Thursday, August 13, 2009

138 days...

Today is the day to register for the upcoming marathon at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I had to control a little squeal of excitement as I registered, well I tried controlling it but it did not work. I am doing it, I am!

Part of me is thinking of this as an accomplishment or completion of the goal on that Goals List that I had mentioned in a past post. The other part of me is looking at this marathon as a beginning of a lot of other future runs, gathering other friends for my support groups and definitely hard work.

Call me crazy but I look forward to everyday of running. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. I love how my oldest daughter comes out to the gym after I have returned from a run to see how timing went and that fact she reads my blog. Pride swells within me when Nik looks up and asks if we had to cut the run short because Lori and I are back so quickly. Then the next question is, you ran how far? A huge smile flashes across his face as well as Lori and my face because the two of us had no clue that we were running that fast to begin with.

Yesterday it was raining. I called Lori to make sure she still wanted to run and of course we did. The goal ahead was three miles. This time we met at our house. I knew a route that Nik and I ran religiously last summer which is 3.3 miles. Leaving the gym at 5:35 pm. In the rain we pounded the pavement for those miles, talking the whole way as usual. The run had gone pretty quickly I thought but the runs always do when someone joins me. We rounded to turn to come back to our house, and headed back to the gym. Nik looked up at the clock and it was a few minutes before 6, disbelief showed on his face. She and I had completed 3.3 miles in about 21 to 23 minutes. We all were shocked, amazed and extremely proud!

So, as is evident the training is going well, I have 138 days left and counting them down anxiously. Most nights I am so tired that I fall right to sleep. Other than dreaming about running all night, I sleep pretty well. Soreness is pretty minimal, but worth every bit of it. Thank goodness, Nik does not mind rubbing out the soreness and for Thai Oil and Eucalyptus Epsom's Salts. Changes in my body are happening crazy fast. I get to eat a lot of carbohydrates which all who live here are enjoying as well. Having always been on a low carb high protein diet, of all the elements required in the process of training and transitioning into a marathon runner, the diet is by far the hardest for me. My caloric intake has pretty much doubled, carbs have quadrupled, and I am loosing huge amounts of body fat. Funny how the metabolism works. I have also come to realize that what I eat today directly affects the outcome of my run tomorrow.

As the days tick away, the runs get longer, the soreness grows and the sense of accomplishment continues to build I have to stay focused on the goal ahead. The many miles that I will run over the course of these next 138 days and the many days after will bring me closer to the accomplishments that I striving for. I am so fortunate to have people who support me and for them I am truly grateful. They understand how important completing the marathon is and they encourage me, not hinder me.

...138 days





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