I'm committing

One of my favorite comedians is Eddie Izzard (this different color means it is a link - click here to see what I am talking about). He literally brings tears to my eyes with his monologues. As my husband can attest, I never get tired of watching recordings of his shows. But I have never thought of him as someone to emulate or look to for inspiration. Yes, he is exceptionally witty. But other than that he is just another performer, albeit a brilliant one who dresses in women's clothing. Until one day I was surfing for a clip of one of my favorite Eddie Izzard segments to show my husband when I came across a video blog of something extraordinary. In 2009 Eddie was approached by Sport Relief to complete a sporting challenge in support of charity. Eddie decided he was going to run 43 marathons in seven weeks. He did six marathons a week with one day of rest.  He ran around the entire UK - 1100 miles. There is one particularly grueling day where he runs one of the marathons in a downpour of rain and you can practically feel the rain sloshing in his running shoes. If that isn't amazing by itself you need to check out the video blog on youtube as he prepares to embark on his journey. Eddie is not a born runner and he certainly doesn't look like one either. When he decided to do this he was 47. In the video blog he expresses doubt about his ability to complete his commitment. And he realizes it will be hard. That it will suck. And that he might not make it. But he wants to do it. He even says *I want to do this but I don't know if I can*. So Eddie, you have become my unlikely hero. My new role model for running. My inspiration. You see, I signed up to run the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th. It will be my first marathon and I have doubts. Lots of doubts. I am so chock full of doubts that I don't even say *I am running a marathon in October* but instead hem and haw and hedge with statements like *I am thinking about running....*. A 40 year old woman in moderately okay shape and two young children has no business taking on this kind of commitment. But it's time to get off the fence and commit openly. With this post I am declaring that I will run the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th, 2011. I will spend the next five months training. It will be hard. And it will suck. And I might not make it. But I want to do it. And it's only one marathon. Not 43.