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Hello, this is the first time I've ever posted to a board of any kind so if I'm awkward or long winded with all this please forgive me. I guess I should give a short account of myself and how I got here? An introduction of sorts. So this is it. Today is an anniversary for me, on this Sunday (7/26/03) of last year I quit smoking and started on what has been a most interesting trip. A week later I began training at a gym and yes running that following Sunday. I thought it was just a way of filling in the days between gym, but no it became an obsession. I ran a 5K. 4 weeks after my first jog wanting just to finish standing, I ran a respectable 24 min race. Not bad for my first? 3, 4, 5 races later and I was hooked. I ran through the winter in snow, ice and mud. I fell headlong during a trail run once leaving a good amount of flesh on the path. Chased and unfortunately was caught by a big dog who left a nasty V shaped scare on my back and once I arrived at work with this red mark on my face having run into a tree branch on a very cold morning and lacerating my face from cheek to ear. It was so dam cold that I never noticed even after my shower and the commute to work. Once I ran into a big boulder that some idiot used to mark his driveway and even got run off the road and into another tree by some blind driver in a big SUV. Later a co-worker gave me a little light that blinks on and off that I now wear on my shorts for those pre dawn runs, should have gotten one in the beginning? Then one day, actually late one night I decided that fate had me in its jaws, I was going to run in the NYC marathon and finish it in a flourish, my arms held high and all these folks cheering me on. I secretly put my name into the draw, telling no one of course, expecting that as all had gone so far I was fated to run that race and finish. The day before the announcements and the week before I was going to start my training I headed off to a 5K, got lost, missed the race and decided to run on an unfamiliar route in a God forsaken town near me. Later as I nursed the eggplant purple baseball of a lump that protruded from my ankle I read the notice next to my name in the on-line announcements that would tell me I was
.. NOT running the NYC. Dam, the fates had let me down. In 24 short hours I had turned my ankle suffering the first real serious sports injury of my life and I was not going to cross the finish line at Columbus Circle arms raised to a cheering mob of friends. Sucks huh? But never to give in I found a race that is near the same time, shortened my training schedule and decided that if I could run one short mile on July Fourth I would run the Cape Cod Marathon on 10/31. I ran two and so here I am now asking for any and all advice from a bunch of folks that I do not know on how in hell am I going to run 26.2 miles in what seems to be a very short time. I think I am training too hard, eating badly and have had motivational crises at the end of every training run this past week. My legs hurt, my ankle is still holding my foot firmly attached but it still hurts, oddly not while running or right after but mostly a 2 AM during a sound sleep I waken to an ice cold dagger in the poor thing. I ask myself constantly whos dumb ass idea this was in the first place, realizing of course it was mine. So yes any and all advise is welcome! I can admit it now, Im scared as hell and a good kick in the butt and some I did it so can you stories would go a long way to keeping me on my way. Thanks to you all.
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