This sort of ties in with yesterday evening’s post. I’ve decided to knock off a few things on my life-to-do-list. So, I’ve signed up to run the Richmond Marathon this November. Angela is going to do it as well, so we can encourage one another. I believe this has almost nothing to do about whether my body can handle the running of 26.2 miles (although my left knee scares the shit out of me). It is going to be about committing to doing something that I’ve wanted to do all my life. When I was a kid, I thought I would someday want to run the Boston Marathon. Well, come to find out, they don’t let just any joker like me sign up for that (something about qualifying). So, I’ll be okay just running a marathon, rather than what many consider to be the marathon. None-the-less, if I were to just wait to do this until I was absolutely sure that I was capable of taking the time and effort to finish, then I’d likely never do it. I’m taking a chance on myself, and this is something I have really wanted to do for a long time, now.
I suppose Angela’s reasons are similar, although it’s not really been something she’s talked about doing so much. I think she wants the challenge as well. To do something that most family and friends would think she’s not capable of doing. Again, this isn’t about competing with anyone, but ourselves. And that means one thing: running (or walking, for that matter) across the finish line.
Another thing is, Angela and I are both the kind of people who know people who have run marathons. However, we both don’t want that to be our experience: to be the friend of the people who do things. That’s no real way to know life. We’re going to have to do things like this for ourselves. Have an experience, not just some stories we’re heard.
For the record, I estimated my finishing time at 4 hours and 15 minutes. Is that being optimistic? Probably, but so isn’t the very idea of me finishing a marathon?
A marathon…I wish you the best of luck, and I don’t mind having other people run marathons while I listen to the stories. It is impressive however. I almost got to go on a business trip to Richmond earlier, but the deal fell through.
Hey, Zane! Thanks for coming by. Yeah, we’ll both be needing all the luck we can get. However, the process we are going through is a very long one to get there. The marathon isn’t for six months. We’re using the approach that in order to climb a mountain, you have to put one foot in front of the other.
If you’re ever in Richmond (or nearby), please drop in. You’re always welcome.