16 weeks, 404 miles, 63 hours

Ready or not... here I come. It has been 16 weeks, 404 miles, and 63 hours of running. Saturday is the big day, and I am nervous! Training is always good for me; it clears my mind, strengthens my body, and most importantly it teaches me how to endure. Confession: I hate running. I really do. However, each day when I complete my run I say to myself, "There, you did it. You hated it, but you did something that was hard and you didn't quit!" Okay here it comes, the big analogy:

Marriage: hard, super hard, want to quit.
Kids: hard, super hard, want to quit.
Family: hard, super hard, want to quit.
Friends, Church, Work: hard, super hard, want to quit.

Is it always hard and super hard? No. Is it often hard and super hard? Yes. So how are we able to endure the difficult times if we haven't trained ourselves to be able to do things that are difficult? I always like to think of my ancestors who fought for what they believed in sacrificed and endured. Putting down the peanut butter cups and remote to go out in a snow storm and do a 6 mile run is a sacrifice, and I have to endure. I feel like I am stronger, and no I am not talking about my rippling calves, I am talking about my soul, my character. I feel like I am able to gracefully endure the difficulties, not the ugly endure that costs you all of your friendships, but gracefully. Now, does this take a marathon for everyone to develop? Nope. But...I can bet your bottom dollar that if you train for and complete a marathon you will change. You can never be the same person before the marathon as you are after. You can't take away growth, progress, healing, and what I like to tell my dancers "mental toughness." I am about to venture into the hardest part of the past 16 weeks, am I nervous? Yes. Can I do it? Yes. Will it he hard as he!!? Yes. But I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. There I am convinced. Saturday at about 11:25 I will be crossing the finish line (on cobblestone no less) and shoving my face with peanut butter cups. You know why? Because I will have earned them. Yep, there are great rewards for just simply hanging in there, enduring. Head held high with chocolate smeared all over my face, hobbling, but proud of myself for doing something I hated and was hard. Enduring.