Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Five Days To Go!

ONLY 5 MORE DAYS TILL THE HALF MARATHON!


41 pounds ago, I signed up for the Cleveland Half Marathon — 13.1 miles, by the way — in Cleveland, Ohio, which takes place this Sunday, May 20. 

These past few days weeks, it's all I can think about and I have so many emotions that I just don't know what to do with myself. I am nervous, anxious, excited, overwhelmed, motivated and well, scared. Not knowing how the course is going to be and not knowing what my outcome of the race is going to be, is I think what scares me the most. But I have been training for the past 5 months and well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

No turning back now.

These past couple of days I have been researching some quotes to keep me motivated, focused and determined. But before I list off some of my favorite quotes, I want to speak out for every runner, cyclist, or endurance-sport athlete out there: you guys rock. After all the training I have done for this half, I have such a renewed respect for those dedicated enough to practice regularly and compete in their sport. With jobs, families, and other responsibilities, finding the time to train and stay healthy is not easy. So for those of you that need some motivation or for those of you who just enjoy motivating quotes, here are a few of my favorite:

- "Divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart." - Mike Fanelli, Running Club Coach

- "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John Bingham... Ain't that the truth...

- "Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." -William Faulkner

- "What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the days gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate." - John Bingham

- "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard...is what makes it great!" -Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own

- "Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body." -Lynn Jennings... Amen sista.

- "No one ever drowned in sweat." -Author Unknown (For me that's debatable...)

and for my all time favorite quote...

- "If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." - John Bingham

If you can tell.. I am a fan of John Bingham quotes...

But quotes aren't the only thing keeping me motivated, small half-hour/fourty-five minute runs this week are getting me excited for the half as well.

Yesterday, me and my roommates, Jenny and Cristina, went on a run. Cristina and I told Jenny to set the pace and lead the way. That was a mistake. Have I mentioned that Jenny has a been a runner her entire life, has already killed a half marathon, and has the body of a muscular goddess? If I haven't... then meet my roommate, Jenny.

This is intense Jenny on our run yesterday.

We weren't even a mile in when Cristina turned around and gave me a "Jenny will be the death of me" look.

Jenny taking off...

And then there is Cristina and I being facetious... (DOUBLE CHINNN)

God I love these girls. Without them, my runs (and life) would be boring.

 So Jo(W)anna know what? No matter how scared you are to accomplish something, you must remember all of the other times you had to take risks to reach a goal. To learn how to walk, to learn how to talk, to learn how to ride a bike, to learn how to drive a car, to learn how to run a half marathon. All of these required risks. Progress always involves risks. And while risk taking is inherently failure-prone, the ability to say you tried is what satisfies the soul. So even though I am scared out my mind about running 13.1 miles for the first time in my entire life, I know I just have to take the risk and just run in order to accomplish another life goal.

Now I just only pray my shoes don't scare me too bad come Sunday morning...


Happy Marathon week!


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