Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Ten Feet Off of Beale

I've been anticipating this post for a long time. Long before I ever got hurt. It's finally time to make the proclamation and change the title of this blog.

I'm going to Memphis, God willing, to run the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. A year ago Joe and I had talked of keeping our annual early December tradition alive. This will be year three. Tecemseh (IN) in 2006, Huntsville (AL) in 2007, now Memphis (TN) in 2008. (and trust me I've already scouted out possibilities for 2009.)

I've mentioned the plan, the physical therapy, the orthotics; now its time to draw the line in the sand. Thanks to my uber supportive wife. Memphis is on the books. That was my birthday present a few weeks back. Many probably already suspected it was.

Lisa is so supportive of my goal to run 50 states. She probably wants it for me as much as I want it for myself. I've learned to be careful what I mention around her. Give her an inkling of an idea, be it a trip, a party, whatever, and in no time flat she's made all the necessary arrangements. She sent in my registration, booked my hotel and made my flight reservations. All I have to do is show up. And run.

I'm going to stick with my low mileage plan to have the highest assurance possible of getting to the starting line. So this time around there won't be any speedwork, not that there ever was much, and there won't be many sub 8:00 miles, but it will sure be sweet crossing that finish line in Memphis.

How does "Twelve Down - Training for Tennessee" sound?

Then I'm running in Memphis;
Was running with my feet ten feet off of Beale.
Running in Memphis.
But do I really feel the way I feel?


* a little creative license taken

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Good news, Darrell! You're lucky to have a wonderful wife as well. I would be dropping city names non-stop :)

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to seeing you in Memphis...only 128 days!

Wes said...

LOL... I'm hoping to be there! Working on it with The Bug... Whaddya think about 50 triathlons in fifty states? I'll be up to five after this weekend ;-)

Anne said...

What an awesome present -- and vote of confidence in you. I like the reworked title suggestion too.

Donald said...

All right then - way to get back on the horse. Good luck, Darrell.

David said...

Things are looking up. Lisa is a keeper, for sure. Train up smartly and you'll be licking rib sauce off yout fingers in no time.

Joe said...

Hey, hey, we go public!! Will be super. I find myself thinking a lot about that race already. As quuickly as July passed, we'll be there in no time.

This is wierd...but we both think a lot alike...I'm penciling in 2009 races already too. Email me with your thoughts on the December target!!!

Lisa is a gem! A very giving person!!

Joe said...

Oh, and a great musical reference!! It works!!!

Gotta check the couse map...do we run on Beale??

Sarah said...

Woohoo! : )

Pat said...

good luck in Memphis. Don't forget to visit graceland.

yumke said...

Sounds like a good title to me

Rae said...

Woo hoo!! You'll enjoy Memphis, the food afterwards is AWESOME!!! The course is fun and it's for SUCH a great cause.