Sneak Peek — January’s “Someday”

I did it!  My January “someday” is to conquer a physical challenge.  No, I haven’t conquered the challenge yet, but I have taken the first step.  I’ve done many races, mostly 5ks and 10ks and I’ve also completed a handful of half-marathons.  In 2001 I completed my biggest challenge to date – I walked a marathon.  It was not a pleasant event.  My feet were covered in blisters and I almost stopped at mile 22, but I continued on when a friend mistakenly called my phone number instead of my husband’s and admitted they’d conspired to all meet me at the finish line.  Obviously, I had to finish.  As I limped along with my blistered feet, an aide worker at mile 25 suggested I stop walking and check-in to the medical tent.  I kept going.  It was pretty ugly, but I finished and I’m glad I did.  It was an accomplishment I’m not sure I’ll repeat, though if I did, now I’d do it as a runner/walker.

There’s another type of running/walking challenge I’ve toyed with the last few years, but always managed to talk myself out of doing.  Not this year!  Someday is now, after all.  The challenge is the Oregon Road Runners Club’s “1200 Club” and I signed up today for the 2016 event!  It’s not really an event; it’s a year-long program to run or walk 1200 miles from January 1^st to December 31^st.  That averages out to 4 miles per day, 6 days per week.

I’ll admit I’ve been practicing to see what that kind of mileage is like and I feel confident I can do the daily mileage.  The challenge will be in doing it day-after-day, week-after-week, month-after-month, through snow and ice, sun and heat, vacations, and sickness.  Yes, it will be a challenge.

So, stay tuned.  I begin the challenge January 1^st and will be focusing on getting a good sound start that month.  I’ll report on how it goes, how I feel, the challenges, and the victories.

Challenge your body before your body challenges you.