100% Everything

It's official. I am registered to run in the 2010 Bank of American Chicago Marathon.

Registration is the easy part. You type in your name, your information, your credit card numbers and wa-la you are registered. And yet, for me it is 100% the scariest part. When you hit the send button, there is no taking it back. You can't call the people and say, "I didn't really mean to fill all of that out, Can I have my money back?".

The 100% commitment begins instantly. Click, and you have an email in your in-box that is your receipt and official registration. I am not a good commitment person. When I ran the Knoxville Marathon I didn't register until the month of the race. I was 100% sure I was going to fail during my training and not be able to run it. So, why spend the money?!!

I don't know what is going to happen in the next 250 days. I have 100% faith that this is where I wanna go. I don't doubt I want to run in Chicago. I have 100% passion for the beautiful city, it's museums, it's architecture, and it's culture. My blood pumps a little faster every time I imagine the sound of my feet hitting on the Chicago pavement.

I am 100% excited that I will be running with my friend Sarah. She was the one who challenged me to begin running. She was the one that inspired me when I started my training for Knoxville. This time we will run, side by side, or until she decides to kicks my butt and run ahead. When she runs ahead I know she will be cheering me through the finish. (or vise-versa). If we cross that finish line separate or together, it will be 100% AWESOME!!!

I am 100% sure I won't be the fastest runner there. But this is about beating me, not the best runners in the world. I want to take an hour off my time from Knoxville. I know it is a huge goal but a girl can dream, pursue and run her heart out. You never know......the woman that won New York was 37, there is hope for me yet.

I may not have the best athletic coaches surrounding me during training but I am 100% supported. I have an amazing husband, who is willing to sacrifice his time and money to support my dreams. He will tolerate my diet, my aches, my excitement and my disappointments. And everyday, He will remind me of my dream. I have daughters that look up to me and cheer me on and remind me I need to run. I do this as much for them, I want them to be not only dreamers but pursuers of their passions. I have friends who will push and love in just the right doses. With my family/friends, their encouragement, this is 100% possible.

Above all else, I have 100% strength. Not because of my physical health but because when I can no longer push and I can no longer move, my God will be pick me up in my weakness, dust me off and be glorified.

I am 100% confident that I have no idea what the next 8 months of training will be like, what my life will bring me, what the weather will be like. I am 100% ready.