Signs Point to Yes?!

I've had kind of a crazy whirlwind afternoon that I never would have anticipated this morning. Long story short...I might be running my first marathon this year. Read on for the longer version...

People often ask me when I am going to run a marathon. I tell them I have no plans to do so, I'm not even sure it's on my bucket list. That I don't have the time to train for it, maybe when Freddy is older I'll think about it. And I believed that. I had no twinges or doubts when I said it. My co-workers reminded me that I just said this yesterday when we were taking a prospective colleague out to lunch.

Then, today, the stars aligned to show me a path I didn't even know I wanted to be on. It was kismet. Here is what happened:

• Our staff meeting ended a few minutes early, and I was extra hungry, so I got my salad out of the fridge and took a mental break to read Running Lonely's Imaginary Tour of Runner's World (you should go read this after finishing my blog post - it's really, really good).
• Not only was the blog post good, but the comments were exciting! Bart Yasso had seen the post and wanted to invite Running Lonely (aka Marsden) to visit the Runner's World Campus! I headed over to twitter to send Marsden a congratulatory message.
• I sent the message and then noticed this tweet from Marsden:

• I glanced at the clock - it was 12:00 exactly - registration had just opened! Like a pavlovian dog, I clicked the link.
• What happened next is kind of a blur. I checked the date of the race, confirmed that 17.75k is 11 miles and in-line with my Cherry Blossom training, and had a flash of  "I really want to do this!" that seemed genuine rather than pavlovian. 
• I started filling out forms and clicking continue, knowing I was unlikely to get in and it would sell out almost immediately. I had flashbacks to how impossible it was to register Rick for MCM in 2013. And yet, it was smooth, and quick, and by 12:04 I had my confirmation email. By 12:08 it was sold out.
• And then the reality started to set in for me - finishing the MCM 17.75 gives you guaranteed entry to the 40th Marine Corps Marathon on October 25, 2015! How do you pass that up?!

I'm still thinking about it, weighing the possibility in my mind. And for the first time, I'm really, seriously considering it. And thinking that maybe it is on my bucket list after all. On my commute home I was reading the new issue of Runner's World on my iPad and I saw this:

Maybe today really is someday. Maybe all signs do point to yes.