After waiting for over a year and a half from when I signed up, race weekend was finally here!  Friday night was the athletes’ meeting and packet pickup. I left later than planned and just barely made it in time for the meeting.  After the meeting, I picked up my race packet with my numbers and timing chip.  I was happy the volunteers also added our required markings to our arms as I had no clue what I was doing.   At this point with markered numbers on my arms, it started to feel real, I was really doing this.  I caught up with some of my fellow running club…

26.2 Even before I started running regularly I had it in my mind that it would be awesome to run a marathon.  I like doing things that are challenging and that most people don’t do.  Although if you had been in my head during miles 10-13 when I ran my first half marathon you would seriously be questioning me, “I thought you said the marathon was off the bucket list”, “you told me the half was a one and done!”  Now my brain is saying “obviously you were lying to me during that half because I see you are training for a marathon!”  Just before Christmas registration opened for a…

I was on a roll after our ski trip and signed up to try indoor rock climbing, another bucket list item.  I was surprised to find a few places in our state and one that is fairly close.  We chose one near my oldest and made the journey to meet up with her.  All of us being newbies, I signed us up for a group class.  They showed us how to put on our harnesses and how to find the right size shoes.  Just like bowling you can rent the shoes but unlike bowling you can use your sneakers if you choose.  We went for the full experience and rented…

As with many people as the year comes to a close I look back on the year to see what I accomplished and set goals for the upcoming year.  Since this is the first time I am doing this on my blog I feel the need to catch you up.  I have always enjoyed running and yet when I was younger never participated in any running sports, although there was one field day in sixth grade where I was selected to run for my class.  I couldn’t tell you the distance, maybe a quarter of a mile tops.  I ran my hardest, and at the end I remember it being…

As I have mentioned in other posts, I feel I am a late bloomer when it comes to taking on adventure and trying new things. An example is skiing.  The first time I finally went skiing I was in my late 20’s.  When I was younger my Dad talked about taking us but we never got around to it.  In junior high and high school there were yearly day trips but that was something my family could not afford.  In college one of my favorite professors, Dr. McGrellis was the ski club advisor. If I joined I could go for free by fundraising, a week in Vermont sounded wonderful but…