lurid new shoes

lurid new shoes, originally uploaded by gawdessness.

These are not the shoes I will tie on tomorrow -
not the ones that I will wear at the starting line -

or while I am running, walking, trotting and possibly limping and hobbling up and down dirt trails through parkland forests and along horse paths and dirt roads...

hoping, thinking, pushing to cover 50 kilometres

again.

I did it last year and it took a long time (nearly 9 and 1/2 hours, just under the limit) and left me with a lot of blisters and a couple of toenails that turned black and fell off

This year I hope to do it a little easier, a little faster but it will be better than okay if I just finish it.

One thing I do know, is that I am never really alone for any of those many steps that I take to get to the end - I carry my friends (running and otherwise) with me, and my family will be there too.

Literally, all four of my kids and my husband are the volunteers at the 5k aid station and they will cheer like I am a celebrity when I run in...

In many ways I don't think of myself as an athlete and I will look around for a moment or two tomorrow at all the other runners and think - What am I doing here?!?

Then I will shake it off and move!!!!!

-and these shoes, these are the shoes that I will wear when I start training for my next long run!