Early Registration

It's beautiful outside today. It's in the 50's with hardly a cloud in the sky. Hard to believe just yesterday it was an icy mess out there. This morning I met H for our Wednesday run and we both commented to each other how "warm" it was outside. Yes, we are crazy 37 degrees felt warm in comparison to the 20 something degree weather we have been running in. We had a lovely 7 mile run and when I got back to my house I wasn't ready to go inside. I stayed out front and stretched for awhile. Wasting away the precious morning minutes just thankful to be outside and not shivering.

Every once in awhile I need days like this to give me a little boost. I've been feeling down about my running lately. I've been battling some minor injuries which has been frustrating. It's been bitter cold outside which has been miserable and I was supposed to run my next marathon in Barcelona Spain but due to some changing circumstances that won't be happening anymore. My next marathon will be the National marathon right here in DC at the end of March. There's nothing wrong with the National marathon, I actually had a good race the last time I ran it but honestly I only signed up for it as a back up. Barcelona was supposed to be my spring marathon. The marathon that I would look forward to that would help motivate me through each long freezing run. To be fair, there's not much motivation when all I have to look forward to is running around DC in March before the Cherry Blossoms start to bloom.

But then something exciting happened, I noticed on twitter that early entry started for the Marine Corps Marathon today. I won't be eligible for early entry until next year but just knowing that the real entry is around the corner is enough to put a huge smile on my face. In case you don't know the Marine Corps Marathon is one of the highlights of my year. It is hands down my favorite race. It's not just the race itself, although the race is amazing, it's everything about the race. It's the warm summer long runs, it's the many chats with my other running friends comparing our runs, finding that camaraderie of being in this together, it's the anticipation of the annual pasta party I throw every year, it's the expo, it's meeting up with friends at the top of the metro in Rosslyn and walking down that hill to the start line and then it all culminates on the top of the hill in front of the Iwo Jima memorial and it is amazing. MCM is a good ten months away which is a long time but when I think about only waiting one more month for registration to open it makes MCM feel like it's just around the corner. Once registration happens, I know the start of spring isn't very far behind and that gives me some motivation.