The answer to that is obviously . . . well . . . I do. I have all these people who care about my progress and who share my love for this terrible, painful, life-consuming hobby, and then I stop writing about my journey halfway through training for my first marathon. I stopped just when things were starting to get good. I was starting to hit my long runs and could have talked about all the ridiculous things that happened to me on them, like the time I got very sunburned after a 21-mile run to the point of being confused for a lobster. I could have told you about the first time I ran 13.1 and ran into both my mother, father, and three people I hadn't seen in over ten years in that span of two and a half hours.
I have a lot of stories to tell about my marathon training journey that have remained untold. I'll get into more of why I stopped blogging mid-training, but my reasons are pretty stupid and I now regret my long absence. The good news is, despite the ridiculous things I did to my body for four months in my last round of training, I've decided to have a go at it again and I need this blog to keep me honest. I've done it once so I don't have that pressure of NEEDING to say I did it at least once. So not only is keeping up with this blog to keep me honest, you as a reader of it need to keep me honest as well. I already want to quit and I've been doing it for about two weeks. I love running, but I forgot how hard keeping a training schedule is. I forgot how exhausted I was and I'm trying to enjoy it like I used to. You need to keep reminding me why I love this torture so much. I'm starting to remember (hence why I'm writing this) but I'm going to need constant reminders.
SO DID I ACTUALLY DO IT?
My goal was to do the half marathon in Louisville on April 30 and the full marathon in Cincinnati the next day on May 1. It was a ridiculous idea of a weekend of 39.3 miles. I'll go into the details in various posts coming in the future, but here are a few pictures to give you an idea:
(John Wall dancing at the start line on Saturday morning for the 13.1. I was so young, happy, and pain-free)
(ohhhhh, knee injury during the 13.1. This is the night before the marathon. not looking good)
(between the frustration of injury during the two races, I somehow popped some major blood vessels in my eyes, creating this lovely red-eyed sight that stayed for about a week)
BUT I DID IT AND I'VE GOT THE BLING TO PROVE IT!
So there you have it. I survived and am now a marathoner. I like being in the club and I intend to stay here for a while. Expect some more ridiculous posts from me coming out at rapid fire speeds. I've already got some great ideas for things to write about. Also, it's my favorite time of year weather-wise. Even more than torrential downpours and frigid snowfalls, I love running in heat and humidity. Luckily, I come from the Ohio Valley and this time of year, that's what we do best. Yesterday morning, I got to run in 90 degree temperatures with a heat index of 109. It was 8 AM. It's going to be a great, sweaty summer for running like a Viking, folks! That is, if Vikings had dealt with climate change.
