Long Time Gone

So after about a week of everyone bugging me to write again, I am finally back. I have woefully neglected this blog during the last month, partly because I've been crazy busy but also because I've been feeling a little uninspired lately.
As you all know, the last race I did wasn't exactly my best. It was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting meaning I had a hell of a recovery afterwards. To top it all off, a week after the race I got horribly sick with some funky stomach virus so I was down for the count for 4 days. I couldn't keep any nutrients in and I felt so weak that I was sure I wasn't going to run for months....
So that was my sob story. And now it is time to let the cat out of the bag...
On June 11 I started the Running Room's training program for the Scotiabank Marathon on October 16, 2011. The program starts slowly with a 10k long run and it has slowly been increasing each week. I am now up to 19k. I definitely learned my lesson from my last training session where I went too hard and too fast. The long runs are taking me a ridiculously long time (especially in this heat!) but this time I'm taking care of my body properly. I am running (or am supposed to be running) five times a week, and I'm doing my best to do every run. It's exhausting, especially since I'm working eight or nine hour days at the pool, so getting my run in means waking up at 6 most mornings. But I'm doing my best.
I think the trick is to take it one step at a time, one run at a time. To look at the schedule and to think about how far 42.2 km actually is, is very very daunting. But this program works, I've seen it.
I have been toying with the idea of running a marathon this fall for a while now, but seeing my dad and his friend run the Ottawa Marathon this past spring inspired me. Watching the two of them go out and run through rain, snow, ice and wind chills all winter while they suffered through bruised bones, messed up knees and hips and seeing how proud they both were of their accomplishments made me want to be a part of that marathon club. They trained and ran while their bodies were literally falling apart, they finished in just under 6 hours, which no matter how fast/slow you are running, is a damn long time.
I've been nervous about spreading the news of my goal because so much can go wrong in the remaining three months, but one of the reasons I started this blog was to try and open up more to the people around me.

So from now on, I pledge to be more faithful about updating this page, and I will do my best to include to you all in my journey to Scotiabank.