I can't believe I'm doing this....

Cliche, perhaps. I haven't exactly hit a midlife crisis.

I just feel... ready. Like I can be serious enough to tackle this.
This weekend my friend Val called me up and asked me to run a marathon with her in Oct. I hesitated for what? 30 seconds, then said what the hell. Not exactly the inspirational words of commitment you might expect from someone who is ready to spend nearly every day of the next 5 months in fitness, strength, and endurance training to work up to running 26.2 miles in the Portland Marathon. no not exactly.

But, I dunno. I did consider it... and thought I could do it.

Why? I'm not sure. I'm not a runner. Ok, I'm "sporty," yes. I've been playing soccer and ultimate frisbee at a recreational level (non-competitive) for 5 years or more now. I've got loads of ankle and foot injuries (and an old broken finger) to show for it too. A couple black eyes, a couple bloody noses... all in good fun. Makes you feel alive.

But now... now I'm taking on a whole new plateau of commitment and seriousness. I mean, I'm HOPING it will be enjoyable too. I guess we'll see.


A brief history of why I was amenable to this...
I decided to sign up to run a 5K on May 5, 2007 (this upcoming Saturday) with my friend Hana (for the SW WA Humane Society). Val later decided to join us in this run. For the past 4 weeks Hana and I have been "training" to be able to run the 5K nonstop (i.e. no walking allowed). And as of this weekend I finally believe we'll be able to. I drove up to Seattle to see Hana, and we ran around Greenlake (2.8mi) without needing to slow down once. It was a new top achievement for me... and I replicated it again on Monday on a 2.8 mi run around the Willamette esplanade (in 28 minutes) without needing to slow down. It was totally awsome, and I'm really proud of myself. I think we'll be able to run the 5k on Saturday without any trouble...

... and this "training" will give me a good launching point for the Marathon training... which begins May 19 with a 3 mi run.