So far my promise for more frequent updates has been about as successful as a promise to make US politics more transparent.

Regardless, my inspiration for any sort of well thought out, opinion based post, has been buried beneath a layer of anxiety, excitement, and mostly insanity.

This Sunday I will be attempting to run my first ever marathon.

On the scale of well planned out activities, this falls closer to invading Iraq than it does The Marshall Plan.  I know running a marathon isn’t some sort of implausible feat, attainable only for the most elite of athletes (that’s what the Iron Man is for).  If an overweight, 65 year old guy can run 26.2 miles, anyone can do it.  With the proper training regimen, you can prepare a human body for a 4-5 hour run without too many problems.  Usually, such a program calls for approximately six months of preparation.  About six weeks ago, amidst a relatively large life transition period, I impulsively signed up for the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon.  It was no more than three seconds after I clicked the “confirmation” button before I felt my lungs and stomach sink into my colon and all of the blood immediately flee my face.

In the span of the last 5.5 weeks of training, I’ve taken a couple of layers of skin off my elbow and knees after tripping over nothing, combated chronic dizziness for a 2 week span, collapsed due to exhaustion and dehydration after a 17 mile run, and have accumlated more blisters on my feet than the I have on the rest of my body in the entire span of my life.  I suppose that’s what I get for thinking I can beat science.  Luckily, I’m at the point where my only requirements are sleep, inactivity, Gatorade, and pasta (all of which I consider myself an expert at).  I have a feeling once Saturday hits, Peptol Bismol will find its way into the mix.

During the race this Sunday (race might be too competitive of a word), I will be providing semi-frequent pain updates via Twitter.  My rationale for this is to make a public diary as I begin to lose consciousness and the ability to communicate in coherent English.  Should be fun.  The run starts at 6:30 PST which projects my finish around 2011 +/- a few hours.  A normal human being should be waking up around the time my left knee is scheduled to explode…

If you don’t already, you can follow me on Twitter here.  Also, the widget box to the right (—->) provides my most recent updates.

I’d advise you to purchase stock in Proctor and Gamble (makers of Peptol Bismol) ASAP.  Nervousness ensues.