“The first half hour of my run is for my body. The last half hour, for my soul. In the beginning the road is a miracle of solitude and escape. In the end it is a miracle of discovery and joy. Throughout, it brings an understanding of what Blake meant when he said, “Energy is eternal delight.”” ― George Sheehan, Running and Being

They canceled the 2020 Chicago marathon. I got the email this morning. Having registered pre-COVID, I was really looking forward to it. Chicago is one of my favorite cities and there are several destination races I’d like to cross off my list. This is one of them. It would have been my fourth full-marathon and it was already slated to be the toughest. This is solely because I haven’t been training. Regardless of the distance, race day fun, is always contingent on pre-race prep.

Even though the marathon has officially been canceled, I am still motivated to get back at it. After weeks of feeling lethargic and house bound- I am eager for a goal. The marathon was scheduled for mid-October which is approx. 12 weeks out. If I had to run even half of that today, I would keel over on the sidewalk, followed by a three-hour nap. While I go on long walks daily, I haven’t taken anything resembling a real run in ages and some more intentional movement is in store.

I love being able able to call myself a runner, but in order to be a runner, you must actually run. Weird, huh? It’s similar to being a writer in that way. Both push me out of my comfort zone and get me out of my head. Yet both are so easy to push to the side when busy or distracted or simply not feeling it. Here lately, dinner has been the big event. I’ve loved trying new recipes, baking, making the table setting extra-pretty, this is what I’ve looked forward to at the end of the day. It’s been lovely and will continue but not at the expense of my physical and mental health. With that, here’s my re-entry plan and as many of my runner lovelies are reading (Looking at you - Anna, Jill, Dusti, Karen, and Laurie), want to do it together? Reach out if you’d like a buddy and we can get our endorphins up. Despite the temperatures, I can’t think of a better time.