Austin Marathon - 2 days and counting... and the peace within

For those of you that have been following my journey here through my recovery of my left shin splint injury leading up to my 16th marathon this Sunday, I appreciate your interest and thought I would share with you my thoughts as I prepare to head to Austin. This will be my first marathon since January of 2004 when I hobbled my way through the Houston Marathon with a groin pull. For the remainder of 2004, I rested that injury and cut back considerably on my running, even deferring what would have been my 4th Boston Marathon that April to 2005. In late 2004, my daughter made her high school drill team as a sophomore for the 2004-2005 school year, which here in Texas is a REALLY big deal. My wife and I have always been very active in our kids lives, and when I found out that the drill team's big spring show required Dads to get together on weekends to build props, I jumped right in. That cut out any chance for training for the Boston Marathon, but having already run it 3 times, it was way more important to me to be involved in what my daughter was doing, so I passed on it totally again. The next school year, 2005-2006, I was the Dad that headed up the entire spring show for building stage sets, and that takes nearly 3 months of work on the weekends, so again my training was cut back considerably pretty much nixing any opportunity for serious marathon training, but I did not mind at all. This year, her senior year, I'm heading up the spring show stuff again, so even if I did qualify for Boston in April, I wouldn't be going because the show is that weekend. I say all of this because I am completely at peace with my running and what I have accomplished through it. My running is no longer about me at all, it's about helping others. I honestly do not have a clue how I will do on Sunday, but I do know that I will finish. I know what to expect, I know there will be pain and doubt and all that goes with completing a marathon, but I've been there before and I know how to mentally and physically handle it. I know that while I am in the race there will be lots of people around me doing this for the first time, and I hope that I am able in some way through my experience to help them along on their journey. My thoughts will also be with my 14 year old son who will be there running in his second half-marathon. I was with him in Houston last month when he completed his first half-marathon, but this time he'll be going it solo and I know he will do great. Thanks again for taking the time to read my thoughts.