Sunday, October 27, 2013

Marathon Roulette

I realized during this past week that I am not at all ready for this marathon. The combination of wedding planning, traveling, getting married, and changing jobs seems to have put a damper on my training. My wedding was amazing, and I love my new job, but my training has been a bit neglected. When I saw a short article on the Route 66 Marathon in my Runner's World I finally just got around to reading, I got seriously sick to my stomach. For a variety of other factors, it was becoming more likely that Route 66 just wasn't going to happen this year despite my signing up almost a year ago.

The bottom line is that I am not ready for this marathon. Has that ever stopped me before? NO! My original goal was to finish a marathon before I turned 26. I made that goal immediately after finishing my first half marathon. After watching my grandma gracefully endure the losses she experienced due to ALS, I decided that I would spend 2013 being thankful for all that I have. When my grandma passed away on my 25th birthday, I decided that I would raise money for ALS research as I trained for and ran my first marathon. My grandma was a fighter, and she believed in me at all times. I am going to stick to the goals I set for myself, and I am going to be thankful that I am able to do this in the first place no matter how slow I am. The catch is that as of yesterday afternoon, I am officially registered for the Philadelphia Marathon! I have one week less to get my butt in gear, but one week isn't going to make too much a difference in the long run. (Haha. No pun intended.)

I still need to raise $110 to meet my fundraising goal, and any help would be much appreciated! Check out my page if you are able to help!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Call off the search party... I'm back!

Where do I begin? Well, Fall Marathon Season is well underway! It is especially awesome this year because I will be running my first marathon this fall. This fall also brought big changes for me as I married my absolute favorite person in the whole world earlier this month, which accounts for my extended absence on my blog. My training has been a bit sketchy for a few reasons, but I am trying to reconcile as much as possible to be on track for my November marathon. Oh yeah, I also chopped off all my hair, which makes my head soooo much lighter when I'm running, but it also adds to my psycho-factor when I'm running.

I have been having so many doubts when it comes to getting ready for this marathon. There are days when I think that I am really ready for the distance. There are also several days when I am painfully aware of how unprepared I really am. There are plenty of people and seasoned runners who would argue that I wasn't "ready" for the marathon distance to begin with, but I am running in memory of my grandma to honor the dignity and grace that she conducted herself with throughout her life even once she had lost the ability to walk or talk due to ALS. Other people and the little voice in my head can say I'm not ready all day long, but I will overcome because I am Helen's granddaughter. This is surely not going to be the best marathon anyone's ever seen, but I will finish.