happy new year!

Can you believe it is January 2009 already? I can't. It seems like yesterday that I started blogging, and now it's been about a year!

It also seems like yesterday that I decided to run a marathon, but at the same time it feels like forever. I can't believe I've been running for a year now. I can't believe I'll finally be done in just 10 days. 365 days down. 10 to go. And I just hope that I can actually DO it. I ran 18 miles last weekend and man, it hurt. I wanted to cry. I wanted to quit. Ryan gave me some words of encouragement around mile 14 and I was able to finish. But the doubts were creeping in..."can I really do 26.2"?

26.2 will be different. I'll have the energy of thousands of other runners around me. I'll be in the happiest place on earth. There will be plenty to look at to keep me from being bored or focused on the pain. Mickey will be there to hug me when I cross the finish. I keep reading through my training book and getting encouragement too - I keep saying to myself "I am a marathoner" and I keep visualizing what it will be like when I cross the finish line. 26.2 will be different because a year of running will be done in ~5 hours. I can't wait!

It has been such a long, hard road to get to this point, and I feel prepared and not ready all at the same time. Isn't it amazing how we can feel such conflicting emotions simultaneously? But I have to say, no matter what happens in 10 days, this has been a great year. I've learned so much more about myself, and running has improved my life in so many ways: health, discipline, perseverance, spirituality. This will sound strange but I've always been "good" at things...I've never had to really work hard for anything. But this, I have had to work really hard, and I've seen myself not be so "good" at running. But that will make crossing the line at 26.2 all the more sweet. To really have challenged myself and struggled, and still succeed. That's what I'm hoping for at least.

And I'm hoping for your 2009 to be better than 2008 :) Can't wait to see what this New Year will bring!