500 Festival Mini Marathon

It's official. I've gone nuts.

In a previous post I discussed how I was thinking about buying someone else's registration for the mini marathon in Indianapolis...now I actually AM purchasing said registration.

I will be running the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon on May 2, 2009.

I've agreed to start training with one of my RPM coaches who, like me, isn't all that fond of running but for some ridiculous reason is running this race. This will be her second mini.

I'm looking forward to the challenge that I've laid out in front of me, but I'm also scared shitless. I'm not a runner, but I suppose I will by May 3.

I saw the sign...

and it opened up my eyes.

Cheesy, I know. So, Internet, I've been toying with the idea of doing a race that will challenge my body in ways it hasn't been challenged since the last time I swam the mile in a meet. God, I almost get queasy just thinking about it, in a good way. In December (or was it November? -- oh well, doesn't matter which) I ran my first 5k. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it was the first time I'd ever competed in a land race; previous experiences only occurred in water, unless we count Jr. Lifeguards when I was like 11, but we won't go there.

Anyway, where was I? Right, racing. That's the whole underlying point of this blog, isn't it? The two front-running options are either a sprint triathlon, a regular triathlon or a mini-marathon. The problem I'm finding with the triathlon option, although I would love to have a swim involved (feel like I'd at least have some kind of an edge) is that I would need to invest in a bike, and frankly I don't have $300 to throw down on a road bike, let alone the $700-900 I would need for a halfway decent one, not to mention shoes and clips on top of that.

So that leaves me with the mini. I looked up some dates of races nearby in order to register for a mini that would give me enough time to legitimately train and be in shape. I first looked into the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon which is in Indianapolis, just a hop, skip and a jump away. The race is May 2nd, which would give me plenty of time to shape up and get my joints prepared for the beat down. Except...registration is already full! Four freakin' months away and it's already full. The only other realistic option is the Chicago mini, which is substantially later in the year.

I'd pretty much given up on my goal to do a mini, at least for now. Let's face it, I don't run that well so running 13.1 miles, while admirable, wouldn't be all THAT fun.

I'm getting to the point of this post here in a second, I promise.

So basically, I went to RPM last night and Kristy, the instructor who just happens to be training for the 500 Festival mini and runs at about the same pace as I do (I stole a glimpse at her treadmill speed the other morning) remembered a conversation we had about the race. It just so happens that one of the women that she knows that was already signed up for the race injured her ankle in a race in December. Apparently she took a bad spill on a patch of ice during the race. Anyway, she's not going to be fully healed by the time the mini rolls around and is looking for someone to buy her registration ticket.

Seems like this particular chain of events is trying to tell me something, don't you think? What do you say Internet? Any encouraging words out there? As of now, I'm thinking about saying yes and buckling down on a running schedule...