Genesis

You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for.
-Billy Joel, You May Be Right

Cheesy 80's music references: 2.

So, now that we're here and gathered around the proverbial campfire, let me tell you how this idea came to fruition.

My training partner and I are a part of the same Air Force squadron. As military members, we have mandatory PT a few times a week. However, since the mandatory "staff" PT is, by and large, a complete joke, she created something called the FOCUS Group. The original intent of the FOCUS group was for people who had "marginal" or worse scores on the Air Force Physical Fitness test. There was a point where it was mandatory for people with less than 75 (on a 100-point scale) to attend the FOCUS Group, which is where we met in the first place. For some reason, people have been allowed to slack off from this requirement.

(But the fact that it was the FOCUS Group makes for a real spiffy name for the blog. But I digress.)

So, at the beginning of July, she put an e-mail out to the entire squadron about an 8-week "Fitness Challenge." The goal at the end of said challenge was to be the ability to run for 30 minutes non-stop. Well, although a lot of people showed up at first, it's gotten to the point where we're usually the only ones that show up. We'll get an additional person or two every once in a while, but we've committed to the entire thing so far. Most of the excuses that people come up with are hilarious in their lameness. I understand that people have other commitments and stuff, but PT is something we're supposed to be committed to as well.

Anyway, this past Friday, we were (again) the only two people to show up. Neither of us felt up to running in the oppressive heat, so we decided to just walk a couple of miles and head to the nice, air-conditioned gym to lift weights. So, at one point during our walk, she turns to me and says, "Oh, I forgot to tell you something."

It's rare that anything good follows the words "I forgot to tell you something." In my experience, anyway.

She then proceeds to look at me and say, "We're doing a marathon next year."

My response, naturally, is "Who is this 'we' person?"

So she rattles off the names of a couple of her co-workers, pats me on the back, and says, "Oh, and you, too." After looking around to make sure that nobody had joined us on our walk and that she was, indeed, talking to me, I agreed.

There you have it. Sometime during the next 12 months, the two of us (and whoever else wants to get dragged along for the ride) will be running a marathon. I'm not sure what the level of commitment will be for anyone that wants to join us on the journey, but the two of us are in for sure.

Which marathon will we be running? No idea.

When? No idea. Training will commence in earnest after we log our official Air Force PT tests. Mine comes up in late September/early October.

How? Armed with nothing more than a copy of The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer and a desire to say that we did it. The training program in the book goes for 5 months and takes you up to 18 miles non-stop. A bit short of the 26.2 mile marathon distance, but again, the purpose is not to fly through it or anything. . .just to finish. We start together, we run together, and we cross the finish line together.

Who? The two of us, and anyone that feels compelled to come along for the ride.

It's going to be draining. . .it's going to be painful. . .and you know something? Deep down. . .there's a small part of me that might even like it.

So it is written. . .so it shall come to pass.