Fear

About a year ago, I went bungee jumping. I'm gonna say that it is probably one of the most terrifying things that someone can willingly do. You have all these ropes attached to you and you are standing on a maybe 10" x 12" platform on the "bad" side of a bridge. You look down and you see the rocks that you will hit if the ropes don't work (they have always worked). They count down 3-2-1 and you jump! Holy Moly!

Here is a picture of my first jump in which I jumped off backward. You can see from my face that I am one scared Mamma Jamma! As scary as that first jump was, I jumped 2 more times. What a rush and what an accomplishment to face your fears and jump off of a bridge (3 TIMES)!

I will admit that I am feeling a bit of fear as the marathon grows close (3 WEEKS!). Fear is what has gotten me off the couch some days because I knew that if I didn't run, I would never be able to finish. I feared that I would let all of the doggies down if I didn't finish. Fear can be a great motivator.

The Guru (Marty) told me that this weekend would be my last long run before the marathon and he suggested I do 21 miles. So since I knew that this was my last long run and having that continuous nagging fear that I won't finish, I pushed myself just a little. I completed 22 miles. And now I am in what the Guru calls taper mode. I'm going to be letting my legs rest from now until the marathon (if you call ONLY running 12 or 14 miles in one day "REST"!)

So if you see me between now and marathon day (October 11th), I may not LOOK as terrified as I am in this picture; but know that I am that scared on the inside! But as I did with the bungee jumping, I will overcome fear and I can only imagine the feeling of great accomplishment I will feel when I cross the finish line into the wonderful field of goldens that I envision will be waiting for me. I only wish that the marathon would be over as quickly as the jump was.

Be well everyone!