GRATEFUL

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” 

~ John F. Kennedy

In regards to running, I have never felt more loved and supported by my friends, family, teammates and fellow runners than I have over the past four months.  I am not a professional athlete.  I do not get paid to compete.  I spend an insane amount of time training for the sole purpose of self improvement.  Well, that's not totally true.  My running life does have a big impact on many other elements of my "regular" life...my role as a parent, my job as a coach and all of my various other passions, including this blog.  In running, as in life, I am continuously setting goals, pushing myself to the achieve them, celebrating the victories, accepting the defeats, learning from them and then re-setting the bar and starting all over again.  After my last marathon, which I ran back in October, I made the conscious and somewhat scary decision to push on with my training instead of taking a much needed break.  I surprised myself with my performance and pulled off something that I never dreamed I was capable of.  Not that I didn't do the work.  I did.  I just didn't really believe.  And now?  Well, now I do.  Not to sound cliché, but I truly feel that anything is possible if you want it badly enough and you're willing to put the time and effort in.  So, I forged on.  Within weeks I was ramping up the mileage and intensity of my workouts.  Everything was longer, significantly more difficult and a hell of a lot more time consuming.  It has honestly been one of the most challenging times in my life, both physically and mentally.  Because not only do I have to train, but I have to make time for all the other things that have to get done....work, laundry, grocery shopping, helping with my kids' homework (fractions, ugh!), driving my girls to all their various activities, walking the dog....no need to continue.  You get it and you probably do it all do it, too.  It's life.  I'm not expecting a medal.  Because, in the end, it's my choice.  But, meshing my 'regular' and 'running' worlds together and making it all work over the past four months has been, well, let's just say, tricky.  And without my family, my friends and all of those I'm connected to through running, it would have been a shit-ton harder.  Basically, I've been living, eating, breathing running and my family has not only been okay with it but, most of the time, they've been willing to work with it and/or around it.  For example, my husband, bless him, has gotten up every morning to make me a smoothie before I hit the road.  He's been up for cooking and eating meals that are ideal for my training needs, no questions asked.  He no longer rolls his eyes when I tell him I'm going to bed at 8:30pm, which has been happening more often than not these past few weeks.  My girls, Rosie and Grace, have been willing to get up 15-30 minutes before their usual wake up time on my long run days so I can get them to school for early drop off and thus get going sooner; often giving me a good luck or a high five to boot.  My friends, especially my running partner, Kirsten, my fellow coaches, my teammates (Oiselle, SISU, Loopsters) my high school athletes, all of whom I'm not seeing or talking to nearly as much as I'd like, have been consistenly checking in, asking me things like how it's going, how are you feeling, how's your body holding up while also reminding me that I can do it, that it's worth it, and that I'm almost there.  Their genuine interest and compassion in this area of my life has meant the world to me.  One can only talk about running so much, which, evidently, is a lot.  If they're sick of it, which they have every right to be, they're getting damn good at hiding it!  My coach, Lowell Ladd of 2L Coaching, has gone out of his way to give me pep talks and advice on a weekly basis, always ready to provide the answer that I need, even if it's not really the answer that I want.  His support alone is a huge reason that I've made it through this insane training cycle.  As of today, I've run 772.9 miles since my last marathon and the guys over at SKECHERS PERFORMANCE, particularly my good friend Dave A., have gone above and beyond to make sure I always have the shoes I need to be successful.  Barring any issues, I will be on the line in LA in less than two weeks.  I'm nervous.  I'm a little scared.  But, I'm also really fired up.  I've done the work.  Anything is possible.  And no matter what the outcome, having this huge crew of awesome people behind me for the past four months has been amazing and invaluable.  To all of them I want to say thanks.  I will be forever grateful.

Listen to this:
Anxious Animal - Syvia

*Note: Top photo, clockwise from upper left: My daughter, Grace, at morning drop off, post-run w/ Kirsten, my daughter, Rosie, ready to rock, post-race w/ Coach Lowell, post-race w/ my husband, Jeff, post-race with Dave A. of SKECHERS.