On Pivoting

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I have finally decided that I'm going to run my first marathon in 2024. And yes, I'm going to add the caveat of first standalone marathon, as I have technically schmecnically run four marathons at the end of all my Ironmans.

Years ago, I said the only marathon I really wanted to run was Boston. While I still would love and adore Boston, I realistically know that the odds of qualifying - for me - are ... not good. And yeah, I could try for a charity slot, but I loathe asking people for money, so there's also that.

But obviously, things change. Last year, while virtually cheering on friends and family at the NYC Marathon ... I decided that you know what? Maybe it's time. I haven't had a big, scary goal - one that truly does scare me - in a while and a standalone marathon does scare me.

I crowd-sourced some and got a lot of different responses, but the one that came up a bit more than others and did make the most sense - particularly given the family that runs it (or tries to run it) every year - was the Chicago Marathon.

So, as soon as the lottery opened up this year, I entered it. And yesterday was the day we would find out if our applications were successful.

I ... was not.

I knew this was a possibility. I could in theory take this as a sign that, well, running a marathon isn't for me. However, I also decided on two backup options: the St. George Marathon and the Tucson Marathon.

St. George takes place in early October - usually the week of or before Chicago (week before in 2024) and Tucson in early December (it's actually this weekend).

Both have their perks.

St. George: driving distance, smaller, has won many awards for being well-organized, downhill but not crazily so, can easily sneak down to Vegas after as a reward.

Tucson: technically driving distance, obviously it's in cactusville and we all know how much I love Tucson, also downhill (a little more ridiculous though), I know some people locally.

In looking over what I'm hoping to do for the rest of next year, though, I think ultimately, St. George makes the most sense. So, when registration opens up in April, I'll be on my computer ready to sign up.

(And if I somehow miss out on that? Well, Tucson was still open as of yesterday, so I've got that as a backup to the backup plan.