anyone.  But the moment that I was offered a spot and began to read about the impact that this team has on patients and their care, I knew that I had chosen well.  I can't walk through the main hospital now without looking at awfully sick little ones and thinking "You.  Today's miles were run for you."  Every dollar that I have raised, every mile that I have run has been and will be for them.  And let me tell you-- it's a pretty amazing feeling to know that I'm playing a small part in making a big impact.

If my marathon were a movie (and Sandra Bullock played me because... obviously!), when I cross the finish line on November 4th a little montage would play, showing every sweet little face that I've seen, the faces that match to the names that match to the stories of the patients to whom I'm dedicating four months of my life.  Actually, I'm pretty positive that this will happen regardless of the fact that a) my life is not a movie and b) Sandy will not be crossing the finish line--I will.  Some of you who know me well may also know that I love a good montage and that a GREAT montage can send me right into tears.  Since I'm already preparing to cry my eyes out when I finish, the thought of not only what I've accomplished but who I've accomplished it for will make the end THAT much sweeter.  It's this part of the training that makes the end result SO much more worth it, and that, my friends, is exciting.