thirty minutes

its just 30 minutes. thats what i kept telling myself as i stared at the confirmation button on wednesday night. i can do anything for 30 minutes.

let me backtrack a bit: i am not running the half marathon, the very same race i've been on the fence about running. i had a really, really good pr there last year. i didn't think i was grown up enough to accept the fact that this year was not going to be nearly as good. while i am a little bit sad that i won't get to feel the satisfaction of pinning on the seeded number i qualified for last year, i finally came to terms with the fact that i just had absolutley no desire to run the mini marathon in two weeks. it was a combination of the fact that i wasn't ready. and having that seeded number meant i could line up in the front, meaning there was a really good chance i'd get run over. i didn't want to run 13.1 miles. and oh yeah - i wasn't ready.

i realized i had about nine weeks to have fun before any 'official' training started for marathon number four. deciding not to run the mini was totally freeing. it was part of my 'just have fun plan' - which is really no plan at all, but i didn't see running 13.1 miles right now as fun. as soon as the decision was made, a mental weight had been lifted and i went out and had the best run i've had since the birmingham marathon. but marathon number four is not the race that had me at near-maximum heart rate as i finally hit the "confirm registration" button.

this is.

runner girl zanne signed up for a bike race. not that i am really ready for this either. i'm just out to have fun, shake things up a bit for myself and try something totally new. a thirty minute circuit race on the same challenging, hilly 3.1 mile loop that comprises miles three through six in the mini-marathon. the monday night skirt rides have been training workouts geared towards eventually trying out a race. we've been doing hill workouts, intervals, mock crits and learning how to corner. i went out again on wednesday for another training ride during which i got my ass kicked and remembered what it felt like to really hurt, and to push past it. its' been a long time since i've been there and it felt great - and as we rode the course at race pace, i thought: i can do this.

whether or not i can actually do it remains to be seen. what i do know is that i will roll up to the start. there's still a good chance i'll get run over. there's a good chance i'll throw up, or - my biggest fear: skid out on a turn and finally see what road rash is like. i'm not kidding when i say i have googled "what to do in a bike crash" (tuck!). there's a very good chance i will come in dead last. but isn't there a saying: 'dead last is better than did not start'? and its just thirty minutes, i can do anything for thirty minutes. right?

still. 30 minutes on a bike pales in comparison to announcing: hey! i signed up for iditarod or western states or american idol - those were way more exciting suggestions.