Marathon Countdown

Well, well, well. It is now less than 48 hours until the Houston Marathon and I have LOTS of thoughts/reflections before the big 26.2.

First, marathon training is much harder with a kiddo and a hubby taking 4 graduate school courses. When I reviewed my training calendar, I saw the looong 13-20 mile runs on most saturdays and thought, ignorantly, I can do them all. However, I only achieved two of those runs because Mike had to go to the Baylor library all day saturday or the baby gal was too cute to leave for 3 hours or we went on vacation or Christmas happened....

Secondly, running is not near as much of a priority as I thought it was. Don't get my wrong - I LOVE to run - I can tell when the endorphins kick in - I get moody if I don't run (just ask the hubster) - I experience new places and sites on our vacations by running through new trails/roads/dirt. So, I embarked on the marathon journey wanting to do the schedule perfectly. However, I soon learned that playing with Bella while we all snuggled under the covers on a saturday morning beats a 3 hour run, hands down. And, that's ok with me. So, although I didn't achieve perfection in training I did achieve a newfound love for family and a newfound discovery of my priorities. Can you resist this face, especially when it's cold outside?

Thirdly, i'm running the 26.2 with my twin - holla! I probably would have dropped out of the race if it wasn't for her. I signed us both up and she kept us in. We have done alot together, including sharing a womb, so we can cross run-a-marathon off of our twin-to-do-list. We have decided that we will do the best that we can - even if that entails 6 hours of speed-walking. (The limit is 6 hours so we have to be done then.) Our only goal is to finish and have a great time! We'd like to do it in 4:30 and average a 10 minute mile (or better) but if we don't that's ok. We want to experience the other 30,000+ runners and the parks and trees and Houston humidity (ok, just kidding on that one). And, i'm on the hunt for Paula Radcliffe - yes, if I see her I may give her a hug and say "You're my hero". hmmm, I wonder what her bib number is.

Fourthly, i'm n.e.r.v.o.u.s and e.x.c.i.t.e.d. I'm nervous because, well y'all, it's 26.2 miles. What? I'm also nervous because my stomach has not been "agreeable" (to say the least) on some of my longer training runs. Dear stomach, please cooperate and stay calm and be good. Sincerely, Emily. On another note, i'm very excited now and have had to discipline myself to slow it down this week. I guess adrenaline will take over on race day, hopefully at mile 20.

Fifthly, and most importantly we are running for a great cause. We are running for an organization called Living Water International, which provides water to the poorest countries in the world. $1=1 cup of water goes a long way! Our team, as a whole, has raised over $52,000 thus far! And, with the devastating and heart wrenching news of the Haiti earthquake that seems to make me cry alot lately the time of providing water is even more needed. LWI is already mobilizing teams to go to Haiti and restore water to some 500 incapacitated handpumps. When I was having a "I don't want to run the 26.2" day, I opened up my LWI training shirt and that's all the motivation I needed. If you'd like to contribute to mine and Allison's fundraising page, you still can. Just go HERE and donate today! We will honored to run for them.

We will certainly keep you posted on race day. You can also follow us on race day by going HERE. My bib number is 6864 and Allison's is 6865. Don't judge if you see us running an 8 minute followed by a 16 minute mile - walk/water/bathroom/"oh my goodness"/ break!

Happy running everyone!