Motivations

Another Saturday has come and gone which means so has another long run. We did 8 miles which was great because the week before we did 10 and you know what...8 wasn't bad at all. Okay, that's a little exaggeration...but I literally thought I was gonna die after the 10 miler and spent the entire day laying on my couch. After Saturday's 8 miler I was,to quote my mom,"alive, awake and enthusiastic"...of course running had nothing to do with my great mood- it was Irish Fest in Long Beach! For those of you who don't know Irish Fest, it celebrates the half way point to St. Patrick's Day...of course there is no "half" about the celebration part. So after my run, and attempted ice bath, it was off to Long Beach...to ahhhh...fill up on liquid carbs!

This morning there was an article on MSN about the dangers of novice runners and marathons. So of course being (insert very sarcastic tone) the dedicated marathoner in training I am, I checked it out. It made some good points but the reason I bring it up is they also included a poll:

"What would it take to motivate you to cross the finish line?" The choices were:

1. The sense of accomplishment from achieving a big personal goal.(79%)
2. Vanity, plain and simple: the vision of me with super-toned legs.(5.9%)
3. It would have to be for a really good cause.(3.5%)
4. $1 million, at least.(11%)

Well, I had to vote in order to get the results and when I read the choices I honestly didn't know what to choose. I mean, I'm doing it for all those reasons. Seriously, how many people can say they've completed a marathon. (Plus, I hear the after party is ridiculous). Second place was $1 million dollars. Well, okay maybe I'm not actually getting the money, but TNT is responsible for raising more then $700 million since it started in 1988!!! That's an average of $35 million a year that all go to finding a cure. Number three on the list...super toned legs. Obviously, that's would be awesome, but I think my "its okay I can eat (insert name of every unhealthy food you can think of), I'll just run it off" is kinda getting in the way of my supermodel legs. And the last option about it being for a good cause- I think helping find a cure for cancer and improving the lives of patients and their families could be considered good causes!

Training this week has been good. I had two four mile days and today is five. Then on Saturday I'm running 13 miles! Ahhhh thats a half marathon! Sweet Life.