Well... it happened. Some of it. I raised a ton of money for the Epilepsy Therapy Project (now merged with the Epilepsy Foundation of America). I did not get sleek and slim. I had some athletic mishaps and personal setbacks that made the training difficult and frustrated the hell out of me. But I did finish. And it was epic. And I felt like a "person who completed a marathon" not a MARATHONER.
Normally I hem and haw and over think before making big decisions. Especially decisions that will affect how I spend 5-20 hours a week for the next 6 months. Then there are times when I see a facebook post pop up that says "Fall in. MCM Lottery concludes today at noon eastern!" I read this at 11:12 am. I texted Kari who said "go for it, but I'm not in... I'm still deciding if I'm doing a marathon this year."
So I clicked to the Marine Corps Marathon website, created a profile, thought for 30 more seconds and with 42 minutes left in the lottery, I gave them my credit card info and clicked ENTER. Judging from the number of people complaining they didn't get in last year, I figured about 2 - 3x more people entered than were slots available. I have no idea the actual odds, because I woke up 2 days later to this:
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| Oh. Crap. |
So I texted Kari roughly the same message, with more profanity. Forward Mike the email with the message "did you know your girlfriend is an idiot?" Oh yeah... I didn't tell him I was entering the lottery. His response: "Well, looks like we're going to DC this year." He later agreed that I'm an idiot (in the most loving way possible).
Mike brought up some good points: would I have fun running if I didn't have anyone to experience it with? Didn't I want to do another marathon in a different city? Well, here's the thing - what's done is done, in more than one way. I entered and won the lottery - the first and only lottery I've ever won. Also, there is something to be said for doing a race a second time. You have an idea of how it works, where to go, where the bathrooms are, how long you walk from the staging area to the start line, what 25,000 runners feels like, etc. By not being overwhelmed by all the new stuff as a first time marathoner and my first time at the MCM, I will have a different (and hopefully more successful) race.
So there it is - 2 weeks before my 35th birthday and I got my present. A credit card receipt for over $100 for a race I'm not so sure about. And a summer filled with running. So the question is - who's up for the long runs? Cause I can't do it alone.
