I RUN TO BE….

I had hoped to do the full again this year. A marathon was something I had always wanted to do and last year I did. I bonked so bad at mile 18 that I was miserable for the next 8 miles. So, I planned to go for a lottery spot again at the turn of the year. Thankfully I got a spot again because I wanted to be in the four hour range not the five for my marathon. I can do better than that.

So, I got my spot, bought plane tickets on an awesome Southwest sale for the whole family and figured we would call it a vacation. Then… in July… while playing in the Veteran’s Cup Soccer Tournament in Mass against a team from California (mind you some of my former teammates were on the team – how strange is that??) I hurt my knee. The training ended, the activity ended, everything just like that. Over the following 8 weeks I did very little aside from ride my awesome bike and an occasional swim. I realized I would be doing the 1/2. I didn’t run really at all between July and October. I ran 2 5K’s in September and I walked/ran in the Timberman Triathlon for the run section. I have to say, given that I mentally believe I can do anything for 24 hours the 1/2 marathon was just fine. I had a great time, Shad ran next to me and stayed with me the entire time. I did have to make a pit stop at McDonalds on the Embarcadero for several minutes longer than I care to admit and I finished in about 2 1/2 hours. I didn’t think that was too bad. Actually, I thought it was pretty good. So good that I ran the Ghost Train Rail Trail Race (15 miles) to benefit the Conservation Commission a week later. Heck, my 1/2 in San Francisco was my training!

Running just makes me feel good. Motivating to run though is a challenge for me. I can always come up with 100 other things that I could/should do that are a barrier to me fully enjoying the experience. I am reading “Born to Run” right now which is motivating in it’s own way. Whatever it takes, whether it’s reading a book or just signing up for stuff, I typically get out there and am so thankful immediately after.