2016: Year of Firsts

The first time doing something brings with it both trepidation and excitement; a mix of "what was I thinking?!" combined with "this is going to be awesome!!!"  Well, it would seem these emotions would play havoc with me twice this year!

Back in January, I made the resolution this year that I would run my first marathon.  While the farthest I had ever run was 13.1, something inside me craved for pushing the limits of what I thought I could accomplish.  I thus began the process of scouring the Internet for a 26.2 race that was not too far away and would be situated at the end of summer.  After both discovering and rejecting several options due to various conflicts, I finally committed on the Akron Marathon - woohoo!  While I am definitely nervous for how things will go, I've found a great training plan (courtesy of the Chicago Marathon/Nike+) that should get me to the finish line in one piece.  This adventure gets underway May 23rd!

January was a monumental month for another reason starting the process of my second "first."  Though the whole world knew about my marathon goal, only my wife and I were aware of another first for our lives.  On September 8th, I will be a first-time dad!  Parenting is going to bring with it a whole new dynamic to life, but I'm super excited for it.  I am sure that, like running, there will be some things I have no control over, but I'm going to do my best to enjoy the sights and sounds along the way.  To top it all off, since my child was already on the move during the ultrasounds, I'm thinking she's going to be a runner as well!

In the words of Barney Stinson, "This year is going to be LEGEN - wait for it - DARY!"  I have a feeling my life will never be the same, and I am totally cool with that.

Happy Running!

Sean