Today there are new advertising posters up in my subway station. So I look for the phantom hand of the unknown philosopher, the one who wrote “what do you really want to create with this life” last week, and “welcome to the moment you are currently in” last month.

What I see makes all the tiny hairs on my arms lift up, prickle in thrilling anticipation. It’s the ads for the New York City Marathon in November.

I promised updates on my progress, so, here goes:

1) I did not get a slot in the NYC marathon, something about not being Albanian. Whatever. I am training for the Philly, which is two weeks later, right before Thanksgiving.

2) My hip is actually totally fine. This week my lungs are pronounced clear, for the first time in 10 months. It will be, it is now, a chronic problem, and I am having to re-learn how to breathe and re-train how my heart beats. Which means…

3) I run really slowly now. This Sunday I run 18 miles, and how that feels will determine whether I really can go forward with this crazy thing.

Please do wish me luck. This does, in fact, scare the living daylights out of me.