Launching Into 2015 - Who's With Me?

Okay, it is time to talk about the future. It may be clear by now that I am a “goal setter” and tend to guide my everyday life in pursuit of my goals, they may be months down the road, or just a task I need to complete by the end of the day, no matter what, I set a goal, and set out to achieve it. Usually I endure some kind of adventure along the way toward that goal which makes for an entertaining story, so really it is the journey along the way that keeps me coming back for more.

This brings me to today… About a year ago, (I realize that felt like a time/space continuum), I was ripping through marathons every few months along my 35 by 35 journey, and I started to ponder what my next goal would be? I will deliver three high fives to anyone guess what my first idea was??? Actually, I have shared this idea with one person, so now here it is unveiled to all of you… I want to qualify for the 2016 Olympic marathon trials. In case you were wondering what this Herculean task entails, I will need to run a marathon under 2:43 hours before the trials take place on February 13^th, 2016, (Hannah’s birthday) in Los Angeles. Obviously this is a lofty goal, but will my life go on if I don’t qualify? Yes. Would it be a miracle if I could lop off 37 minutes from my current marathon personal record in order to qualify? Yes. Does that mean I won’t try? No. What are we here for if not to go for it, and enjoy the process along the way? I’m an American for goodness sake! 

However, I do fancy myself a bit of  a running "expert", and as such I know that I do not have the body type and/or fleet-footedness to go under 2:43hrs. Maybe if I never grew those four inches in-between Freshmen and Sophomore year in high school and was not a schosch below 6',I would be in a better spot, but I am a large lady, so a 3:00 hour marathon may be possible someday, but sub 2:50 is a little ridiclulous. That said, I am a creative person, so I came up with a different Olympic Qualifying inspired plan that is sending me back to two of my favorite marathons in early 2015, the LA marathon in March, and the Boston marathon in April.

I have already launched into an 18 week “Advanced” = (75 - 100 miles per week) marathon training plan for the LA marathon, whereas Boston is only 5 weeks after LA, so the name of the game for that training plan is enough rest and recovery after LA to be ready to rock again in Boston. 

I am so excited to race the Boston course again, ten years after my first go-around in 2005, I was not in proper shape back then, so this time around I plan to give the course the respect it deserves and be in best shape possible come race day. 

Here comes the juice, my goal is to race LA around 3:15 hours, and Boston 3:11 hours, exactly one hour faster than my time as a 25 year old; clever, huh? Will I cry tears of disappointment if I don’t make those times? No. Will I push myself every single day to accomplish the training, nutrition, rest, and assessment required to reach my goals? Yes. Will I respect my body, and love every moment that she allows me to keep going? Yes. Will I hug Hannah before leaving for every work out, no matter what time it is? Yes. Will I have an amazing husband and training partner with me along the way? Yes. Will I write it all down, and share the journey with all of you? You betcha!

On another note, I have plans cooking for the back half of 2015 which include LOTS of swimming, biking, and running… Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

A Shout Out To The Love of My Life

Hi All,

The past couple of weeks have been both gratifying and paralyzing. I finished all of my posts for 35 by 35, printed out all 122 whopping pages, and started to put it all together in narrative book form which is wonderful, and terrifying. Imagine a large Hippopotamus sitting on your chest and you will start to realize what I am feeling. I am very proud of sharing these amazing marathons with all of you, but the next step is the tough part, making it all make sense and flow like a story everyone and their mother wants to read. It is a good thing that I have a magnificent human being named Marion Spates as my partner in life, and ever present positive life force as my motivator and supporter. We are celebrating our eighth wedding anniversary tomorrow, so I figured today would be a great time to say out loud what I say about him to myself every day.

WARNING: If you have a low-threshold for lovey-dovey stuff, then you may not want to keep reading, because I am about to go all "Nicolas Sparks" on all of you.

When I first saw Marion on April 26^th, 2004 walking down the hallway of the offices of Digital Dimension wearing  baggy orange pants, a beanie, and Camper shoes I knew my life was about to change. Not only was this my first day of work at an actual 9-6ish job, finally breaking free of freelance work, I felt an instant connection to him. Cut to, later that day, and for the next few weeks, Marion constantly helped me with the company’s editing system, and helped me learn the lingo of Visual Effects, not a subject I was all that familiar with, but needed to be in order to keep my job.

I learned quickly that Marion was divorced and had a five year old daughter, named Hannah. He gushed about Hannah constantly, and would leave work early every other day in order to pick her up from Daycare because he had joint custody. He was the favorite at work, because he was funny, gregarious, and kind, but I felt like there was something much deeper underneath his overt enthusiasm and zest for life. Soon I found myself racing to work early so we could talk by ourselves in the kitchen before everyone else arrived, and I had him all to myself. Mind you, Marion was not my type at all. He had earrings, tattoos, a ridiculous haircut, plus he was ten years older than me, divorced, and a father, gulp, but his kindness trumped all of that, and soon we were on our first date, kissing underneath the stars at the Hollywood Bowl.

My experience with relationships was nearly non-existent, while he was like a Champion race horse, so I figured we balanced each other out? Not really, we had many bumps in the road that may have been avoided if I knew what I was doing, instead I am proud that every conflict has strengthened us, and renewed our commitment because of our mutual respect for one another. Also, I never in a million years thought I would be loved by being exactly who I am. I know our mom’s tell us that Prince Charming will love us with all of our faults and foibles, but I thought I would eventually have to change to get a guy’s attention, but Marion loves me in baggy pants, a bun, and no make-up; however, my hair down is HUGE bonus. He rubs my gnarled running feet every night, he may not like it, but he does it. He also believes in me. He has been rooting me on as a writer long before I was, and just as much in me as a runner and triathlete, and if any of you know how Marion cheers, he gets you going.

I can’t believe we have been together for over ten years, I am pretty sure we beat the House on that bet, but the years have flown by, and I feel like we are just getting going. I am thankful to be married to my best friend who is always up for an adventure, and is pretty darn good-looking. Plus, he is an incredible human being that I believe in, trust, and am thankful for every day. Do I think he should have a grown up hair-cut and not a Mohawk at nearly forty five? Yes, but I know who I married, and love every bit of him; tattoos, earrings, and all.

Happy Anniversary, Marion