Everything Hurts and I'm Dying

Whoever came up with the original idea for this shirt is a genius. 

Over the last few days, that thought (everything hurts and I'm dying) has gone through my mind way too many times. It's the first week of tapering for my marathon, and my body HATES me. 

One would think that tapering is easy, but this week may be more challenging than last week. And I thought I might die last week. The fact is that my body is WORN OUT. It is getting a little tired of the nonsense that I've been putting it through. And it's starting to question if my mind is stable.

Honestly, so am I.

A couple of weeks ago, my treadmill had to be moved into our garage because my house in under construction, and there wasn't a home for it in the house anymore. This was a bit disappointing because the garage is kinda dark and just not a sparkly running space. But, it's much better than "losing my treadmill for a while", which is what I was originally told was going to happen. (We all know that was NOT going to happen...)

On my first morning, garage, treadmill run, I had an unexpected visitor. A little mouse ran by my treadmill and gave me a passing glance as if to say, "What in the world are you doing up there?! Please don't squish me!"  And, I'm not going to lie, the thought crossed my mind that I could probably hop off the treadmill and squish him. But it was a very fast passing thought, because I could never actually do that.

Then, the next morning, my little mouse friend was back!! This time, he ran by the treadmill, climbed up onto the handle of a shovel, and watched me run for a few minutes. My heart was happy to have company in the dingy garage. I felt like we had suddenly become pals.

Then, on the third morning, he was gone. The sadness I felt over my new friend standing me up for our morning run "date", was somewhat embarrassing. 

Then, yesterday, he came back!! This time he brought a Cheez-It and enjoyed a nice snack while he watched me run. The debate is still out as to where the Cheez-It came from....but I was overly excited to have my friend back.

Unless you have a gaggle of crazy friends that live down the street from you, training for a marathon is a lonely endeavor. And, even if you do have a great group of friends to run with, the mental aspect of the work you are putting in is still pretty lonely, and entirely exhausting. You are trapped with the voices in your head that are constantly working against each other, trying to wear you down. 

And sometimes those voices succeed and trick you into thinking that you actually ARE dying. 

Luckily, I'm not dying. 

Does everything hurt? Yes. 

Am I going a little crazy? Yes. 

Is the end in sight? HECK, YES!!! 

Two weeks from tomorrow I will be lining up at the start line with my amazing sister at 7:15 AM, and crossing the finish line 3 hours and 30 minutes later, celebrating a BQ.

It's happening.

Sparkle.Pounce.Be A Little Crazy. 

-Kendra