Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will leave work early and head to Champaign, IL for the Illinois Marathon.

Six months ago, this was a "wouldn't it be cool" thought that I shared with very, very few people.

I have done the training, I have run the program. I missed a few short runs, but throughout the winter, I did not miss one single long run AND I ran them all alone, outside during an Illinois winter.

My kids and TGF and my mom and dad have watched me work towards this goal and bless them, they never one single time, discouraged me and let me tell you, that was probably not the easiest thing to do as I was a bear with a sore ass on long run days.

I am contemplating the Victory Pose and the Facebook pictures and running into Memorial Stadium down the chute and crossing the 50 yard line. The Chief danced there and I will stand there too, with a Finishers Medal around my neck.

I and my team have raised enough to fly a kid and parent to St. Jude in Memphis and feed and house them for at least a week. I remember my dad dropping Michael and I off at the airport that first trip to Memphis and I am proud that our team can provide at least that comfort.

My left heel hurts, my right knee twinges, my feet felt like ground beef just over one week ago when I finished my 14 mile run and I'm scared because 13.1 miles is a long way, but today the thought occurred to me, "What if the training was the hardest part?"

I'll let you know after Saturday.