T minus three days and counting.

The day is almost here!!!  After three months of running through blood, sweat, and tears (literally), I had my final training run today.  I now have three days waiting.... waiting, eating carbs, waiting, sleeping, working on my costume, waiting, packing, waiting.... I just want it to be Sunday already!!!

It's promising to be a really fun weekend; Caitlin and I will be driving down to Anaheim on Saturday for a pre-race pasta lunch with my charity team and the marathon expo, and then it'll be bedtime nice and early... gun time is 5:45 am on Sunday!  A few friends are hoping to come meet us to watch the finish and then go to Downtown Disney for post-race shopping and brunch at Rainforest Cafe.  Should be a blast!

I know this is a very, very short post, but I really must go to bed... need lots of rest!  I really just wanted to write a few quick words to mark the end of training.... In truth, I wanted to say something about what these past three months have meant to me, how they've changed and influenced me, but I'm at a bit of a loss for words.  Hopefully I'll be a bit more reflective after the race... once all my nervous energy is out!  I have so many thoughts and emotions swirling around right now that I just can't put any of it into words.  I suppose everything I'm feeling can be summed up in a quote that was on the front of a good luck card Caitlin gave me this week:

        "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" -Vincent Van Gogh

I feel like I have grown so much in this attempt, I love where it has brought me, and I'm excited for where it will take me in the future.  It has brought me discipline, drive, happiness, accomplishment, strength, pride, and, most importantly, peace.  The end of my training is only the beginning.... I can't wait for Sunday.

13 days 'til 13 miles!

Believe it or not, the race is only 13 days away!  I'm definitely excited, but I'm also quite nervous- I'm just really not sure what to expect... I'm sure I will have a blast, though; I just have to get past my nerves and enjoy it!

Despite the nervousness, I am still enjoying it as much as ever.  I had a beautiful 9-miler along the coast yesterday between Santa Monica and Venice Beach- gotta love California!  I did pretty well... I cruised for quite a while before hitting a bit of a wall around mile 7, but got a pretty quick second wind and was able to pick it up for the last mile and a half.  I think it was the hills that did me in.  Despite the fact that the past is all along the coast, it is definitely not flat!!  It starts on the cliffs over looking the beach at Santa Monica, and drops down to sea level by the time you hit Venice.  I really started lagging about halfway back up to the cliffs, so I can only assume that it was the climb that got me.

As the race draws closer, I am starting to wrap up my training.  I have two short runs this week- about 5 miles each- and then one long 10-miler next weekend before I begin to taper.  During taper, I plan on running no more than 5 miles throughout the whole week to rest up my legs, but to also do lots of cross training to keep my system in shape.

Another thing I'm working on as the big day draws near: COSTUMES!!!  As any one who has ever met me knows, I LOVE costumes.  Disney races are well-known for their costume-wearing contestants, and I fully intend to be one of them.  Naturally, I will be going as Tinkerbell, so I stopped by Joann's yesterday and picked up some supplies.  Thanks to some bargain-hunting and a few well placed coupons, my entire costume only ended up costing me thirteen dollars!  (Side note: 13 miles, 13 dollars..... coincidence?  I think not.)  I haven't really started work on it yet, but I'm going to get sewing tonight, and I can promise you it will be FIERCE.  Sadly, I have decided against wearing wings- it just seems way to cumbersome and uncomfortable- but the rest of the outfit will be Tinkerbell-tastic!  Stay tuned for pictures!

Finally back on track...

I know it has been forever since I posted, but I really just didn't feel like talking.  My last post was on Christmas, detailing a really wonderful run I had had that afternoon- well, let me tell you, that was the last good run I had for weeks.  Tired, discouraged, and nervous about the race being so close, I just didn't have the motivation to get on here and write something.  I just literally had nothing to say.

However, I am happy to announce that my luck has turned... I returned to LA on Sunday (after a mediocre 8-miler), and I have had two stellar runs since then.  Tuesday was cut a little short because of a crowded gym and a 30-minutes-when-others-are-waiting time limit, but I just ran as far and as fast as I could for those thirty minutes, and I felt great.  I had another great one this morning- 4.5 miles, no stops, and at a pretty zippy pace.... very exciting!

It's really incredible to me how much a good run can affect my mood- not just because of the after-exercise endorphins, but also because of how I feel about myself.  In earlier stages of my life, I often wanted to run but couldn't.... it would hurt, or I'd get tired and stop.  I wondered what it would be like to run for miles and never get tired, to be one of those girls who just run and run and run... They seemed so strong and powerful and just totally unstoppable.  Today, as I was breezing through my 4.5-miler, the girl on the treadmill next to me was having a little trouble; she was much slower than me, and she stopped every quarter mile or so to catch her breath.  When she finally ended her workout, she looked over at me and made a face as if to say "How are you still going?"  I knew exactly what she was thinking, because I had had the same thought many times before.  And in that moment, I just glowed.  I was strong, I was powerful, and I could run forever.