Day 2, 121 Days to St. Jude Marathon

So my body is ABSOLUTELY throbbing!! Especially my thighs/quad area!! THEY FEEL SO HEAVY!! I really do not feel like running today, am I already surrendering to this challenge?? I don't think so. I'm going to get up and try to do a 20-30 minute run at some point today. I also need to get some training routine.

My wife, Brooke, has ran a couple marathons and ran them both in the the 3:30's. So she has some material for me. Now, I am an okay athlete, Brooke is a phenomenal athlete. She was a top ranked 800 meter runner in college. Then without training to the extent that she should have, she ran a 3:32 marathon, then ran a 3:35 marathon with even less training. It was quite amazing, although she did have a solid base from 5 years of running in college. She is very mentally strong. Her next marathon will be the Boston Marathon in April for her. I think she will run the Half Marathon at the St. Jude.

Another person who I can contact is a coach/friend of mine, Eric Heins. He coached the cross country runners at Southeast and we really became good friends. His story is really inspirational in many ways. He is currently the head coach at Northern Arizona, his dream job. Another testament to the man that if you work hard enough, you truly have a chance of accomplishing your goals. A big goal that he accomplished was qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 2008. Here is a guy that was not even a state qualifier out of high school in cross country, but went on to accomplish great things in the running world. I have huge respeect for the Eric and what he has been able to accomplish. Below is an article that Heins wrote that I have found inspiration from and I pass along to people in search of inspiration. This article discusses his quest of winning a marathon, but it is truly about one's quest of reaching a goal and what it truly takes.

http://gosoutheast.cstv.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/062405aaa.html

All right, I'm gonna get back to doing something and I'll update you on how my run went today...I WILL RUN TODAY!! Plus, I think I need to make a pledge to only drink water for now on. I drink too much soda and that probably doesn't help. I guess I can just ask my wife, she's a dietitian!!