so i haven't run in...counting up...10 days...and it is driving me crazy! my achilles tendon is still sore, so i can't really tell if it's getting better with rest or if all the time i spend on my feet in general, at work, etc, is keeping it from healing.

the big thing of course is that i'm just afraid of losing all the strength i've built up over the past 5 months - you stop running and zip! it's gone so fast. but my coach swears that i'll be okay with a week or two off - she said she took 2 weeks off with a similar injury a month before her last marathon and it was fine. and i'm biking, and going to aikido, and yoga and generally staying active. but it's not the same. i jogged a couple of steps the other day crossing the street and it was like a long-lost friend, the feeling of rolling smoothly across the soles of my feet. you'd think i'd been bed ridden for weeks or something the way i complain! sheesh.

but the thing that has sustained me, and kept my focus on the goal of the marathon, this week is that i sent out a batch of fundraising letters and am amazed and touched by each person who has sent me money. and it's never who you expect. acquaintences and distant friends that i wasn't even sure i should send the letter to surprised me with their generosity and support. co-workers go out of their way to ask me about running, ask how they can make a donation.

i continue to be simply amazed by the generosity of spirit in my friends and family since i started this project. amazing how decided to run a marathon can result in not just discoveries about myself, but it also bolsters my faith in humanity around me.