Something to Work Towards

Well, despite all common sense and the writing on the wall, I've done it.

I've registered for the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon.

Now, if you didn't follow me over here from my active blog, which, lets face it, would probably be all (2) of you, you probably don't know the back story.

This is actually the 4th (FOURTH!!!) time I've registered for the MCM. The first year, I developed a stress fracture in my left shin.  I was able to heal up in time to switch my Marathon registration to the 10K and run the MCM10K, which is held on the same day as the marathon.  The following year, I developed achilles tendinitis and had to do the same thing as the year before; switch to running the 10K.  Now, both times, I will absolutely cop to not training (or, not training properly; as in, not running for several weeks/months and then panicking and going out to run some distance I wasn't prepared for).

Last year, I was so proud of myself.  I had learned my lesson from previous years.  I was training smart; I'd even joined a local running club for a smart, sensible, progressive training program.  Yes siriee, the third time was the charm!  This would be my year!  I would finish the Marine Corps Marathon!  And on Halloween in a cute costume, no less!

Or, here's another idea: I could BREAK MY HIP and end up on crutches for 2 1/2 months and not allowed to do ANYTHING PHYSICAL for the majority of the year from mid-July through December!  How 'bout THAT???????

Yeah, so, that's what happened; the 2nd option there.  And let me say (again), it SUCKED!  Large time.

So, after talking with hubs (who is some sort of bionic freak who has run and finished the MCM the past 3 years in a row; and he didn't even train for the 2nd one!) I decided to take the plunge and register for this year.  I am going to give it a shot.  My training will be slow.  Like molasses in January slow.  I am not looking for any kind of time goal; it'd just be nice to finish before they take the banner down, ya know?  And, if it doesn't look like 26.2 miles is possible (or safe, more importantly), I will shift, once again, to the 10K.

I don't like that plan too much.  It's never my goal to register for a race and then downgrade.  But life seems to get in the way and if my body isn't ready, I will listen to it.

So, that's my crazy for this week.  Feel free to leave any comments telling my how stupid this idea is. 

In the meantime, I've already started training; I ran 2 times this week so far.  Once outside for 50 minutes at a 1 min run:4 min walk interval and once on a nice new treadmill at the gym for 35 min.

So, yay.