Travel Plans

So . . . I may or may not have picked out my next marathon (eek!!). Now, I say it that way NOT because I'm trying to be sly or sneaky, but rather because I'm just not ready to make a commitment yet. There are several factors that will play into this decision--obviously the recovery of my bum knee is a huge one--but beyond that, one of the most important factors is whether or not the boyf is game to tackle 26.2 miles as well (no pressure, Wilson!). I mean, this could really be a win-win situation for both of us . . . Wilson has been talking about the possibility of adding a marathon to his running resume; and if he were training with me, I wouldn't have the unfair advantage of forcing him do anything and everything for me all winter long--after all, he would be running as far as I was every weekend. Oh, and I've always wanted to try out that whole training partner thing. It seems like people really dig that, no?

I'll put it this way: the last time I trained for a winter/early spring marathon . . . um, well it sucked big time for a variety of reasons. Not only was I lacking a training partner, but I was usually one of just a handful of runners brave enough to be out running at all in the frigid cold (when you run your long runs around a 3.35-mile park loop, it's glaringly obvious when you're the only idiot out there!). One of the other aspects that kind of sucked was the fact that it was virtually impossible to run anything but long runs outside. Frigid weather aside, there just aren't enough daylight hours during the winter to allow me to get outside by myself. Now I know what you're thinking, "Oh man! Irish is afraid of the dark." And yes, that's true. (Ha, just kidding!) But you know, living in NYC and all . . . well, let's just say we have a lot of crazies, and that it's probably not the best idea to be out running in the dark all alone. So yeah.

Oh, wait. What's that? You're sick of my rambling and you just want to know what marathon I picked already? Oh, fine. It's this one:

EEK! Excited! I've heard great things about this race (despite the fact that it's no longer as fast as it used to be--but c'mon, who doesn't love "the challenge" of hills?) and I've always wanted to explore Austin. What's up, race vacation? The only downside is that I've had a secret desire to move to Austin for several years now. If I go through with this, I might never return! It's worth the risk, I suppose. Now I just have to work on healing the knee up and convincing Wilson to train with me. Minor details . . .