He's Baaa-aaack! Its the Return of The Partner In Crime With: Reunited!

A marathon?!?  26.2 miles?  A freaking marathon?!?!?

What the hell was I thinking?  I hate running.  I’ve never experienced a “runner’s high” though I’m pretty sure I’ve experienced a number of “runner’s lows”.  I was sure going a long way just to get my new BFF to visit me.

Once the initial shock wore off, I thought, “ok, I’ve got plenty of time…as long as I put in the training, I can do this.”

As a result of a policy change at work, I found myself with a crap-ton of vacation that I needed to burn before the end of April or lose it.  Determined not to lose any of it, I found myself scrambling to fit it all in.  I decided this was a perfect opportunity to take a solo vacation and visit some family and friends out east.  First stop (of course) would be to PA to spend the weekend with my marathon buddy and to meet the rest of her family for the first time.

Before my visit, the subject of tattoos somehow came up…initially as a post-race commemoration option.  While she already had been inked several times, I have never gone there, nor did I ever think I would.  Not that I was opposed to them…it just didn’t seem like something I would ever do.  What was I saying about never saying “never”? We then started chatting about getting me my first ink during my April trip.  It was at that point that I started to feel like I really wanted to do it.  The problem was that I didn’t know what design I wanted.  Oh, and did I mention that I kept my wife completely in the dark about this whole idea?

Fast-forward a little bit and crazy-runner-tattooed-chick tells me that she figured out what I should get for my first ink.  Her suggestion?  An ohm.  Initially I think she means the “Omega Ohm”, a symbol representing electrical resistance in my world.  Umm, I like my job as an engineer and all, but not that much!  Turns out she meant the “Sanskrit Ohm” (aka Om), given my recent foray into the world of yoga.  Brilliant!  I had a vague recollection of what it looked like, and one Google image search later, I decided I liked that idea a lot.

The visit was phenomenal.  I vow never to go 13 months without seeing the Duchess, much less another 13 years!  It was just pure awesome to be in the same room together after all that time.  Meeting the family was great too…they seemed to like me well enough and my grand scheme to make the girl child my future daughter-in-law was going well (a story for another day).

Sunday’s plans included a 5-mile training run.  Having gotten back into decent shape by practicing my hot yoga nearly every day through the winter, I felt I could do alright.  While performing far better than my failed training runs of the previous fall, I still got my ass kicked.  I’ll admit, I was somewhat worried how I was going to manage a full marathon in 6 months. 

The visit was capped off with our trip to the tattoo parlor.  I got my Om! (she got her 4th tat)  And I loved it!  And don't worry, I did ultimately get the spousal approval before my trip.  Breaking the news to my wife about the marathon, however, did not go according to plan and the way it went down threatened to rip a hole into the fabric of space and time...ok, not really, but it could have been really bad.  

...Stay tuned for the epic conclusion of my guest blog!  I mean, you don't have to...up to you.