In November of 2014 I will be toeing the line (not literally of course) for the New York City Marathon!  So I have already had some of the "I told you so" comments from people, so keep them coming I guess.   Let me explain my rationale first.

I was informed by some Dr's (silly people "practicing" medicine, thanks for the quote Jowder!) that it would be in my best interest to stop running the full marathons as my body was not going to hold up to the pounding.  I have early stages of osteoarthritis in my pelvis and hips that were found by radiologists looking over some x-rays I had to check on some non-related things that are fine now.  They were questioning if the x-rays were mixed up from someone in his 40's or 50's.  Not a good sign.  They also said that I should be in pain all of the time, especially while running.  That was not the case at all.  So, they said to keep running while I can do so without pain.  That was why I stopping doing marathons, and to be honest, I do not particularly care for the longer distances that keep me from "dropping the hammer" and flying.  I love to do that!  So, fast forward to this year's Boston Marathon.  With the events of 2013, I wanted to be a part of this year's event but did not want to go through the winter training to run it.  I decided to volunteer instead and watch from the sidelines.  I volunteered the Friday before at the expo, amazing experience, and cheered from the area around mile 24 front and center on the barricade.  The elites came by, old friends, and even an old track rival.  That was all so inspiring I began to think about lacing up for the challenge of the marathon distance once more.  This time, however, I wanted to have more meaning behind it than just me.  I wanted to give back more than blood, sweat, and tears.  That brings this narrative to the Christopher Reeve Foundation and Team Reeve that accepted my application to join them for the NYC Marathon.  I have set a goal of raising $4000 to go towards their research.  I will explain more about that later on.  I wanted to just add that to my explanation as to why I am doing this.  My running goal is going to be to break 2:50 (about a 6:30 pace).  My current PR from Philly in 2011 is 2:57:37.  Not an easy task to do this, but why would I want this to be easy.

So there you have it.  My blog is back up and running (much pun intended!), and I will be having a lot to say in the coming months.  For now, the date is set, I am registered, and I am putting the finishing touches on my 18 week, almost 900 mile, training program.  More on that to come.  For now...

I'm BACK!  :-)