Last night were two mile time trials. I did a 9:09 for my first mile and an 18:04 for my second…negative split! YES! Using the McMillian Calculator (https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/), it looks like my marathon race pace is set to be 10:59. If I’m on target, I should finish my marathon 4:47:38. Ok, so it’s a far cry from doing a 4:00 marathon, but when I set the goal of shaving an hour off of my time at the end of last year’s marathon, as Kendra said, I had “Marathon Goggles” on. It’s amazing what adrenaline does after you finish your first marathon. I hope you all have or will have the experience to know how that feels.

Last night at the track, the college had some sort of game going on. At the beginning of their game, they played and sang our National Anthem. I was surprised and touched that EVERYONE at track practice stopped where they were, faced our American flag, put their hand over their heart and listened. I looked around and smiled…folks scattered around the track loop just standing there honoring our country. I don’t know why I was surprised, but I loved it.

I don’t know why I get choked up when I hear my National Anthem or the song Proud to be an American, but I do. I don’t remember being choked up when I was younger, but I do know that after 9/11/01, I get choked up every time, especially before every race. Despite the imperfections of our government, I absolutely love our country. I love how we come together when times of need and I love the spirit of our people (even the crazy ones). The terrorist attacks on 9/11 may have changed some security procedures, but it has and will not change the spirit or the resilience of the American people. We are strong….American strong.