Have you ever planned on doing something only to put it off until the last possible minute?
Nah, I’m sure you are totally perfect, and totally follow through with every crazy thing you set your mind to do. Right?
Oh.My.Word.
Remember how I said I was going to run/walk/jog the Tacoma City Marathon on May, 5th 2013? Sure I signed up, and Jen from Clif Bar even sent me a giant care package of clif bars so I’d have some fuel for all my training. Well guess what?
I kind of ate {most} of the Clif Bars, but kind of sort of forgot {?} about the whole training part.
Okay, so many I didn’t exactly forget about the training part. Maybe it’s been nagging at me every single day since I signed up. Maybe, just maybe with every single bite of one of those magical Clif Bars I totally felt guilty I was sitting at home on my keester eating instead of outdoors exercising.
Perhaps I woke up every morning with the intentions of exercising, but after a long day of blogging, gardening, cooking, and taking care of pets, maybe I sort of ran out of TIME TO EXERCISE.
Yes, I know, it’s the oldest excuse in the book.
Seriously it is.
So what am I going to do about it? What is my plan B?
So a few days ago I did the only thing I could think of {besides actually exercising}.
I called my friend and casually said, “Hey, you want do the Tacoma St. Patrick’s day run with me on Saturday?”
How far is it?
Well, there is a 1/2 marathon, 10K, and a 5 K.
I’ll do the 5k.
Maybe we should just do the 1/2 marathon? I mean, we’ve done half marathons before with only 2 weeks of training. How hard could it be? We just have to keep moving. Plus I still have some Panera Gift cards left from Christmas, we can go to lunch afterwards. It will be fun.
Are you on soccer mom crack again? I’m not doing no ***** half marathon this Saturday. You are out of your mind.
You’re no fun. How about the 10K then?
On the website it says NO WALKERS. I can’t even run a half mile, how am I suppose to run 6.2?
Look closer, it says there is a 13:00 pace time limit. We can do that. We can fast walk and move our arms a lot so it looks like we are running slowly. We can totally beat those stroller moms!
How much training have you done.
Umm, in the last 6 weeks? None.
You’re nuts.
Yes, but you are still talking to me, so clearly you are considering it.
Fine. Sign me up. But I’m not running.
Don’t worry, we will be fine. All we have to do is finish at a 13:00 minute per mile pace. We can totally do that.
I need caller id. {sound of the phone hanging up}.
I picked up our race packets last night. Wahoooo!
I know I’m totally crazy to think I can still pull this off, but I’m in it to win finish it, and you can’t finish if you don’t start. Right?
Peace Out,
~Mavis
A word of caution – Get medical advise before starting any sort of strenuous exercise. Know your limits.
Desi says
Woman, you are crazy! But a good kind. But hey walking is better than not starting and starting is better than sitting on the couch. Have fun and remember your rain jacket. Good Luck!
Mavis says
Thanks Desi!
Krista S. says
I’m in your boat! I am doing the Shamrock run down here in Portland and doing the 15K with my sister for some bonding time (extended uninterrupted time talking to my sister without our six children climbing all over us – sign me up). Oh and we are supposed to run too while we do this? Maybe next year we will just go have a cup of hot cocoa and chat for a couple hours while sitting!
Mavis says
Awesome! It’s nice to know I am not the only one. 🙂 Have a great race! 🙂
Cherri says
Good for you! I always say, “regardless of how far I go, it is further then I would have gone sitting in front of the TV”. Have fun!
Nancy D says
Just reading about all the things you do exhausts me! Have a great time running! Say, was that a play on words when you said you “ran” out of time preparing for a race?
Mavis says
Ha! No… I really did run out of time! There are only so many hours in a day! 🙂 I need more.
Lisa says
You still have almost two months to train for the May run. I think if you start now, you can still get in lots of training time! You.can.do.it!
Lyn says
Mavis, are you going make it to the Seattle tilth tomorrow? Have a good fast walk
Mavis says
Well, they are selling plants until 3 pm. 😉 I don’t think it will take me THAT long. Ha!
An Oregon mom says
It is always good to have a plan B. And here I thought I was doing good signing up to run in the Shamrock 5k run in my city, while being 4 months pregnant. Way to go Mavis you are a rock star and my hero!
J says
I learned 2 weeks ago that it’s possible to run a marathon on a whim with no training. In fact I think it’s preferable to all those long runs. I jumped in and ran the Phoenix marathon in place of my injured sister. I decided that morning I was going to do it. I went slow, kept a phone with me so I could call to be picked up if necessary, and took it one mile at a time. I kept expecting to feel terrible and I never did. It was the funest marathon I’ve done. No pressure or expectations. I think if you’re running recreationally, or run/walking, you don’t need to train if you’re reasonably fit, and you are. So don’t stress or feel guilty for not training. Just go enjoy the scenery, being part of something, Nd eating all the oranges, bananas, cliff bars, GU, and powerade that you can. You’ll do great! I’ll be watching (reading)!
Mavis says
I love you Jill! 🙂