Day 117 of 127 (countdown to 1/17/10)

10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 and it will be here!

I am getting excited now! I see a comment from my last blog from Barb..
one of my faithful followers - thanks Barb for your encouragement and support!
I can tell you that this journey has come with some good training runs, some bad training runs, and some very funny stories and adventures. It has been time consuming and rewarding as well. It has come with some soreness and some real "hurts - so - good" moments as well.

I was at a running store the other day and some young, cute "kid" was helping me out.
When we shared that we would both be running on the 17th, I said my goal was to finish.
He said "To Finish is to WIN"! I think that is a great sentiment to remember when I worry about the time I will finish in. The goal is to finish and "to finish is to WIN".
Yea... my dream is to finish at or under 4:15 or 4:22 and be happy with a 4:30 or less.
But.... I will continue to say over and over again... "TO FINISH IS TO WIN, TO FINISH IS TO WIN, TO FINISH IS TO WIN..."

this leads me to my "powerplay tune of the day"
Don't Stop Believing by Journey. The link is to the original Steve Perry (early 80's baby) version of the song and continues with the newest singer of the group, Arnel Pineda's version.
I choose Steve Perry's version ... You? This amazing song will help me through the rough patches of the race (like when I hit the wall) or when I just need some extra motivation!
"Don't stop believing... hold on to your dreams yeah"

I've got a short run later today, another this weekend and then a couple shorties next week.

Until next time - Kelly

p.s... see my little 20 mile success happy dance video below!

Day 111 of 127 (countdown to 1/17/10)

It is soo nice to be tapering and backing off of those long, ongoing training runs.
Actually, I only ran once during the week (a recovery run after the long 20 last Sat) and then today I ran 6 miles. It was actually very sunny and warm (almost too warm) and I ran without my running partner so it was a challenging run. Also, I think that I am still recovering from that long run last week. I have a pain in my foot tonight (which I have iced) ... it is time to get this damn marathon over with! I have a ton of great memories from the long 18 weeks of training and a lot of great "power tunes" that have helped me through all of the runs.

I downloaded some new tunes and my favorite is Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run"!
Wow.... that should be in every runner's iPod or mp3 player.

Until next time... Kelly