Race Number D 1286

I went this morning to pickup my race number for the Atlanta Marathon.  The number is D 1286. The bib will forever remain as pristine as the moment they handed it to me.

I knew as I approached the table of volunteers passing out bibs that attempting this race right now would not be in my long term best interest.  I've spent a good deal of time this past week reflecting on my goals and the processes I've chosen to achieve them.  This particular race was never "the" goal, rather it was a means to achieve the goal of qualifying for Boston.  The race tomorrow won't move me toward Boston.  Actually, if I pushed myself to run tomorrow and finish, just for the sake of finishing, I would potentially cost myself  more than I would gain. And so it is, I will take Mira to the mountain in the morning and push myself to "run" more than last week, to drive up the hills that I walked last week and to be pleased with the progress.

I am hanging this race number from my desk as a reminder of where I am going and how far I have come.  I am convinced that the mere act of entering this race has turned my conviction from "wouldn't that be a nice thing to do" to "done, I'm doing that, I'm going there".  I appreciate this bib, perhaps more than any of the other bibs I have collected.

I'm not disappointed, I'm proud of my personal growth and enjoying the evolution of what I'm really capable of.