i might be wrong

This morning while on the way to the first NYRR Long Training run of the season, a guy interrupted my magazine reading to ask, "Miss, are you running the marathon today?" This wasn't a weird questions since I did have my bib number pinned to my shirt, which happened to have ING NYC Marathon written on it. I told him I was just going to a training run and that the marathon is in November. He goes, "Oh, that's a long way away." I laughed and said, "Oh no it's not."

"Well, I hope you win," he told me. I found that funny, too.

It's funny, but it's also scary. November 2nd is right around the corner. It's just 13 weeks away. I only started my training 3 weeks ago. I know that physically I can do this and I just need to get over the mental hump. About 4 miles into my training run today, I thought about quitting after one loop around Central Park which is about 6 miles. But then somebody yelled, "Hey Miss Thang," and I turned around to see it was a woman I met last year when I was taking running classes with the Road Runners. I told her I was thinking about quitting after 6 miles and she convinced me to keep going. I ended up doing 11 miles today. If it hadn't been for her, I probably would have gone home after 6 and been disappointed in myself.

With running the more you do it, the easier it gets. I just have to keep that in mind when I feel that doubt creeping in while I'm out there on the road. But when I do let the doubt seep in, I hope I'm fortunate enough to run into another positive person who can make me stick with it.

I start running classes again next week. I know from experience that I will only get better the more I train. I shouldn't have regrets. I made my choices, but next year, I'm starting my training no later than March 1st.