Despite the timeliness, this isn’t about American Pharoah’s recent Triple Crown achievement.

It’s personal. And it’s going to be tough.

Seven years ago today, Jeff and I were returning home from our honeymoon, ready to settle into our new, combined household. I would return to working, writing and (most likely) running. I had upped the ante, and set a goal to move beyond half-marathons, running a full 26.2 marathon before I turned 40. It was June, and I was 39 — six months before those numbers clicked over to the big 4-0. Easy peasy. Or so I thought. Nothing could prepare us for the unexpected (but oh, so delightful!) news we’d receive the following month, in the form of a little, purple “+” on a home pregnancy test.

What the WHAT?!

Yes, we were going to be blessed with child. No, we weren’t expecting it. As those first few weeks led into the first month, it was clear that *this* pregnancy was going to be nothing like my others. With those, I felt tired, but pretty good overall. This time? Not so much. The nausea was overwhelming. I had to keep Extra Spearmint gum with me at ALL TIMES, because it was the only thing that could settle my queasy stomach. One Saturday, after lying in bed for most of the afternoon with a trash can parked next to me, I realized my goal was never going to be met. At least not without some kind of grace period worked in. I was OK with that for the time being. After Bobby was born, I did get back into running shorter races, and then moved back up to half-marathons. The last I ran was three years ago, and lately I’ve been feeling the urge — to put that goal back on the calendar and get moving. Literally.

Our fair city sponsors an annual running festival, the Fort4Fitness, which consists of 4-mile, 10K and half-marathon options. Or, if you’re a bit crazy, you may opt for the Double Play. Crazier still… the Triple Crown. In a wave of bold determination, have decided to go for the Triple Crown.

A 10K.

Followed by a half-marathon.

Followed by a 4-miler.

That’s 23.3 miles.

But there’s a method to my madness. The Triple Crown is merely a perk in the training schedule for running the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis on November 07.

Clearly, I have lost my mind.

And you, my small legion of readers, well, you’ve all got a front-row seat for what will undoubtedly be a comical effort over the next 4+ months. Let me be clear, though,… I have no grand illusions of transforming myself into a Kenyan, and taking not only my age group, but an overall first place finish. Oh, hell no. I’ll be satisfied to finish — and whether that’s running the whole way, a run/walk combo, or creating some kind of trot/walk/crawl system, I just want to cross the finish line and have someone put that medal around my neck. And then I’ll crack open a banana, smile and revel in the moment in which a goal has been achieved.

I plan to officially kick off my formal training around the 4th of July, but plan to use the next two weeks for prep. Stretch and move every day; clean up the diet/eat clean; hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Checking in on the blog will (I hope!) provide a level of accountability — even if it’s, like, three people reading. It’s still accountability.

Time to lace up…