23 Days and Counting

I don't know why I didn't start this sooner. But here I am, 23 days away from my first marathon, the LA Marathon.

I have been running steadily now for over 2 years. I took a hiatus after my very first half marathon, the OC 1/2 Marathon in early 2006. Running a marathon was never something I thought I would want to do. I was perfectly happy with running 10Ks and halves for the rest of my running life. The thought of doing a 16 mile training run was daunting and something I just wanted no part of. But then it hit me...at Malloy's in Hermosa Beach on a Sunday Funday watching football. A friend of mine decided she wanted to run a marathon and she didn't want to do it alone, so I said "what the hell". I figured with all the training I had been doing for my Ragnars and my halves, now was the perfect time. So there, on a beverage napkin, I mapped out our weekly training runs leading up to the LA Marathon.

This weekend I will run my last building run, and the farthest run of my life, 20 miles. After that it is time to rest and taper until Marathon Day. I have definately had mixed emotions. There have been injuries, sickness and days where I just didn't feel like running. There have been days where I think I have this thing in the bag and days where I question if I have it in me. I don't know what exactly will happen on marathon day, but I do know one thing....I WILL FINISH. And when I do, I will probably cry like a baby. Heck, I cry when I watch other people finish marathons. Even thinking about crossing the finish line can choke me up. But I want that feeling sooooo bad. Apparently, so bad that I am willing to run 26.2 miles to get it.

I'll end my first post with a quote...one that I saw during my first half and has stuck with me.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

Happy Running,

Ashley