A few thoughts about running

1.  On Wednesday, within about 5 minutes, two different friends sent me the Buzzfeed article, "21 Secrets Runners Won't Tell You."  I thought it was funny in itself that two separate friends from different parts of life thought of me and sent it to me, but also some of the items are very true!  One of the majorly talked about items on this list is nipple chafing -- which -- I think is a bigger issue for guys than for girls, however, it made me laugh thinking back to the Paris Marathon and the advice that the marathon booklet gave us.  "Prepare bandages for your tits if needed."  Gotta love the French!

2.  I still have mixed feelings about being called a "runner."  Many days I am very proud of it.  Many days I feel like a fraud.  And many days it just feels pretentious.  I ran into a coworker the other day who asked if I had been running a lot and proceeded to tell me a little story from his "10 mile run yesterday evening..." WHICH, is fine, and this guy is an intense athlete.  But, a midweek 10-mile run?? And you're just saying it like it's a casual thing??  10 miles midweek was the PEAK of my marathon training and I am pretty sure I talked about it and obsessed about it to anyone within walking distance of me.  I am pretty sure I crankily bitched out a coworker because I hadn't eaten enough afterwards and then had to sneak away from work and sit down for a bit on the floor in the back closet at a trade show in Barcelona.  Runners are so pretentious...

3.  That being said, have you ever heard this joke?

"How do you know when someone runs a marathon?"
"Oh they will tell you..."

4.  I am about to start marathon training again and I am a bit nervous about it.  How did I do it last time around?  Jess is trying a new training plan from what we did before and I am sticking with what worked the first time around.  However, I don't know what my goal should be for this next race.  I honestly don't know if I can beat my last time of 4:37.  Before my goal was to finish, and I did.  With a great time!  So what should I aim for this time around?  The course is going to be different and hillier.  There will be less people and less adrenaline.  I'm scared, guys.

5.  Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my friend Kelly passing away.  What was so horrible and ironic about Kelly getting sick when she did was that she was working so hard at getting healthy.  Doing Weight Watchers, losing weight, getting active again.  She wanted to run so badly and one of the last things she said to me was to run every day for her.  If you can, get out tomorrow and run, or walk, or bike, or do something active in memory of my friend Kelly.

Be thankful for everything you have and have a great weekend everyone!