Dedication

I once read this interview with Lisa Koll and the interviewer asked Lisa Koll what made her so determined one summer to start training so hard. Although this is by no means her exact words, she said something along the lines of "I wasn't completely dedicated to my running and one day, I made a conscious decision to give it everything I had." That is how I'm feeling right now about my own running. Not that I'm anywhere near as fast as Lisa Koll, but in all honesty, I haven't been as dedicated as I should be...and for some reason, I have hit my breaking point. This past year has been anything but calm for me. I have always had a reason to stray from the focused, simple lifestyle I lived my sophmore-junior year. Granted, some of the excuses were valid. If I had to choose between running a workout at 6am or giving my all to a Tectonics presentation on the Triassic Period in Southwest North America...the Triassic Period will win every time. That being said I've had some not-so-valid reasons as well, such as my love of beer. Well, that's an easier one to fix. NO MORE BEER TIL OCTOBER 16 at 10:33am. I hope the company that makes Blue Moon will understand. Others distractions aren't so easy to fix. Ask anyone and they will likely attest to the fact that I can be rather *ahem* passionate about almost anything and frankly, the only thing I love more than running (and geology) is...love. So, when having to make the decision between running a workout and driving for hours and hours in a rainstorm at 3am...unfortunately I have chosen the latter one too many times. Tonight, it struck me that I'm so willing to sacrifice everything I have worked so hard for in order to help the person I love, but I haven't been willing to completely dedicate my warped sense of compassion to help support myself in my own endeavors. I have put the people I care about before myself for the past year and that needs to end. Don't think this is me trying to act like I'm some selfless person. In fact I'm far more selfish that I want to admit. But, I think that I can say I have done everything I can possibly do for the people I care about, but I haven't done everything I can to make myself the best runner I can be.

For the next 83 days I promise to completely dedicate myself to achieving the goals I have for the 2010 Baltimore Marathon. No more epic cry sessions. No more bar trips to celebrate God knows what or to drown any feelings I have and certainly no more 4 hour drives in the middle of the night! This way, if something goes wrong at Baltimore and I don't reach my goals, I have nothing to blame and can take solace in the fact that I did EVERYTHING I POSSIBLY COULD. All I can do now is completely dedicate myself to my goals and pray that the ones I love will someday love me for all I've done for them and all I've done for myself.

I started this whole marathon dream because of the person I love more than anything and I hope he will be at the finish line to let me know that my dedication to my own goals and the sacrifices I have made for him have been worth it.

Longest Run Ever...For Now

Well, on this humid, but cloudy day, I ran the longest run of my life so far...21 miles! This marks the first workout in my 14 week build up to the Baltimore Marathon on 10/16. Although I was hesitant about running so far already, once I got into the groove of running (with the help of my friend, Aimee for the middle 11 miles), I felt completely free. I wanted to finish the run in under 2:30, which I did with relative ease and even felt good enough to run my last few miles at 6:30 pace without even knowing it! Although...it was particularly humid today. I think I lost about 10 lbs. in sweat! The only thing that worries me is that I seem to be developing hot spots on the balls of my feet under my callouses way too much lately. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

Next up, I will be doing a pretty long tempo workout with Becki on Friday. It's so nice to be getting back to the distance based workouts. I really felt like I was losing my focus and motivation with all the 5k-10k stuff. It was fun for a while to shake things up, but now I just want to get back to what I love. I sure hope to see my strength develop over these next few weeks, so I will be ready to make the ones I love proud of me at Baltimore! Here is a picture of my workout group in Lewisburg, PA. Although the picture includes present and former members, I appreciate each and every one of them and if I had my way, I'd have them all there on 10/16, because I am at my best when surrounded by the people who take care of me and who I care about in return. Here's to hoping that the ones I love most will be at the finish line...

Hello

Hello, my name is Molly and this is my first blog post ever! I just graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in geology and to say that I'm passionate about my major would be an understatement! I love everything about geology and science and hope to dedicate my life to learning more about the earth each and every day. In addition to the life changes I am going through as I enter the post-collegiate realm, I am also about to begin training for my first marathon! I have been looking forward to this day since I first started running long distance races 2 years ago. I am excited about the long runs, the tempo workouts, the strength work, and the discipline that marathon training will involve. I figured that a great way to keep me focused on training is to channel my thoughts and emotions throughout the next 14 weeks into this blog!

I am currently in the middle of some days off before I gear up for some of the hardest training of my life, which involves discipline as well. Only a runner would understand how antsy another runner gets after a few days of nothing but laying around! After experiencing some rough patches in my personal life (who needs a boyfriend anyway!?) and some subpar races, I figured a few days off would do the mind and body good. My SI joint will also be happy with a few days of rest before it goes into mega-training mode. I was unfortunately born with hypermobile joints and as one can imagine, having loose ligaments around major joints is not the best thing for a runner...but we all have an achilles heel of some sort and I've found in life that no matter who you are or where you are from, you will always be tested in some way. Luckily I have two great physical therapists that do a stellar job at keeping me healthy. I believe Deena Kastor is the one who commented on how much of a team sport running really is. A runner may be alone on the starting line, but it took a team of coaches, doctors, agents, training partners, family and friend support, and a little faith to get to that starting line.

Therefore, I will end my first post with a HUGE thank you to everyone who has helped support me the past few years both in running and in life. And so it begins...