I Run, For Life!

Good Morning Fellow Newbie Runners and Experienced Sitters!

As I mentioned on the Train For Humanity blog, I’m going to take part in another marathon very soon: the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon in Scotland. My toes painfully remember my last attempt and I haven’t drastically improved my times, nor have I figured out a replacement for the nauseating apple-flavored energizing gels. Oh, and I continue to look like a Sunday runner (too much clothing and too much cushioning - not in the shoes though).

And yet I’m doing it again, and in such a short time, again. Perhaps I took too many exams in my life and I can only get disciplined if I need to be accountable to someone other than myself. I don’t mind. If my efforts need to be measured and checked, I’m all for it if it gets me where I want to be!

I could run 26 miles by myself on the 4^th of October instead of running with hundreds of people, being photographed, measured and judged. But I know that if I were going to do it on my own, I would have had a much harder time.  I would’ve found a dozen excuses to postpone the date and ended up running the marathon distance after Christmas. If ever.

I could also make up a dozen excuses not to participate in the Loch Ness Marathon either, even though I’ve told you about it. I could also just stop running altogether and hide behind a rock or in front of a TV, and watch House, M.D. in the time I freed up by dropping running from my schedule. (No offense to House, M.D. fans.)

Somehow this last scenario doesn’t sound very appealing (even though I do enjoy House, M.D. now and then. It reminds me to quit whining and live), so I need to stick with running the marathon in October and even with setting up some goals! Shocking.

Here are a few things I’m working on:

• Finishing the marathon. Since I failed the first time, the second time should be the charm. I’ll make sure to let you know all the juicy details this time too.

• Finishing the marathon under 4 hours and 30 minutes. I know it’s ambitious, especially for someone who walked more than ran in their last race, but it would be pretty boring not to be ambitious, don’t you think?

• Wearing running tights. There, I said it! There’s no going back now - I pledge to wear running tights during this marathon.

I don’t know about you, but I am hysterically scared of wearing tights (even fashion leggings) without a skirt or at least a long shirt hanging over my butt and thighs. The ‘jiggling thighs’ I mentioned in the post on how to start running - yup, that’s me! (The hanging belly part - that’s not me.)

When I’m on a long run, I stop caring about my thighs, sweating or anything else that was on my pre-run mind. Perhaps that’s why I love running longer distances - it puts me in the present moment.

But my pre-run mind doesn’t let me put on tights, shorts or anything tight and above the knee, for that matter. Or anything brighter than navy blue. No wonder I was too hot during my first marathon!

But the hiding days are over. Instead of baggy long pants, I will wear a ¾ length tight made of spandex or other body-hugging fabric. Or something even shorter (whoah!).

Fo’ sho’. I’ll take pictures and all, and I’ll post them here for your viewing pleasure. Now that’s ambitious. (Seriously, it is. I’ll let you in on more juicy details soon.)

(The photo was taken by my dad after my first race: 12.5k around a lake in Lublin, Poland, on May 10, 2009.)

How about you, what kind of running or fitness goals do you have?