Again

Last weekend we were up in Minnesota for the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon. Amelia and I took advantage of Brian and Hilary's hospitality and arrived a few days early.  I got to enjoy a lot of great conversations with Hilary and as you might expect the topic quickly turned to running.  And racing.  And goals for the year.  Hilary is a fantastic athlete. A mom to four boys she has the grit and drive of four people.  It was no surprise to me that she had a marathon knocking.

We talked a lot about the marathon and the training.  While I was encouraging her to sign up I started to get itchy myself.  This caught me a little bit by surprise.  My number didn't get pulled this year for the New York City marathon and I had decided to focus my energies on running half marathons and hopefully finally breaking the two hour mark.  Instead I started thinking about another marathon.

Hilary pulled the trigger on Women Rock Marathon while I was there and honest to goodness I felt envious.  I decided to wait until after the half marathon to sign up.  While I was running the half I was telling myself there was absolutely.no.way. I was going to do a full this year.  Then as soon as it was done I started getting itchy again.

Then my friend Nicole signed up for Women Rock.  Then my friend Molly signed up. Then John and Lane decided to sign up for the Twin Cities Marathon. And I just knew that all these people I really care about would be training for a marathon this summer and I would hate to miss out. So I'm in.  Marathon #2.  Labor Day weekend.

There are several things that make me feel more excited, more relaxed about this race.  First of all, it is flat, flat, flat.  An elevation DECREASE of 200 feet.  I get to be on the course with 3 ladies I really like and admire. It is a women's only race.  And the race is only a few months away.  I won't have the long training season I set up for myself last year, signing up for the TCM in February, not running it until October.  Instead I get to take this week a little easy, ramp back up a little bit for Dam to Dam and just keep going from there until the end of the summer.

I won't pretend I'm not scared. I know how hard it is, what it takes to cover the distance.  The race is Labor Day weekend and it could be (probably will be) hot.  I don't run well in the heat. I am almost certain to finish behind the 3 other ladies I know who are running the race.  But mostly I am excited. Finishing the Twin Cities marathon was an amazing experience.  I am really looking forward to getting up close and personal with 26.2 again.