Ten for Texas - We're Ready

Today was our last Saturday workout for our Ten for Texas runners and second to last for our Chicago & Nike San Francisco Marathon runners. The marathoners are coming off their 21 miler and our 104TX runners are in full taper mode so the mileage was set the same for both groups at 5 miles. The weather was perfect and with the shorter distance we able to sleep in and start at 7am. We had a pretty big group and everyone did very well. We even had a surprise visit from my daughter who joined in the workout. ( rumor has it she's running the Houston Half with her dad )

After training we held what we billed as an open discussion clinic at Luke's Locker to go over more or less what to expect on race day. Kim Hager brought a video from Ironman Hawaii that featured Jonathan Blais, aka ALS Warrior Poet who she has quoted several times through the last two training seasons. It was very moving to watch the video ( longer than the linked version here ) and to hear Kim say how Jonathan and others like him inspire and humble her. It was very moving to hear...sad and inspiring at the same time. Jonathan Blais has ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, an incurable fatal neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness, resulting in paralysis. The video also featured a triathlete with one leg who completed the event. The message - when the going gets tough - think of one of these very exceptional people.

One of our TNT runners doing Chicago, Mike Csikos, was also there and he and his wife had made bracelets for the marathon runners. Mike lost his 5 year old son to Leukemia a couple of years ago. At one of our workouts back in June he mentioned that he loves to run in The Woodlands because of a quote from Bobby Boucher in the movie The Waterboy that his son liked. The quote..... "Now, is there anybody here can tell me where happiness comes from? Mama say that happiness is from magic rays of sunshine that come down when you feelin' blue." Mike told us that when he does his early morning runs that he feels his son's presence in the rays of light filtering through the trees. Luke's Locker has windows up near the ceiling and when he was handing out the "Ray of Sunshine" bracelets to the marathoners the sun was beating through those windows.....I think his son Christopher was approving.

So....we cried twice during the video.....once more when Kim spoke, again when Mike spoke. We were a little spent but still made it through the race day logistics for next weekend. I will have to add that both the TNT & 104TX groups are made up of awesome individuals and coaches who love what they do.....the coaches give their time from the heart. I am very privileged to be part of it all.

I'm posting all this because I really didn't know the complete story about Jonathan Blais. He has a webpage and one of the quotes he has listed tied the whole day together....... "You Will Decide On A Matter... It Shall Be Established For You... And Light Will Shine On Your Ways." JOB 22:28

It's going to be a great week !