Marathoning Me

July 10, 2009

Imagine if you will …

After another failed attempt at trying to go back to school to earn her degree, Carol finally accepts that she just isn’t college material – especially at the age of 42.

So what does a 42 year old business manager and mother of two teenagers do instead? She signs up to run a 13 mile marathon.

With no running experience except completing her first 5K race just two weeks ago, and just now coming off of nicotine, Carol finds herself in the local sporting goods store purchasing her first pair of running shoes, a pair of cute Nike running shorts, and signing up to run her first half marathon.

Follow her along while she trains for the race of her life and watch her life expand in front of her as she puts one foot in front of the other.

Would you read this book if you happened upon it in the bookstore and read this on the back cover?

I’m going to write about my marathon training experience here on the blog. It won’t be ALL I blog about but I hope to share my experience with you somewhat.

My training begins:

This morning starts out just like any other. The sound of the alarm coming from my Blackberry tries to get my attention but it is only the touch of The Gent that makes me open my eyes and take in my first breath purposefully. We always get up at the crack of dawn so we can steal a few minutes of time together before our busy days begin.

After a few minutes of separate prayer and meditation we get our coffee. We get some morning conversation in while sitting in bed sipping our Kaffeeklatsch Celebes Kalosi coffee and watching either the Weather Channel or Fox News. There is always time for the cuddling before we go zoom zoom zooming off to our divided lives. He heads for the shower while I dawn my running attire.

This particular morning I get to put on my brand new, and REAL, running shoes. I’ve never owned a real pair of running shoes before. There is a difference between running shoes and regular ole tennis shoes, this newest discovery surprised me. Oh yeah, I also put on my brand new cute Nike running SHORTS. I didn’t think I’d like them but I bought them anyway. When I slipped them on for the first time at 0430 this morning I immediately fell in love with them. They are a lot more comfortable than I had anticipated. WOW, am I ever going on about shoes and shorts; a love affair begins.

I ran my regular 2 miles this morning. I say “regular” like I’ve been running 2 miles for years now when the truth of the matter is that I’ve only been running 2 miles for 2 weeks. Heh. When I came home my calves and shins were a little sore. I am a little worried because they haven’t hurt yet until now – new running shoes and all does have me a little concerned. However, when I was at Fleet Feet yesterday they put me on a treadmill and video taped my running style. My feet rolled inwards so I purchased inserts for my new running shoes as well. So this, I think, is the reason my legs (lower legs) hurt just a tad today; new positioning of the feet make different muscles work? Sounds good to me.

Next week I’ll get my own website dedicated to the fund raising part of the Mercedes Marathon and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I have to raise $1,800.00 in order to be able to attend the marathon weekend as an all expense paid stay. I hope you all can help me out with this endeavor, even if it is just $5.00 – every little bit helps.

Please join me on this trip of mine as I write about my experience in training for a half marathon trying not to lose my sanity. Oh wait, my sanity escaped me when I wrote out my $75.00 registration fee for the race.

I hope you stay tuned and read often and laugh a lot.

Oh, by the way, pictured below – my new Mizuno running shoe.

Tags: Marathon Running Health Mercedes Marathon Leukemia

Who is c.a. Marks you ask?  Running my first ever half marathon on February 14, 2010 in Birmingham, Alabama. All fundraising benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click on the Team in Training graphic above.

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