the distance

first, i heard from my cousin today. he sent me an email from iraq with his photo--looking so young and handsome, asking for photos of us and maine, and calling himself by the nickname i dubbed him when we were children. how can this boy be in war?

second, i'm running in a race this thursday in B-town. my first race ever, with a number on my back and a team t-shirt and everything. j. is driving me in to support me. 3.5 miles. today i tried out my plan: run 11 minutes, walk four, run 11 minutes, walk four, run 11 minutes. the last 11 were probably more like eight, and i felt tired and out of breath for some reason. maybe it's just the monday factor. last week i had one running session where i honestly felt like i could run forever and not tire. but it was ten degrees cooler on that day. the race thursday is in the evening, so it should be cooler then. i'm positive that i can finish in under 50 minutes--i'm aiming for about 42. my training this week will really help me feel more confident about it. my goal is to run 3 out of the total miles (and walk the other .5).

this weekend we travel to vt to celebrate our one year anniversary. unbelievable.