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:
Dream big: Big Sur!! When is the race? If you do that one, I'll come cheer you on!!! :-)
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!
Happy belated birthday! This is the year! Good luck with your training :)
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!!
Nashville would be awesome. You can accomplish this dream, no problem.
(And Happy belated Birthday!)
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!!
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.
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.
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