Little Miss Runner Pants

i got up, got dressed. vaseline and body glide. deodorant and more vaseline. pony tail holders. i-pod. gu. bio-freeze.

i was all set. running gear was on, i was ready.

what felt like an eternity later, after a final pep-talk from Coach in the Lobby, we made our way to the line up. it was 6am. race started at 7.... so for an hour i opened myself up to it all.

all the women huddled together, cheering and chanting for their city and team. husbands lining the sidewalks with signs saying GO MOM and YOU CAN DO IT. little kids climbing light poles....big kids climbing light poles. video cameras, head-sets. and running shoes. we were out there so long, waiting in our corral, that at one point Stripe Shirt, Tall Blonde and i sat down, just amongst all the women. and i looked around and for some reason, whatever it was.... all the shoes just spoke to me. all the feet of all the women about to do this thing... this marathon. and i smiled. i soaked it up and felt calm.

eventually, it was time. 5, 4, 3...2.......1. and a surge of the feeling you get, just the feeling... you know what i mean, and it was awesome. SS TB and i were in the 12:00 group so as to start out slowly, so for 10 minutes we cheered on our fellow runners as they headed out onto the course. slowly we made our way to the start, and at 7:10 we crossed the line.