I’ve entered the Melbourne Marathon.

I think I’m ready, and I certainly think it’s time. No more procrastination or indecision. Even better, I’ve got a terrific sponsor behind me, believing I can do it too. Incredible. But more about that later.

Let’s go back to motivation(s) first. Why a marathon? Why is it on my Living List?

There are several reasons, the major one being the prestige of the event itself, steeped in honour and history. I first learned the story in my Ancient History class in high school and was reminded of it in the chapter in Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running when he goes back to Greece to replicate that first journey of Pheidippides, a courier who delivered news of victory against the Persians. Who hasn’t asked themselves if they’re capable of a similar feat, before setting out to achieving such a distance (or more – if you’re an ironman/ironwoman or into ultrarunning, for example)?

With a few half marathons under my belt, I can say I have managed to cover half the distance, and there’s a curiosity to see how well I will do going past that, through training, first, and when covering the full course on the day. I want to see how well my body takes to training, test how fit and strong I can be.

A couple of weeks ago, during a personal training session (I go with Adam, we do a 2-on-1 with our trainer), Adam hopped off the leg press and G, our trainer, said to me bouncily “Okay, you can hop on now”.

“Um, sure, but you’ll need to take some weight off first.”

G looked at the leg press. “Adam just did 150kgs. I think you can too. Let’s see.”

My face probably looked like one of those terrified dog gifs that you see on the internet, simultaneously retreating while shaking their heads, and to be honest that’s how I felt. But I’m plucky, and thought, Well, why not?

And, to my amazement, I did it – barely, and with much more effort and grunting than my husband. But I did it. Those few reps over a couple of minutes boosted my confidence no end. Imagine how that feels on a bigger scale, after crossing a marathon finishing line!

Plus, I like running, which helps, of course. I was fast in high school over sprint distances, but I’m not fast at longer ones. My talent, if that’s what you can call it, is to keep a consistent pace. Once I’m in my groove, I tend to stay there, although I’m aware that if I want to run a sub 4:30 hr (the dream!), I won’t have many chances to slouch about.

To show my dedication, a snapshot from a few weeks ago – 12th April 2014.

That’s right, the next glass I’ll be raising will be in celebration after the run is over!

Another reason why I’ve chosen to do this, a big big one, is always to raise money for charity.

As ever, I have opened an Everyday Hero account to raise money for Motor Neuron Disease. This is because my father had Motor Neuron Disease and we lost him to it just four months after diagnosis. It’s a horrible condition and I’d like it gone forever.

Here is the donation page.

I’ve set the goal to be $2,000. Please, if you want to lend your support, even if it’s just a cup of coffee’s amount of change, I would truly appreciate it. I believe all donations are tax deductible if they’re over $2.

The Living List has been one of the best things I’ve ever added to this blog. Over the few years it’s been going, I’ve had feedback and emails from people who have been inspired by my list, as I was by Maggie Mason when I first saw hers. Readers have often put together something similar and I hope they’ve found it fulfilling. I can saw that mine has been a source of perspective at times; clarity in others.

Even better, quite marvelously, this time around, for this goal, I’ve got some help. Budget Rent a Car emailed me and asked if they could assist? As I’d already started preparing for this challenge, I wrote back and said oh boy yes and thank you thank you. My legs will be my transportation through the race, but you can be sure I’ll be choosing them next time I need to rent a car, just like I did last time I rented one, at the National Young Writers Festival. Imagine my surprise when I showed up thinking I was getting a baby Nissan and ended up with a very sporty (and fast!) VW Golf. Vrrooom.

Thank you Budget. This is going to be amazing.

I think the below picture sums up my feelings precisely. I’m expecting changes.

Photo: 2013 Melbourne Marathon by Chris Phutully, via Wikimedia Commons