My biggest decision

K so maybe that's a bit of false advertising with the blog title. This is not my biggest, MOST important decision. I've had others - getting married, moving, going to college, going to graduate school, not procreating yet, so forth and so on.

Those are all important decisions. But yesterday, I added another to the list. I'm going to do the Rock-n-Roll Marathon. Yes. The marathon. Not the half marathon.

I'll be honest the decision wasn't completely mine. I was talking to someone at work and explaining my "bucket list" or rather the list of things I MUST do before I have children. Among these, there are get a job that pays more money, visit Italy, pursue a PhD. Now, yes, I realize that I could do these things and be a parent at the same time. But they've always been things on the list. Also on the list? Running a full marathon. The entire 26.2 mile, head-slapping distance. The person I was explaining the list to queried, "why don't you run the full Rock in Roll marathon in Savannah (rather than the half)?" I explained that I wasn't ready, physically or mentally. Then I asked myself - why not? And if I'm not now, when? Will I ever be ready?

Seriously let's take a look back at my short, yet active, running career. I can't remember them all but here are some: the Gate River 15K ... Donna Deegan Half Marathon ... Jason's Jog 5K ... Sunshine Festival 5K ... Dolphin Day 10K ... Bridge Run 5K ... Jingle Bell Run 5K ...

Not to mention all of the countless weekly training runs - 6 to 11 mile runs a week whilst training for these things.

I've done all of these and sure I've had set-backs. A stress fracture in my hip, a labrium tear, a stress fracture in my foot. But I've healed and survived to run another day.

See, here's the photographic evidence ...

Lord knows, I'm never going to be the fastest person. But again, I've survived. And I didn't hate it. Really, no matter how much I complained.

So back to the question at hand - if not now, when? Right now, I am 20 weeks away from the date of the race Nov. 5. That is EXACTLY the amount of time you need to complete the beginner marathon training program. I have no trips planned. No celebrations on the radar (thank God, I have got to detox for a while). WHY NOT?

The rational (Read: Terrified) side of my brain points to several reasons: The fact that it's 26.2 head-slapping miles, possible injury, the fear of failure, the fear of losing the $100 down payment. Honestly though, none of that was enough to make me say "no." So many people (even some as old as 80) have ran marathons. You just train up to it and it happens. And if it doesn't, you tried.

I decided I'm all in. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. At least, I can say that I took on the challenge.

For those interested, I'm going to make a training log tab on the blog. It will show my plan, training course, diet, etc. It will be interesting, if nothing else.

And now, I have to go run a six miler.