26.2 miles, 50 Years, and dreams

I started my summer with an idea.  That became a dream and that dream became a goal.  I now have a goal that will become a reality at the end of the summer.  I have come to the realization that if I change the dates and say "oh, I'll do the Dallas, or I'll do the El Paso Ultra marathon", I'll never complete a marathon.  I know for some it will be hard to understand why and for others they will see the "line in the sand" quite clearly. What am I trying to say here?  Well I guess what it all boils down to is this.  I spent a whole week thinking about my goal of running 26.2 miles and how much of a toll that would take on my body.  I was scaring myself and tried to rationalize taking a few extra months to train.  Then I started to remember all the lofty goals that came before and how close I got only to fail before making the final goal.  So after several days and nights I have decided the following.  I have drawn my line in the sand here.  My Line will be a full marathon in October of 2014.  I know that I need to train and train hard and consistently.  I know I need to drop more than a few pounds.  I know that the summer is the wrong time of the year to start training for such a large goal, but if not now, then when?   After bouncing back and forth for seven days and arguing with my inner self, I am not backing down.  I will be 50 in July of 2014 and I am running a full marathon on 12 October 2014.  I'm not changing my mind.  If you don't understand or think I'm just plain nuts, I ask only that you keep your thoughts to yourself.  If you can't support me, then stay out of my way.  And I really don't want people to think I'm being rude by making those two statements, I just want everyone to understand how serious I am about this.  If you are not a runner it's hard to explain "running".  I have my eye on the horizon and a goal.  It's my dream.  It's a journey I will have to make alone and I am okay with this.  I may fail in October and if I do then I will step back and look at other options.  With that said I dedicate the summer training and marathon to my children and my grand-daughters.  I want them all to know.  "She believed she could, so she did." There will come a time when you will have to make a choice to stand your ground and not back down.  I hope I make you proud.  Love you all, Mom.  T