well, turning 40 had to happen sooner or later. i’m not one to think too much about “big birthdays”. time marches on and all that.

it is amusing to me that ten years ago, right before i turned 30 i started running and in that post i don’t say clearly what my motivation was – to do something at 30 years old that my 20 year old self would have thought was impossible. ten years ago i could barely run for 5 minutes and if my 30 year self could have had a conversation with my 20 year old self and said i was training for a marathon, my 20 year old self would have said i had gone batshit crazy. completely insane. and yet, i did it and went on to run a few marathons before completely falling off the wagon after odin was born.

and so, now that i’ve turned 40 i’m doing it again. trying to do something my 30 year old self would have never thought possible. not just running a marathon, but running it faster and stronger than i ever could have imagined at even 30 years old. then, i was just hoping to finish which was an incomprehensible feat for someone who couldn’t imagine running even a 5k. now, i’m hoping to finish in under 4 hours which means i have to average 9 minute miles for 26.2 miles.

to be honest, i’m not sure i can get to that pace by the time i run the chicago marathon. it seems impossible now.

but who knows, maybe i can prove my 40 year old self wrong while kicking my 30 year old self’s ass 🙂 it’s really a function of weight. i’ve lost 40 pounds since starting running again and i probably have to lose 30 more to have any hope of finishing under 4 hours.

i do know my 30 year old self would have never been able to run 6 miles without stopping while averaging 10 minute miles with 7 minute mile sprints. 7 days a week.

and i’d really like to know what my 50 year old self is going to come up with to kick my 40 year old self’s ass.

what do you got? an ultramarathon?? bring. it. on.