Tomorrow morning I will wake up in Rochester, NY.

I will lace up my running shoes.

I will eat my pre-race meal of a Nugo bar, coffee and a propel water.

I will line up in my corral with my running partner Rachel, my dear friend who has been by my side every step over the last 7 months.

Each race I have run this year I dedicate to someone (January to my mom, February to my girls, March to myself). I spend my miles concentrating on that person.

Tomorrow, for 13.1 miles, I will ponder my friendships.

Each mile will have a different friend assigned. The people who I have leaned on over the course of this last year will now spend one more morning lifting me.

13.1 miles isn’t so daunting when you know you have an army pushing you up the hill.