Marathon Feelings

Training for the marathon is intense - because you have to train -a lot. Sometimes twice a day, sometimes when you don't want to, and sometimes for long periods of time. It hurts. On my run today, an actual zen run, I thought about running - and why I did it. One of my favorite quotes is "If you want to change your body, exercise.  If you want to change your life, run." This is certainly true. Running changes lives. It is amazing to see people totally transformed from running - like extreme weight loss - or total confidence booster i.e., the young lady with mild cerebral palsy who is training for a marathon. We all do it for different reasons - and seriously, I took up running because I could not play any other sports. So at 14, I started running cross country and 18 years later I am training for a marathon. I love running. I never take off my "RUN" necklace, I wear a Boston-strong headband, and I have more dirty running clothes in my clothes hamper than regular clothing. When I started running, it was not a very popular sport. Now, you can find a 5K every weekend in your hometown.  With the popularity of color runs, light runs, obstacle courses, zombie runs, and running for God - more people are getting psyched up about my sport. When I started running, there were very few choices for running attire.  Now... I think - do I wear my green skirt, my blue skirt, or my black skirt? ... no, I think I will wear my purple dri-fit shorts with compression socks. AND Thank you, moisture wicking clothing. When I started running, there were few places to run in my hometown... now our Greenway is nearly 10 miles long. One downfall from then to now - then people weren't tech-crazed. What is UP with this i-Pod and Garmin craze? I hate i -Pods on outdoor runs, birds are too beautiful for that. Respect the robin, peeps.  And the Garmin - yes, I stopwatch - but I don't need the fancy-shmancy Garmin.  If you get lost on a 4 mile run, you are stupid... haha, just kidding, but let's get real . When I started running, people made fun of you for running... oh wait that has not changed. I still get called crazy, get asked "WHY?" and get the comment "If you ever see me running, I am being chased." My answer for that is... don't ask me why I do, ask yourself why you don't.


So why am I posting this? well, I am struggling with training. We are less than 9 weeks away from the Marathon and I am terrified. I know I can do it. I know I will finish - heck, I will crawl the last 3 miles if I have to, but I am scared. So I am trying to focus. Trying to remember, why I chose to do this. I chose to do this because I love to run. I chose to do this to do something others never will. I chose to do this because I can... Then my quote, I am the mother of three, I can do anything - resonated in my ear.  And here I am, blogging on such a boring subject - but yet I have to tell you... I have lost sleep, worried, gotten physically sick, yelled, cried, and panicked thinking about marathoning... so I had to blog. Get it all out - then pull it all together. So here I am, telling the world, about marathon training... please pray for my well-being as well as mental health! Don't try this at home kids... Love Carly <3