"It's the End of the World as I Know It" Day 3 of 26.2

Did my errands this morning on foot - then took a Thai Restorative Yoga class. So I've been all blissed out all day. Enjoying carbs, finishing packing, shaving legs. You know, a normal Saturday. Oh, and freaking out. A little. But really, what is there to freak out about?

Dear Mississauga Marathon Finish Line:

You are a really long way from the start line. Really, really, really far indeed. So far, that today at 5:02pm, I cannot conceive how on earth I will make it across you. But when I do, I know I won't be quite the same person I was when I started out towards you months ago.

I don't mean changed in any big, existential way, but changed in a series of small ways that comes from conquering the small, sometimes mundane challenges that we all face along the way. Changed by every tree I've seen, every conversation I've shared with my running friends, changed by dry heaving along the side of a country road. That one wasn't my favourite part of training to meet you, I must say.

Nothing about my life will be different when I cross you tomorrow. I will not have changed the world, my problems will not be solved, my mortgage won't have disappeared. I will still miss my parents, I will still laugh with my kids, I will still get up on Monday and go to work. I will still battle depression and anxiety, and I will still be perfectly imperfect Annie.

And that's all just fine with me.

I've learned as I have grown up (yes, still kinda working on that!) that only one thing matters more than the journey. That is, the people who share the steps with you.

Tomorrow I will run with a couple of thousand other people who have shared similar challenges to reach the line with me. We will run as a community in spirit and as one in a shared goal. How.Freaking.Amazing.

Tomorrow I will run with my training partner, who has taken every step of the journey with me. Special bonds are formed in shared experiences. Treat him well, and bring him home safe.

Tomorrow I will run into the arms of my friends and family along the race route. I will take their encouragement and hugs and use them to push my very likely exhausted spirit towards you.

So, Mississauga Marathon finish line, we will meet tomorrow. I'm looking forward to meeting you, and seeing old friends and new along the way.

Watch out world, 'cause here I come.

Find Your CORE