I'm just saying....

The marathon is 25 days, 20 hours, 48 minutes--oh make that 47 minutes away---and my brain has begun with the excuses. When I decided to do the marathon at the first of the year--my brain was all...." I can totally do a marathon....I will do better than my first marathon....I am in better shape, I train smarter,etc.,etc.". Well...now that the race is 25 days, 20 hours and 46 minutes away those running demons are sitting on my shoulder and gaining ground. While I still firmly believe I will finish and feel decent after finishing....my goal of beating my 1996 marathon time is what I am now questioning.

I googled my marathon results from 1996:

• 1134.Ann Wilcox 24 F Freeport,IL 4:15:03.00 = 9:43.6

Let me go over some noticeable changes....my name, my age, and where I live! I finished a relatively flat course in 4:15--an average of a 9:43 pace per mile.

Let me also note how they are describing the ING Georgia Marathon--"While very scenic, this course is a hilly course and may not be your best choice for a PR." Gulp...really?

Running is so very mental for me...keeping the running demons at bay is dare I say harder than physically running the marathon. So here's to keeping a good attitude throughout the marathon and no matter how I finish....slower....faster just be happy with the journey, be happy to be reconnecting with an old friend, be happy that I have two legs that will allow me to run around a city, be happy that while my name, age, address--pretty much my whole life has changed since Oct. '96, I am still able to train for and run a marathon, be happy because two little girls are watching and learning from their mom how to be strong both physically and mentally. Be Happy that race day is now 25 days, 20 hours and 30 minutes away!!!!