What

                As I sat down to blog again I realized that my titles were beginning to look like the current events assignments that Mrs. Routzahn assigned in the 5^th grade. We were to stand up on our assigned day and follow the famous 5-W model and present our articles. Who, What, Where, When and Why and on occasion How. I remember distinctly that we could only do sports once a month. A rule I believe that was instituted because Christopher (known among my classmates as Kissy-fer, for reasons beyond my comprehension as it had nothing to do with the obvious) and I would have focused our entire current event assignment on the B section of the Frederick News Post.

                However I did realize that my order of the 5-w’s was slightly out of order, perhaps my tendency to exasperate Mrs. Routzahn is returning via my out of order blog. Though in my defense, it wasn’t my intention to mimic an assignment that I haven’t done in a couple of decades.

                Today’s blog thought is what. At first my focus was going to be what I do at the gym. What I do to get in shape for the marathon along with the other races I have decided to do. Then I began to think perhaps the focus could be deeper, focus on the what exactly it is I’m doing. The obvious of course being I’m running. But I think the what is deeper than that.

                To start with the easier of the two what’s-what do I do to prepare for the upcoming events. As mentioned in the "Who", I spend three mornings a week with Regina in a boot camp style work out. There is no set routine, Regina believes in mixing things up. In addition to freaking out the muscles by tricking them, her energizer tendencies prefers to keep things exciting and not stagnant. Though wall sits, lunges and tires are usually present in every workout. As is running, lots and lots of running in various forms….laps to warm up…sprits from end to end of the field, side to side, up the steps and down the steps….there is running with weights of various types…there is running with weighted sleds…and there is running backwards with and without weights or weighted sleds. As for exercises there are routines involving medicine balls, bar bells, TRX and these rather large rubber bands that I am deathly afraid will break mid exercise and snap me painfully somewhere. (Seriously, just think how painful a normal size rubber band is….now imagine a 2’ long, 3” wide and ¼” thick rubber band. See? I’m not so totally nuts) There’s no set routine aside from Monday being arm day, Wednesday being full body and Friday focusing on legs.

                On the in between days and weekends I do the Spartan Race Workout of the Day (WOD) that they post daily on their Facebook page. Pretty soon I’ll be running every day for distance and time. I’m waiting for the snow to finally disappear so that I can safely run without worrying that I’ll end up in a snow mound because some moronic driver wasn’t paying attention and ran me off the road.

                In terms of what I eat, it’s pretty standard protein shakes and healthy food stuff. I probably drink more protein shakes then the average person working out because I honestly have an incredibly hard time eating.  I eat like a bird. I’m rarely ever hungry and most of the time I have to be reminded to eat. The protein shakes give me calories and protein that I need and I find it easier to consume. I do eat real food in addition to the shakes. This area is honestly, more challenging then the physical aspect of what I’m doing. Practice will help me to eat healthy and consume the requisite number or calories every day.

                After covering the exercise and food routines I could easily say that what I’m doing is running. But that would be too quippy, even for me. While it is in essence true, to scratch the surface would reveal a deeper meaning. Running became a stress reliever for me. I would go out at night and would angrily run without regard for form. It was just an angry foot slamming on pavement at a very fast clip, arms pumping, anger driven experience, that at times would include playing chicken with traffic. I had no regard for my surroundings including the pot hole that nearly took out my knee. Some viewed it as running from my problems, for me it was a way to vent my anger in a clean and sober manner. I didn’t always deal with the issue at hand but I was able to reduce the stress and anger so I could more clearly look at the problem.

                If I were honest, I’m still running from my problems. Though I think this time is different than the others. Instead of running away from my problems, I’m hoping to run them out-the pain, the anguish, the heartache, the anger and the confusion-I’m attempting to run them out of my system to provide my soul with a new vessel in which to reform. It worked for Forest Gump. 

Who

                While inspiration and passion comes from within, I won’t be achieving my goal completely alone. I have a personal trainer, Regina, who is pretty awesome. Originally our three mornings a week boot camp was a class consisting of me and occasionally Regina’s husband Donald and sometimes, typically on Friday their friend Glen. Starting this week our little class was joined by the other boot camp class that also works out at 5:30am. Yes that says 5:30am it was not a typo.

                This new group has brought an interesting group of people. I will admit I wasn’t sure how I felt about giving  up my one on one time with Regina but now that I’ve spent the week with classmates it’s pretty enjoyable. Some are mothers, others aren’t and there are a couple guys. One in particular after a long siege of tire flipping and lunging breathlessly, actually more like gasping, in reference to Regina asked “where did you find her.” The inflection in his voice made the question quite humorous….add in that he was about   6’+ and a very burly guy the question was made all the more humorous.

                 To answer his question, I “found” Regina through a friend whom she trained for what I found out today was the Marine Corps Marathon. At the time I started boot camp I had suffered a serious injury to both ankles and was hobbling around in air casts on both ankles. But my need to train for the PFT outweighed the doctor’s recommendation that I rest. Thankfully Regina does not prescribe to the adage of ‘no pain, no gain.’ Instead she would prefer that you come back. So for the first few weeks while I was hobbling more than walking Regina made creative exercises and routines that got the most without mangling me any more than I already was. In the two months since I started working with Regina she has been the key factor in my transformation. Her no nonsense advice about life and other topics make me laugh and sometimes think.

                Regina is a human Energizer bunny.  Her weekly schedule of working as a nurse mixed with her nearly full time job as a trainer makes me want to lay down and take a nap. Not to mention the workouts she does on off days. She has run a 100 mile race, the JFK 50 miler along with scads of other insane sounding races, with names that honestly sound pretty goofy.

                Under Regina’s tutelage I have managed to do things I thought I was no longer able to do. From the unexpected grew this new passion to push the limits in a healthy manner. I am grateful to have met Regina and most grateful for her experience and patience and awesome sense of humor as I stumble (some days quite literally) through this. 

Why

               Why write a blog when according to several magazines the blog is going by the wayside, being replaced by 140 characters and like buttons? Perhaps because I’m finding that many of friends are suddenly getting back into blogging since our initial forays into the concept during college. Or perhaps because the topics that I now care about seem to be covered in Blogs. Mostly, I just wanted to have some record of the coming events that are sure to shape my life in an amazing fashion.  Yesterday I did an insanely crazy thing, I haven’t done anything this crazy since….well I shouldn’t really put all the details but suffice to say I have done a few crazy things in my life but I digress…yesterday I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon probably the craziest of crazy.             

                This has been an interesting year, aside from turning 30 which seemed to lack the horrid emotional turmoil that many mention they experience at this arbitrary number. In the last year, the self that I have known and for the most part liked fairly well was completely turned upside down. I graduated with my MBA after spending most of life in the hallowed halls of academia. I left my less than satisfying job without another job lined up. My partner chose to no longer love me and left, leaving me reeling.

                I will admit to spending a few weeks wallowing as learned from my many hours of watching Gilmore Girls. However, through the darkness that became the end of my 29^th year I began to formulate a plan. A cross country road trip, an epic cross country road trip actually. Just me, my GTi, my Kindle and a hiking pack with a goal of seeing the country. The trip was a turning point. Allowing me to unfog my brain, experience amazing beauty that even Ansel Adams awesome photography can’t completely capture and put an insane number of miles on my car.

                I returned with a desire to pursue a different career path. To use my multiple degrees, brain cells and wit to better the forward progress of humanity. This career goal requires successful completion of a Physical Fitness Test (PFT). After realizing that despite hiking into the Grand Canyon (and back out), hiking through almost every national park, and scaling rock formations in The Badlands (and discovering the quick way back down in a head over heels manner) I wasn’t as physically fit as I would like to be so I sought out a trainer that would help me to pass the PFT.

                The first two weeks were brutal, there was vomit and sweat and swear words and lots of ice and that was just the first day. However, after the initial two weeks I realized I enjoyed spending my mornings running, flipping tires, lifting weights and doing seemingly superhuman tasks. I realized it was about more than a PFT. (Which subsequently I won’t be taking for a couple years due to budget cuts.) It was about a new me. A more focused me. A more physically fit me. I also realized that as I worked out the less positive events that had happened over the last few months began to lose their intensity. Their presence in my life began to dissipate and were no longer the driving force in my life. The thoughts that if I completed certain set tasks my old life would return no longer took up space in my brain box.  I found that as that way of thinking dissipated it was replaced with clearer thinking and a new sense of self, a sense of doing this for myself and not for someone else who chose not to be in my life.

                While running warm up laps yesterday at boot camp I found myself with a clear head. It was just me focusing on the timing of my stride, hearing the thud of my footfalls on the astro-turf soccer field. It was freeing. In that moment of quiet I decided I needed to achieve something that I thought was impossible. I had already signed up for a multitude of races from April until September, various obstacle laden races requiring fortitude and really good shoes and a like of mud. But I wanted more. For once in my life I wanted to go completely balls to the wall for something that seemed out of my reach and completely insane. There when I returned home on Twitter was the reminder about the Marine Corps Marathon. There was my answer for a completely insane task.

                I admire Jason Jaksetic who is doing several months worth of insane things. (Here is his blog http://jasonjaksetic.blogspot.com and while you’re at it please send him peanut butter). His efforts inspired me but I have learned that inspiration must come from within. It’s helpful to admire others and their efforts but to really be inspired to get off the couch and run for hours you have to be inspired by something that comes from deep down where your finger nails grow. (That is a favorite saying of my minister)

                The surface response to the question of why I’m doing this is blog: to have a record of what I’m doing. The deeper answer of why I’m doing this; this being defined as going after an insane goal: it’s exciting and keeps me from going insane. Because it’s something I can do and it’s something I will do.