I am definitely going to run a marathon in 2008. The only question now is deciding where to run it. It seems silly to NOT run in Chicago when this is a destination in itself and I'm right here but the idea of going to NYC or going back home where my parents can root me on is really appealing. Plus, my dad used to run a lot (including the marathon) when he was younger so I think it would be a meaningful experience to have shared the same streets with my father and to have him there to see me finish.

Plus, having the pressure of knowing my parents would be around would be beneficial in two ways. When you're really struggling there's nothing like having your parents there to support you AND I would want to make them proud by doing well and not giving up when things got tough.

Not that I would give up. Unless if I was having heat stroke and throwing up or pulled a muscle I would finish. I can't imagine just not finishing. Not once I started.

Plus, I would never show up unprepared for a race like that. Perhaps not as prepared as I would like but prepared enough to get through it.

I'm trying to motivate Jeff to do it with me. I never even thought about running a marathon until he started encouraging me to do it. He said it was one of his life dreams and he figured if I could train for a half I could keep training to finish the "real" one. Initially I thought he was crazy. Maybe because the half-marathon was my first race it was just too much to consider.

Plus, when one is still awed by finishing five miles...the idea of 26.2 is sort of....imaginary almost. And, perhaps once I start training I'll realize how absolutely crazy it all really is.

Right now Jeff is resisting the idea. I don't get why he doesn't grab onto this. It's something he wants to do (one day) and it's something we could train for together. Doesn't that sound nice? :)

I would definitely run a fall marathon. The difficulty is my Annual Meeting comes in September. It brings a lot of extra stress and longer work days. Getting out to run is hard when you've had a long day, you're not sleeping well, and all you really want to do is go home and relax.

For better or worse, this year I just didn't put in those longer hours. I knew after a certain time in the day if I left late I wouldn't be running. Part of it is the traffic too. If I leave at the wrong time I have a long commute. So, I get to work by 6:15 AM in the morning and usually that means leaving early too. The nice thing is, working "late" means I'm still out of there at a reasonable time. The bad thing is, when I leave when the majority of people do, my commute is easily an hour and potentially longer.

All that driving really saps the energy out of me. Did I mention I get to work at 6:15 AM? That means I leave my house at 5:45 and my alarm clock goes off at 4:50 AM. I'm tired a lot...which doesn't make for a good run.

And, once I get past the basic training it seems silly to go for a run shorter than 6 miles. And that was for a half-marathon. I imagine I would progress further to where I was out for an "easy" 10+ miler. All that running takes up a lot of time. Then, you come home, shower, make dinner, etc. and it's late.

For me, bedtime comes unfortunately very, very early. So there's not a whole lot of night when you're doing that.

People who have children and still do this....I think you're crazy. I do not see how you can do it!

But, I'm still looking forward to it. I'm hoping to get back in a little more shape so that I can push out 5-6 miles without thinking about it. I'll probably do that on a treadmill for the rest of winter until February where I'll really kick in the training. I would love to be able to do a half-marathon sometime in the late spring, and maybe another with the big Chicago one then possibly go home in October for the biggie.

If I was smart I would use these next two months to get into basic shape and really focus strength training. Once I start running I have a really hard time doing anything else. I know that strength training and cross training would be helpful but when you train for a race you sort of get ultra-focused on the miles and the times and you hate to take a day out to go and do something else when you really feel like you need to put in the miles.

Plus, when I strength train I go all out (or what's the point) and I'm sore for days and it's probably not a good idea to put a good, hard run when your legs are still trying to recover and heal.

I've been journaling since the third grade. It's pretty amazing to watch yourself grow. Sometimes the entries make me cringe and it's hard for me to remember a time or a person that thought that way. I have been online journaling since December 1998. I have always tried to be very open and frank and write for myself and not others and that includes not limiting myself or my thoughts. I would say a good majority of my entries make me think (yikes!) and I laugh about how immature I am or shake my head with disbelief with just how open I really am. But, it's been fun and I'm glad I've had the chance to document different pieces of myself.

I used to go back and report back on what I was journaling X years ago all the way back since I've been posting online. Now, I find I'm a little embarrassed with my writing and so maybe I'll just pick one or two to share. They may be for me but even I don't want to bore myself!

Four years ago, December 11, 2003 I was freshly in a new job out, out of college and thinking about a little bit of everything.