Thankful Thursday: Miles Banked

Today marks the 10 day point.  10 days until the Grand Rapids Marathon: a race I officially started training for on June 11th, but that I've really been training for since I first laced up some running shoes back in the spring of 2006. Although at the time I would have said you were on crack if you'd suggested I'd be running a marathon 5 years later!

Since June, I have banked 353.11 miles of running.  I didn't add up biking or walking miles in there, but there were a few of those too.  Over the next 10 days, I'll do one more "long" run of 10 miles plus probably a 2 mile and a 3 mile run.  Add those last 15 miles in and you get 368.11 miles.  That's a lot of mileage deposited into "the bank".  I'll be withdrawing on those miles for many hours on October 16th.  When my legs feel like lead and I'm shaking and tired, I need to remember:

• remember the days I got up at the crack of dawn (or before) to get in a run before the heat of summer hit, 
• remember hitting the wall during my last 20 mile training run and recognize what that feels like so it DOESN'T happen again, 
• remember what it was like to run with some of my best friends during the course this training and how they pushed me to go farther and faster than I ever dreamed possible.

In 10 short days, I will push my body to do something I never thought I would consider doing - run a marathon.  I wouldn't be here without those 360-some miles of training.  I certainly wouldn't be here without you all encouraging me.  

The miles are in the bank and it's almost time to start collecting.