Saturday, June 19, 2010

She's a Maniac, Maniac!

I have a little confession to make.

The "MM" I wrote on my hand during the Minneapolis Marathon didn't completely stand for "Minneapolis Marathon."
It also stood for "Marathon Maniacs" -- a fanatical group of crazy runners that, upon reading their philosophies on running and life, I knew I had to be a part of. All I had to do was run a couple of marathons to join.

A handful of bloggers I have been following for years are Maniacs and one other became a Maniac during the time I have followed her. The more races I ran around the Twin Cities, the more bright yellow Maniac singlets I saw on the courses ... and the more I wanted to join that insane group.

So when I set my New Year's goals in late 2009, I included this on the list:

1. Get sponsored by Brooks.
2. Run a marathon. Addendum: No, don't run a marathon: Join the Marathon Maniacs!
3., 4., and 5. A few other personal things that aren't worth sharing here.

The very basic "Bronze" level of joining the Maniacs:
  • 2 marathons within a 16-day time frame, OR
  • 3 marathons within a 90-day time frame
The Dean-Karnases level of the Maniacs, "Titanium" criteria (yes, people do accomplish this every year):
  • 52 marathons or more within 365 days, OR
  • 30 marathons in 30 U.S. states, countries, or Canadian provinces (any combination) within 365 days, OR
  • 20 countries within 365 days
The 10 levels of the Maniacs run the gamut, too, and the only shot I stood at joining was doing 2 marathons in 2 weeks. When I registered for the Minneapolis Marathon, I signed the waiver with full awareness that Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota was 13 days later -- and I registered for that race at the same time. And then I went into training and recovery with 100% focus, care, seriousness, and honesty with my body, knowing that I was going to do something with a lot of potential hazard on my health.

So, this weekend I checked off another 2010 goal: I joined the Marathon Maniacs by running 2 marathons in 13 days.**
Coming soon: Grandma's Marathon race recap!

**Come on, you didn't think I'd really give up 18 weeks of my life to train for one 26.2-mile race, did you? The only way I could justify running and cross training that much was to at least do two. We aren't called Maniacs for nothing!


10 comments:

  1. What the...?!?!

    OMG!!!

    You little sneak!!!

    That's freakin' awesome!!! Crazy as hell and FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

    I cannot WAIT to read the recap!

    Your poor toe...LOL

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  2. You are crazy!! And badass! I can't wait to hear how this one went. Your ability to do two with so little recovery time gives me more confidence in my ability to do one. Haha.

    I can't believe you had the guts to sign up for both at the same time, before you even knew how the first one would go!!

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  3. You are awesome (..and sneaky!) - cannot wait to read your race report!

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  4. Hi A,
    I am still in awe that I got to see you again! There are other bloggers out there that I did not get a chance to catch up with! What are the chances? It was meant to be:) I did get to see you finish and you looked fantastic! I will e-mail you the picture I took of you in a few hours:)

    Congrats to you....you are a running maniac:)

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  5. OMG, that's so awesome and amazing and completely not average!! LOL! Congrats on your Maniac status - I can't wait to read your race report!

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  6. I am a fellow Minnesota Runner/Blogger. Just read about you on Julie's blog : )

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  7. That’s really great! Well done for becoming a maniac!

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  8. Wow! You are a maniac! That is awesome...two marathons in 13 days!

    I also am a fellow Mpls girl and I was up at Grandma's volunteering at the finish line handing out medals.

    Can't wait to read your recap of the race!

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  9. I really enjoyed reading your race reports and I love your attitude. I didn't even know there were 20 countries until I became a Maniac (in fact, I think there are like more than 30 - lol).

    Welcome to the club!!

    All the best,

    Ron

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  10. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    WAY TO AWESOME! I dream of this one day.. Someday... I too hope to be a MM!

    So awesome awesome posome! I can't get over it! Can't wait to read your recap!

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