Monday, March 2, 2009

My First Post!

Hello! Thank you for reading. Why did I decide to create a blog called "Running Marathons for Life (?)"? Well, I set a goal of running a marathon in each of the 50 states, and am finding myself in a bit of a training rut. So I thought blogging about my training might help to motivate me. Knowing I have to blog will help get my butt out on the roads and get the miles in. Plus, I'm hoping some people will actually read this and maybe provide some tips and/or encouragement.

So where do things stand right now? Well, I just decided to pursue this goal in the fall, right after the Clarence DeMar Marathon in Keene, NH. At this point I have run 7 marathons in 5 states; only 45 states to go! There is a 50 States Marathon Club that I can join after I run a marathon in 10 states, which I am hoping to do by the end of 2010. Many members of this club run multiple marathons each month (some run 2 each weekend!!!) but my goal will be 2 to 3 marathons per year. I am hoping to finish before I'm 60. :)

Why am I doing this? Well, I like to challenge myself. I didn't run my first step ever until early 2002, and about a year and a half later I completed my first marathon. I was toying with the idea of pursuing this goal after talking to a few members of the 50 States Marathon Club at the Clarence DeMar Marathon. It seems like such a fun and supportive group. Then my friend Kathy told me that her late husband Bill had talked about joining the club right before he passed away (both Kathy and Bill are good friends of mine from Maine; Bill tragically died at a half marathon in Hampton, NH on 2/10/08 and I unfortunately was a witness at around the mile 6.5 mark; more on this some other time). Hearing what Kathy said was all I needed to motivate me to make a decision about pursuing the goal. Bill's spirit will be with me as I pursue the marathons, and I can pay tribute to him.

Happy reading and running! OH, and by the way, the reason I added a question mark to the title of the blog is that this is an unknown journey that could lead to unexpected twists and turns.

4 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to reading more! :)

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  2. A, what a wonderful goal. Perhaps we'll run a marathon in some state together? I hope your training is going awesomely!

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  3. This is a great thing to do. I created a blog when I started training for Dublin last year but then stopped because of my blog was about training all over the world and I found it impossible to train on the road. Now if I could just pick a fall marathon...you have inpsired me.

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  4. What a cool way to get yourself out of a training rut! I'm hoping you make your goal!

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