Stupid cold

I have a cold. I was hopeful that it was some form of hay fever and not a cold but it is and it's all through my sinuses and in my chest. It sucks! So I am downing the Echinacea and Cold FX and anything else I can get my hands on in hopes that I can shove it out of me as fast as it got in. I do not have time for a cold!

Things I know but seem to forget

I feel better.
 Hugely better.  Because I am running.
 I am energetic when I get home- able to concentrate and more able to deal with stress.
Because I am running.
Instead of saying I don't want to- I don't feel like it- I'm too tired. I am saying I will feel better after I run and it is sooo true.
I am not running fast and I am just starting my 10 k base. At the pace I am going now it will take me 7 hours to finish the Marathon but I really don't give a crap. It doesnt matter how fast I do it just that I do it. I'm pretty excited.
I asked myself yesterday"if I won the lottery would I still do the Marathon?" and I asnswered YES!
 It's not so much about the trip but about the experience and the Marathon is the experence. When my feet hit the ground I will be running through history. So many feet that hit the ground before me, the blood, sweat and tears of those men and women who travelled the same route. The one who ran that path the first time. I wonder how long it took him, I wonder what he was thinking and feeling while he pushed himself to his phyical limits for something he believed in. And I have the opportunity to follow his path for something I believe in.
The Arthritis Society does so much for people who live their lives in constant physical pain. I believe in this cause, I believe in the work they do to ease the pain of those who suffer and I believe in myself. An amazing opportunity. Hey if you are reading this why don't you donate- help me make a difference. Do it for someone you know and/or love. Do it today. http://arthritis.akaraisin.com/p/peggiemay.aspx

and life gets in the way, and then gets out of the way again.

Life has a way of bringing you down. Literally. I had all the best intentions. I started early. Planning on making this process as easy on myself as possible. I signed up for my 10 k class and got started on that. It felt good...and hard. I was primed, motivated and ready. And then life got in the way. As it always will if you let it. It started with some physical health issues. The arthritis was so bad last spring and I ended up with Edima which swelled all my joints beyond recognition. That could have put a delay of a few months in the plan, that would have been ok. And then came the family problems. One after another after another until I was at a point when I was pretty darn sure I couldn't do this. Some days I couldn't even get out of bed let alone go for a run! I spent a lot of time thinking about this Marathon. Going back and forth in my head. How could I give up such an amazing opportunity, how could I take this opportunity with life blowing up in my face?
And then I got a message from Trish, our amazing joints in motion co-ordinator. It wasn't the first message she had left and I am ashamed to admit I avoided talking to her because I wanted to be sure. Probably I wanted to opt out. But this message was different. She read to me from my own website, reminded me of why I signed up for this crazy run, why I was doing it and who I was doing it for. But do I have enough time now? Can I possibly train for a Marathon that is in less than 28 weeks when I am not sure I can run around the block.
Yes I can, I will be slow, I will be sore and I will have to work super hard over the next months. I can do this. I will do it. I need to do it. There will never be another Marathon like this in my lifetime. There will never be another experience like this and I can't turn it down. To run the path that Pheidippides,the Greek messenger ran on the 2500th aniversary of that event is a life experience that I can't refuse. And I get to raise money for a society that has given me so much information and support over this past year, well it just doesn't get better does it?
Yesterday I took my first step (again) and I wil keep stepping until I have completed my goal. 7000.00 and 42 km. Can I get a Hell ya!