Crying on my couch instead of running... NOT cool...

"It's absolutely fantastic, ideal marathon conditions..."-Deena Kastor

Well thank you Deena for that quote this morning.  You know, last year, I ran the Chicago Marathon, and I will flat out tell everyone that it was by far the MOST AMAZING THING EVER.  I cried when I crossed that finish line... and it was then one of the most emotional days and few days of my life.  Something that you work soooo hard for, and then in just one day it's over.

This year, many of you know that I injured myself and was sent to physical therapy for a few months.  Basically, my PT said that I had great thigh muscles... really strong.  The rest of me, however, was crazy wimpy.  I didn't think that because, hey, I'm a distance runner (a badge I wear with courage and pride now that I can admit to myself that yes, I am a runner...)  So, in short, my PT was telling me that unless the rest of my body started to get strong, I wasn't going to be doing any marathons any time soon.  So, I've made it my goal to get these workouts in now.

This morning, I woke up after being at my friends' wedding last night and I went straight to the TV to watch the coverage of the marathon, because I am now addicted.  One of the first things I see is that quote from Deena Kastor above....and I'm going to confess to each and every one of you that I started to sob like a baby.  And then, when the gun went off and those runners started to cross that start line, I was nearly un controlable.  I wanted to be down there SO bad, and the more I watched, the more empowered I felt.  And all I could do was look at my Marathon medal from last year and think that I NEED to make sure that I can run it next year.  Tendonitis be damned, it is going to happen... If I have to work out every single day, eat 2000 calories a day, and stand on my head for an hour every day, I will do it, because next year, the Chicago Marathon is not going to be watched from my house while I'm sitting on the couch crying.

Here's the goal again...

Yeah, I really want another one of these....I'm inspired again... and this time next year, I'm going for a PR... and it is going to make me smile.

In other words, you should all go to http://www.hulu.com/ and check out "Spirit of the Marathon", an AMAZING AMAZING movie about marathoning and all that goes into it.  Brings me to tears ever time.

And NOW... in honor of me not being able to run 26.2 miles this morning, I'm going to go run 4 at the gym...