Yep, it is true, the Chicago Marathon is finally here! After 3 months of training, I can no longer avoid it…in less than 48 hours, I will be running 26.2 miles with over 40,000 other runners in downtown Chicago. Even though this will be my third marathon, I am still filled with anxiety. I don’t know if it is the fact that for the first time I am running the full 26.2 miles on my own, or if it is because I still feel like I didn’t train all that well, of it is because I am worried that any one of the several injuries I acquired while training this year will reappear on Sunday. But underneath all that anxiety lies excitement and joy. There truly is something magical about running 26.2 miles through the city of Chicago with thousands of other runners.
This year, I have a different focus for the marathon. Unlike years in the past, I don’t really care what my time is; I am not running it to set a new PR or to qualify for Boston, but instead I run it in memory of my Grandma. I run to celebrate her life, to celebrate her strength, to celebrate her compassion, to celebrate her love for the little things in life. And whether I run the marathon in 5 hours or 3, it won’t matter to me because I know it wouldn’t have mattered to my grandma.
And I just know she will be watching over me on Sunday, cheering me on from the stands in Heaven.
Gram, this run is for you! RIP 06/18/09
Posted by Kelly 
