{Me} Day 21

I'm training for my first marathon. I've done 2 - 5K races and one six mile one. In September I will do my first half marathon in Chicago then In October I will do my first full marathon. In the meanwhile I will be doing several other races to prepare for the big one which is 26.4 miles.

Running has not always come easy to me. Even today, I have to make myself move, put my running shoes on and just get out and run. I can talk myself out of a run in a heartbeat. But then I regret it.
Running clears my mind. There are moments when I think I cannot make it another mile, another minute, another second but I keep on moving. I tell myself "one foot in front of the other" and then there comes a clearing. My mind is at peace, the sound of my shoes hitting the pavement becomes comforting and I'm filled with excitement. There is nothing left just me and the air. The air that fills my lungs and gives me the energy to keep running. My troubles are left behind with each drop of sweat and I am empowered.

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"
- Peter Maher, Irish-Canadian Olympian and sub-2:12 marathoner



"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired...You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going."
- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General and 1912 Olympian