Anticipation

“Standing on the starting line, we are all cowards.” – Alberto Salazar.

Sunday will be my seventh marathon this year. In 2007, I have raced just over 200 miles and I still feel nervous every time I approach the start. I ran this morning and had goose bumps thinking about the crowds at Chicago.

Chicago is not my last race of 2007, but it is a very special culmination race. I’ve had a focus on Chicago since being force to be one of the million spectators last year, due to a severe stress fracture. I made a promise to myself that I was going to learn from my mistakes and come back next year as a smarter, stronger runner. I think I’ve succeeded.

Nevertheless, all my training and racing can never take away that special feeling that comes just before the gun goes off.

To quote Owen Wilson in Armageddon – “I'm great; I got that "excited/scared" feeling. Like 98% excited, 2% scared. Or maybe it's more. It could be, it could be 98% scared, 2% excited but that's what makes it so intense, it's so - confused. I can't really figure it out.”