The Quest for #1.

I hate running.


There, I said it. I feel so much better now.


Okay, so maybe hate is a little too strong a word...but I really, really, seriously don't like running. It stems from a couple of factors: first, I strongly dislike sweating; and second, I don't enjoy participating in activities that I have previously determined I'm not much good at. Running fits into both of those categories for me.


Then why, you may ask, is my first, and most likely my most challenging, 30 Before 30 list item "run a full marathon"? Because I LOVE the feeling I get after I'm done running. Runner's high, endorphins, that awesome "I'm sore but not so sore that I can't walk but sore enough to remember the next morning when I wake up that I chose to run instead of watching Man vs. Food reruns on the couch last night" feeling. Whatever it is, it's like athletic meth (or at least what I know about meth from watching Intervention). And when there's a medal involved, it's even better.


I first discovered my dislike of running in 8th grade gym class, when we had to run 1 timed mile around the George Washington Middle School (what up, Ridgewood, NJ!) track for the Presidential Fitness Competition Torture Thingy...do you guys remember this noise? I'm not totally sure we ever established which president cooked up this hellish little pre-teen ritual, but it was a weird display of brutal, unadulterated non-athleticism. Except for that random kid who smelled like beef jerky, liked Magic: The Gathering, and, as it turned out, could run a 6 minute mile like it was an afternoon stroll. He lived for that day.


Fast forward to high school varsity field hockey at Rocky Hill (what up, Rhody!), where running was slightly more fun because the president wasn't making you do it and you were usually chasing after a ball and trying to win. Except for practices. No winning involved, just lots of running. Too much running. Drills. Yelling. More drills. It was like the movie Miracle with less ice and Kurt Russell and more kilts and teen girl angst.


Then, in late 2005, I saw an ad on the Metro in D.C for the AIDS Half Marathon Training Program. My friend Nick and I were feeling ambitious and decided to check it out. The premise seemed simple enough: we raise $2,700 for the Whitman-Walker Clinic and participate in weekend group runs, and they pay for our registration to the Miami Beach Half Marathon, flight and hotel. It was obviously a big challenge, but one we were up for. We had 6 months.


So Nick and I completed our first half marathon in Miami on January 29, 2006. Crossing the finish line was, without any doubt, the proudest moment of my life. Seeing my parents at the end, after many miles and months before then doubting I could actually get there, was a moment I'll never, ever forget.


The training had been tough, and long. The first mile on the first week of our group run was certainly the hardest, but with lots of after-work runs at the gym and early Saturday morning group runs around the National Mall, plus lots and lots of fundraising, we did it. 


And then a few years later, we did another one -- a St. Patrick's themed half marathon in March 2010 in Virginia Beach. We trained separately, I in D.C. and Nick up in Boston, but we kept each other motivated during race day when ankle tendinitis (me) and shin splints (him) started to suck the fun out of the experience. And when we finished, we got to take our shoes off on the beach, grab a free Yuengling (the race sponsors) from the finishers tent and dip our toes into the Atlantic Ocean. Not a bad way to finish up 13.1 miles. 


As I write this, I get more and more excited imagining the feeling of crossing the Marine Corps Marathon finish line after 26.2 miles in D.C. on October 28th, 2012. So that's what's going to keep me going, along with the milestones -- both big and small -- along the way.


While I'm confident I (and hopefully Nick, if I can convince him to join me again!) can do it, I also am cognizant of the fact that 26.2 miles is definitely a lot more than anything I'm used to running. So I've got resources: books...back issues of Runner's World...tips from friends (shout outs to Bridget, Colleen and Marisa) who've run many marathons before...


...and a gym that has treadmills with TVs on them. So I never have to choose between Man vs. Food reruns and the gym.

March 2010. Yep, ran the entire race
in that wee leprechaun hat.