Challenge!

I've been thinking lately that my life is a little light in the challenge department. And without challenge there can be no triumph. Or growth! So I've decided to get on board with Suziemusi's Fabulous Campaign and choose some mountains to climb.

Short-Term Challenge: I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month. This basically entails cranking out 50,000 words of marginally coherent fiction in the space of 30 days. That's about 175 pages, so yes, it's as crazy as it sounds. Fortunately, the emphasis is on quantity, not quality. I've convinced my sister to join me on this mad adventure, because she's a voracious reader and a great writer, and hey, the baby can change her own diapers for a month (right, Banana?).

Long-Term Challenge: A friend and former co-worker of mine spent months training for this year's Nike Women's Marathon. But shortly before the race, she and her husband received the happy news that they were expecting, so suddenly running 26.2 miles wasn't such a good idea. But she has vowed to run in 2007, as kind of a post-baby victory lap.

And in a moment of insanity or clarity, I told her I would run with her.

Never mind the fact that I'm not actually a runner. I can become one! I already have to run for my BART shuttle most mornings, so that's a start. Next year's race is in San Francisco on October 21, 2007. Is it even possible to go from couch potato to marathoner in the space of a year? I have no idea, but I'm sure as hell gonna try. So, if you see a sad-looking girl shuffling around Lake Merritt some Saturday morning, asthma inhaler in hand, don't laugh. Do stand by with your cell phone, so that you can summon emergency medical personnel to the scene.

The primary goal: make it to the finish line (where there will apparently be a handsome man in a tuxedo, handing out commemorative Tiffany necklaces to the finishers. This sounds like a fable that race officials tell the ladies to keep 'em moving, but it's true.)

The extra-credit goal: Match or beat Oprah's 1994 Washington marathon time of 4:29:20.

Cue "Chariots of Fire" theme...