I can’t believe I’m doing this … I’m going to run a marathon, with Team In Training

Yep, that’s right. Me, the asthmatic iPod-wearing, solid middle-of-the-packer girl is going to run 26.2 miles if it kills me. It just might, but we’ll find that out for sure on October 6th. That’s because after going to an informational meeting with Team in Training yesterday, I decided to take the plunge and train for the Peak Performance Marathon in Portland, ME, to be held on October 5, 2008.

So here are some of the conversations I had with my family yesterday. Before I would commit to it, of course, I needed to talk to Bill. After all, he’s going to be the one being lonely on Saturday mornings while I’m out with the North Shore team, running for (what now feels like, an ungodly amount) four hours nonstop, as the race draws closer. He agreed if I was going to do this, that it made sense to do it and raise money for a good cause at the same time. My options were either the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco, on October 19th, or the Maine event. Since I’ve never done this kind of fundraising before, we decided it was better for me to pick the event closer to home, with the lower fundraising goal.

I left a voicemail for Jamie – basically telling him I think I had temporarily gone insane, and could he call me back to welcome me into the Weirdo Club of people who run marathons. Of course, he did, and also said “I’ll support you every step of the way” which was like music to my ears.

I called my sister Annie, who was heading out for a much-deserved night with her lady friends, and when I said, “Annie, I think I lost a screw or bolt within my head today…” she responded, with a laugh, “don’t tell me YOU are going to run a marathon…Steven [her husband, and another marathoner] is going to love this!”

My mother just got the news. She’s asked me before, “why don’t you ever invite me to any of your races like Jamie does?” My answer has always been, “well, because they only last for about 30 minutes, Mom. At the most, about an hour [for me that's a 10K].” So I told her, if you want to come and watch me in a race where you can actually see me more than once, in more than one place, come on and watch me in Portland, ME.” Her response, “well, alright, I can do that!” So yes, it might just be a family affair that day.

I think what made me change my mind was a few things.

1. The coach at the meeting said that if I am already running 6 miles (that’s my long run, mind you) that I’m actually ahead of the game. Moi? I’ve never been ahead of anything in my entire life! They said it’s better off for me to train for a marathon and if I change my mind, go down to the half-marathon, rather than trying to switch it up halfway.
2. Seeing Corey and Abi’s pictures really inspired me. I’ve asked Team in Training if I can be paired up with someone, and asked if possible, could I run for a kid. Although we’ve made leaps and bounds in medicine lately, there are still too many people who die from all types of cancer, leukemia and lymphoma included. Knowing someone else is depending on me will make me more motivated to keep on going, when otherwise i might just wimp out.
3. I like the idea of training with a coach and a team of other runners, and the fact that it’s not competitive. I got enough of that in law school – I am not out to set records, just to set a goal and to achieve it. If I can do that and also help out someone else, then that’s what I will do. I also like the fact that they give you mentors. I already have Jamie as a mentor, having another person around locally sounds just like icing on the cake.
4. Hearing stories of what other people had accomplished made me feel like anything is possible.
5. Like I said, I think I lost a screw in my head.

Did I forget to add that they won’t let you wear iPods?! Bill has unselfishly volunteered to commandeer my Nano, take off all of my music, and put his on instead, as an act of “tough love.” Nice try, Bill…but think again!

So, look forward to seeing me promote my Team-In-Training fundraising website (hoping to get it done early this week), and to keeping you updated on my progress, both physically, mentally, and $-wise!