50 in 50 in 50... What does that mean?

So many possible titles for a blog...

I'm Not A Runner
I'm Not A Blogger
Geez I Am Getting Old
               (Funny side note.  Apparently geez is not a word.  When I just typed Geez above, a red squiggly line appeared beneath Geez.  This, as I understand it, suggests, "Hey, dummy, you either don't know how to spell or how to type, likely both, but let me help you!  You need it!"  So, I clicked the word hoping to see that I misspelled Geeze, and the computer would correct it for me.  I had to LOL  when the suggestion listed after clicking the misspelling was geezer.  I thought that would also be appropriate to the theme of this blog).
~ And now we are back.

I Just Felt Like Running -- although this one is likely terribly overused at this point.
What Are You Doing?
What Are You Trying To Accomplish?
Who Are You Trying To Impress?
Have You Lost Your Mind?
What Is A BHAG?  (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal)

And the list could go on forev... well, for a bit longer. But, I won't bore you.  -- Not with that anyway.

For the record, I have settled on 50 in 50 in 50.



Skipping forward, but imagining that I will double back, likely more than once, here is what that means.

I am going to attempt to run 50 half marathons in 50 states in 50 months.  Notice that I said attempt.  So far I have run a grand total of... 1.  Yes, one.  In fact, before I ran this one, I had never run more than 6 miles at one time, whether I was being chased or not.

This is a picture of me suffering through mile 11 on Cocoa Beach at the I Dream of Jeannie Half, with my mom riding along for support.

You see, I am not a runner.  I do not believe that I was built for running.  I have certainly run plenty in my life time, but mostly short distances.  Playing football my entire life, there was never really any reason to run more than 100 yards at a time.  The end zone, after-all was never more than ~100 yards away.  So, the idea was to run as fast as you could for as long as you could up to ~100 yards.  In this scenario there were always multiple people chasing me, trying to knock me down and take something from me -- a football.  If I was lucky enough to run faster than the people chasing me, and able to hold on to the oblong pigskin, and have enough agility to maneuver around those chasing me, and have enough stamina to run ~100 yards or less, then I would score a touch down, which meant that I could stop running and celebrate.  If I was unsuccessful in all or any of the aforementioned areas, then I could stop running even sooner and at least rest before having to run again.  So, as you can see or read, as if you didn't already know, in football, one really only has to run for short periods, short bursts.

I believe that it takes a different body type and muscle development to run short distance than long distance.  I am not a doctor, or maybe I am, but this is not my specialty, so I will defer all of the medical science to those smarter than me.  I will simply say that I believe that some body types are better suited for certain activities than others.  This does not mean that one could not train and develop aspects of their bodies to help them to perform better in activities that they are not best suited for, I believe that is possible, but the point remains that their God-given, God-gifted body type is best suited for some activities over others.  I believe that my body type is better suited for shorter distances than distance running.

So, the point that I am making is that I do not believe that I am designed nor best suited to be a distance runner, but regardless, I have decided to attempt... attempt to run 50 half marathons in 50 states in 50 months.  When I thought of it -- while I was running -- I am pretty sure my judgement was clouded -- I thought it was a unique thing to do.  As it turns out, not unique at all.  There are lots of crazy people and clubs dedicated to doing this very thing.  Crazy loons are everywhere.  One guy I saw on the internet ran 50 FULL marathons in 50 states in 50 DAYS.  WHAT?!?!?????  I do not think I will be attempting anything like that any time soon.

In the posts to follow, I will try to document some of my thoughts, training, difficulties, and maybe even post some of the medals, bling.  Hope you enjoy.

~Jeff