Tuesday, January 8, 2008

I've been bitten...

...by the marathoning bug. Or, some might say, by the crazy bug. Last week at this time, I was cursing my existence on this earth, and I felt like running the marathon was harder that birthing all four of my kids at the same time. But later that afternoon I signed up to run another half-marathon (Surfside Beach on February 9th) and today I registered for Nashville's Country Music Marathon on April 26th. Yes, it's my 11th anniversary, and I'm traveling 800 miles without my husband to run another 26.2. What does that say about me? I'd probably rather not know.

Since I didn't post pictures last week, here are just a few of the race.

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6 comments:

chloe said...

That looks like a beautiful race!!!

Lucy said...

It does look like a beautiful race. You look like a runner so I'm glad the bug has bit you. I hear it does sometimes. Thankfully, for me, my husband's two marathons seemed to fulfill his need to completely torture his body that way:)

I'm so impressed. Really.

Anonymous said...

Food for thought-
since you are a stay at home mom who seems to be pretty driven, do you think you've pushed your energy that you would be putting in to an outside career into running? Thus making it your "career"?

(Not judging! Women should be able to choose what they want to focus their energies on, and it sounds like you are doing an exceptional job.)

Shelah said...

Hey anonymous--

Were you reading my blog back in the day when I was trying to get pregnant with Maren? If not, you missed a singleness of mind that I don't think even my running has matched :P. I just tend to be a very, very goal-oriented person. My dh and I made the choice for me to be a sahm when I had my first child, and even though I really feel like it was the right choice for our family (and for me, personally), it was a wrenching transition to go from someone with a career and in grad school (I handed in my last seminar paper for my MA on the way to the hospital to have Bryce) to staying home with a baby. Even now, I try to do all of the "good mom" things like reading to and playing with my kids, and my kids are my passion, but they don't absorb all of the restless nervous energy that I have. I wouldn't want them to. So I pour it into various other things. For a while I taught part-time at the college level. For a while I decorated my houses. For a while I tried to get pregnant. Now I run. It really only takes about 8 hours a week most weeks, so it's less time than a job, but it makes me feel like there's something in my life beyond the drudgery of dirty diapers, dishes, and refereeing.

Anonymous said...

I understand. I started reading your blog because we both visited the January baby boards. I have a little girl who is a few weeks younger than yours. I share your obsessive tendencies. Trying to get pregnant was like a full time job for me as well. :) My current obsessions are reading vampire books (thank you for getting me on that kick) and baking cakes. I wish I was enthusiastic about running! Baking and reading are pretty sedentary. :)

I know this is a different posting, but I too am probably on my last child (we have 3) so I'm feeling the same mixed feelings about weaning. I don't have a trip until March, though so that's when I'll be cutting her off.

Gabriela said...

wow. I'm totally impressed.

I'm singing up for a half in June. I've got to do something to get myself motivated!!!