First Marathon- CIM

It’s official; I’m registered for the California International Marathon on December 5, 2010.  It’ll be my very first marathon ever!  The farthest I’ve ever run is fifteen miles, and that was over a year ago when I was training for my first Half.  I’ve even set a time goal for my first marathon; 3:40, which would qualify me for Boston on my first time out, which could be the biggest joke you’ve ever seen.  Then again, maybe it’s reasonable; my last Half-Marathon time was 1:42:30.  Double the time and add ten minutes for cushion puts me into the BQ range for my age group.

I’ve resisted marathons because the simple reality of the time it takes to train is hard to fit into (my) family life.  Half-marathon distances seem to work really well for my training schedule and overall life balance.  I run 3-4 times a week during a typical week; a few hills or tempo runs during the week and a trail run on Saturday.  Marathons?  I might have just pushed things over the edge.

And yet, that’s literally what I set out to do.  I’ve been wrestling with some huge life/family/balance issues for many months, and recently came back to a truth that’s been running rampant through my brain in a dervishly chaotic dance: I keep getting what I’ve got because I keep doing the same things.  I’ve gotten complacent in my training because I reached a goal and then didn’t push any further.  I don’t have a job that I’m passionate about because I haven’t put myself out there and made it happen.  I don’t travel like I want to because I haven’t gotten creative and figured out how to make it happen on a budget.  I’m in the rut that I’m in because I haven’t climbed out of my hole.  So.  I’m trying to shake things up in my personal life and am setting goals for myself that have nothing to do with athletics, but in a weird, wrap-your-brain-around-this-one sort of way, this goal feels the most attainable.  And in a completely metaphysical sort of way I hope that by embarking on this goal, I’ll re-wire my brain into seeing the possibilities of life, rather than self-imposed limitations.

There’s always a person who suggests that you have so much more potential than you’re living.  At this point in my life, that person is a friend that I met my first year in college, almost 20 years ago.  Gwen’s a few years older than me, though we were both in the Technical Theatre program at the University of Northern Colorado.  I aspired to be the amazing Stage Manager that she was, and she took me under her wing.  She taught me everything I knew about organization, Stage Management and project management, as well as how to relax afterwards.  She showed me how to keep it real while still commanding the best out of the entire crew.  Now, she lives in Ashland and is a Stage Manager at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  She turned into a fantastic athlete after college and is training for her umpteenth Ironman in Arizona this year.  Gwen taught me how to make the meanest margarita this side of Texas, stood up as a bridesmaid at my wedding thirteen years ago, and now she’s creating a training plan to get me qualified for Boston in four months’ time.

I stopped doing theatre thirteen years ago, when I got married.  I was a Stagehand working for the local Union, and my finance was an Assistant Stage Manager at a neighboring theatre.  We looked at the trajectory of our lives and realized that we didn’t want to raise a family with the lifestyle of show calls, tech weeks and grunt work.  We wanted financial stability and planned vacations during holidays.  So we jumped ship and moved to the mountains to start an Internet Service Provider with my former Technical Director from college.  We were self-taught computer people.  I learned HTML and became a web designer.  Bill became the frontman of the business, going out and hooking people’s computer up to the Internet.  A few years later our daughter was born, and I stopped working.  Bill took a new job with a company in town, and a few years after that our son was born.

Around this time we looked around and took stock of our situation.  We were living in a ski resort town on one income.  Education choices were limited for our kids, and employment opportunities were sparse.  We decided to move back to the Front Range of Colorado to be closer to the opportunities a larger urban setting has to offer, as well as to be closer to my family.

I went back to school and started working toward a Masters of Applied Science in Environmental Policy and Management.  Bill worked at a few places before finally taking the leap and buying his own computer business.  We shopped around, chose a preschool for our daughter, and started trying to rebuild our lives.

Once our son started preschool we realized he had sensory integration issues, and I immersed myself in learning everything I could about child development, sensory integration and core muscle strength in young children.  He had severe allergies and certain foods made it worse.  Instead of looking for a job, I focused on my children.

Fast forward to the present.  Our daughter is entering 5^th grade, our son is entering 2^nd grade, and I’m done with my Master’s.  My baby birds have been pushed out of the nest and are starting to be more self-sufficient.  I want a job that utilizes my research, writing and social media skills, and be with a company or organization that is Environmentally Policy or Sustainability-based.  I love working with people but I’m not a sales person.  I don’t know much about marketing or advertising, but I know a lot about how to organize projects and people, and how to meet a deadline.  I’m creative, focused, detail oriented, passionate about healthy and sustainable living, and I love a challenge.

I’ve done a lot of living and seen a lot of things.  I’ve done a lot of soul searching and know that I’ve reached a turning point in my life.  It’s time for me to take a leap of faith and see what else there is in store for me.  I haven’t worked outside the home in years, and I’m chomping at the bit to see what I’m made of.  I haven’t run a Marathon, and I’m ready to start training.  I did some traveling this summer, and I’m hooked.  I’m more capable, competent and ready than I thought I was.  Bring it on, life.  I’m ready for the next adventure!