A challenge or rather an invitation

Life has been crazy lately and I've been a slacker at blogging the last few months.  I've pretty well kept everything else up and running, except sadly my own running pursuits. Since the end of April I have been encouraging or rather forcing, Et (my 12 yr. old for those of you who don't know) to run with me. This has been done under the guise of helping him with his Personal Fitness merit badge. Don't get me wrong, he needs to be exercising regularly, running even, but maybe not so much and maybe not with his mom. See, the thing is, I have no one to run with here in Bal'more. I've been hoping that running would grow on him, but it just isn't. Case in point: The other day as we walked the dog past the park that we run at sometimes, he said "Mom, this place has some of the best and worst memories for me." I asked him what the best was and rather than recount his answer I'll just let you decide what a 12-yr. old would like best and you can go with that. Then I asked what the worst was and he replied "running".  Ahhh! Seriously smalls - you're killin' me! Needless to say, my cunning scheme isn't going according plan.

Yesterday a friend, with whom I once trained, posted the need to sign up for a race to get her moving again. It seems she and I have both become derailed in our running endeavors. (This is the part where everything gets all wavy as I think back in time to a memory.) I think I first began to love running with her. Our running styles were so different and so helpful to the other. She was a little slower, but always consistent. She didn't like to push it so hard that we would have to stop and walk. She was and is steady. Steady is a very good word to describe her in general. I, on the other hand, like to run fast and hard. I end up walking more because of it. I am varied. In most cases this wouldn't be a big deal, but when we were running partners (6+ years ago) we were tethered together with an ipod. We had one between us and one set of headphones and we had to keep the same pace or the buds would pop right out of our ears. It was pretty slick really. (Memory complete.)  Her post got me thinking about this idea of signing up for a race. She was looking for a running partner - and chances are she'll find one among her many peeps - but I am hoping to be a homeless gypsy* this summer and will therefore only have myself and my reluctant 12-yr. old to partner with.  Enter the long-distance running partner(s) idea... Formulate a plan... Post it on the blog at on unholy hour.

I'm issuing an invitation. It is simply this: I am inviting anyone and everyone who wants to join me in a race to do so. I realize many of you reading this live 2000 miles away, so the race itself may be run apart, but we will train together. My goal is a half-marathon. The last time I ran a half was years ago. I trained for that one alone and it was tough, but I did it. I am only running 5k distances currently, so I will start my training from there. We don't have to follow the same regime, or even run the same distance (as many of you are already in top-notch shape), but I would like to keep each other apprised of our efforts and accomplishments. With a preliminary look at my timeframe, I am going to look for a race occurring sometime from mid-August to mid-September. My initial list has 5 potentials with 2 more in the latter part of September. I found this website helpful in locating potential races.

Wouldn't it be great to have a group of people spread far and near training together, encouraging one another, cheering the others on in their goals? I'd love it if you'd join me. I'd love to hear about your adventures. I'd love your motivating words. I think it would be pretty darn fantastic, but regardless of who's on board I just want you all to know, I am now officially in training.

On your mark...