I have been training for the Dopey Challenge in January, but in reality I have a real (non-Disney) marathon to do in just three weeks!  I am running the Philadelphia marathon.  I made arrangements back in March for a room. I was’t sure how many of my friends were going to run the race, so I booked two hotel rooms in different places.  I needed to put aside time this week to find those hotel reservation confirmations, identify where the hotels are, gather up my paperwork for the race registration, research into train times and take a look at the course map.

I have been successfully training, but it sunk in that I am going to be running a marathon soon.  I’m a little excited about getting a new race medal and seeing how well I do at this non-Disney race.  I was listening to the Another Mother Runner podcast on my way to work Wednesday; and Sarah’s story about her BQ race in Victoria was so amazing.  It really made me think of what I want.  I had given up on the thought of qualifying for Boston.  But I haven’t completely given up on the thought of running Boston one day.  Kim told me something and I have been thinking about it.

“As Kathrine Switzer told me – her first Boston she finished in 4:30 the second she was around 3 because she worked hard. It’s as simple as that. U have to work hard to get what u want. Unless u are gifted which we aren’t. And Kathrine says she is not as well. She worked hard.”

It’s true, I am not a gifted runner, I do it because I enjoy it.  But if I do want to do something I have to work hard to get it.  So I am going to take the time to think about it and run some more marathons and see what happens with my finish times.  I have been successfully training for Dopey with no injury so far and I’d like to keep it that way.

So for me Philadelphia will be a test to see what my time will be compared to the Providence Marathon in May.  I will be running this race alone, but I am hoping to hook up with the Mother Runner Dimity and her cadet.  I believe their finish time will be around 5:20 and that’s a big push for me.  If I could get 5:30 I’d be blown away.  Time will tell!

I have heard that this course is really fun and many people have said that the race is really great.  I’m looking forward to it.