What kind of runner am I?

I was a weird kid.

I'm still pretty weird, but people like me that way. I've been told it's endearing. I have decided to believe them.

My father is a Pediatric Physical Therapist so we ( I have 6 siblings) all grew up around kids with physical challenges. Sometimes we would help him at work. Small stuff, like distracting the kids from screaming in fury at him when he asked/made them do something they didn't want to do.

Other times, it would just be the equivalent of telling stories during long runs. ANYTHING to keep their minds off the hard work they were doing.

The weird part though was I would regularly sit and star at my legs and wonder what it would be like to not be able to feel or move them.

I sometimes still think about it.

What DOES it feel like to not have a limb? When I sit and think about "where" my body is. Where it starts and stops I know exactly how much space I take up. They say you have phantom pain and THINK it's still there...but it's not.

I also wonder if I lost a leg, if I would keep running. So many runners were injured in last years Boston Marathon, and some of them did lose legs, and they ARE continuing to run!

I'd like to think I would fight through the medical treatment and therapy (but I've seen what my dad has people do...and it HURTS!) and strap on that cheeta leg and let it rip!

I have a horrible suspicion that I would turn into a super whiny baby that would use my trauma to milk treats from my family on a daily basis.

I'm getting more and more excited to run at Boston and more and more grateful that I have physical strength the ability to RUN!