Five Years and Counting

Well…I missed 2 days in a row. Sorry not sorry. I had a great weekend and actually sat down to write a couple of times, but it didn’t work out. I’ve already forgiven myself...and I'm quite certain that you all survived without me. 

We are finally getting some fall weather complete with 60 degree running weather in the mornings and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m nicer to my running people and I’m nicer to my family when I run.

Speaking of running…have I mentioned that I am signed up to run not one but two marathons in the next 5 1/2 months? That’s nothing special I realize because people run marathons in back-to-back months…hell, back-to-back weeks sometimes. What I also haven’t mentioned is that I’ve been trying to do this for… no lie…5 years. Five. I am not even sure anymore how many I’ve signed up for and then not run for one reason or another. I think this may be 7 and 8. 

Various things have kept me from completing the training…illness, extreme heat for weeks on end, and injury. My favorite non-completed marathon story is, of course, the one for which I did complete all of the training only to have the event cancelled the night before by a horrendous ice storm which, incidentally, never happened. That was two years ago and the ensuing bitterness has impacted my attitude about running ever since. I actually took 8 months off completely.

Last February, I traveled to New Orleans – an annual race trip with friends – but I didn’t even register for the race. Instead my husband and I were the sherpas…driving our friends to the race start, going out for breakfast and Bloody Marys, and then going to get them from the finish line. That was fun too, but not the same as when we are all hobbling back to our car after the race. All of us whimpering every time we have to step up or down at a curb. And then after we shower, we proceed to eat the entire city of New Orleans before face-planting into our respective beds for well-deserved sleep. I still did eat all of New Orleans after the race this year, but it doesn’t feel as satisfying when there is no preceding run.

As we were sitting around…perhaps on our 2^nd or 3^rd cocktail of the afternoon…we all received an email announcing that if we signed up for next year’s race before the end of the weekend, we could do so for a steeply discounted rate.

We weighed the pros:

• The marathon finisher’s jacket probably would cost more to buy than the race cost to enter.
• This particular race series doesn’t care what you actually do, it only concerns itself with what you pay for, so even if we came down and only ran the half marathon, we would still get a bitchin’ jacket out of it.
• Long-term goals are good.

And the cons:

• Hey…where did my drink go? I’m sorry…what were we talking about.

Anyway, you get the picture. Essentially, ½ a bottle of red wine signed me up for a marathon and now I’m sort of committed to doing something.

Meanwhile, a few weeks later before the oppressive Memphis summer began (which usually happens in the middle of April) I was running with my in-town running crew and the topic of my marathon came up. It was suggested that I should sign up for the St. Jude Marathon here…which is almost 3 months before the one in New Orleans. The argument was that I needed to slay one here in my hometown before I tackled one out of town. And then if I didn’t ever want to do another one, I could still run the Half in NOLA and, of course, still get the marathon finisher’s jacket…which is the whole point right?

For some reason…must have been the runner’s high…I decided this was a good idea and on May 1, I signed up to run the marathon and signed up to raise $1000 for the patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Well, the full marathon isn’t going to happen…I am not ready to start training for that kind of distance. But I will do the half and I will happily raise $1000 (hopefully more) for St. Jude. If any of you want to support this wonderful cause, I would welcome your support through my donor page. Click the photo below for more information:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY DONOR PAGE

The kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital really appreciate your support!

So the new plan is…Half Marathon on December 5…marathon on February 28…and I’ll finally get to mark it off my bucket list. And let me tell you, I may not eat any refined sugar between now and then (after 14 days this is a lifestyle that is starting to feel doable), but if I get the 26.1…I’m going to bury my face in the largest piece of chocolate cake you’ve ever seen.

Headache be damned.