Two days ago, my hubby and I settled on doing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon on 12/5 and I elatedly wrote it on my calendar (in pen!), mapped out my training plan, and started telling everyone I know: “I’m running Vegas, Baby!”
…but I couldn’t stop thinking about other marathons.
I continued to obsessively check and re-check marathonguide.com. It’s like I was secretly hoping a new marathon would pop up and it’d be right outside my front door–the magical marathon where all my dreams would come true: ultra-fast, a guaranteed Boston-qualifier, and one I couldn’t second-guess myself out of doing.
When I hopped onto the website for the Portland Marathon (on 10/10/10, which is so ridiculously cool!) and read that it’s almost full, I got all jittery and panicky thinking: “OH NO! What if that’s the one I’m supposed to do?!” And it dawned on me:
I really want to do a marathon in October.
Do I have some kind of weird intuition going on that October is my magic month? Am I simply obsessed? I’ve admitted time and time again that I’m addicted to racing. And signing up for marathons is, like, the best… but I just really really reeeally wanna do two more marathons this year. Vegas is rad, and all, but I want another!
Why, you ask? And why, if I want it so badly, have I not signed up?
Although my marathon PR is 4:13:20, I know I have a BQ in me. Shaving 33 minutes off your best/fastest/hardest marathon effort… Now, that’s intimidating: cue reason #1 why I’ve tip-toed around marathon sign-ups.
Also, all four of the marathons I have done, I’ve run with my hubby, so there’s a part of me that’s completely terrified that if I run a marathon without that marathon mainstay that… well… I’ll completely bomb! And voila, we have reason #2 for October marathon anxiety: I’m superstitious!
So what’s a girl to do? Well, if you read my blog title, then you already know the happily ever after:
I signed up for the Long Beach International Marathon on 10/17!!!!!!!!
- Long Beach is only two hours north of us, so that solves the travel/airfare/financial dilemma.
- I’m following my “BREAK 4:00 OR BUST!” plan and will aim for shaving 14 minutes off my PR (that’s a whole lot less intimidating than 33 minutes, eh?).
- Jared–the gosh, darn, bestest hubby in the world–will spectate (for the first time!) and I will wear my big girl panties, facing my fear of running a race without my lucky charm.
- I’m thinking some solo long runs will do me good, helping build some mental toughness.
Most importantly, I will continue to chase down a dream that once-upon-a-time sounded absolutely CRAZY: me, the unathletic, noncompetitive, artsy kid, qualifying for Boston… What? Yep, crazy is the best word for it.
Then again, I wholeheartedly believe in the truth behind this quote because I see the truth in it every single time I go out for a run…
“To succeed, you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality.” (-Anita Roddick)
