I'm still in shock and awe but... I'm in! I'm extremely excited and slightly scared but so thankful that my husband knows me so well.
I'm a big "list maker" - Type A, yellow-sticky-notes-everywhere, repetitive list maker. I have lists for work, for parenting, for shopping, for hobbies. I believe they may slightly amuse - and possibly from time to time annoy - Rich. But there's one list he's obviously paid attention to, and that is my "To Do in This Lifetime" list. In one shot, Rich has knocked two of those "To Dos" right off - and infused our already crazy busy lives with a 10 month adventure!
Rich speaks the truth when he says we have a habit of giving big and grand to each other (we believe life is short so live it well)... but this certainly tops anything we've done in the past. For our 30th birthdays, I received an all expense-paid shopping trip on Newbury Street in Boston and a romantic evening at the Ritz. For his 30th, I took him to Atlanta where I had arranged for a bunch of friends to meet us and we held a surprise birthday party for him at Turner Field and watched the Sox play the Braves. He has a glorious habit of buying me a "vacation present" every time we travel and for his 36th birthday I surprised him with a trip to San Francisco for the MLB All Star Game. You can see a pattern here...
But this Christmas morning when I opened the three boxes that he had creatively packaged (anagrams, books and an iPod were involved) to announce my gift, he surpassed all expectations. I am so grateful, so in shock and so ready to spend the year training! We've already received such nice comments on the blog that I am excited not only for the adventure but for the wonderful people I am sure we will meet along the way.
To kick it off I jumped on the treadmill today and ran five miles... stay tuned.
I'm in!
We are registered for the Dublin Marathon!
I completed the registration process for the Dublin Marathon on the ActiveEurope.com Web site! So now there is no turning back - it's time to start preparing for the trip and the race! This is going to be a great experience - I hope you like your Christmas present!
New Movie: Spirit of the Marathon
I just got an email from active.com about the premiere of the movie "Spirit of the Marathon". It looks like a pretty cool documentary.
The movie premieres in select theaters on Jan 24, 2008. For information about tickets, theaters, etc. visit fathomevents.com. For information about the movie itself, visit marathonmovie.com.
Follow us on Twitter
Just set up our twitter account - follow us @training4dublin. We'll be following other newbie and experienced marathon runners as well.
Marathon Training Sites
I came across a site called MarathonTraining.com today while searching for marathon related sites. It seems to have a decent set of "Marathon 101" advice. There are some good tips for how/what to prepare for out of town marathons. Also got a recommendation from someone who used one of Hal Higdon's training plans. His site - halhigdon.com.
Anyone else have any suggested plans, sites, books, guides, etc. they used to train?
Booked Hotel in Dublin!
I booked The Dylan Hotel in Dublin from Saturday thru Tuesday. This looks like a pretty cool hotel and it is getting great reviews on TripAdvisor.com as well as some funny random traveler photos.
We can always change the reservation once the full itinerary is locked down. I'm thinking we will not want to check out the same day of the marathon as I suspect we will want a bed close by :-)
Update on the Plan of Record
Okay, so here is my basic thought process for this adventure:
1. Register the both of us for the marathon
Status: Done! Woohoo!
2. Lock down the travel dates
Status: I think I have done this. The Marathon is on Monday, Oct 27 so our best bet is to fly Friday night - Oct 24 - which arrives in Dublin on Saturday morning. This gives us a few days to adjust to the time prior to Monday. I also think we should maximize the length of our trip so we should return on Sunday, Nov 2. Time works in our favor on the way back so we should be able to arrive at a decent hour. YES we will be tired the next work day, but I say it's worth it!
3. Buy airline tickets
Status: Per my prior post, Aer Lingus can only book 11 months in advance so this will have to wait until January.
4. Book a hotel in Dublin while there is still vacancy
Status: Done! See this post.
5. Let YOU plan the rest of the trip
Status: The fun part of this gift/adventure is for you to decide where we should go and what we should see when we're in Ireland. After all, it's been your dream to go there so you should decide what we should see. My only thoughts here are that we should start our trip in Dublin running the marathon so we can r-e-l-a-x for the rest of the trip and enjoy it (ie drink many pints).
6. Get my ass on a treadmill
Status: In progress. Once I realized that this was going to be your "gift", I also realized that I will need more prep time for the marathon than you will. That's why I started working out again recently. You will laugh at Christmas once you know about the trip and make the connection why I started working out before the holiday season was over. It's funny because you have asked me at least twice "Why don't you wait until AFTER Christmas and New Years to start exercising?" Well, now you know the answer.
Have to wait till Jan to buy airline tix
I really want Chris to plan out the places we should visit when we are in Ireland so for now, all I want to do is book our flights from Boston. I want to fly Aer Lingus because they have direct flights to either Shannon or Dublin but I can't seem to book that far in advance.
Yep, I just called them and they can only book 11 months in advance. So I will have to wait until Jan 2008 to book the tix. I guess I will have to mock up some fake tickets for the Christmas tree.
Dublin Marathon - Monday, Oct 27, 2008
So the Marathon is on a Monday in late October next year. It's kind of silly to be planning for this about 11 months in the future, but this isn't just a vacation to Ireland.
We've got a TON of work to do to get ourselves ready for this trip...ahem...for this marathon.
Neither one of us has run a marathon.
We both like to run for exercise but have become a bit lazy in the past 3-4 years. I think we peaked in 2004 when we ran consistently throughout the year. Work, kids, and life have made themselves convenient excuses lately but I know that this trip/adventure is just what we need to WAKE UP!
Holiday Conundrum
It was late November and I was trying to get an early start on Christmas shopping before the retail stores turned into warzones and the online stores all turned into www.out-of-stock.com.
Chris and I have a tradition of buying each other over the top presents at Christmas. Those who love the art of gift-giving would love some of the things we have given each other and *how* we gave them. Others may just think we are ostentatious - but that's another story for another time.
As I started thinking about gifts for my wife, I found myself in a rut. Every idea I came up with was pretty run of the mill and uninspiring. At my lowest point, I was actually looking at the Christmas list she put together for the rest of her family looking for ideas.
I don't know when it hit me (most likely during my 68 mile commute to work) but once I thought about it, I knew what the gift was, but I didn't know if it existed.
There are two things my wife often talks about doing - running a marathon and traveling to Ireland. So I went home took a shot on Google and searched on "Marathon Ireland" and there it was - Dublin Marathon 2008.
I freaked out - this was THE GIFT - all I had to do now is line up the details.
