Day Zero: Before

I have decided today that starting tomorrow I will begin the greatest journey of my young life. Maybe I was so over tired around lunch that it seemed like a good idea, but right now I think I am nuts. But I have decided that this is what I need to do. Starting tomorrow at lunch time I am going to begin training for my first ultra marathon, the JFK 50 miler in November 2010. I know that I will never commit to it unless I am forced to write down my progress every day, so here goes nothing. :)

You may be thinking, why the hell do you want to run 50 miles?

Well, I have always been the type of person to push myself to my limits and then push past. I really love going beyond whatever limit is set out there for me. Whenever something seems impossible, I want it. I must achieve it. So why do I want to run 50 miles, well, because I want to know that I can. I know, through both experience and careful detective-like study, that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. If I decide that I am going to run 50 miles, I'll do it. And it's gonna be an amazing journey.

A lot of ultra-marathoners say that when they first heard of ultra marathons, they thought that it was the most insane, ridiculous thing they had heard of. Then they became curious and decided to give it a go and they were hooked. Well it is similar with me. Except I never thought it was crazy. I thought it was logical. Some of the best ultra marathoners are average people. They have families and jobs and lead lives that you'd barely know what they do at 5 am, 2 pm, and 7 pm every day. Ultra marathoning just seems like a normal progression to me, since I am relatively a normal person. Let me be clear. I am not a very good runner. I am slow and have an awkward gait. I have no sense of balance so when I run I waiver from side to side. But I have something most causal runners don't have. I am in love with running. Running is the greatest thing about my life. When I am sad, happy, lost, found, hurt, and comforted, I want to run. It frees my mind and makes me feel whole. I can experience every emotion and handle it through running. It is life for me.

Anyway this blog is for me to have to be accountable for my training and to have to stick to the plan. If you're reading, please enjoy. Any and all encouragement welcome.