I really want to see if I've got what it takes...

Tonight, as I was leaving work, I was talking with Brian. He is a friend of mine I work with at Prudential who has encouraged me in my running goals this year. We were talking about me running not only one marathon, but two, in October and December. One thing that I told him was this: "I really want to see if I've got what it takes." Basically, I really want to see if I can do this!

It's going to be a long road. I have 17.5 weeks to go until I run on Sunday, October 7th, in Chicago. In order to run 26.2 miles on that date, I will have to log 603 miles before then. Now do you see why I'm asking that question? It's not just the marathon... it's ALL the miles before the finish line!

One of my favorite HBO series of all time is "From the Earth to the Moon." This 12 episode box set covers the rise of the Apollo space program, and how amazing it was for the U.S. to send men to the moon. If you have never seen it, I highly recommend it - especially if you like history, space, or just good entertainment.

One of the major influences throughout the series (and the space program in general) was a speech President John F. Kennedy delivered. In it, he has a quote:

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

That resonates with me. Especially as I'm embarking on the toughest part of my training. I'm choosing to do this... to run a marathon... to go through the 603 miles... not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Yes, I want to see if I've got "The Right Stuff!" (Ok, bad pun).

Tonight I ran 7. It wasn't glorious. It certainly wasn't fun. But it was part of my schedule. And tomorrow night? Well, tomorrow night I'll run 5... and just keep going on and on throughout this journey.