Overwhelmed, and it's not all about me.

I can not even begin to say how I feel right now, except overwhelmed. In the past 6 days since "THE FALL" I have heard from people I don't even know, and this morning I got an e-mail from my aunt - someone I think I see once a year - to see how I was doing, and to encourage me no matter how things go. I don't know why I got so emotional, but I just started crying, and here I am crying again. It's so powerful to know that people really care and it makes me feel foolish for being so selfish when the whole reason for me having a number in this Marathon is to raise money for people who are dying of cancer - to help them find a cure - and just live.

Last Saturday while I was "all about me" my teammate got up and gave a dedication to her husband. He was diagnosed with Leukemia 14 years ago, and at that time was given 6 months to a year to live. Here it is 14 years later and he is still here, albeit still pretty ill from all the ravages to his body. In addition to talking about their battle with the disease, she talked about how they had banked sperm, but after 10 miscarriages had to go a donor to conceive their son, who she stressed is THEIR son. She talked about wanting to get off the sidelines and jump into the race, that she has never runned and now feels so empowered. We actually run at a similar pace - we've chatted, but I never knew her story... I've been thinking about her a lot this week. I have been thinking about how I need to do what I can to get better and stop dwelling on what is.

My body is about 75%. I keep thinking that my knee is better and then I move a certain way and realize that there is still something going on. My rib/side doesn't bother me when I am sitting or walking, but the deep breaths, sneezes or sudden movements send some sharp pains. I am going to go to the gym this morning and try to run one mile and see how I feel. I need to get back in the game. The thought of going into the marathon cold is killing me. With everything I've been thinking about this week I am more determined than ever to finish this!