It's almost time!!

The Tunnel to Towers Run is coming up very quickly!!  Sunday, Sept. 25th is the day I'll run it with Jerry (who, by the way, is running with his turnout gear on).  Is he trying to make me blubber all the way to the finish line?  Not that I'm an emotional person in the first place.  (Hahahahahaha!!) 

I'm getting really excited but also nervous.  I'm nervous that I won't be able to finish - which is kinda silly in the first place because I've run 4 miles no problem, I've run 50 minutes at the gym no problem (on Sunday, actually).  I'm nervous that I'll be too emotional - this is a legitimate concern, knowing me. lol   As I said in this post, it's always very moving to be a bystander at the finish line -- watching firefighters run for their fallen brothers, watching firefighters from around the world, including Australia, England, and more, watching Wounded Warriors run, many times with prosthetic legs, all in honor of these heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice on Sept. 11th.  During the run, the course takes you through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, retracing Stephen Siller's footsteps, up to where the Twin Towers stood.  In the Tunnel, people are chanting, "USA! USA!" and there are firefighters from the FDNY lining the tunnel wearing banners, 343 of them, to be exact, each one with a big picture and name of a firefighter who died that day.  After the race, there is a brief parade as well and the banners are worn through the parade route.  That is difficult enough to watch -- it gives you goosebumps.  For me even imagining seeing them line the tunnel makes me get choked up -- I'm hoping I can hold it together during the run!  My best defense may turn out to be my iPod....if I can keep music going in my ears, hopefully it will keep my brain just enough distracted so I don't have a meltdown during the run.  I'll give a full report afterward with pictures!

Hand-in-hand with me running this 5k is the fact that I will have reached 2 out of the 3 goals I laid forth in that post I linked above.  Goal # 1 was to wear 'average' size clothing....while I'm not to my goal weight yet, I am officially in 'average' clothes.  I haven't bought anything in the plus-size section in a WHILE.  In fact, I bought a new shirt at Target last weekend that was a regular Large!  (I could never even fit a XXL from the regular women's section -- only something from the Plus Size section).   Goal # 2 was to run this 5k....so I'm almost there!  Goal # 3 was to lose 80-90 pounds....I'm almost there too!  I am currently at 73 pounds lost with an updated overall goal of 100 pounds.

I can see the finish line, friends!  Or at least the ribbon across it...then I have to keep running because once I reach all my goals there's this whole business of maintaining.  lol