Excuses Excuses Excuses. And then....Breakthrough!

No injuries (Thank God) this year to marr my upcoming race. But so many damn distractions. First, all my trips. Spain. Mexico. Pittsburgh! Then, this stupid cough, a remnant of a cold I got in Spain back in September. As you can probably see, my tapering began far too soon. I've been striving to maintain my discipline, but it's been impossible with all this going on. To make matters worse, I have not been feeling very confident, and now that it's dark in the morning, it is a major chore just to get up, let alone run.

At 6 am this morning, I was beginning to have self-doubt in my abilities.
Can I finish this marathon?
Can I do well at it, hopefully better then back in 2005? Or even 2006?
Why am I not pumped up for it like years past? Is it because I've done it 5 times in my life?

And then it struck me. I was sinking in excuses.

True, I've had a lot of challenges making my health and schedule chaotic at best.
But now, with no trips in the future, and a small cough that only seems to act up when I DONT run, I am just a negative, zero-motivated individual. Is this who I want to be?

NO.

I didn't feel like running this morning. And, I've gotten used to feeling this way too. Very bad.
But today I may have kicked the habit. FINALLY.

If the Colorado Rockies can go from 3rd place in their division, to winning 20 of their last 21 games, and going to the World Series....then why can't I?

I took a running bag with me to my office, and after work today I hit the streets of the big apple. Starting from the Chrysler Building, I ran down to Broadway and headed north to the enchanted forest of New York... Central Park.
And I prevailed... I ran 1 full, large loop and also did a loop around the Jackie Onassis Resoivoir. But I did not stop there, as I continued to do, get this...another full lap around the park.

At mile 15, I got major foot cramping. Damn cramps. This is going to be the death of me. When I get these cramps. They become so painful, that I have to come to a complete stop until they subside. Why is this happening to me (please say this like Nancy Kerrigan. Okay. Please continue)??

It's these damn foot cramps that are going to ruin my chance at a good finishing time at this year's gala event. And speaking of that, we are now 18 days away from that big show.

Anyway, I came back out through Columbus Square and made my way back to the Chrysler. In the end, I ran a whopping 17.2 miles. Overall, that made my 1 day total a record 20.3 miles. Needless to say, I will not be running tomorrow or Friday, to have another big (but not as big) run on Saturday.