Try Try Again (even if it takes 2 years)

Wow, it's been a long time. I'm not sure why I feel compelled to blog again, except that I'm excited about running again. And nervous. I'm going to train for my first marathon.

Yeah yeah if you have read this blog before (like two years ago) you know that I tried this once before. All I had to show from it was a stress fracture.  And then a sprained ankle.  Several months of physical therapy and a gradual training plan brought me back to my feet and running again.  I've completed 5 half marathons, with the last one in October 2010 and a PR.  I'm not much faster than when I started (well, a little faster) and I don't expect to get any faster.  For some reason, I thought I should try the marathon again.  My husband didn't laugh when I mentioned it, and other friends thought I could do it (one even offered to babysit - no excuses! she said).

So this morning, I signed up for the Marathoners in Training (MIT) group again. I don't think I'd be able to follow a training plan without some support, and MIT was a great way to stay motivated and meet people when I started running.  More people than ever before are running, and I have a lot of friends who are running, so that helps to keep me motivated as well.

But I'm getting bored with my same old races and mileage.  I just need to try something different.  I'm not getting any younger, and while I enjoy riding my bike, it's just not the same (I'm not constantly worried about a flat tire or someone running me off the road).

I'll be using this blog to keep me motivated as I hope to progress through my training.  Anyone who wants to join me on this journey is welcome, and I can use all the support I can get!

Music Motivation

I remember when 6 miles wasn't so bad. Now I need certain songs to keep me going. Here's what came on during those last few miles when I needed them the most:



Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty

Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

Ray of Light - Madonna

Rehumanize - Police

Welcome to the Jungle - Guns and Roses

No Rain - Blind Melon





I think for the race I am going to look for some good 80s new wave songs. Something different. Any suggestions?

Social Networking

This blog has suffered because I'm hooked on social networking sites and applications. You can see on the right hand side of this website I've added a widget from a social networking site called DailyMile.com. It's a combo of a training log and facebook. You log your training - miles you have run or cycled, workouts completed - and then it gets posted. You can find "friends" who can follow you and vice versa. You can send "motivation", post questions, join groups, and find races or events to sign up for. I don't know any of my "friends" but it is interesting to see the different workouts and posts. I even gave some advice on shin splints, as if I had any idea what to tell anyone.

I'm also hooked on Facebook. I had an account because my brother posted something, but I hadn't really gotten into it. Then my husband signed himself up and started adding "friends" like crazy. Once he did that, it was all over. I had to add "friends" too. And "flair", and photos and blog posts and anything else I could find. I have become a fan of 21 different things, ranging from politicians to Uno to NPR. I'm a member of 22 different groups, from running groups to "Wii gave me unrealistic expectations about my bowling skills" to a site devoted to everyone named Kowalczyk. Why? I don't know. And I have friends from high school, neighbors, parents, and co-workers all part of my group of friends. You feel connected and you learn more about people than you might have through casual conversation. I'm sure there are lots of studies of the impact of Facebook on relationships and personal interaction, but I'm just enjoying it.

Then there's Twitter. Tweets, tweeps, twitterverse, tweeple, I just love the terminology that has sprung up around this website. Microblogging is the best way to describe it. Tell everyone in 140 words or less what you are doing or thinking or see or overhear. Moments used to strike me as destined for a blog post; now pithy sayings go straight to Twitter. Plus the mundane - I can keep my husband posted on my progress while I'm sitting in traffic or out of town for work. You "follow" people on Twitter and they "follow" you. I don't have a lot of people I know beyond my family (which is very useful and fun) that I follow, but I have found some celebrity tweeple - Wil Wheaton, Penn Jillette, Greg Grunberg, and John Cleese - who are very entertaining. Locally there are people I don't know but are enjoying following, including local newscasters. Channel 10 has involved everyone in Twitter and it's fun to get posts from them while they are on the air. The best, however, is John Scalzi's cat, Ghlaghghee.

And the crazy thing is that they all link together. I can post on dailymile.com and have it sent to Twitter. My "tweets" go to Facebook. It's an efficient way to tell everyone what I'm doing or thinking at any given time. I'm not sure we need this efficiency (who really cares that I'm sitting in traffic on 71, really?), but it sure is fun!