So, this marathon thing. While I was running this morning, I started to panic about it a little bit.

I wish I could blog while I run. I have a lot of great ideas while I’m running. I converse with myself, think things through.

I think you’ve heard it before from me. I hate running. On my running days, I dread it. I procrastinate.

This morning I found all sorts of little things to postpone my run – clean the kitchen counter, thrown in a load of laundry, find my heart rate monitor and the strap, play with the boys…

When I am running, I am constantly thinking about not running. I flipflop on my goal. I’m going to run for 30 minutes then turn around. No, wait, I”m going to run to the GOG lookout point and turn around. No, I’m just going to run for 30 minutes and turn around. And so forth. And I set little goals throughout the run to keep my mind busy. When I get to THAT shady spot, I’ll walk a little. When I get to the Xeriscape garden… When I get to Kissing Camels…

When I reached the GOG lookout point, I had been running for 28:30. So then I switched to my 30 minute goal. Which I then switched to need to get to 30th. Which I almost got to – at 31:00 minutes. There was a suspicious looking guy stretching under a tree so I turned around.

I’m always happy to be running back to my starting point. Then the bargaining with myself starts all over again. Well, I’ll see if I can keep running to Kissing Camels. Once I get there, okay, I’ll try to get to Fillmore. At the light, it’s all I can do to NOT stop running while waiting for the light to turn green. I just jog in place. At that point, it’s a mile back to my house. I think, if i get to the 55 MPH sign, I’ll start walking from there, roughly about 1/2 mile from my house. At one point, I thought I had already past it, so when I did actually pass it, I thought, “Sh*t, I still have 1/2 mile to go.”

It felt good to run all the way to the 19th. And then I was done. And it wasn’t so bad. I’m thinking now that I will be able to run the whole 10K.

While running, I was panicking a little bit about my pact to run a marathon before I turn 40. Am I crazy?! I hate running. It’s 5.7 times the distance I ran today.

One step at a time. This year I ran my first 5k, then ran 2 more 5ks. Double the distance – I’m going to run a 10 K this Saturday. After the 10k, I am going to train for a half marathon – at sea level next year. Double the distance plus. After that, I double again to a marathon in 2008

Possible half marathons for next year:
March 17, 2007 Six Tunnels Half Marathon, Las Vegas, NV
March 18, 2007, Arizona Distance Classic Half Marathon, Oro Valley,AZ
March 31, 2007, 2nd Annual Laughlin Road Run Half Marathon, Laughlin, NV
August 19, 2007,The 30th Annual AFC Half Marathon, San Francisco, CA
September 2, 2007 Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, Virginia Beach, VA