I Know

Later today I will run 20 miles.

It will be the longest I ever have run at one time. A far cry from the 3 mile runs I skipped every month or 2 while doing crossfit simply because I hated to and couldn't run for distance, and that was less than 6 months ago.

I know what I will feel.
I know that I will start running, and I will try to breathe only in and out through my nose.
I know that at 1 and a 1/2 miles I will need to start exhaling orally.
I know that between miles 2 and 3, I will think that I have been training too hard and my legs will feel too weak to run much further.
I know that by mile 4 and a 1/2 I will laugh at myself for thinking I needed to stop at mile 3.
I know that miles 5 through 10 will flow by nearly effortlessly.
I know that around mile 13 my knees will begin to ache and I will either wish I had taken pre-run advil, or be thankful that I did.

I know I am strong.

I know that I have the aerobic capacity to run for 20 miles, or for 25 miles, or dare I say even 30 miles.
I know I can make my legs carry me, and I know I can put one foot in front of the other.

And I know I can fight.
I know I can shut out the demons that tell me that I cannot run any further.
I know I can swallow the bile that begs me to stop.
I know I can spit fire at the wind and the rain and the cold that try to stand in my way.

And I will tell them all with the fury of a thousand bolts of lightning that there is nothing, and there is noone, who is capable of keeping me from my quest, from my flight to my destiny.