5 days left and counting.........

Darrick and I are beginning the countdown. We've done the training, we're tapering down the miles and looking forward to the big 26.2 mile marathon run this coming Saturday. This is an exciting time for us.....especially for me.....having my husband run the same "long" race with me. This will be Darrick's 1st marathon. I am excited for him and for that feeling of accomplishment that you feel when you cross that finish line. It doesn't matter what place you have taken, what time you have, or what you look like at the end.....noone can take that feeling of satisfaction away from you. I am so excited for Darrick and wish him a great run.....way out in front of me. My only sadness comes from knowing that I won't be at the finish line waiting for him like he was for me. Darrick just runs too fast. Darrick is what I like to call a "natural born runner". He is amazing. He runs occasionally and decided to run this marathon with Susan and I at the beginning of our training. He has missed out on most runs during the week and then gives it all he has on the long weekend training run. He has sacrificed his body for injuries. He is unbelievable! He is going to do so awesome and I hope his experience with this race is what I had.........or even better. This will be my 2nd marathon and I swore at the 1st that I had accomplished the mission I had set out to do and that I would never do another one again.........well, here I am training again. Running becomes an addiction. A good addiction! For those of you who knew me growing up....will be surprised with this information. I was not a runner and had no desire to be a runner. I looked at marathon running and thought to myself how much I admired these runners and told myself that this was something I never would do. I got into running about 5 years ago and did my 1st marathon 3 years ago. Who knows where this next event will lead me. I am grateful for a great husband who supports me in whatever I decide to do and gives me encouragement to continue on. I am proud of him for letting me talk him into this race and I now know how much he loves me. :-) I am thankful for my running partner Susan. For the time she sacrifices to train. I like to think we both keep one another going......I know she pushes me forward. How rewarding it is to have someone love something like you and to have that desire to keep moving ahead. I don't know how many times we have given up sleep to get a 10 mile run or our 20 mile run in. Thanks Susan for your inspiration! I hope to have some pictures from the race and we will post our results on our blog.