We May Have Lost Our Marbles

By we, I mean my best friend and I. We've been friends for almost 25 years. We've been through the teen years, college years, moves, boyfriends, marriages, kids, divorces and so much more together. When I started running with my mom five years ago I remember her telling me that she "would never be a runner." I believe I made the same comment several times as well.

Thankfully, we learned quickly that we loved running 5Ks and did several together, with friends.

Midnight Sun Midnight Run 2012

Trick or Trot 2012

Midnight Sun Midnight Run 2013

Sometimes our kids even joined us!

Panther Pant 2014

When I agreed to train for the Whistlestop half marathon in 2012 with a good friend of ours, she told me that she thought I was absolutely crazy! Thankfully, shew as nice enough to tell me after the race. She's been at the finish line for me or running by my side more often than anyone else since I started running.

Whistlestop Half Marathon (for me) 2012

Everyone else did the 10K

I was so beyond proud to cheer her on at the finish line of her own first half marathon in 2013!! (Crazy is contagious!)

Focused on that finish line and finishing strong!

 Finisher's medal and shirt were hard earned!

She was also there for me as I started to face more and more challenges with my side pain. I called her the day that I made the decision to stop training for my second Whistlestop half marathon and downgrad my registration to a 10K. Then she ran it with me (well, she actually beat me).

Whistlestop 10K 2013

She's listened to me gripe about my side and my running frustrations more often and longer than all of you who read this blog! Not that she didn't have her setbacks and gripes along the way. A knee injury sidelined her for a bit and threatened her first half marathon training. Then she ended up laid up pretty much all of last summer with an ankle injury that required surgery. 

This month she ran her first "comeback race" the weekend before St. Patrick's Day after almost a year and a half of not being able to run. With the success of my first run this week, we've both begun to allow ourselves to dream again. Thing is, we never dream small!! 

By the end of the work day yesterday we had plans... big plans! They look a bit like this...

What is that? Well, that is a 20-week half marathon training schedule. You read that right! One, three mile run under my belt and I'm planning to train for a half marathon. Hear me out before you roll your eyes and laugh at me.

Training for the triathlon started this week. I have been very clear in expressing that this training will be slow and steady. It's not about setting records, but about proving to myself that I can do it and I can FINISH! The half marathon is no different. 

We have been planning to run a half marathon together since the end of 2012. It's been over three years of waiting. It appears that the stage will never be set perfectly for us, so we will create our own, special kind of perfect. She's coming off a major injury and starting from scratch. I'm coming off... well, I still don't know what it is and it's not fixed, but I'm refusing to be sidelined by the unknown any longer.

So, here's the 4-1-1 on our latest hairbrained idea!

Who: Me & The only person, other than my family, who has put up with me for so long!

What: Monster Mash Half Marathon

When: October 29, 2016

Where: St. Paul, MN

Why: Because we're sick of worrying we never will!

I am completely aware of how utterly insane this sounds, but what's life without a challenge to motivate you? There are a few stipulations to this plan. First... it's still entirely up in the air and dependent on how the next couple of months of training go. Our deadline is June to decide if we want to move forward with our training plan or not. We won't register until we know we can move forward.

Second... we have "test" races over the next few months before making the final decision to register for the half marathon. We will try to decide before the price increase. Talk about motivation!! Here's the plan through the next six months.

• April - Fitger's 5K (her next run)
• May - Moose Run 10K (her next next run) & Panther Pant (my first race - she may join me)
• June - Midnight Sun Midnight Run (both of us will run this one)
• July - Chequamegon Bay Sprint Triathlon (my goal triathlon) or Shell Lake Triathlon (back up)
• September - Shell Lake 9 miler (check in/training run race - this one will only happen if I can last through the summer training and am registered for the half)

Last... the ultimate goal for all of this is to finish. Neither of us is out to beat our half marathon race times from 2012 and 2013 (although, in all honesty, I'm pretty sure she will beat her's). We just want to say we did it. We staged an epic comeback and we did it together!

So, that's the story! Insane as it sounds, I think it's just what I need right now. I'm a stubborn person who is highly lacking in the patience area. Until recently I've just bulldozed my way through things. It's very clear that that's not an option with this. I'll have to start slow, listen to my body and be patient. I fully expect it to be far more challenging than the training for my first half marathon. The difference is... I'm not doing it alone. 

Even if I run my training runs mostly alone, I am NOT alone. I have so much support and so many people cheering me on and hoping, wishing and praying right along with me. I am not a victim. My legs work. I can make this whatever I want it to be. It may not be the best scenario, but I refuse to sit back and complain any longer. WE HAVE A PLAN!!!

Stay tuned to hear how it all turns out! Our 20-week training program starts June 13th. Meanwhile... week one of triathlon training is under way.