Though the body yells, “Stop!” the spirit cries, “Never!”

I’ll be attempting to run the Lincoln (Nebraska) marathon with my younger brother in about ten days, and, as is often the case with me and these things, I am not ready at all. The reason I am not ready is not because I don’t want to be ready. I want very much to be ready. It’s just that life manages to get in the way each and every time I try to focus on this. That, and I’m easily distracted.

Oh! Hello there!

While the trip to Italy was a bit of a distraction, Mrs. de Najera and I did manage to walk between 8 and 12 miles each day. We walked everywhere, even when I had some gnarly blisters on my toes. We did it for the ten days that we were there, so I think that it was a good way to practice. Bonus, we walked up and down a ton of stairs, especially on the bridges of Venice and the town of Assisi.

Some of them felt like they went on forever.

So I’m kind of hoping that those experiences, and the training runs before and after, are enough to carry me through. They probably won’t be, though. Yeah, I’m thinking negative thoughts when I should be thinking positive. After all, I’ll get to see my siblings and my mom, and it will be fun. Right? Right.

See, that’s the thing about running for me. People often suggest that I sign up for something as a means to keep me on track for some goal. It’s a good strategy, but then I end up not being prepared for that goal and I feel bad for not being prepared. I would much rather work toward being prepared, and then, once prepared, sign up for a race within a few days. But that’s not the way these things work.