marathon ride

today is the day the marathon takes place here where i live and what is cool about this is that they have the streets blocked off to cars and and they allow cyclists to register to ride the route before the marathon starts. dave loves this ride each year. it is so fun for him to be able to ride as hard and as fast as he wants to and not have to worry about cars or street lights or anyting. it is hard to believe it has been a year since this race last april. i love driving him to this ride, even if it does mean i wake up on a saturday at five, because of the high he is on when his ride is done. i love how much he loves cycling. it makes me miss running and the high that it gave me. it is my goal to start running again after the baby is born and make it routine so i can get back in shape. when i was running, it isn't just that my body was more fit, it was that my mind and heart were both in a better place. i think it is amazing the benefits that exercise brings to your entire being. i remember when i first started to run, i had always been overweight and i had even had trouble running the mile in elementary school. i remember thinking "just a little bit farther today, if i can run two miles today it will be easier to run two miles tomorrow" and i ran so slowly that everyone passed me, but you know what? i was still running after they had started to walk or packed up and gone home...slowly but surely i increased my distance and speed until i felt like i could conquer the world. it really helped me to keep perspective about what a process life is. when we set our sights on something, no matter what it is, we can't expect to achieve it immediately. it is the same with learning a new skill. you can't decide you want to be a pianist, buy a piano and voila, you are a pianist. it takes time, discipline and practice and you learn one note, and then another, and then another and pretty soon you can play a song. i know it is simple but sometimes i forget this truth. that life is a journey and things take time and i am a work in progress. i get frustrated that i am not where i want to be NOW and then i let that frustration slow down or sometimes completely halt my progress.