Saturday, Mike and I and our sherpa (my very dear mother) are going to be running our second and last 20 miler before the marathon. Unfortunately the forecast calls for rain, the entire day. So far in my running career I haven't had to do much running in the rain so I am actually kind of nerding out and am excited about it. On Tuesday we did a 5 miler in the rain that was fun, how much worse can a 20 miler be? Maybe running 20 miles in the rain will finally get me over the hump of feeling like a "real runner".

And how great is my mom?? She doesn't care at all that it is going to be raining and is willing and actually happy to ride her bike 20 miles in the cold and rain, carrying a backpack full of supplies and I guarantee there will not be one complaint out of her. I am pretty lucky to have her as my sherpa AND espcially as my mom:)


And speaking of lucky, I had an experience yesterday while on a run that made me feel very lucky that I am able bodied and healthy. We were at the tail end of a 8 miler and I was feeling a little bit sluggish. We were running past the Vet Building in downtown Clovis when I looked up and saw what I believe was a disabled vet in a wheelchair sitting in front of the building watching us run by. I thought about how I would feel if I were in his position, stuck in a chair and literally watcing the world go by. I know personally I would have a very hard time with that. I wondered if when he saw us he remembered a time when he was able to run. I wondered if when he closed his eyes if he could remember the sensation of running; feeling the wind on his skin, the pump of his arms, the power of his legs, the beating of his heart. It quickly snapped me out of my sluggishness and I ran the rest of the way, which was about a half a mile, not thinking about how heavy and tired my legs felt but how lucky I was to have legs that felt heavy and tired.