Through wind and rain we got here...

My alarm went off at 9am this morning and I woke the sound the the wind and rain bashing against the window from outside. The first thing that popped into my head was "Oh sweet holy Mary and the baby Jesus I am running a Marathon in 24 hours time!". As I lay there with my mind starting to race with butterflies and excitement and nerves, the words to one of my favourite songs broke through my stream of consciousness and made me smile.

"Through wind and rain we got here"

I cannot think of a better metaphor set to the lyrics of my favourite girl group for my journey so far. As I lay in bed thinking about the rain, the cold or how chaffed I will be tomorrow, wondering if the rain will affect my time or performance - I put the song and just listened to the words and I calmed right back down.

Whatever happens tomorrow, whether I run the only marathon I ever run tomorrow or whether this is the start of a journey to 100 marathons, if my nipples start bleeding from the chaffing (sorry for the image there) or I have an emotional breakdown half way around, I'm proud of me. I'm going to go out there and give it my best. My best doesn't mean the best I will ever be capable of, just the best I am capable of giving right now. 

If I had stopped running after my first 10K, my 'best' would have been 61 minutes. I kept running, ran numerous 10Ks since and have a best of 46 minutes. This is the attitude I am bringing into the marathon tomorrow with me. 

"And in my dreams it feels like we are forty stories tall"

I will thank everyone who has sponsored me so far in person, but for now as the 24 hour clock starts to tick towards the starting line, I'll just leave the link to sponsor me here. Honestly, I'm not trying to put any pressure on anyone and only if you have an extra few euro, I (and BeLonG To) really appreciate your sponsorship.

Sponsor Link Here: 

http://www.mycharity.ie/event/jqmarathon