Monday September 9th marked the one month anniversary of when Clint had surgery to remove the cancerous mass in his testicle. I really can’t believe it’s been four weeks. I feel like it’s been so much longer. We’ve had so much going on in these four weeks and there’s still more ahead of us.

I am also less than a few weeks away from running the Berlin Marathon. I can’t believe this is coming up so fast! It’s been almost a year in the making and it’s right around the corner. But it’s also bittersweet. I am mentally (and physically) trying to get ready for being away from Clint during this time I am in Germany, but also mentally trying to be ready for this race. I honestly have no idea how I will do. I’m not saying my training runs lately have been bad or anything, just my focus is on lots of other things, so I am going to have to get back on the race mindset soon.

I ran my last 20 mile training run a couple days ago and felt pretty good. I can’t complain too much about an 8:20 average pace, so I’m happy that my training seems to still be going fairly well.

When I run, there are days I think about everything under the sun (I’m sure this happens to all runners) and other days when I think about how I want to run this upcoming race wearing my American Cancer Society singlet and can’t wait to run this for Clint. I know he’ll be on my mind while I run this next 26.2. This singlet has even more meaning than it did before. I never thought when I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2012 as a charity runner for ACS (helping the lovely Miss Jenny Cox raise money for this great organization) would I be faced with cancer in my own immediate family so soon. I have had family members with leukemia and breast cancer, but when it’s your significant other it’s even harder to process. He is my best friend, my partner, my love and I would do anything for him. But I know everything will be ok and after we throw some punches to knock this cancer down, we will come back stronger than ever. So I will be going against my normal attire for this race, which is wearing my last race’s participant shirt, and will be proudly wearing this blue tank.

I also think I am ready to watch Spirit of the Marathon soon to get some great motivation. I’m thinking the night before I leave I will want to get lost in the film and think about my race.

As you can see I’m already planning details. Yes, I’m a planner. I’m already starting to pack and have been making my lists of things I need to bring to Germany (well, I’ve been doing this for months) and lists of who needs to be here to help Clint while I’m gone.

Lots more to do and lots more to come!