Oh the Joys...?

Reedy Fork - 7.4 out and back

So today, I went out to Reedy Fork ready to have a blast, thinking that as the trees sped by I would be composing in my head an Ode to the wonders of trail running. Then, about 1.5 miles in, I started to think, "wait, this isn't that fun," which changed about a mile later to, "why am I tired today?" and concluded at the 3.7 end point with, "Ok, hold the phone, where is my euphoria?"

A bit of background info: I decided last week to sign up for the Payback Mountain Marathon. If this sounds like a behemoth, that's because it is. Its a marathon. On a mountain. A Big Mountain.

And it's my first marathon.

The days following my online signature centered around marathon research. Glycogen stores, water intake, something about a wall. I also attempted to piece together some sort of training program that would up my mileage to the needed 26.6 mark. My longest run to date had been 17 miles, and the marathon was only a little more than a month away.

So today, on my run, these thoughts started to swirl about on the way back to the trail head. I was tired, duh, because I had travelled all the previous day and had scarfed down a hurried dinner of Honey Nut Cheerios at 12:30 am before crashing into bed for a fitful 7 hours of sleep. My legs also felt bogged down because my run, usually a go-as-you-please rollick in the woods, was now part of a "training regimen," necessary to accomplish my "goal" of running a "MOUNTAIN MARATHON."

My legs were not enthused. I was not having fun.

In the last 2 miles, though, I said to myself, "Hey, you didn't sign in blood. There will be other marathons. You may take a hit on the entry fee, but if you do it, you will get yourself into serious trouble. Relax! This is meant to be fun!"

And all of a sudden, it was again. The training schedule evaporated, my muscles loosened up, and I coasted back to the trailhead feeling infinitely lighter.

So while 2010 will be the year of the marathon, February will not be the month.