Never Say Never Again?

One time I ran a full marathon. It was great. I was 7 minutes off of qualifying for Boston. I was 27 with one three year old child, 1,000 square feet of living space with not much yard and a high school teacher husband.

Since then, I am more of a half-marathoner. Half-marathons are still enough distance that I feel like I'm really accomplishing something, and enough that I can have an ice cream sundae every night and still fit in my jeans. I never have to spend more than 2 hours on a weekend day running, and I can easily fit a couple of 45 minute runs into my weekday (now that I have a treadmill - thanks Jeff! And his IPad to keep me from going insane on the treadmill - thanks SU!) My running partner and I have tossed the idea out there. And then we laugh and say "Oh someday." But I've just not been overly tempted.

Until today.

Today, I found out that Syracuse will once again host a marathon. 10/16/2011 will be the inaugural date of the Empire State Marathon. It will be held on the route that Sharon and I run every weekend.

Now this is a whole new ballgame. Running a race that requires you to spend money on travel is one thing. One where you can sleep in your own bed the night before, and drive over to where you drive every weekend - hmmmmm.

I floated the idea past Sharon. Sharon is tempted too. She said we should talk about it this weekend. If I know Sharon, she will come with a complete itinerary of the next year of her life and a list of pros and cons and a game plan for exactly how she will accomplish the task. So the least I can do is come up with some prep work of my own.

Why I Do Not Want to Run A Marathon:

-Running a marathon is a part time job. I now have another child, a dog, twice as much living and yard space, a student career and a volunteer refugee worker gig, and a husband who is a professor (which takes up a lot more time than his other job and now he does stuff like travel). I am too far away for grandparents to come take my child(ren) for a weekend, which is really helpful when you have a 4 hour run to do. The biggest drawback for me is that kid who was 3 when I ran the Flying Pig is now 12 and has lots of activities of her own. It's her show now, and my job is cheerleader and chauffeur. 4 hour runs on Saturday mornings puts a serious cramp on the family schedule. This is the most serious drawback for me: it is not fair to ask my junior higher to take a back seat to her mother's recreational pursuits. If this starts to happen, I will have to abandon training.
-I do not have the motivation of yesteryear. I now depend on things like Ipods and running partners to get through long runs. I can't believe I used to run around Cincinnati by myself at 5 am, alone with no music. That warrior is now but a memory. My running partner is a professor trying to get tenure. Add to that her mama of two children ages 1 and 4 job. If she's not in, I'm not in. Don't tell her that - I absolutely don't want to pressure her!
-Humble pie is not a dish I enjoy. Being competitive with myself about race times, it will bug me to no end that I won't be able to do another marathon in less than 3:47. Ridiculous, yes. But it's better to put all the cards on the table.
-I will be in the middle of an internship, my last semester as a student. Things could be a little intense.
-I know what legs feel like the day after running 20 miles. I know how much energy gets sucked out of a person. Running shoes must be bought frequently. I remember running 21 miles in constant, pouring rain at 33 degrees. Almost freezing. I remember standing in a hot shower almost in tears because I was so cold. There's lots of not fun memories about marathon training.
-The dumbest reason of all: I read this article about studies done on the hearts of marathoners and the tests revealed that post-race the marathoner's hearts looked like the hearts of cardiac arrest victims. Of course, like the next day the marathoner's hearts looked great again, but still. You've heard of people dropping dead from heart attacks during marathons.

Why I Want to Run a Marathon:

-It's on my home turf. It's calling my name. Loudly.
-Yes, I will have an internship. But after that, I could have a new career. Which will probably be infinitely more stressful. My kids will only get older and MORE involved in things, and I don't look for Jeff's schedule to let up anytime soon either. This may actually be my best chance for a long while, a now or never kind of thing.
-I have a running partner. Which translates to more time hanging out with a friend. I've gotten to know Sharon really well through running. It's nice to accomplish something with a friend. Even if I don't run like a superstar, I have a lot of fun and I've made a good friend.
-And if I were judging anyone but myself, I would say that running a marathon is an accomplishment in itself. Running a marathon is something that can never be taken away from me, something that has made me proud of myself. Who cares if I'm slower? My life is full of things I would not want to give up, and marathon training will just have to fit around those things.
-There are some really fun and amazing things about running a marathon. The Flying Pig was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had. Plus, (I know not all runners are like this so don't get mad at me) I get this huge perk of basically being able to eat anything I want to and stay in my jeans size.
-This is more of a rebuttal of a reason on the minus side. Last time I checked, my pulse was 45 and my bp 90/68. I'm guessing there are a lot of other things I am more in danger of perishing from other than a heart attack, such as skin cancer because I forget to wear sunscreen and then go run for a few hours. Or maybe Ebola or Anthrax. Have I ever told you about my irrational fear of epidemics and being buried in a mass grave?

In 2011 it will be 10 years since I ran my last, well I guess first, marathon.

Hmmmmm.