Blissfully optimistic or just stupid?

One year ago today, August 12, 2007, I ran my very first organized race: the Seattle Guts n' Glory 5k to help raise money for Chrohn's and Colitis research. I remember every detail of that race: the song playing on my iPod when the starting horn sounded, watching my reflection in the glass of some of the businesses in SODO (thinking - wow, I'm a runner), the turnaround point at Starbucks on 1st ave. S (I worked next door at the time and visited that Starbucks every day .... I wondered if anyone inside recognized me as I trotted by red-faced on the street outside), how far the finish line seemed and how overjoyed I was to cross it.

So today seems like a good day to make an announcement to my dear blog reader(s). And maybe I'm crazy and maybe there is no way in hell that I can make this happen, but..... deep breath..... I have decided to train for the Philadelphia Marathon happening on Nov. 23, 2008. All 26.2 miles of it.

Now there is a good chance that I will actually kill myself in the process. A really good chance. I haven't seriously run in 3 months, and while I'm hoping my body will snap back fairly quickly (I was up to 10 mile runs in May), I'm still looking at a freakishly intense training schedule that takes me from 4 miles this Saturday to 18 miles in approximately 13 weeks. I'm not sure I can do it. But I'm going to try, dammit!

There are a few reasons why I've decided to do this now: I haven't fallen THAT far off my prior training schedule, as a contract employee I can't work overtime (even if I wanted to), I have practically no responsibilities whatsoever at this point in my life, I've gained about 10 lbs. since my last race that I desperately need to lose, and frankly, 2008 just feels like my year.

Making a public commitment solidifies the deal. Makes me accountable. And I'll go back to using this blog for what it was initially intended to do: track my running progress. As I sit here writing this, I can't believe I'm writing this. I'm staring at the "Publish Post" button wondering if this is the right thing to do. And I'm scared to death that I'll fail.

But I guess that's why I don't have a choice but to do it.