With only 32 days left in the year I'm thinking about a full-fledged commitment to running in the coming year. The feet that have betrayed me since the fall of 2008 appear to have healed finally. In the 2nd half of 2010 I was able to elevate my running distances with minimal trouble. I am finally thinking about and setting a course toward my 2nd marathon.I have circled the month of October and will starting training for Chicago's marathon. Today I pulled up some marathon training guides and have determined that the schedule needs to start in earnest at the end of January.
The reasons that I am running another marathon are many but it's primary centered on the following:
1. I love the challenge of the discipline to work towards such a demanding goal
2. To prove to myself that I can come back from adversity
3. To stay fit physically, mentally, socially and spiritually
4. To maintain a healthy emotional outlet while my son deploys to Afghanistan for the whole year.
I want to experience taste the joy of pushing through, feeling the wind in my face, reaching milestones and goals, jostling through the crowd, feeling the energy of the big event, the satisfaction of doing what I once thought impossible.
I'm looking forward to the year ahead, though I will be distracted with thoughts of a son thousands of miles from home, in harms way. I will run with him in mind and dream of the day we can enter a marathon when he comes back again.
