Ever since Runner’s World did a story on Blogging I’ve been interested in starting a Blog. I’m a distance runner and can see the value in having an outlet for jotting it down. I already try to record my marathon races in my scrapbook, write a race plan or “mock up”, and finish with the race report. So why not Blog it.
I’ve been running since I was a kid. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been running. In 5th grade there was a boy names Eric. He was the fastest runner in our school. I wanted to beat him – Just once. So every day at lunchtime the races would go on. From one end of the grass field to the other we would run and Eric would always get there first…Except once. Goals are like that. You just have to keep on trying and you’ll succeed.
My husband once told me, when we were dating, that I could have anything that I wanted. He added that I just had to want it bad enough. At the time that he said it, I was trying to get into the nursing program at school. It was a time where many more wanted into the program than there was space for. Grades mattered and mine were only average. I was motivated and I did get in. Over the many years that have passed since then I applied the quote as inspiration in other areas of my life.
With running, my goal has been to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon. Qualifying is basically driven by a couple of factors: age and gender determine the required finish time in a certified marathon. When I ran my first marathon in March of 2002 I had only the goal of finishing. In the back of my mind I thought it would be great to do it in 4 hours. I finished in 4:02:52. I was pleased. A friend of mine also ran her first marathon that day. She qualified for Boston. I researched the requirements for me to run in Boston and figured 17 minutes didn’t seem like such a big deal. Boy was I wrong.
In January 2006 I’ll launch into training for my 10th marathon. I plan to Blog my training here and perhaps a bit more. I don’t imagine many will be interested in reading this, but feel free to check in for blogging of my race report. It will be in early May. I plan to title the entry “The Finish Line”. Wish me luck.