Worse. Parade. Ever.

• What was I thinking?
• Will I ever learn?
• I am too old and too fat to do this, again.
• I really let the young uns have a turn.
• I would much rather sleep in on a cold Sunday morning.

It is around this time of year that people start pondering the Marathon.  Heck, it's only 232 days away.  That's six months and two seasons from now.  The Houston run has become such a big thing that there is a massive sign up to get one of the coveted slots for the roughly 25000 nut cases who enjoy running like a herd of wild buffalo set loose upon the dark streets of Houston on a cold January morning.  It's about this time I start thinking if I will give it another go on the hopes of improving my old time or if I should hang up my shooz.  All the aches and pains have faded into a dim memory, spring is full of promise, the weather's not gotten hot (yet).  Early registration for the Houston Marathon opened up two weeks ago.  Normally I would not pay this any attention as I was not qualified for early sign up.  The thing has gotten so big that they have initiated a lottery system a few years ago.  You sign up and your name goes into the lottery and you have a shot at being selected.  To get a guaranteed slot, there were a few conditions:

• Time qualifier - your last race time is under a certain time limit (full - 4:00, half 1:52).  As many times as I have done this run, I have yet to break the 2:00 mark
• Deferred from 2014
• Third Time's a Charm (been in the lottery for 3 times but have not been selected)
• Marathon Veteran - have run 10+ Marathons (sorry, halfs don't count) - sometimes referred to as legacy runners
• Select a Run for A Cause Charity (you volunteer to raise money for sponsored charities)

It was the last one that I have been doing for a few years.  First one I did was under the Cancer Society banner but the past few runs have been for the Epilepsy Foundation.  Was a bit more expensive to get in the door, but I figured it was for a good cause.  This year, I was pondering if I was really going to do it one more time but this time I was going to put my name into the lottery and let the running gods decide my fate.  My running has been completely off lately.  I just haven't had the time or motivation.  I've sort of lost my muse this year.  It is also at this time of the year I do the Father's Day 5k downtown.  That usually gives me a spiritual kick in the butt motivation to get back into the running groove.   

So, here I sit all fat, dumb and happy when I got a reminder the other day that early registration was ending.  Figuring I didn't qualify, I still reviewed the form and found a slight change to previous years.  One new qualifier they added for this year is:  

• 5+ Houston Marathon or Half Marathon Finishes: Runners who have completed 5 or more Houston Marathons or Houston Half Marathons 

5 or more?  Heck, I got that.  So, once again, thinking with my feet instead of my head, I have climbed on board for one more turn on the merry-go-round.  Of course, like any rash decision, I'm sure I will be questioning my resolve come December.  

Stupid is as stupid does...