In the beginning

I have finally arrived.....after months of reading so many blogs I have decided to create one of my own.  I have truly been inspired by so many other bloggers that I want to join in and be a part of the blogger world.  Kind of scary......so much like a diary.  I'm from the old school.  "Dear Diary" was always private and personal.  I actually had one that I kept for over 10 years and it had a key. I have always been fond of journaling and writing down my thoughts.  It seems to clear out the cob webs at times.   My hope for this blogging is to inspire a few others who are on the same journey as me.

I am primarily a runner but I started out as bike rider from the time I was able to coordinate a pedal stroke.  I became more of a runner several years ago as a result of some incidents and accidents on the bike.  I am still a pretty hard core bike rider but I have eased up a bit and become more of a multi sport wanna be.  Unfortunately, I hate swimming.  I have completed a few triathlons and swimming is the worst for me.  Oddly, I grew up at the beach and adore the ocean.  I am a competent swimmer, I just hate swimming and I am trying to devise mental strategies to help embrace this discipline....such as "oh you are swimming with the dolphins, hear the water roll across your swim cap and get in the zone etc" Its not working.  I've even tried applying some spiritual aspects.....I just can't seem to get into it.

All this crazy training stuff and multi sport obsessions began many years ago when I moved back home from North Carolina after several years following the completion of my master's degree.  I hated my job but fell in love with a wonderful man.  Boy did I fall hard.  So moving back home and accepting the fact that my relationship was long distance and possibly not going to survive the miles and time apart shoved me into athletic endeavors.  Seems to have kept the demons at bay.

I managed to move forward despite the upheaval of my life after moving back to Virginia and focused on biking and running.  My first real "event" was the Bike Virginia 2000 tour of the mountains of Virginia.  HA!  It was week long bike ride that covered probably 500 miles through the "rolling hills" of NC/VA.  I learned quickly that a rolling hill meant LUNG BUSTER.  Im from the beach baby.....rolling hills around here mean speed bumps.  I learned a lot about endurance on that ride....what to do what NOT to do (more of what not to do).  I was addicted after that event.  My next major event was the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon in 2001.  It was the first year it came to Virginia Beach and now its a major event every year.  Following my R and R 1/2 I took on the challenge of a full marathon.  It was the inaugural Chesapeake Bay Bridge Marathon in 2002 and what a killer it was for me.  Once again, learning hard lessons in endurance and poor training.  I will always remember the ride across the Bay Bridge Tunnel the morning of the race.  It was dark......it was early and I was scared and alone.  The bus took us the entire 26.2 miles to the start and only then did the magnitude of the distance sink in.  I thought to myself "I will never be able to run this far." with tears in my eyes.

Since that first marathon I have run 4 others, completed 4 1/2 marathons and 3 sprint level triathlons.  I have run numerous 5ks, 8ks, and 10ks.  Too many to count but since I turned 40 this year I have been placing in my age group.  Who would have thunk it??

My latest lofty goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  This blog will definitely follow my journey to that goal and a few small ones along the way.  I am in training for the Outer Banks Marathon in November, the Fleetweek 1/2 in October and the Sandman Tri in September.  I am also in the process of training a friend of mine who started her running career with the Rock and Roll 1/2 last summer.  My running buddy and I ran the Shamrock Marathon together last spring and the idea to qualify for Boston was born....oh and she is 25 years old......and I'm um......40??? What am I thinking??  Yes, I will be blogging my adventures with "running buddy."