Oh S^!t

I may have mentioned to some of you that I am planning on running a half marathon in December in Las Vegas. This December date has been looming in the back of my mind and sparking fear when I really think about it but then I say to myself; "Hey, it's in December, that's like 5 months away. So what if I have never run over 6 miles? So what if a half marathon is a grueling 13.1 miles? It's 5 months away...I'll think about it later." Later came today when Charles said to me, very nonchalantly; "We should register for the half marathon tonight." The very chalant thought that sprang to mind was "Oh S%!t". Register? That means I am committed, no backing out. Backing out of a half marathon in Las Vegas would be awful. Have I mentioned that Charlie and his entire family are all running/walking the Las Vegas Half?  As if just running wasn't difficult enough, no no, his whole family has to be there at the finish watching me crawl past the line 13 hours after the race began. All of these thoughts raced through my mind as I thought of ways to back out, fake an injury, make up a December commitment. But no my response to Charles was: "Yeah, sounds great!"

For those of you who do not know, Charlie, my boyfriend, is an avid runner. He eats, drinks, and breaths running. He stayed in college an extra semester, not because he is dumb, but because he wanted to run cross country one last time. He gave up meat for running. He works at a running store. He watches running videos online constantly. When faced with the opportunity to run or spend time with me he will 9 times out of 10 pick going for a run. (He also wears shorter shorts than I do and likes running without a shirt on, and looks cute doing so :) ). My point is he likes running A LOT and I sometimes feel like I run so he'll keep liking me and so we have something to do together, although he rarely runs with me, unless he is in the "mood to race walk". So let's just say that there is a little bit of pressure he puts on me when it comes to running races. 

So any-who I agreed (against my better judgement) that we should register for the Las Vegas race tonight. THEN Charles says to me; "Do you want to run a half in September with me and my dad?" My thoughts, you guessed it; "Oh S%!t". My actual response; "Okay, but isn't that really soon?" Charlie convinced me that running one before the actual half would be very beneficial. I am not exactly sure what he thinks will be beneficial about it. Perhaps he is referring to the fact that if I don't successfully finish this half  marathon I will have another one looming over my head that I have already committed to, already bought a plane ticket to, and already booked a hotel room for, and these factors can push me to success, or more likely, push me to my ultimate demise. Ekk!

So we are home and I am sitting on the couch anxiously watching as Charles registers me for not one, but two half marathons. If you don't believe me you can check for my name here and (soon to be) here, and in 9 weeks you can check for my name in the obituaries. 

Goodnight to all of you happy, non-half marathon-committed friends out there.

Lauren

P.S. Harry Potter was great.