Always going forward

Wow I am really slacking at this blog thing but I am making up for it on facebook.

So I just finished up a weekend with all the girls of All About Dance By Kristen at nationals and they did fantastic. My sunshining 9 year old danced in groups that won 1st overalls in the respective age groups for small group, large group, and lines. The first two actually paid price money of $750 and $1000 for the groups along with the necessary items such as a 6' tall trophy that dwarfs all of the 7-9 yr old girls.. It was a good weekend made even better by a trip to the bar late Saturday night to witness UFC 100 and watch grown men punch and wrestle each other until one either gives up or is unable to continue. It's amazing a weekend of watching talented kids express themselves physically through dance and movement was married perfectly with watching grown men express themselves through barbaric violence. I guess you could call it a weekend of artistic expressionism.

This leads me to where I am now. I am currently in the phase of training that runners refer to as the taper. I'm actually more or less at the end of the taper beginning the transition into preparedness and full of anxious energy. This step is also full of a constant battle between a bottle of water and the bathroom. I seem to be spending more time walking back and forth between the bathroom then I was when my children were 2 and 3 years old.

I feel that I am better prepared for the Buckeye 50k on Saturday then I have been for any endurance race in my life. I have put in the miles, completed the long runs strong, and I am mentally ready for anything that the world throws at me. I realized just how strongly this has become rooted in my consciousness when I was explaining to my daughter why this meant so much to me. I told her about how I have quit twice before in this race. I didn't make up excuses or beat around the bush. I told her that I wasn't mentally strong enough to make it through the tough times and just gave up. She asked me why I was doing it again and without hesitation I told her that I couldn't continue to look back and measure this point in my life by a few short moments of weakness as there are so many good memories. I am doing it to replace those memories forever with the memories I create on Saturday.

So to all of those that are reading this and have had some part in the training, or will have some part in the adventure on Saturday. Thanks for becoming a part of the good memories.... and to those that are forgotten with the bad... I hope you understand... Now in the immortal words of Judge Mills Lane.... Lets get it on.