Runnin' Scared

I think I feel confident enough at this point to describe my quest to slap a "26.2" sticker on the Intrepid's ass. I was more than apprehensive at first, but was nonetheless going to do my best... and they say that you never know until you try.

So the Columbus Marathon is about seven weeks out. I've been officially "training" for five and I got my long run for the week out of the way this morning which leaves me with four really long ones to go.

At the end of the run, my front porch was a mess of empty bottles, twisted Gu packs, sunglasses, a nasty hat and an absolutely drenched shirt. I had a 16-mile run the week before and decided that I'd do it in one loop. By mile 8 I was out of fluids and begging for hose water from the security guards at the Ohio State Supreme Court building... and that didn't last long. So I planned ahead for this week's 18-miler. I'd run two 9-mile loops so I could pick up a fresh bottle and choke down some Gu. It worked out much better. Other than nearly getting smooshed by a trucker as I tried to cross 33, I did all right.

So I've made it to my rest week in one piece. But now the real work begins. And what's crazy is, as hard as this marathon is going to be for me, I was reading about a woman that completed a triple Iron Man. Here I thought the regular Iron Man was the pinnacle of human endurance. No, someone had to go and triple it... 7.2 miles in the water, 336 on a bike and then a 78.6-mile run. WHAT!?! Seriously? I would have to use a boat and even then, I might not finish until Christmas. Makes me feel stupid for having such a rough go of it.