Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I have a dream

Many thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a great day. We did get our passports--barely, but we made it & they are done. My mom picked up the kids & I ran 5 miles. When I got home, mom had baked a pizza & had a small cake for me. The kiddos gave me some homemade gifts & a candle they bought at Walmart with my mom. Mom stayed & helped me get the kids' baths, so it was an easy night. I am very thankful.

Now that I'm 364 days from my 40th birthday, the Marathon Planning has begun.

But let me take a step back first, & share something with you that sets the whole marathon thing in perspective.

Frances has a new blog on Psychology Today (go Frances!!) & she wrote a significant article for her first post. It really, truly blew me away. In fact, I think the premise is unbelievably important for those of us pursuing weight loss & fitness goals.

So, in that vein, I am plunging headlong into my dream of running a 26.2 mile race. I am under no illusion that this is going to be easy. And I have no doubt that over the coming weeks & months I'll be questioning my sanity & doubting my abilities.

But I have a dream now, & it's not merely motivation to maintain my weight loss. I need to get fitter & would like to lose (a bit more) weight if I want to run a marathon with any semblance of success. (And let's just be clear here...... success = finishing.)

You'll all come along for the ride, right?

Today I looked for races in April. So far it looks like I could do Nashville, St Louis, or Louisville, which are all within an easy driving distance & all in April. There's a race that would be a dream race, though, and it's on my list, but it's far far away--the Big Sur marathon in Carmel, California. The descriptions of that race blew me away. But it would cost a lot of time & money to run that one, so we'll see. I've got a while before I have to register. (BTW, all these races are hilly, every single one of them. So I'm stuck with hills, regardless of what I choose.)

My marathon training begins today. Mental training is as important, right now, as hitting the pavement. As Frances says, "what have I done today to move me closer to my dream?" That's going to be my mantra for the next 364 days.

I've got one year. It's a big dream, but big dreams are the ones that keep you moving forward.

8 comments:

Helen said...

Dream big: Big Sur!! When is the race? If you do that one, I'll come cheer you on!!! :-)

MCM Mama said...

Happy Belated birthday! Glad it was a good one. I say go for the Big Sur marathon! I can't wait to hear about your journey to the marathon. I'm considering doing a second marathon next spring, so I'll commiserate with you along the way!

kilax said...

Happy belated birthday! This is the year! Good luck with your training :)

Jill said...

There are lots of races in the Tulsa area this time of year! ;)

I think that's a great goal and a great mantra. Dream big, sister!!

Unknown said...

Nashville would be awesome. You can accomplish this dream, no problem.

(And Happy belated Birthday!)

Cindy said...

Go Laura..I like the Carmel idea, it is a beautiful place! How awesome if some of us could go to cheer you on. That's a great dream. I need a dream.. Thanks for sharing your dream. I think I am going to go read Francis' post. Thanks!!

debby said...

Laura, I am so excited for you! You just gotta go for Big Sur! I will come and cheer you on, and bring you chocolate to keep you going!

I got so excited about your dream that I almost said I would train to run the marathon with you. But I gotta think about that. I'm not sure its my dream...

I really enjoyed the article by Frances. Thanks for the link.

Jilligan said...

We always do the 1/2 in OKC in April but talked about doing the full marathon next year. Maybe we could make it a group blogger thing. We have great race support there and do a family reunion also. Think about it.