Less than 2 days...

So, I am going to be really honest- I am kind've freaking out here! I cannot believe how close the marathon is. I am scared, nervous and excited all at the same time. I am supposed to be running a little tonight, however, my husband had to go to the "instacare center" tonight and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Honestly, me and the hubster have been sick for too long and we are both just sick of it! With all the time that I've had to take of due to pneumonia, I am hoping to finish still upright!

I do have to admit that I really need to focus on going out slowly. I get so caught up in my pace and wanting to be a "rock star" and after all these respiratory issues, there is no way I can maintain a fast pace. I am slowly trying to accept that.

Some advice that I was given for your first marathon is to try and break it up into segments. The first 10 miles, the half, 20 miles and then bringing it home for the last six. Some say that it's a good idea to dedicate those last six to people who you love and those you care about to keep you going. I really like this idea. I am going to write the names of these people on a piece of paper and I'm going to carry it with me. I have been thinking about the dedications and I know it might sound silly, but when you have like 4+ hours to think about anything and everything- this is a good way to spend my time :-) I know these people may never know that I dedicated a mile to them and it's not like I'm going to call them to tell them- that might be weird. Especially if they aren't runners :-) So, here are my dedications... it was really hard to just pick six! I guess I could pick 26, but I think I'll just pick 6.

1. My husband, Jon- my love and my biggest fan and the one who tells me I can do anything.
2. My mother, Carolyn- The one who told me to always have a dream
3. My father, Richard- The one who allowed me to run in the first place in HS
4. My sister, Shannon- The one who I owe so much to and who supports me through everything
5. My life long bff, Char- The one who trudged those first long miles with me in XC
6. All the young kids who have had to lose a parent to cancer. I will always hold a special place in my heart for them.

We need to eradicate cancer and make sure we are doing things in our lives to prevent our chances from getting any form of cancer. If it's meant to be- it's meant to be, but I believe that if we do our part to be healthy, it would make a world of difference and lessen the amount of heartache.

This is why I am running. To show my love for my dear, sweet mother and to also show my support for the fight of breast cancer. Running a marathon has been my life-long goal, but now it's more than that. I know I can do this, but it is going to take a lot of effort and I know I am ready. I just hope my body will agree with me.

On a totally unrelated and completely shallow note: I am still trying to figure out what my outfit is going to be. I will be wearing my running skirt, but the top is still debatable. I have this awesome shirt that says "breast cancer" on the front with a big fat X through it.... but I'm not sure if the fabric will agree with me. I don't want to wear too much pink either. Humph! Well, tomorrow is the day to figure that out :-)

Wish me luck! I will be doing a full race recap- promise. I'm usually bad at that... sorry.

it's been way too long...

Okay, so apologizes for being MIA! I've had a lot of things going on! From the last post- I received my running skirt and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I am saving up my money to get another one! They are just so dang cute and really comfortable to run in!

So, on the 27th of March I ran 27-28 miles! It was ridiculous! It felt great- but the first 3 miles were all in snow. I ran with my friend, Holley and we had my husband drop us off in the Canyon on my favorite running trail and we had no clue that there would be snow there! About a half mile into it there was just so much snow! It was packed like 2 feet high! We "trotted" through it and it was so exhausting! I think that tired me out and I was really feeling it when I hit mile 20! Ah! Anyways, it went well. I was sore for a little while afterward, but I was pleasantly surprised with how fast my legs jumped back!

However, bad news... I got really sick. No fun. I went to the Dr's because it's so close to the marathon!!! He told me that I have walking pneumonia... great. So, I've been out of commission for over a week! I've been on antibiotics and syrup with codine in it. To sum it up- it has been awful. I finally felt good enough to try a run last night in the gym. It was tough on the lungs. I'm really nervous for the marathon. My goal this week is to get my lungs back in check and to make sure I'm feeling better. The little goal time that I had for the marathon has gone out the window and now I'm just hoping to finish.

To make matters worse... it has snowed here 3x in the last 5 days! It's April!!! It is usually very warm here by now. Here is to hoping the weather gets better!