On with it....
I'll never forget the day I went to watch my mom run one of her countless Twin Cities Marathons, because that Fall day in..oh..2002 is the reason I am officially addicted to running marathons. Jumping into the sea of shuffling, exhausted, barely coherent runners right around Mile 24, and running a few blocks with my mom was one of the most inspiring moments I can remember. 26.2 miles to RUN...at once! The feat seemed overwhelming at the time, which is why I tabled the idea for a handful of years, until my goal-oriented trait shined through and it was time!
I cannot go on without partially revealing some of the logic behind my decision to try a marathon. There are many goals one can work toward, many stars to shoot for. Some are realistically out of reach or unattainable, and while I've always been a strong advocate for 'going for the gold', nobody enjoys getting those denial letters from prospective schools or jobs, or finding out they didn't make the team. Trust me, I've experienced all of the above and that hasn't stopped me. Back to the point at hand--a marathon IS a realistic goal for many people, it's the training that's the hard part! So it was that logic, and the hefty registration fee that I knew I wouldn't give up without a fight, were the motivation I needed to give it the good ol' college try.
I have to admit that I do believe my experience training for my 1st marathon was through rose-colored glasses....and perfect conditions. A combination that I, unfortunately, will never see again! I was living in California at the time, working at a weight-loss camp; perfect weather EVERYDAY, paired with constant exercise made it feel effortless. The marathon itself back in Minneapolis was far from effortless, and although I was able to cross the finish line with a smile on my face and my mom at my side (!!), my plan was to save that $110 the following year and buy a delicious latte to drink from the sidelines.
Now, a year is a long time. 365 days. 52 weeks. Ample time to not only bury and repress my memories and plans of not doing another marathon ever again, but somehow sneak in a new goal! Run a marathon in a different city! It's amazing what I can talk myself into. The Chicago marathon it was, and I must admit, it was definitely a different experience. Running with 45,000 people, through downtown streets so packed you'd be convinced that the entire city was there, is an adrenaline rush that cannot be described, only experienced. The upside: you have constant support for 26.2 miles. C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T. The downside: there isn't a break in the sea of people long enough to 'justify' walking. I'm sure fellow runners would concur that we squeeze in those walking breaks when the least amount of people are there to witness it...as if we're trying to prove something more than just running a marathon! That was my downfall though. I succombed to the pressure of having hundreds of thousands of complete strangers see me walk, and I hit the Great Wall of China at Mile 21. My 20 minutes sitting on the ground outside of a porta potty debating whether that was going to be my final moment as a living and breathing being, luckily passed and I was able to s l o w l y make my way across the finish line. Now, if there were ever an 'a-ha' moment where I realized and decided that full marathons just weren't for me, THAT would've been it. Alas, it was more of a fleeting thought, followed up by the greatest idea ever: to CONQUER the Chicago Marathon 2010 and show everyone who's boss!
So. Between that moment, and the present, I have finished my 2nd Chicago marathon (sans the porta-potty detour) and have accepted my marathon addiction.
Until life gets too busy to carve out a few hours every weekend to run, or I start caring more about making it to Happy Hour than getting in 6 miles on a random weeknight, having that goal, that event to look forward to every year, and bring meaning to my workouts is something I won't be giving up without a fight.
As long as my near future doesn't consist of weekly physical therapy recovering from knee surgery, or planters fasciitis, a couple of the marathons I see on the horizon include New York marathon, London marathon, and at least one weaving somewhere through California. Those should be able to feed the addiction for the time being... 
