40 at 40
February 12, 2018
40 miles in 24 hours to celebrate a 40th birthday. Why? Why not!!
Running is one of the most consistent things in my life. I started in middle school to lose weight. In high school I was too far behind the ball (pun intended) to try out for the team sports but I wanted to be involved, so I joined track. I am so glad I did.
With the exception of during my pregnancies, running has been a big part of my life. It’s something I can do no matter when or where. I enjoy it, most of the time. When I run for the wrong reasons (i.e. losing weight), it can be a struggle. When I run to feel good and to challenge myself, even the suckiest zero dark thirty runs end on a high note. As long as I am out there improving my mind and body, it is worth it.
Why run 40? I have wanted to run an ultra for a while, and I see this as a baby step in determining if I am ready for that kind of race. I also want the challenge and what better way to say to the world that after 40 years, there is still a whole lot of living to do!
Why blog about it? There are really two reasons. One is the motivation/accountability aspect of it. With a public log, it is harder to let it fall by the wayside;-) . The second is to share. I want to Get Out There And Go (hence the semi-cheesy website name)! I know that there are others like me who are either doing something like this, or want to, and I would want to share my ups, downs and sideways with them so as to help them on their journey or perhaps spare them any of the mistakes I make.
Right now, my plan is pretty ambitious. I want to do the run as close to my birthday as possible (in May). That gives me three and half months. I will listen to my body and if that means pushing it out, so be it. I plan to split the run over two days. I would do 20 miles starting at 6pm, eat sleep, run 10 the next morning and the final 10 in the afternoon.
I’ll be blogging about my progress at least once a week with the next blog having more in way of training. Till then…time to GOTAG!