I'm Ready to Rock

I should be in bed right now. But I'm not. I'm too excited.

I knew this would happen from last year, when the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon wasn't just my first relay experience, it was my first-ever race, period.

The night before is an amalgm of nerves, excitement, anticipation, and fear. Knowing that I have to be up at 4am also sometimes leads to panicked awakenings with one eye on the alarm clock.

So I allow my mind and body to unwind before settling into a nice sleep. I then envision getting up, stretching, throwing on my lime-green Team MADness jersey, Fighting Irish mesh shorts, and white adidas kicks, eating, stretching again, and catching the 5:32 bus downtown.

This time I can't forget to put on the shoetag-timer, as I did last June. This time our relay time has to be made official. Or Karen Madden and my other friends won't let me live to see another race.

Another first is this is my first Rock 'n' Roll with Black Max, the prosthetic leg I got last summer. I did last year's relay with my old leg and then, upon getting this new lighter leg, have done two 5K's.

When people see my leg, and my two prosthetic arms, that's the reason, besides wanting to stay in shape, that I do this. It's exhilirating and energizing and fun. And people see that no matter one's limitations, with faith and hard work, all things are possible.

And it's been hard work. Since January, I've logged lots of miles walking in Paradise Hills - emphasis on hills - and the perimeter of beautiful PETCO Park. Some days I wake up the next morning with my back feeling like it was kicked a hundred times. I love to work out but I have a hard time with push-aways - pushing myself away from the table.

But I feel ready. Still nervous but ready.

There's always the fear of plain not making it and, at my age, ensuring muscles don't tense up prematurely. But I feel that last year's experience showed me how to pace myself without walking too slowly.

Walking too slow by way of allowing myself to get distracted won't happen either. Tonight I had an awesome carb-loading dinner at DiMillie's Italian with K-Mad, Nina, Colleen, Alison, and Mike. We were also visited by Jonathan (who's doing the full-marathon), his girlfriend Nikole, Filmore Frank, and his girl Jenna. They ordered me a ONE BUSINESS CARD maximum so I wouldn't stop and talk to people, like last year. Dang it!

I love my friends. I love my official teammate, Karen, and the other runners, who are like teammates. I love that we chose to do this and now it's a shared passion.

I love God giving me this opportunity. And tomorrow night I will probably love a chair, some Coca Cola, and some rest.

See you at the Finish Line!