3 Days To Go

It's Thursday afternoon and my marathon is just a few days away.  My knee is feeling much better and as I'm in taper and haven't run much in the last few weeks I have SO much energy.  I'm trying very hard not to use all that energy up by jumping up and down and I'm having some success.  I CAN'T WAIT to get started. 

I'm not sure why I'm not more nervous.  My logical thinking brain keeps butting in and telling my super excited emotive brain that I should try and remember how hard it was last time, how much I had to fight for those twenty six miles and how I should probably be prepared for that again.  But the little zinginess in my chest insists that what will happen in three days time is akin to going home to Ireland or Christmas morning - the other times I feel like this. 

I'm reading a book written by Dean Karnazes about the time he ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days (yeah I know, he's completely nuts).  He has a description of how a first time marathoner feels on race day that I read this morning and I wanted to share with you here today.  This is how I want to feel again on Sunday:

"Crossing a marathon finish line for the first time is a life changing moment and, doing it, you prove something to yourself that can never be taken away.  You walk away with hard experiential evidence that you are strong, resilient and gutsy. 26.2 miles is just a long way to go, no matter who you are. Any time you are able to take on and overcome a challenge of such proportions you come away with benefits in the form of confidence, self respect and fearlessness that never fade.

Even if the process of training for a marathon were not extremely health promoting I would still encourage everyone to run at least one marathon because of its powerful effects on the mind and spirit. After all, don't we spend enough of our lives doubting ourselves?  Thinking we're not good enough, not strong enough, not made of the right stuff?

The marathon gives you an opportunity to tackle these doubts head on so you train hard, you dedicate yourself, you sacrifice.  You overcome countless smaller challenges along the way but you know the marathon will ask for even more.  In the recesses of your mind, a gloomy voice is saying, "You can't."  You do your best to ignore this self doubt but the voice doesn't go away. 

On the morning of your first marathon the voice of doubt multiplies, becoming a full chorus.  By Mile 20 this chorus is screaming so loudly it's all you can hear. Your sore and weary muscles beg you to stop.  You must stop.  But you don't stop.  This time you ignore the voice of doubt.  You tune out the naysayers who tell you you're not good enough and you listen only to the passion in your heart.

Courage comes in many forms.  Today you discover the courage to keep trying, to not give up.  At the 25 mile mark, your vision falters and your mind teeters on the edge of consciousness.  And then, suddenly, the finish looms before you, like a dream.  A lump builds in your throat as you cover those final few steps.  Now you are finally able to answer back to that nagging voice with a resounding, "Oh Yes I Can."  You burst across the finish line filled with pride, forever liberated from the prison of self doubt.

You have learned more about yourself in the past 26.2 miles than you have ever learned in any other single day in your life. Even if you can't walk afterward you have never been so free.  A marathon finish is more than just something you earn; a marathoner finisher is someone you become.  As you are being helped away from the finish line, wrapped in a flimsy Mylar blanket, barely able to raise your head, you are at peace.  No future struggle, doubt or failure can wipe away what you accomplished today.  You have done what few will ever do, what you thought you could never do, and it is the most glorious unforgettable awakening.  You are a marathoner and you will wear this distinction, not on your lapel but in your heart for the rest of your life. "

Inspired yet?  Can I convince you to come and run a marathon with me one day?