tomorrow morning i will toe the line for another half marathon. i’ll be racing the Ice Age 1/2 marathon and i’m excited to put it all out there on the trails.
i’ll be totally honest: i’m not sure HOW ready i am to do 13.1 miles. but the most important thing for me tomorrow is that i show up.
a little background: i signed up for another Ice Age race in 2012, but after discovering a tumor (which ultimately turned out to be benign) and fast-tracking surgery, i had to bow out of the race. the awesome race director told me he’d hold my entry for this year so when registration opened, i got right on it.
the thing that my little scare with my health taught me last year is that you can’t always be 100% prepared. heck, how often do we get the opportunity to say that anyway? and even when we think we are – life can kick you in the ass.
…which lead me to join forces with MS Run the US!
i think i’ve told this story here before, but the short of it is that late last year, i saw Ashley tweeting about looking for runners to join the MS Run Athletes team. i had followed Ashley (quietly) since she ran across the United States a few years ago and have since come to know that a number of friends have been impacted – either themselves with a diagnosis of MS or have a family member who is living with the disease.
and like i said, no matter how prepared we are, there’s always the chance that life might sneak up on you. so i joined the fight!
and the motto that i run by is “constant forward motion.”
i love that idea because it doesn’t allow me to dwell in past successes or failures. it doesn’t account for perfect planning or the obstacles life COULD throw in my path. so when i race, i show up at the line and go. constant forward motion.
just like none of my friends or their families chose to life their lives with Multiple Sclerosis, i can’t choose what might happen a week or month or year from now.
but what i can do is to keep moving forward. i can run, so i do. and in my running, i can be a voice and a pair of legs for those impacted by MS. i can raise awareness and money for research today, so i do. and i will toe the line tomorrow, remembering the reasons i run.
if you need a little inspiration today, checkout all of the awesome stuff going on with MS Run the US. oh, this video, for example:
and if you’re so inclined, visit my fundraising page where you can donate money that will go directly to MS Research.
what’s not to love about that?
keep moving forward, people!
see shay run. 