A Reply

Yes, yes, Amy, I am quite disciplined and serious about my running. You are so very right. I always find a plan and follow it exactly. Wait. What???

Are you kidding? Are we talking about the same person?

Sure, I like to find new and exciting plans, but um...I'm not always so great at following through. I'd say that 1/2 of my running is done in my head. But that totally counts, right?

But let's first address the topic of why we do things the way we do them.
I don't think my being the oldest of four has too much to do with my satisfaction of structure and organization.

And boy do I love organization.
I love lists, files, dividers, plans, schedules and cleanliness.
I want an organized house, office, car and brain. I want an organized life.

Don't get me wrong, though. I also love spontaneity. I'm afraid I'm giving you an impression of a very boring individual, but NO!

I'm not boring at all!!! I promise! (you believe me, right?)

I actually love to randomly take a trip or do things at the spur of the moment! I just like to research things and read up on stuff before making the jump....I figure that will save me time and money down the road while saving myself from potential frustration. Like I always research and compare large ticket items before I buy them. It's just the smart thing to do.

Why am I this way? Well I never took psychology, but I'm guessing its because I am my father's daughter. Yep....I'm just like Wayne. (By the way...I don't really call my dad by his first name...but you're not allowed to call him dad unless your name is Spencer, Logan or Clara). Let me introduce you to Wayne:

Dad can solve any problem! He has all the tools!
"Dad, can you untangle this tiny chain necklace for me?" Sure he can! He'll just get out a needle and some reading glasses!

"Dad, can you help me with this school project?" Of course! And out comes the straight edge razor, spray glue and a ruler. (These three things were the holy grail of school projects in my house).

"Dad, can you help me balance my checkbook?" Ok actually, these words never, ever came out of my mouth. It was more like, "Get your checkbook. We're going to balance it." Ugh. Grumble. Groan.

Dad makes lists, he calculates, he files and he always draws straight lines. Maybe that's the engineer in him, I don't know.

He likes to be organized and informed and he taught me the importance of doing research. I could tell you a story about how he made me create a spreadsheet of all the private, liberal arts colleges within a 500 mile radius of my house when I was a senior in high school, but I'll save that for another day. Amy is still mad about that anyway because I always had to stay in and work on that instead of going out with her.

So yes, I do like to have a plan. I figure, there are people out there (like Hal Higdon) who do this for a living. They have plans that have been proven. They must know what they are talking about. If it is going to help me to do my best, then I will listen.

But back to the original problem...I have good intentions, but it doesn't always work out like it should. Like sometimes I want to take three off days in a row. So what. Big deal!
Well apparently it is a big deal. That's kind of a No No when you are training for a marathon.
But hey, I'm working on it!

So come January 1st, Amy and I will both start Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Plan. We hope that doing the same program this time around will help to motivate us even more.

Look out Eugene, here we come!