So, it’s Saturday night. Maybe this post finds you out with good friends, spending time with your family, or enjoying some time with your feet up on a comfy couch. That last one perfectly describes my current situation, and it’s really quite great. This weekend, I got to see my beautiful sister graduate with her Masters Degree! It was just perfect to have our whole family together.

I almost didn’t write this post because I didn’t want to jinx anything ahead of time, but I wanted to share with you that tomorrow I’m going to be running the Colfax Half Marathon in Denver!

No, this wasn’t part of the original plan and yes, Grandma’s Marathon is still the anticipated end point of this journey! However, part of the original training plan was to run a “training” race, just to get the feel of what it will actually be like on race day, since I’ve only participated in one race that was several years ago. We had planned to run a 10K in April but were unable to due to a snowstorm (thanks, Colorado). So, after a lot of encouragement from my “second” dad (who will be handcycling the half marathon!) and several others, I registered on Monday and will hit the road tomorrow to do that training run*.

[*To be clear, had anyone told me a year ago that I’d be running a half marathon as a “training” run for something else, I would laughed out loud, then likely fainted, then been convinced I must have an athletic doppelgänger out there somewhere in the universe.] 

I tend to get pretty nervous before big events, so I tried to think of what might calm me down this evening. After a perfect dinner with my second parents, I decided I would watch some old home videos. More often than not, our Nana was the videographer in our family, and I knew I’d get to hear her narration behind the camera.

Ironically, the first video I found chronicles when I was just learning to walk. In the way I’m sure all parents and grandparents do for their little ones, Nana and my parents celebrated each time I bumbled around the big red/pink couch (yes, we had one), and laughed with encouragement each time I fell to crawl.

In an odd way, this little video is giving me a lot of encouragement for tomorrow. Whether I fell down or actually stood up and took a few steps, I heard Nana’s voice of encouragement behind the camera. Tomorrow, whether I’m running strong or just barely moving my feet, I will try to remember her words in the back of my head. I have to believe she’s going to be watching from wherever she is, too.

It’s getting pretty late here (aka past 9:00 pm), so I’m going to wrap up this post. I look forward to writing about the adventure afterwards (once I’ve regained feeling in my knees). If you’d like to get an email when the next post drops, feel free to enter your email in the box at the right.

PS – Two other gems from this video:

1. Evidently, Abbe and I were having “shared sister talk over Froot Loops”. This consisted of us actually just screaming to one another and looking quite pleased with ourselves.
2. According to Nana’s narration, I loved to carry around a sock as a little kid, regardless of whether I was walking or crawling. So, if you happen to be in Denver tomorrow along the race route and see me carrying a sock, it’s evidently nothing to be worried about.