Thoughts From The Starting Line

Anyone who's listened to me speak in public (or read one of my many blogs over the past few years) has probably heard me utter a version of this line - "I have absolutely no idea how to begin, and I'm really not very good at this." It's kind of hard to believe I aced public speaking. But hey, if you can't be smooth, you might as well be honest. And sometimes, from such inauspicious beginnings, great things can grow. Not all of us are first-impression people, after all.

Still, it's amazing that someone who spends most of her time either running off or running off at the mouth (or running off at the mouth about running, as my brothers would remind me) could have such a difficult time putting one foot in front of the other, so to speak, and writing something along the lines of an introductory post. I started one other running blog, right before beginning to train for my first marathon, and my introductory post was simple - paraphrased, "Intros blow and mission statements make me uncomfortable, so I'm not going to write one. Screw expository nonsense, here goes." I'm pretty sure I was the only one who ever read that blog, so it didn't really matter - it was just the deep breath before the starting gun.

For that particular blog, and that particular race, I was running to prove to myself that I could finish. For this next race, I'm taking on a cause bigger than myself and running it for Mom, for Grandma Nancy, and for my family and loved ones and all the challenges we've faced together since Mom's diagnosis. I've been given this amazing opportunity to represent the Alzheimer's Association at one of the biggest-deal races in the world, the 2011 New York City Marathon. I'm going to ask my friends, family, and acquaintances to invest their hard-earned money in my efforts for the cause. If I'm lucky, my readership is actually going to grow beyond, well, me. And that's left me with the sudden urge to be articulate and do things properly...and the best I can do is yammer on about not knowing how to start.

Instead of writing a kind of blow-by-blow running journal that could bore even the most enthusiastic coach to death, my aim here is to write about my life, as framed by both my running adventures (and misadventures) and my experiences with my mother's condition and its effects on my family. There is an undertone of accountability to any running blog, especially when fundraising is involved, but I'm hoping to inspire my readers to not only donate but to continue reading and sharing my journey to the finish line...and the next one...and the next one.

So. Enough expository nonsense. Here goes.