Why 26.2?

Its so funny. Last June I ran the Seattle Rock ‘n Roll half-marathon. I remember sitting in a Pike’s Place restaurant after the race, having lunch with my family. I looked out the window and saw marathoners still out there running the course. I distinctly remember saying, “Those people are crazy, I’ll never do that.”

Well here I am, 3 days from my first marathon, eating my words.

Its been a crazy week. I have been filled with all kinds of emotions – excitement, nervousness, anxiety – probably more of the latter. I’m a control freak. I’m the person who reads the end of a book before I start it so I know what to expect as I’m reading it. I need to know exactly what’s going to happen so I can prepare for it. But come race day, I don’t know how my body will perform and respond to 26.2 miles. Its scary. So I’ve become a sponge, absorbing information and advice from experienced marathoners that I know and they’ve all been so kind to share their knowledge and stories with me.

Earlier this week someone asked me why I was doing this. I wish I could say there was some profound reason, some deep, meaningful purpose to it. But there isn’t.

I’m a huge fan of The Biggest Loser. Its one of my favorite shows. Having also gone through the process of losing a bunch of weight, and making a lifestyle change, I can fully relate to what the contestants go through. At the end of the past few season the contestants have had to run a marathon. Each time I saw them do it I thought to myself, “If they can run a marathon, then I can do it too.” Honestly, that was my first motivation for doing this.

I started putting serious thought to this after I ran my third half-marathon in Vegas last winter. During the few weeks after the race I thought to myself, “Okay, I’ve done this 3 times, its time to move on to the next challenge of a full.”

So I’ve spent the past 4 months training and during the process learning so much about myself – physically, mentally and emotionally. The big day is almost here. Time to see if I can meet the challenge.

(I wish the butterflies would just go away.)

Photo from the Lululemon blog

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