Friday, February 1, 2008

Today's the day!!!

Know what today is? Huh? Huh? Do ya do ya doyadoyadoyadoya? Sorry, er...too much coffee this morning...

Today, my dear blogworld friends, is the day that registration opens for the 2008 Chicago Marathon. I've been engaged in a 3-year quest to run this stupid race, and this might be the year when it's finally in my grasp. It started even more than 3 years ago. About the time I turned 30, I decided that I wanted to run a marathon in the year I turned 40 (2006). I've got this "thing" about doing something memorable every decade birthday. Mind you, I was an occasional runner at best, and weighed about 190 (I'm 5'4", to put it into perspective), so not close to marathon shape at the time. I started turning my attention to getting ready as 2006 approached. To recap the journey:

2005: Started building a base of maybe 10-15 miles per week, ran my first few 5K races, and got hooked.

2006: Found Hal Higdon's great marathon training program for beginners and started training in June. I also started a blog (now defunct) to write about my training experiences. In early September of '06 I got a bad case of plantar fasciitis (an irritation of the connective tissue that supports the arch of the foot). This caused me to pull out of training.

2007: Started in June (on the first day of vacation, oddly enough) for the Chicago Marathon. I trained pretty well, and felt ready for the Marathon...until, that is, the day of--87 degrees and high humidity. YUK. The organizers of the race cancelled it after 4 hours. Needless to say I was not a happy camper (see my post-race report here).

So, will 2008 be any different? PFFFT...like I know! But I'm hopeful. I'm training now for the St Louis Marathon, and it'll be a great learning experience to do that. But Chicago--that's the real goal I'm shooting for.

I'm now going to switch to another browser window and sign up. Wish me luck. Er, not for the signing up, for the race. Gee, wonder if I'll qualify for a corral again? (C:




5 comments:

Tim Wilson said...

You go Jim! You will do great this time around..... if they let you finish :)

Jim said...

Tim this time I plan to bring my own cell phone (in case of emergencies) and my own money (so I can stop in a convenience store and BUY water if I need to!!!). Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Jim

Joe said...

I like your early planning!!

All the experience will help a lot.

As will St Louis...that course is a lot tougher than Chicago's.

Get your credit card ready!!

Jim said...

Joe I've looked at the course for STL, and it does scare me a bit. Fortunately I haven't said anything about it to the friend who is running it along with me...don't want to scare him off.

I did a post about my thoughts on walking and running during a race. I intend to walk/run STL, especially because of the elevations and whatnot. Bottom line, I just want to cross the doggone finish line under my own power!

Jim

Lelani said...

Congrats on signing up for that race. I'll look forward to reading your race report. My dream first full marathon is in London in five years. Thanks for all the encouragement on my blog!