The decision is made!

I distinctly remember telling my boot camp friends (Liza, Vi, and Toni) that I have absolutely no desire to run a full marathon. I saw how much and how long they ran and was amazed at how strong they were mentally and physically.  I envy those ladies and always will! They are the ones who motivated me to complete my first race. But I was happy and content with running my half marathons and not needing to take an ice bath afterwards and not needing to take the next day off of work.  I lead a simple life!  I liked half marathons so why rock the boat?!

Then I had breakfast with my childhood friend Candace.  I will spare you all of the talks and text messages that we sent back and forth for a few days.  Long story short, we wanted to train and run both of our FIRST full marathons together.  I mean, why not?!  We have been friends since 2nd grade! Candace is set to move in June so I knew that this had to happen quickly.  With my obsession over researching things, we decided to train with Run On and to run the Big D marathon on April 15th.

"Big D Marathon?!  Are you sure you want to do that race!" is probably the phrase we have heard the most in the past 2 weeks.  Yes, we know that it is not a very popular race and has the potential of being hot and humid.  I think the training on top of playing softball in the extreme heat and humidity for 12 years will help us though!    The main reason we want to run in Dallas is for support.  I know I want my husband at the finish line ready to hug and congratulate me <hint, hint babe!>  I want my family and friends to have the option to come cheer me on as well.  I know without their support there would be no way I will be able to accomplish this goal.

After signing up, I went to the marathon training information session.  It was here that I had this "oh s***, what am I getting myself into" moment.  The coach showed us the training program by week and all I saw was miles, miles, and more miles of running!  We start off at an "easy" 26 miles of running for the week and hit our peak at a 45 mile week.  That is SO....MUCH...RUNNING!  Immediately I started questioning this big decision.  Can I do this?  Am I strong enough?  What if I get injured?  What if I can't finish the race? I realized then that it is going to be a life style change.

It became apparent that I was going to have to

•  run 4-5 times a week (compared to maybe once a week that I had been doing...OOPS!).
• get a lot more sleep than I had been getting
• eat better.  If you know me, you know that this is going to be the hardest challenge.
• drink A LOT more water
• have no more fun Saturday nights since I have to get up at 4:30 to go on Sunday long runs
• spend a lot of money buying running gear
• be a good running buddy to Candace and depend on her to keep me motivated

All on top of trying to be the best wife and teacher I can be.   I got this!! 

What makes it more fun is that I am sharing this journey with my co-workers AND my students.  They are all aware that I am training and my students ask me all the time "did you win the race yet?!"  I have to keep reminding them that it is not about winning or losing, it is about accomplishing my goal!  I think that is too profound for their 8-9 year old brains though... they just want me to win.

Be prepared for the first week of torture... I mean... training and the weight loss I have had so far....!