Thanks!

"A real love for the hard battle knowing it offers the opportunity to be at your best when your best is required." "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable" -- John Wooden - Forwarded from Pam "The Blam" Liston


I wanted to pass along a very heart-felt "Thank You" to all of you who have shared your well-wishes for tomorrows marathon. Looking at the countdown widgit on the blog, there are less than 23 hours until go-time.

Below are a few of the emails I have received this week, but before I get to that, I wanted to also ask that your thoughts and prayers be with a couple of friends from our little community. Johnny "Playa" Watts is running a marathon in South Carolina tomorrow. Though he did tell me the weather is supposed to be perfect and the course flat, so I'm a little envious and thinking I maybe signed on for the wrong race : -) Good luck John, I'll be thinking of you!

Project Graduate Corbin Baird is also running the Tecumseh Trail Marathon tomorrow. I know he has been doing his best to train around a hectic work/travel schedule, and he's as ready as ever for this run. This is Corbin's second attempt at Tecumseh, last year he injured his ankle around the mid-way point and had to call it quits before the finish. Good luck, Bro! I'm sure you will be waaaaaay ahead of me. Save me some of that homemade soup, will ya?

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Chris, Just wanted to send best wishes today to you as you get yourself in the zone for tomorrow. You are now, and always will be, a winner, Just be safe and make good decisions as you are running the course. Listen to your body. Know that many of us will be thinking of you tomorrow and cheering you on as you are on the course. Play nice with the other runners. Pam

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Here is a great suggestion from Project Graduate, Joyce Hertko. Pam made a similar suggestion to me for the October 1/2 marathon...

Kristen Armstrong (Lance Armstrong's former wife) started to run during her divorce as a way to help herself during that painful time. She wrote an article about her long training runs and first marathon. Kristen chose to pray for one person during each mile. She stayed focus on the run but also thought of others. I thought this was inspiring and wanted to share it with you. You have a lot of family members and friends who can help you through this run without physically being at the race. Maybe more importantly, through prayer, they will be with you spiritually. Good luck and no excuses!

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Best of Luck on your adventure, Coach Chris! We'll be thinking of you and sending any chi we generate your way. john

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Chris, before this week slips through my fingers, I wanted to wish you well for this Saturday's trail run. What an amazing challenge you have taken on - distance, the outdoor elements, terrain, age (I'm older than you, so I can note this), etc. Your hard work towards this goal is an inspiration to your fellow yogis. I am proud of you and am grateful every week when your presence leads me down a better path. Enjoy your moment of achieving "26"

Diana
ps - Mike and I went hiking in Eagle Creek Saturday morning - the adventures plant the seed

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There you have it! With so many of you thinking of me, sending chi/energy and positive thoughts and prayers my way, how can it not be a perfect day? Regardless of how things go tomorrow, it doesn't matter. As in a yoga pose, as in life, all that matters is what I experience tomorrow, and how I respond to it. There are infinite ways and directions this event can go. I just have to find one Way which is most appropriate to what my spirit needs to experience tomorrow. That could mean doing better than I envision, that could mean suffering all day, and that could mean dropping out before the finish. I trust that I will experience exactly what I need to experience tomorrow; no attachment, no aversion...

Thank you all for your support, for hanging with me these past months of training and for all your prayers. I know I will feel all of you out on the trail with me. I will share the race experience with all of you as soon as I can.

In Peace,
Chris
p.s. -- depending on how things go tomorrow, I may have an announcement as to what my next "adventure" is going to be.