kemah sunrise.

Waking before the sun comes up on Saturday mornings is getting easier and easier every week. I'm training with a group (InFlight Running) to run the Houston Marathon 2009 and didn't realize till now that I'm in the thick of it what an extreme commitment this really was.

I love training with the group and especially love having Jen Driskill on the team. We share an office at KSBJ and are becoming closer friends lately... she is a true motivation for me in my training and I'm grateful. There are Wednesday mornings I could easily snooze through the alarm but knowing she too is getting up early to drive and kick some booty on those hills downtown makes me all the more motivated to get out there and do it too.

This morning I woke up at 4:15 a.m. and felt GREAT... which was weird. I drove 45 minutes out to Seabrook to meet the team for our run in Kemah and with 8 miles before me I noticed my energy level in the morning was really growing. Jen invited me to run with her and I was a little nervous because you see, Jen is fast and really strong. But I kept up and as we headed up the bridge on 146 crossing over into Kemah, I felt the strength in my legs pushing me further and further and I wasn't slowing my pace. I really surprised myself. Funny how that works.

The sun wasn't even up yet and we still had about 6 miles to go. We trailed through some neighborhoods and cut back around to hit the bridge again. This time going back over, the sun was rising higher and casting this deep orange glow across the water, silhouetting the boats, boardwalk and palm trees. It was breathtaking!

"JEN, LOOK AT THAT SUNRISE, HOLY CRAP!"

A few miles later on the homestretch, I started sprinting hard, pretending it was race day and I was about to finish the marathon in this moment. I imagined the crowd, the adenaline, the team, and all the hard work behind me... it was too emotional and I burst into tears. Seriously, I'm such a dork.