Oh I'm running my life away

So the culmination of the last few months of training is going to be the Austin Half Marathon this Sunday.

http://youraustinmarathon.com/

It will be the second half I've run, but the first for my sister Sam! I'm so excited and thrilled that she decided to run this race with me about 4 months ago, and she really has been such a trooper throughout the whole process. She's put up with my Hitler-ish fanatacism about sticking to the (cue huge air quotes) "PLAN". Because as you know, I'm a huge fan of plans, and lists, and sticking to 'em.

She's rolled her eyes plenty of times when I've nagged about not falling behind, about getting out there and running even when she'd much rather be drinking gigantic glasses of chocolate milk, and watching Family Guy in bed. I know at times she probably wanted to strangle me in my sleep, but I hope at the end of the race on Sunday, when she accomplishes something she may have thought she never would, that she'll thank me for all of that. For being her older sister. For caring enough to scold. For trying to encourage her because I know that in the end the feeling she gets will be so worth the sore knees, the bleeding blisters, and all of the free time she gave up.

Maybe she won't want to run anymore after that. Or we'll just stick to smaller races, but I'm so excited to be sharing this event with her, and I really plan on staying by her side the whole race. Picking her up when she's down, encouraging her to not give up. Telling her "just one more mile, keep it up". And ultimately, being there in case she needs me to carry her on my back. Because I'm her sister, and that's my job. And that's what I'll always do. Good thing I have a strong backbone... :)