Great Expectations

On Saturday I am running the St George Marathon for the 3rd time.  The first time I over trained and got injured.  The second time I under trained out of fear of being injured.  This time I got injured a month into training.  So I ran as much as my IT band would allow, with zero cross training due to my dumb broken wrist, and I think got in enough long runs to finish the marathon.  I'm slower, heavier, and weaker than I've been since I started running a few years ago, so I'm going into this race with a totally different approach.  I will not be trying to finish by a certain time.  I won't be striving to go as fast and as hard as my body will let me.  That will have to wait for next year.  This time the plan is to just enjoy a nice comfortable run, in a gorgeous place with an incredible atmosphere, so don't bother asking what my time was.

 Regardless of how the run goes, I am super excited to see my two favorite college roomies Kari and Jenny.  Kari is coming for support, and Jenny is running the marathon as well.  She is hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon with her time for St George.  Needless to say, we won't be running together on Saturday, but we do plan to reconnect and likely reminisce on our days together at Ricks college and then at BYU.  

Like the time when Kari and I ran into Steve Young at the Hogi Yogi in Provo.

 Or the time when Ben and Jon, our friends on the football team who, secure enough in their manhood, let us dress them up in Jenny's finest.  The guys were even good sports when Jenny and Kari copied the pics into a poster and had them hung in the football locker room!

These are the girls who saved my 19th birthday from being a complete disaster by taking me out to a fun dinner when I finally made it back into Rexburg.   After crashing my car, being interrogated my the worlds meanest police officer, and then spending the remainder of the day at a body shop waiting for my car to be fixed, these sweet friends put the smile back on my face.

So fast run or slow run, sleep or no sleep, I have great expectations for my weekend in St George!