Why?

No matter who you are, when you decide to run a marathon, you have a reason. Whether it be to raise money for a charity or to mark a new chapter in your life or prove something to yourself or to lose a few pounds, everyone has a reason. My reason for training is sentimental. You see, my grandmother passed away this past May.  When I went home for her funeral, I was distraught and sad. I missed her terribly.  I decided that I wanted to do something, anything, to show just how much I loved her and just how much her life meant to me.  I'm not a lyricist so I knew I wouldn't be writing a song and I'm not a poet so no sonnets were going to be written. I wouldn't be expressing myself creatively so what would I do? Well, what do I do?  I run! Not well but I do it. And then I knew what I would do, what I had to do!  Before I left West Virginia to return home to Utah, I said out loud, "I'm going to run a marathon in memory of Maw Maw sometime in the next year." I said it and wasn't even sure if I believed it. Pretty sure that no one I said it to believed it but I said it and that was a BIG first step.

I didn't think much of it for a couple of months until the opportunity to train for the half-marathon presented itself. "Could I?" I thought. "Would this be my first step towards the big one?" While training for the half, I searched and searched for the perfect full marathon.  I wanted to find one that was on a Saturday (I don't run on Sundays) and was close by. I even prayed that I would know the right one when I found it.  Imagine my surprise when I found a little marathon called Running From an Angel Marathon in Boulder City, NV and it was on my grandmother's birthday, of all days!  I knew then that this marathon was the one. And I know that she will be the angel that will be running with me every step of the way.  I look forward to honoring her in my own way that day and all those training days up to the day of the race. I'm running a marathon because my love for my grandmother is too big to express with words. She is my inspiration.

I'm running a marathon...

...and I need somewhere to talk about it so I've started this blog!  Today marks the end of my first week of training.  It hasn't been too bad. I ran about 21 miles.  My only hiccup has been a little pain in my knee at the end of my 6 mile run on Thursday. And when I say a little, I really mean a lot. Obviously caused by my IT band. I've dealt with it before. I finished my run out of pure stubbornness and a need to not let the horses and cows see me walking. When I came home, I rolled out the leg with my fancy $30 foam roller and iced it a couple times and now I'm back to running. I'll just have to be careful to roll it out daily and keep stretching and I'm sure I'll be fine.

I have to admit that I've been on the computer for the last 1.5 hours looking up every possible bit of info on the Running from an Angel Marathon. My deductions are: it will be hilly, could very possibly be windy and probably not the perfect marathon for a first.  But that's okay to me because I love a challenge! And I really don't have an ego about how fast I can run it. I just want to finish and finish without walking. Too much to ask? I hope not. I figure if I do all the training required. I'll be just fine.

Also, looks like I'll have some company on the course. I've already managed to recruit my husband, 3 ladies from church and my sister-in-law's husband to run the marathon, too! Oh, and another guy from church says he'll come and run the half. I figure people just say to themselves, "If she can do it..." :) But whatever their reasoning, I'm just excited to have the extra support in training and on race day! Wonder if they'll support me in eating less chocolate while I'm training, too? I've run into a bit of a "I'm training for a marathon. I can eat whatever my heart desires." kind of flawed thinking. I may be the only person to ever gain 20 pounds while in training. *sigh*