Day 21

Wow, I can't believe three weeks of training is over already! So far, training is flying by. Before I know it, I'll be in Toronto at the starting line for my race.

Friday I found out my grandpa is in the hospital. He needed emergency open heart surgery so I decided I needed to fit a hospital visit into my day Saturday. I run my long runs every Saturday so needless to say, yesterday was a busy day. I got up a little earlier than normal and finished my long run of six miles in just under an hour. Unbelievable! I had to double-check my route when I got home just to make sure I ran the correct route. Right now I'm giving all the credit to Shot Bloks. I will never run more than 45 minutes without them after yesterday. After my run my husband and I were off to Lansing for the afternoon. We had evening plans too so the whole day was shot.

Today I finished three miles on my normal three mile route. I haven't run that route since being attacked by the red-winged blackbird. I was a little jumpy but apparently the birds didn't see me as a threat today. I prayed that my grandpa would find peace and be able to go home soon. The hospital is making him restless. I asked God to give him strength and patience (something my grandpa definitely lacks) so he could recover quickly.

I'm starting to understand how running, and especially training for a major event, can take over a person's life. I never understood how people could get so wrapped up in training but after completing three weeks of my own training program, I already get it. I will never again call someone crazy for training for a race or triathlon because I'm one of the "crazy" ones now! For the next two months, training will become a more time consuming priority for me and I will be one of those people that says "I can't do XYZ, I have to train in the morning". I'm okay with making sacrifies because I know I will accomplish something huge at the end of all this.