Monday, January 28, 2008

I'm Back - Heidi

I’m back and probably completely crazy to be looking forward to another Boston Marathon. I did question my sanity when feeling pleased at the news that my name was one of the ones drawn out of the hat for a Boston number at Newton-Wellesley. Those that have heard that I’m running again, quickly ask whether Martha is running too. Unfortunately, I’ll have to log many of my upcoming miles solo this year. Even more sadly for you readers, you will not have Martha’s hilarious vignettes to scroll through on your computer screen. You can imagine how great it was last year to have my own personal entertainer and I am having a hard time imagining those 10 to 20 mile runs without my buddy.

Do not fear dear reader, Martha is alive and well and continuing to pass gas (anesthesia joke) in the Newton-Wellesley Operating Room. I actually did a 10-mile run with Martha and her husband a few weekends ago. Martha was an ideal running partner last year and the highlight of my marathon experience was building our friendship.

So what am I hoping for this year? My primary goal is the same as it was for the 111th Boston Marathon, which is to complete the course and remain healthy and injury-free. A secondary goal is to see if I can improve my time. Two years ago I didn’t know what a “PR” was. Now I know it stands for personal record and like most runners who repeat race events, I’d like to see if I can run it a little faster. However, I’m a superstitious person and I hate to set myself up for a fall so I am leery of putting a definitive time goal out there in cyberspace. Suffice it to say that one of the books that I just returned to the public library was 4 Months to a 4 Hour Marathon by David Kuehls. One fact that surfaced in his book is that Oprah Winfrey ran the Chicago Marathon in four hours. I don’t think that occurred last year when people were dropping like flies in the heat! At any rate, I will let that inspire me.

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