See YOU On the Course

With a week to go until I toe the line in Madison, Wisconsin and run 50 miles through beautiful Kettle Moraine State Park, I am a person divided--one part thankful, and one part doubtful.

It is a phase in my training that has always occurred. Just before my race, I find myself completely in awe of the completion of training, and equally in doubt that I've done enough to complete the task at hand. The real me knows I'm completely capable of the race challenge. The false, but necessary, me wants to give me one last push of mental preparation by handing me doubt.

But, this is very reason each year I decide to challenge myself a little further by choosing a race I'm not absolutely sure I can complete. It will, after all, be first a test of spirit and only second a test of training. It will be overcoming that doubt and getting back to the real me that will be my victory.

As I've spent the week reviewing 8+ months of training, preparing my game plan and beginning to pack gear, the ONE THING that continues to enter my head is YOU. Yes, you reading this. I'm only able to do all that I do because of the amazing people in my life. I think about you all more than you know. If I'm totally honest, it will be thinking of you next Saturday that will get me through each mile. It will be all of the big and little things people have said, done, or been this year that will remind me, "I am because you are." So, I will see you on the course next week and THANK YOU.

P.S. I made it a tradition to document my run every Wednesday (36 weeks) with a picture. I ran through ice, bees, snow, wind, stones, sun, rain, cold (-8 degrees) and heat (102 degrees). Here's a reminder to my false self that, "I trained, damn it!"