At this time last year I was nervously laughing at my friend Doug, who was trying to convince me to follow through on a promise to run the Vermont 50 with him. I had made that promise during a moment of idiocy, immediately regretting my words the moment they flew out of my mouth. There was simply no way he was going to convince me to run such a ridiculous distance.
However, as the date drew near, he turned the pressure up. In another moment of idiocy, I acquiesced, signing up for my first ultra-marathon. You can find the long story —>>>HERE<<<—, but the short story is after covering the 50 miles in a little over 11 hours, I immediately cursed Doug out, essentially saying I would never do something so stupid again…
…30 minutes later, I was thinking, “you know? if I actually trained for this thing, I think I could run this baby in a little over 9 hours.”
Yeah, I know…nutty.
So my plan this summer was to run long miles in anticipation of tackling the Vermont 50 again – this time, fully trained.
***
Sometimes, plans change. It turns out that the Boston Autism Speaks Walk is taking place on the same day as the Vermont 50. No matter I how fast I run, there’s no way I can be in two places at the same time. I weighed the decision for no more than a split second. The choice was and is clear – as bummed as I will be on September 30th, 2012 that I will not be running the Vermont 50, I will be walking proudly around the race track at Suffolk Downs, helping to make the world a better place for my baby and those like her.
In the end, it’s all about priorities, and what is more important to a parent than his or her children.
***
The Vermont 50 isn’t going anywhere (unless of course the Mayan Apocalypse occurs), but maybe my ultra-marathoning friends have a regional Fall 50-miler they could recommend? Maybe in October?
If you are not running the Boston 13.1 Marathon with Team Up! with Autism Speaks, please consider joining us on September 30th as a member of Team Umizoomi for the Walk (as soon as Jess gets the Team Page set up, I will post the link of the Run Luau Run Facebook Page).
Run Luau Run 
Great prioritizing and great post.
I feel exactly the same way….. “I had made that promise during a moment of idiocy, immediately regretting my words the moment they flew out of my mouth. There was simply no way he was going to convince me to run such a ridiculous distance.”…….about the 13.1 miles at Suffolk Downs – since I have never run before! But I am inspired by you and look forward to raising more than just awareness for my boys and your Brooke! This is my version of an ultra-marathon even tho it is only 1/2. I’m glad we will be on the same course!