In these final days...

My only guide...

I am going to miss all of this...this feeling...in the magical space of before.  The smiles thinking of what is to come because you know something really fantastic is going to happen.  This is the space I am in right now and I'm trying not to take any of it for granted.  It is Thursday.  Saturday is just two wakes away now.  I'm hydrating, resting, stretching, writing, reading, and visualizing.  It is an easy training week but I have been focusing most on my mind.  I'm looking through my training notes.  I'm surrounding myself with inspiration.  All of my training...both for the half and full marathon came from one book that I read in February...Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham.  

When I first started out...I wanted to just walk both.  Now...I walk and run.  I knew immediately as the pages quickly turned that I could do it.  I could complete a half marathon and a full marathon.  And now...I'm just two days away...and I am already forever changed.  Here are a few of my favorite lines...

• It's a mind-set, not miles, that separates those who do from those who dream (pg. 1)

• Everything changes when you decide to train.  Your goals change. Your life structure changes. Your risks change.  Eventually your rewards even change. (pg. 13)

• Anyone, even a mortal like you, who is willing to carve the time out of his or her life and commit to a training program can go the distance. (pg. 25)

• Who you can be doesn't depend on who you have been. (pg. 46)

• At the moment when your body begins to tire, you must make the conscientious decision to think your way to the finish. (pg 98) 

• Getting to the starting line takes more courage than finding your way to the finish. (pg. 171)

• The marathon is 20 miles of hope followed by 6 miles of truth. (pg. 201)

And then there is the music...music...like following soccer...gets me through life and keeps my head on straight.  I created a playlist called "Final Miles" filled with all those songs that fuel me.  They give me energy. They fill my heart.  They infuse strength.  They make me a better me.  Songs that have fueled me since I was a little girl.  Songs that are more recent.  It is all I have been listening too.  When I wake up in the AM. In the car.  At the gym.  When writing.  I am completely immersed.  Here are a few of them and why they mean so much...

• Saint Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr  (When I interviewed for the job changed the course of my career...this song was playing on the radio when I started my car.)

• Dreams - Van Halen  (Probably one of the best songs ever..."So baby dry your eyes, save all the tears you've cried....Ohh that's what dreams are made of.)

• Enter Sandman - Metallica (This is the song that plays when the Maryland Men's Soccer Team takes the pitch.)

• Back in Black - AC/DC (This is the song that plays when Talon takes the pitch before DC United Games.)

• This is the One - The Stone Roses (This is the song that plays when Manchester United takes the pitch.  After Rocky's Fanfare...ahem...which may also be on the playlist.)

• Windy - The Association (This was my first ever favorite song...I heard it on an oldies station when I really little and it became my personal anthem instantly.)

There are many others...because music is my everything...Bob Marley, Kid Cudi, Avicii,  Foster the People, Pretenders, Big Country, Porno for Pyros, Coldplay...and still more. It spans many years of believing in whatever I have set my mind too.  It may take longer than you want it to...but keep the focus...save the tears...spread your wings...that's what dreams are made of!