Marathon Madness

 

This is madness! I just signed up for the Fargo Marathon. I have never even run a half marathon although I have run plenty of 5k's and a couple of Ragnar Races. Still...I think I must be crazy! I do know I am really scared. It took me a month of soul-searching to finally register.

So now I am into week four of my training. I found a training plan for marathon rookies that I am following. I'm also doing Yoga on one of my rest days. When the weather finally starts to warm up here and the snow melts, I'd like to bike on one of my rest days. I've also got some exercises from a personal trainer to help strengthen my core. Am I going to be faithfully doing all this? Heck,yeah. I want to be in the best shape I can be for that race.

But still...I'm 59 and in a few months I'll be in the next decade. Can someone this old (who really only started running at all 5 years ago) actually run 26.2 miles? I have to run 10 this Saturday and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that!

My inspiration have been my daughters. Lacie ran the marathon last year and  is the expert I go to for answers to my questions (what are compression socks, how to fuel while running, are there porta potties along the way?)and motivation to keep me going. She was kind enough to run with me last Sat. even though I run at a much slower pace. My daughter Rana, is also an inspiration to me. She just started running--mostly on her own and she just completed her first real 5K last weekend in the snow. These two women runners rock!

So I guess it is madness but I'm sure hoping on May 18 that the madness is also fun. (Maybe all the butterflies in my stomach will help me fly down the course!) I have a picture of a jubilant gal crossing the finish line on my desktop to look at when I need to. I also have this picture to keep me going.

 

Puking, crying, pain, blood...what did I get myself into?

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

Let's hope that's true. Stay tuned for more updates as I continue the madness!