W

Sometimes after I cross the finish line, I wish I could bottle all of my thoughts for the moment I sit down to write about the race. The feelings are so fresh, the emotions so raw.

Tonight, I sat with my parents and watched history. And I'm feeling all the emotions. I walked in the door with only 20 minutes until game time so I scarfed down my dinner. As I cleaned up my plate my father says, "Megan sit down before the first pitch. Megan now. MEGAN HE'S IN HIS FUCKING WIND UP SIT DOWN!" And with that I took my seat. {Side note: I had at least 90 seconds until the wind up started, Jack was just a little on edge.}

We held our breath for every pitch. We screamed as Fowler bolted a home run to start off the game. Cringed as Baez made 2 errors crucial errors before the 4th inning. Sat in silence as we watched Cleveland tie the game in the 8th inning. And screamed our throats raw as Rizzo made the final out and snagged that game winning ball into his pocket. I've seen my father cry a small handful of times. And tonight, his tears brought such joy. We live and breath the Chicago Cubs in my family. And after (10) innings, (8) runs, and (108) years, we can finally say, we are the World Champions.

My father in all his pride and joy

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, because it's closing in on the wee hours of the morning and I still have to adult tomorrow. I hope everyone has the chance to feel what I felt tonight. If you have a sport or a team that you love, I hope you get to experience the euphoria that comes with being a World Champion. Sports are a funny thing. So many life lessons can be learned on and off the 'field' {or whatever your sport is performed on} and yet in the long run, sports are simply an escape. Very few of us will ever make any money by playing in our recreation sports league or by signing up for ump-teen races a year. But we do it anyways because it's our escape from reality. And we can't get enough of it.

"All I want to do is see them win. And watch the celebration. And the presentation of the trophy. And go to bed with a smile on my face. I've had a million surgeries. I've had a heart attack. I've been in a pretty serious car accident. And I'm still here to see this. I've seen over 1000 games played at Wrigley Field, that's over 3 YEARS of my damn life at that stupid place! I'm ready to see it!" - Jack Hode around the 7th inning.

And I'll be damned if tonight wasn't a dream. Or was it? So the next time you think twice about signing up for that race because you shouldn't spend the $40, or you think twice about going to your favorite sporting event because you need to get up early for work the next day, I'm going to advise you to do so anyways. Because what I'm feeling right now, there ain't nothin' like it.

And now I have my own "World Series" to get ready for, which is the primary reason I'm not drunk on Clark Street at the moment. I have 48 hours until I toe the line of the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon with the chance to keep this ball rolling and turn November 2016 into a truly epic month for both me and my family.

Let's do this shit.