A World of Pain

It all began in tenth grade creative writing class. It was the "slacker class," where we ate breakfast, talked about the weekend, wandered the halls, and started arm wrestling matches in the back corner. We had sporadic assignments where we had to journal about our family, fears, dreams, or whatever was going on in a 15 year old brain on a Tuesday. I didn't think much of the assignments at the time. They were simply another thing to check off the to do list. Except for one, which has stuck with me all these years.

September 10th, 2001 "50 Things To Accomplish In My Life." #37: Run in a marathon (or walk)

At least I was reasonable with myself. It was definitely a goal and not a dream. I hated running, despised it in fact. It made me sore, tired, angry, and I thought it was just pointless. But for some reason I felt that it should go on the bucket list between #36: Climb a really big tree, and #38: Go whitewater rafting. My hatred for running lessened as I got older and realized I might have to put in a little effort to be able to fit into those skinny jeans. But it was still a love/hate relationship. Last summer it started again, with the goal of running my first 5k and working up to a 10k and maybe one day a marathon. That dream was abandoned once ski season started and the PBR flowed like water.

But something changed. I woke up last Thursday with new snow at the ski resort and for a reason unbeknownst to me, I decided I was going to run a full marathon. Not only was I going to run the whole thing, but I was going to train in seven weeks. I know what you're thinking; I'm thinking the same thing only four days into this mess. But I registered ($80) and bought new shoes ($90) and now I can't give up (priceless.) Ok, gag me. This is not some inspirational commercial or a "you can do it too!" sort of ad. This is me struggling. To the extreme. I may cry or even throw up a few times, and you can follow me the whole way. Join me!

The marathon is May 21st, which gives me 52 days to train. Who am I kidding? I don't know how to train. Run, I guess. A lot. Probably stretch, maybe do jumping jacks? The first night I decided I was going to run this thing I got overwhelmed with my "training schedule" and had to sit down and have a beer while I thought things over. Not off to a great start. But today I did run 6.43 miles (according to www.mapmyrun.com,) which is huge for me. I was so proud when I looked at the Google map and could say, "I ran that far!" But let me tell you, my spirits sank when I looked at a map and saw how far 26.2 miles is. Oh boy, it's not just far, it's depressingly far. I mean, like "there's-no-effing-way" far.

So here I sit at 6.43 miles, with only twenty more to go. 52 days left!