Ready For Round 2

Thank you to David and Bonnie for this awesome t-shirt

Here we are 3 days away from the Pittsburgh Marathon, and I'm somehow still eerily calm. I'm not sure why that is. I know the challenge that running a marathon brings, especially after my first go at it a year ago. Facebook was nice enough to remind me of that this past Monday.

This year, I feel like I have a good idea of what to expect. What I really should expect, however, is actually the unexpected. Anything can happen in three days. Heck, anything could happen in one, but I'm not going to think like that. I've been training for months now, and there is only one goal in mind. I'm not the only one either.

So many of us have trained for this day. We've trained alone. We've trained with a partner. We've trained in a group. I've followed conversations online between other runners, as well those with my friends. Everyone is nervous, and have the jitters. But at the same time, all of us are excited. Knowing all of this, I think I may be looking more forward to this Sunday than I was last year.

When I lined up in my corral with my friend Kirsten and Kim a year ago, I knew there was no turning back. I had gotten that far, and I only had a little ways to go (if you want to call running 26 miles a little way.) I crossed that starting line and everything that I trained for had become surreal. Seeing everyone at the finish line was nothing sort of amazing as well, and despite my brain telling me otherwise, I knew I was going to do it again. That brings us to today, where I and so many others are at - 3 days out from the Pittsburgh Marathon and Half Marathon.

Photo cred: Coach Suzanne. Heck all these photos
are courtesy of her unless otherwise noted. Thanks Coach!

Everything about this year's race seems....different. I don't mean that in a negative way either. There seems to be something in the air, like this vast wave of positive energy and good vibes. My closest friends, the people I've trained with, all of us really, truly are getting more and more excited for Sunday. Sure, we have jitters like I've already said, but you can still sense the excitement. We're all making our plans to meet at the starting line, stay together, and provide the support that we've grown accustomed to having since we began our journeys in January and February. That is a truly wondrous thing.

My longtime friend Stephanie Haas
who is probably going to kill me for sharing
this pic.

My lifelong friend Sara Majetic's Race attire.
All races are for her brother Lou. RIP.

In my spare time I've kept on top of training tips from those that have run countless miles on the road. I've spent time reading articles from running magazines that I've never bothered to so much as glance at before. I feel as though I'm more focused than I was a year ago, and yet that was the first time I took a shot at something this big. I not obsessing over my finish time, my pace, or trying to beat someone. I'm just focused on the task at hand, just like everyone else.

Coach Betsy happy to be back in action!

Most of us have always had a vague picture of what we felt a runner should look like, and it's just like any other stereo type. But really, what is a runner supposed to look like? What I've learned since I began running is that runners are nothing more than this beautiful melting pot of people, each one so different, yet also the same. A runner looks like him and like her. A runner looks like me. A runner looks like you.

Our sizes and our shapes do not determine whether or not we can or cannot run. It also doesn't determine what we can and cannot do. So what is it that makes all of us runners? That's easy. It's our heart and it's our soul. Those the two things that have gotten us this far. We just now have to go a little bit further (you know, if you want to call 13 or 26 miles a little further to go.)