Head case

[Warning: Potentially boring post about running/marathon training. Read at your own risk.]
Nate and I after running our half marathon Memorial Day weekend 2005. Can you tell those are fake smiles? And holy cow, we look young!

I posted some extremely negative running quotes yesterday. Basically I just found them funny and more striking than the "happy-go-lucky" quotes. Stephanie mentioned that I need to post some positive quotes and then an anonymous commenter [my first!] posted a few in my behalf. Thanks, anon! I have seen most of those during recent marathon research and I've found some of my favorites:

"There will be days when you don't know if you can run a marathon. But, there will be a lifetime of knowing that you have."
--anonymous [Best Quote Ever!]

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.
-- Walter Bagehot
[I don't really care if other people have faith in me. But I have to prove to myself, my own conscience, that I am capable of running this marathon. My inner Jiminy Cricket can be such a Debbie Downer sometimes, and I want to shut him up.]

Other people may not have high expectations of me, but I have high expectations for myself.
-- Shannon Miller
[It's true. I set my standards abnormally high for myself. Maybe it's because I'm too Type A, or that I am a perfectionist, or maybe just because I can be a head case. But I want to push for a full 26.2 miles instead of settling on another 13.1]

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars
-- Les Brown
[This really doesn't have anything to do with the marathon, but this quote was the inspiration for my tatoo. It's a star pierced with an arrow on my big toe. I told you I love quotes!]

"It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse."
-- Ann Trason
[I'm banking on this one. I may need to memorize it, in fact.]

"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."
-- Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon Champ [I like the idea of separating my mind from my body. Maybe my body can handle this test even though I'm sure my mind will question it's capability. Or is it the other way around?]

It's also helpful to read first hand accounts on finishing a marathon. Here is one by Erin Nevicosi, a fellow Milwaukee blogger who also has an addicting current blog called "Something to Look Forward To."

And remember how I mentioned running blogs and how marathon runners can be a little obsessive? As in, they can almost be cult-like? Well here is a comprehensive list of running blogs. Somewhat overwhelming, right? Not all of them are scary but I think listed as a whole it's a bit much.

A few more random thoughts and then I'm done with marathon talk for awhile [I really do promise to stay balanced!]

• We ran our half marathon in 2 hours 10 minutes, which is exactly a 10 minute mile. It's not the fastest in the world but we weren't last, either. I'd like to keep that pace for the full marathon and come in under 4 hours 30 minutes. That will be my goal.

• In 4 hours and 30 minutes I could almost drive to St. Louis. Or watch two movies. Or nearly work an entire day. Wow. Just wow.

• I'll have to buy new running shoes for this task, which means letting go of $100. I may even need a few new socks and sports bras. The thought of spending money makes me clench up a little bit, which is so utterly sad. When did I get so frugal?!

• Nate, however, has always had a raging case of "Stuff-itis." Meaning that he'll play a sport just to buy the cool equipment that goes along with it. His mom said even when he was 8 years old, he wanted to play street hockey with his friends just so he could get the coolest helmet/knee pads/roller blades. Same goes for skiing, biking, and even running right now.

• The hardest part of this whole training schedule will be letting go of my free time. I thoroughly enjoy my evenings and weekends to myself and now that time will be shortened significantly. For instance: week 15 of training includes a 10 mile run on Wednesday. Ummmm, that will probably take me 1.75 hours and I'll most likely have to do the run after work. Which basically leaves me time to eat and go to bed that evening. But I know once we have kids this commitment would be nearly impossible for me. So it's another one of those "I need to live it up before we have kids" type of things. And by "live it up" I mean "try not to die while running" in this case:)

• I will probably GAIN weight with this marathon. I may put on a few pounds of muscle and if it's anything like last time, my appetite will be out of control! Oh well, I'm not doing it to lose weight.
  

• So I'm going to officially start training in May and will return to a consistent workout routine in February to prepare. What does that mean? On more month of couch potato glory!
  

So are you sick of the marathon talk yet? I admit, I'm kind of tired of talking about it after this post. Anyone want to "virtual train" with me? Allison, are you in?