When I was a little kid, around the age of 10 or so, I was at ski racing practice at Sunday River being blown away by the talent of the older racers. Desperately wanting to be half as talented as them some day, I asked my coach how I could ever get to that level or if it was even realistically possible ... "If you set a goal for yourself, and not only want to get to that goal but go to another level, you have to dig deep". Of course, at that time it didn't mean anything to me, but several years later I connect to that statement and always remember it. When things get tough, you have to find the strength within yourself to dig deep and get what you want.
I have a lot of interests, but three things that I love are skiing, running, and music. I was a successful cross country runner in high school, having placed well in several state meets. In college I was still running but wanted to dig deeper, find another challenge, and decided to run the Boston Marathon in 2006. After completing the Boston Marathon I signed up to run the Marine Corps Marathon in 2006 which I completed and was very happy with my performance. I was pleased with the way that I ran because I got up after falling on the 22nd mile and finished the race. That race was the last race I have ever run; I tripped on a rug/mat that was laying across the road and landed on the pavement with all of my body weight crashing down on my knee into the cement. I have not run consistently since then as I have a muscle hernia just above my left knee, and I am going to be having leg surgery in one month. In this blog I hope to be able to share my story as it unfolds from the perspective of a marathon runner, who hit rock bottom and was unable to run for over a year and a half, then back to my hopeful completion of a marathon in April of 2009 with all of the inevitable ups and downs that will come along the way. Time to dig deep, time to have surgery and start my trip on the long road back to the sport that I love!
