One week....

It's been a long 17 weeks. Full of running and training, distractions and travel. I've trained properly, I've missed days/weeks. I finally got fitted for a new pair of running shoes the right way....still figuring out if I like them or not. I've ran a half marathon and I've been downright lazy. I've eaten pizza and candy and sweets and I've had bagels and carbs and protein. Whatever I've done the past 17 weeks boils down to this: week 18. ONE week to go until I complete my first marathon. My goal? To finish. To get across that finish line no matter what, no matter how painful or how joyful I am at that moment in my life...I just want to finish. To accomplish something so significant. Something, honestly, not a lot of people can say they've done. Many of my friends get to brag about getting engaged, getting married, having babies....this is my life. I get to brag about this. I get to shout from the rooftops this accomplishment in a week.

In a week I will become part of the 1% of Americans to run...and complete...a marathon. ONE PERCENT. That's pretty awesome. It's not something easy, it's not something everyone can do. It takes literally months of dedication, training, being glued to your sneakers and Gatorade and carbs and the pavement. It's something you need to make time for, need to enjoy and need to WANT to accomplish.

I'm not sure if I'll run another marathon, I'd like to I think, the timing would have to be right and the location would have to be right. No more autumn marathons, training in the summer and throughout football season is just too hard, too hard to find the time, and too hot and humid in August. If I were training for the NYC Marathon (that'd be awesome), perhaps. Or the REAL marathon in Greece, because that is typically the second week in November.

My goal for next week is simply to finish. I am not aiming for a particular time, although under 5 hours would be very, very nice.

So...this last week of taper will show my past 17 weeks. I will get up in one week, strap on my sneakers and Garmin and race number, and run 26.2 miles to that finish line to complete the 36th Marine Corps Marathon. And I will kick its butt.