Am I Crazy????

Well, when I set my mind on something, I seem to obsess more than necessary.. at least at first!!! There's this 1/2 marathon idea rolling around in my head, and it thrills me and scares the living crap out of me at the same time!!! The thing is, there's no reason I can't! I'm fairly healthy, I'm more and more active all the time, I've got the motivation and have researched some great training plans.. so why not? Here's my own crazy brain thinking of excuses... I don't have a training partner. I know, right? Crazy??? It doesn't matter, and I have plenty of online accountabilities with friends and strangers alike encouraging and helping me along... I don't need a partner, right? Right. I'd love to have one, seriously, but the thing is, with my crazy schedule, the chances I'd actually get to RUN with someone are slim at best. There will be times I'm running at 9pm and times at 6am, just depending on the day. So there it is... my excuses don't hold water.. again.

Now, the next step (according to said research) is to choose and sign up for a race. I want one close to home (for financial as well as sanity reasons) that is either in late summer/early fall. My friend I talked about before is from the Western Upper Peninsula, so her races are up near her, and while I'd LOVE to run one with her, I am not sure I can manage to travel an entire weekend just to race and come home. My husband isn't home much and being that her first race is in May, the kids will still be in school and I can't leave. Plus we'll have two people on maternity leave at work, so taking extra days off then would just be difficult at best!!! My first thought is the Park2Park Half Marathon in Holland. It's in September and the route takes you right by the shores of Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan!!! Talk about the perfect setting for a race!!! I'm wondering if I should do a shorter race beforehand.. some experts say to do this as part of your training, others say to focus on one goal... either way, maybe a 10k a few weeks ahead would be a good idea? I'll keep checking, most races aren't even published yet, at least not on the sites I've been checking. Plus, my chiropractor's office puts together running teams for different races and you get one of their cool wicking shirts and deals on massages and stuff during and after race day... I think. Never paid that much attention last year, but I'll be looking for the flyers this year for sure!

So I guess my point today is.. I'm going to start training... soon. I'm still going to talk to the staff at the gym about it and talk to my friend who's training... I'm sure I'll talk about this a lot, but it's a big crazy decision for me!!! Crazy... but it's feeling pretty right just about now...