5 months and 29 days before the big day.

Today was one of those days that you look outside and think "I would rather do anything than go outside and run". It was simply was gross. You immediately go into convincing yourself that anything would be better for you than to go outside and brave the rain, wind, puddles, and unruly umbrellas. Spinning, yoga, kickboxing, and even the dreaded treadmill all sound like better options. It was one of those days that you have to need running so much so that no excuse is worthy. You have to need it more than to just "lose weight" or "de-stress". There has to be something much better calling you outside. There was a lot of reasons why I run, but today it was clear. It was my first day of training for the Comrades Marathons and there were no good excuses anymore. 

So, I put on all the layers I owned and I tried to pretend my feet weren't soaked within the 1st 30 seconds. It was one of those horribly noisy days, but silent runs. Traffic was awful, accidents were endless because of the rain, and sirens seemed to be coming from all angles. Yet, here I was running on the Charles River, a run usually filled with dogs, people and strollers, completely and utterly alone. It was like I was in this silent bubble and the cars and noise were just outside of reach. Surreal, actually.

When I run on days like this, sometimes I think and othertimes I just zone out. Today was a thinking day. I thought about how crazy the next 6 months are going to be. I thought about how different I'll feel on May 1st than I do on Dec 1st (both physically and, hopefully, mentally). I thought about how running is amazing and not enough people ask their body to do it. I thought about how, no matter what bad things happen to you, there really are no excuses to just lay down and quit. But, most importantly, I thought about how I'm going to figure out how to run 56 miles by May.

To me, it is still a crazy thought. It probably still will be on the starting line in South Africa in May. To put it into perspective, I started to think about the distance and what I could do in 56 miles. Here is what I came up with.

1.  My Mom's house in the Southside of Chicago is 23 miles from the Loop. So, I could drive there and back in 56 miles. Damn.
2. My commute from Boston to Woonsocket, RI is a terror and it is only 52 miles. So, I guess I could run from my house to work and then 4 more miles for "fun".
3. I could run to Portsmouth, NH in just around 50 miles.

I'm excited for the journey to start. I'm excited to see how I'll change over the next couple months. Yet, I'm most excited to not let whatever bad things that are going on right now, to have any sort of influence over this experience. Because, life isn't about letting bad things own you, it is about knowing when to let the "bad" go and let the "good" in. Welcome in Comrades!

I suspect I'll be a lot MORE excited than this when I finish Comrades