This past week was my first official week of training for the Madcity Marathon, which is May 25th. My training program is 18 weeks long and is a modified version of the Novice Training I followed for Grandma’s Marathon. I wasn’t ready to jump up to the Intermediate Training just yet; that would have called for me to run 10 miles today. I was pretty worn out by four.

I am catching the marathon bug all over again. I never considered willpower and discipline to be my strengths, but having a long-term training schedule with clearly defined daily tasks turns out to be very motivating. Last year, I trained completely alone. Longing for company, I asked Diene to come along on almost every run. Once, during week 16, when my runs were tapering, we ran 3 miles together. It was the only training run I did with anyone else in Madison.

This year, I have an amazingly expanded network of athletic friends and potential running partners. That merits gratitude. I have the blog as a accountability tool, so I will display my longest run of each week in the sidebar. Not that anyone cares but me.

The endorphins that keep me coming back for more also have an inflammatory response on the goal-setting part of my brain. A few of this year’s dreams are to find a local media outlet for a regular running feature, use the marathon as a $26.2K fundraiser for Project Japale Goune, and create a cult following that will line the 26.2 miles of sidelines on May 25th.

Until I make the time to make those things happen, I will simply go out and run. For my healthy knees and legs, I am very grateful.