Who just got their official acceptance into Marathon Maniacs (MM)? This girl!
Just how did I do it? I ran two marathons within 16 days and earned my way into the club as a Bronze level member: Rock ‘n Roll New Orleans and the 41st Annual Tallahassee Marathon. There are eight more levels of MM to work up to.
Third time taking on the Tallahassee Marathon (second time taking on the full) and I have yet to show up feeling 100%. I tapered the best I could considering having run New Orleans just two weeks before.
The Tallahassee Marathon is a smaller race that brings out about 850 half marathoners and less than 350 marathoners. Hal Higdon was the guest speaker at the EXPO and I believe runners from all around Tallahassee came to the Expo to hear him speak. With two little girls in tow and standing room only to hear Hal Higdon speak, I decided to listen for just a few minutes. There were a few more vendors at the Expo this year and it was great to see and talk to some running buddies I hadn’t seen since last year’s marathon.
I am so grateful for mother-in-law for accompanying me on this trip, for taking great care of me and my girls and making wonderful memories. It would not have been possible without her.
I am so, so, so very glad I decided to a Rock ‘n’ Roll event and it only took me two years of talking about it before I actually did one.
I picked the Rock ‘n’ New Orleans Marathon (#RnRNOLA) for a few reasons. It was close to home (5 hrs driving distance), it was in January, the city is amazing, flat, and full of history, and most importantly it was the week before my birthday. Yes, it is one of my birthday presents to myself.
The trip ended up being a girls trip: my mother-in-law, two munchkins, and me! The Thursday before the trip I had all the symptoms of catching the cold that was making it’s way through my house; no wonder my taper week felt terrible. Continue reading
All summer I have had this crazy idea that I want to join the ever exclusive and awesome club called Marathon Maniacs. Most rational, logical, common sense retaining human beings would never fathom such a ludicrous idea. Rather than elaborate on the cool details and criteria, I will let you click on the link and peruse the criteria for yourself…. I warn you, if you actually are crazy enough to click on the link, then you are probably headed down the same road as me.
I’ve tried to talk myself out of this silly idea, even reminding myself of the misery I feel at mile 18 or mile 20 of any long run, but I still can’t seem to shake the idea. So, I am officially declaring the inevitable – to become a Marathon Maniac in 2015.
Which brings me to my first step… creating a race schedule. The only criteria I have ever had is that a race location must be within driving distance. This criteria actually opens up several races in my radius through the Fall and Winter, and even Early Spring. In plotting out my schedule, I got stumped by having to pick between two races – the 26.2 with Donna Marathon for Breast Cancer or the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans, which benefits several charities that I support, including St. Jude’s Hospital, Hope for the Warriors, and Operation Homefront. Continue reading
Jen Bendewish │Running Down a Dream 