READY

“We'll never be ready. So I guess that means we're as ready as we'll ever be.” 

~ Neal Shusterman

On Sunday, my running partner, KH, and I ran another 20+ miler.  Thankfully, we both happened to be on Cape Cod for Labor Day week-end, so we could suffer through it together.  Forgive me for talking incessantly about the long runs lately, but at the moment, I feel like they are ALL I DO.  Ok, not really, but sort of.  There is a light at the end of this tunnel.  Our marathon is in October.  We just have to get through this month and we're home free with our training.  As most of you know, the month before a marathon is always the hardest, both physically and mentally.  As the mileage creeps up, the exhaustion level creeps up with it.  And with each run, when the legs feel tired or the body wants to quit, the doubt seeps in, too.  Can I do this?  Do I want to do this?  Why do I do this?  Can I do this?  It happens every time and every time we manage to get through the training and, eventually, through the race itself.  And, oddly, we tend to come out on the other end wanting to do another one.  It's a bit warped when you think about it.  So, back to our run.  Sunday, 8:00am.  It had rained all night so the humidity was a solid 100%.  The temp was in the 80s.  And the hills were aplenty and unavoidable. Awesome.  Unlike our last long run, where we chatted and caught up for the first few miles, in this case we were already silent and shuffling by mile 7.  Doubt, for both this particular run, and the marathon itself, seeped in early.  And it weighed as much as the humidity.  Very heavy.  We managed to make it over to her house for our second water stop which was somewhere around mile 12.  It was touch and go for the next 4 miles.  We took a detour and stopped again for water.  At this point, we had 5 miles to go.  It was daunting.  But we had already run 16 so the worst was behind us.  I asked if she was ready?  "Ready for what?" she replied.  "To quit? Yes."  We both laughed.  So, trying to put a positive spin on things, I said, "How about...ready to be done."  "Okay. Yes." she said again.  From there, we kept going...

Ready to not have to do this run tomorrow? (confession: we had almost bailed before we started that morning)  Yes.
Ready to almost be done training for this marathon?  Check.
Ready to not have to think about marathon training over the Christmas holidays? YES!!!
 --->Kirsten is going to Costa Rica with her family and running would be very difficult.  On top of that, we both find it hard to fit in training during the holiday weeks in general with the kids home and family around.
Ready for an iced coffee?  Yep.
Ready for a burger and a cold beer?  No, I can't think about that yet. (I told her I'd think about it for her)
Ready to jump in the water.  Affirmative.
Ready to not feel like this again for a while?  ha ha ha ha

Bottom line, when you're training for a marathon, you have to be ready for the good, the bad and everything in between.  It's part of the whole package.  And, ultimately, its what gets you to the starting line.  That, a little humor and a boat-load of luck.  So, are we ready?  Yes.  As ready as we'll ever be.

Listen to this:
Burn - Ellie Goulding