First Time Jitters

Munn is an old-hat when it comes to races. She's already done the venerable 4 milers, probably a few 10 milers, and vanquished the half marathon. I, on the other hand, will be ending my 25 year embargo on public running tomorrow, for the first time. And the thought of it has me on edge. Anyone with a funny run will understand.

Tomorrow, with the Haiti Benefit 4 miler, we're going to be raising a ton of money for an absolutely deserving cause, but that doesn't mean that it's not going to be a shocking time for me. Or so my mind keeps telling me.

These days, I eat 4 miles for breakfast...on a treadmill, or even on the West Side Highway. I've run up to 10 miles in one go, and our race on Sunday is a 10 miler. So it seems completely irrational that the thought of running those four short miles bright and early tomorrow morning has literally given me a knot in my stomach. It's a knot of fear, not of excitement; of shaking and lightheadedness; of wanting to hide under the covers in bed with a torch; of not wanting to eat for days; a knot of sheer, unadulterated, wantingtothowupedness. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was in love.

Well, they say that you never forget your first time, and more importantly, that it's almost invariably terrible. I for one will be hoping that my first time is short, quick and uneventful. Oh, and that I finish.

'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Welcome to the story of three moderately athletic individuals with very well toned beer muscles who decided to throw caution and good sense to the wind to train for the Comrades Ultramarathon, the ultimate human race.

For those unfamiliar with Comrades, it's a 56 mile (89 km) race that has taken place in South Africa annually since 1921 with the exception of those pesky WWII years, making it not only the world's largest ultramarathon but also the oldest. The event is run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, one year uphill and the next down. These 56 miles are said to "challenge everything he holds dear, his value system, his lifestyle. They will ask nothing less than his view of the universe." Sounds like fun, right? Uh, sure.

Now contrary to popular belief, Greg, Sheryl, and I are not completely insane - there will be many, many 5ks, 10 milers, half marathons, and a few 26.2s before Comrades 2012 rolls along. Comrades is clearly not the sort of race one wakes up and decides to wing the morning of. This blog will document our trials and tribulations in not too painstaking detail over the next two years as we prepare for what is bound to be a life changing experience. And obviously, if we commit in the blogosphere to running Comrades, then we can't flake out - pride and dignity, what little we have left, are at stake!

Coming soon: 2010 race plans, training adventures, experimentations with spandex, hungover runs!, and hopefully not too much chafing.