That In-between Feeling

Running keeps me from getting phat and juiceee.

For the past six months, I have always been training for a long-ish race. In May, I ran the Soldier Field 10 mile. In August, the Rock 'n Roll Chicago Half Marathon. In September, the Fort2Base 10 Nautical Mile. In October, the Applefest Half Marathon.

Now what?

I'm already making plans for 2012. I'd like to run the Southwest Half Marathon - in 2010 that was my very first half marathon. I'd love to run the same course and see how far I've come in two years. And ... SHHHH STILL A SECRET (not really) I think I'm going to run the Chicago Marathon next year. When I started running, I never thought I would do a marathon. I continued to feel that way, especially after I slogged through my first half.

Then last October, I watched my cousin run her very first road race - the Chicago Marathon on 10.10.10. And I started feeling that urge ... that "hey this looks pretty awesome" feeling. That "hey who cares if it takes 5.5 hours, you still finished!" feeling. But I kind of dismissed it. 26.2 miles is a long way to go. At once. Running for 5 hours sounds like a long time.

But then I started following lots of other running bloggers. (See list on the right side of this blog.)

You people are inspirational.

You prove that anyone can run a marathon, all you need is the motivation and courage to do so. That's it. That's the hard part. Once you have that, you'll find the time. You'll find the energy (in goo form). You'll actually enjoy it.

I disgress. This post really isn't about the 2012 Chicago Marathon. (I'll save that for some kind of January 1 New Years Resolution type post, so just forget I'm even mentioning it now ... honestly I'm still gathering the courage for it. Yes, over a year out. This takes a lot of courage.)

The point of this post is that right now the only races I am signed up for is a 5K haunted obstacle course later this month (which I'm pretty sure I'll do in a pirate costume) and a Thanksgiving 4 miler. That's it until maybe next spring.

I feel kind of ... aimless. I could skip runs if I'm feeling lazy, and still finish those races. Maybe not as fast as I could if I didn't skip runs, but it's not like there is money on the line. I miss having that motivation. That feeling of "if you skip today's run, you'll feel it out there on the race course." You don't really need that motivation quite as much for 4 miles or shorter.

Wah wah wah, right? I should enjoy this "free" time. And realize that even 4 mile races need training, especially if I want to kick ass at it.