T-3

What to do next? Three days til the race and I’m tossing around ideas on what to train for when I’m done with National. Yes, I could opt to not train for anything but (a) I need something to occupy myself for at least a portion of the time that Steve is training, and (b) I need some kind of goal to justify my eating. Some options and their likelihood.

A fall marathon (likelihood 99%) – While I’m almost certain that I’ll do a fall marathon, I have no idea which one I can do since I don’t know my training schedule at work yet. I’m at the mercy of the customer so whatever dates they decide on factors into my decision. I figured it doesn’t hurt to have a few races in mind so here’s my short list for each month.
- September: Lake Tahoe, Jungfrau Marathon ( Switzerland )
- October: Venice (Italy), Dublin (Ireland), Baltimore, Long Beach
- November: Athens ( Greece ), Chicago , Richmond (only if my schedule makes it too difficult to travel), New York
- December: Honolulu

Since our 10 year anniversary is in May and someone whose name I won't mention didn't look at the calendar when he committed to participating in a weekend-long training trip, I want a vacation out of whatever race we decide to do.

Trail race (likelihood 50%) – It’s a running event but it would require me to get over my fear of running downhill on a trail. Sure uphill is hard on the ticker, but downhill scares the snot out of me because I’m afraid that I’ll trip over a tree limb and hurl myself into rock or tree. If I did run a trail race I’d probably keep it to a half-marathon or shorter.

50-miler (likelihood 30%) – Okay, the likelihood is probably closer to 20% when I start thinking about how much it hurts to run a marathon. I wonder if the pain associated with a 50-miler is twice as bad? The only way I could see myself doing a 50-miler this year would be if it was on the road and not a trail run. I’ve said this to a few runners I know and they all think a trail run would be easier on the body. Probably true, but remember my fear of flying through the air in the woods.

Fitness/Figure/Bodybuidling contest (likelihood 2%) – I only put this on the list because I’m intrigued by the discipline that people who compete in these have and not because I actually see myself doing it. I hate being judged on my looks and that’s pretty much what these competitions seem to be. BTW, I should note that I know nothing about how these events are judged. I know that I've looked at enough magazines that report on these events and I can't tell what made the winner better than the rest of the pack.