Bide Your Time, for Success is Near

January 5, 2008. The marathon is one week from tomorrow. It is amazing how quickly time goes by. We had our last team training today, only 8 miles. Eight miles feels really easy, I must say, which is good because 26.2 miles is going to feel pretty tough in a week. I am slowly getting over this cold, although it is hanging on just a bit after 11 days now. I am really glad to be doing this. Just today, I learned about a 12 year old girl who died of leukemia in 2007. That should never have to happen to a child, and I hope that my efforts and your donations will help other children to survive cancer in the future. Thanks again for the support! I know that some day, blood cancers and other cancers will be mostly curable or at least manageable, and I will have helped in some small way to make that possible.

Our send-off party, hosted by Coach Sarah, was a lot of fun, as it always is for Team in Training. It is our last chance normally to get together as a team. Over 4-5 months you develop a lot of camaraderie with your teammates, and now we will be splitting into two events, Arizona and Disney, and going our own ways. At the party, Amber presented me with a “top fund-raiser” TNT training vest for raising over $10,000 this season. Every time I train in this vest, I will think about all of the hard work and the generosity from so many people that made it possible.

During our send off party, one of the guys brought fortune cookies. My fortune was the top one: "Bide your time, for success is near." With the marathon just a week away at the time, this is a great fortune for me. I need to remember to bide my time during the race, and enjoy the experiences. Take time to create memories, capture pictures, and so on. Success is near, indeed. Then the next night, Mary and I decided to get take-out because is was late when we got back for exercising. My fortune that night was the lower one: "The job is well done." That is how I am feeling about wrapping up my third year participating in Team in Training. Once I have finished the marathon, the job - fund raising, training, and racing - will indeed be well done.