The love of 26.2

I had my last long run of the training cycle this past SUnday and it went surprisingly well. Twenty miles flew by (well, maybe "flew" is not the right word–that would imply speed which there was not much of) and before I knew it I was back home taking the kids to get coffee (for me, not them, obviously). Ken had to work all day Sunday so the boys and I hung out and had a pretty decent day. The fact that the weather was so cool Sunday morning made a HUGE difference in my long run as well as the fact I've spent the past three months putting in more miles then normal. There were many times after a long long run I would be so exhausted it was all I could do to pick Sawyer up to change his diaper but on Sunday for some reason, everything clicked and I felt great. I hope this means good things on race day in a few weeks. I don't have any delusions that I am going to crank out a PR time--those days are long gone. I just hope to put in a performance I feel good about and race smart and most importantly, have fun. And let me tell you--most marathons I *DO* have fun. Sure it hurts and there are times (usually around mile 23) where I just want the suffering to stop but mostly, doing these things brings me great joy. I am not sure I could ever explain that to a non-runner and not have them look at me blankly like "Yeah. Sure. Running for well over 3 and half hours sounds AWESOME!" but there is something about running that brings me great peace. No disrespect for the brick and mortar church type, but running IS my church. Afterwards I feel calm, centered, focused and in general more optimistic about the world. There is a clarity I get from heading out at 5:30 in the morning when most are still asleep, the skies are starting to lighten and a cool and calm quiet mist is settling on the mountainside. In those early morning hours I feel totally tuned in to the world and I feel a connection that is sometimes lacking the rest of the day when I get absorbed into the daily chores of living.