Race Day Eve

Hey all, sorry for being so snarky yesterday.  I know I'm skinny and I'm ok with it; I was just venting.  (Did you know I lost about 20 pounds since I first started running?).  In any event I have a great new mantra... "Run ya skinny little bastard, RUN!".  If you see me on the course (spectator, volunteer, or runner) please shout it out to me... it'll make me laugh, it'll sustain me.

You know that person in your life who is hurting, sick, dying, clinically depressed, mentally ill, living with AIDS, or a loved one lost, someone who has rubbed your back, washed your feet, or wiped a tear, or was there by your side when you needed them... you know that person.  Take out your bib and write that person's name on the back. Dedicate the pain and the months of training to that person. Dedicate the miles to that person.  Dedicate the nausea to that person.  Let the tears drop on the bib as you write that name, that brings it alive and it mixes well with sweat.  Think of that person and say a prayer in their name.  Use that name in your mantra, use it quietly at first and then yell it out when you need to the most... no one will care and we will understand.  At the finish line say a quiet word of thanks to that person for getting you across the line.  Across the line. This is why we run.  To prove to ourselves that we are alive and we feel pain.  We can do good with that pain.  Offer it up and it'll sustain you.

My race is dedicated to the memory of my brother John who died from what is now a treatable cancer.  He was 21.  I was 15. I lost my best friend, my brother.   I imagine John yelling "run ya skinny little bastard, run" at every mile marker, around every corner, and it makes me smile, smile through the tears.  Remember, it's the journey that's important, not the destination.  The destination is about ending, the journey is about living.  It's a good day to be alive.

Have a good race everyone.  Michael