Looking at the calendar, my next big race is now less than a month away.   The New York City Half Marathon.   I’m very excited about it and I’ve been doing quite a bit of training to see if I can make it a sub 2 half.   Still not sure, but I will never know unless I try.    Now that being said, I realized something about a week or so ago too.    Something that didn’t really occur to me.  Yes, I’ve been speed training for the half but I’ve also started training for my 50K.  To me that seems so distant because it’s 3 months away.    I’ve learned though that doesn’t mean that I am waiting for the half to be over to start training for it.

Once I realized this, my new manta to get me out the door become

50K’s don’t just happen.

Now I know that to be true.   I expected it.   Somehow though in my mind I was still training for the half which made the 50K seem like it wasn’t real.   I realized though when I had a long run that was 14 miles.   That was my Aha moment.   That was the moment it all become real.   That was the moment that I thought to myself, “What am I doing?”

I’m hoping these are normal thoughts.   Then again I never claimed to be normal.

Someone asked me what I was training for and when I told them they thought I was crazy.   They asked me, “Why the hell would you want to do that?”

I really had no answer.   Other than that I thought it would be a fun challenge and that it is something I  do it for me..    They rolled their eyes and did not see the fun in it.   That is ok.   A lot of people do a lot of things for fun that I just don’t get.    Now I’m not saying all this training is fun, but it does clear my mind and allow me to pretty much eat what I want.    So for me that is a win.

Around the same time that I made the realization that I was in 50K training, something else exciting happened too.    I had joined a group that matches runners with those who can’t run.  Runners can be matched with individuals with special needs or the group I’m in their sibling, the unsung hero.  I was finally matched!  So now my running is really not all about me.  It is for both of us.   Someone that will inspire me to push further.  That is all I will say about my unsung hero for her privacy.      It’s a cool feeling though.      This is still very new to me as I’ve only recently been matched, but I can’t wait to see how this develops.