(Originally published November 17, 2013)

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Last Sunday (11/10/13) I started training for a 50-mile run in June 2014 (in D.C.).

“That’s crazy!” you say? Well, yes, it is. It’s totally effing batshit insane and I’m doing it!

Discussion came up in Mexico about it because my friend Noreen turns 50 in 2014 and chose this 50-mile run to commemorate the milestone. Immediately Amy jumped on board, and not long behind her Katie put her name into the hat. I was only convinced after Noreen explained that she’ll be doing it by running 20 minutes, walking 5; running 20, walking 5…Sounds benign, right? Until you multiply that by 12 hours!

Amy, Katie, and I live in the same town so we’ll be able to train together. Noreen is in D.C., so we’ll be sharing inspiration with her via Facebook and email.

Last Sunday I ran about 3 miles with Amy and Katie. It was actually really fun because we were talking the whole time. Then I got home and noticed that my entire body had seized up. It was like being in a body cast. This tightness led to me injuring my lower back at the grocery store (while carrying/dropping/juggling three gallon bottles of water). Awesome. And my left knee was locked up from the traumatic injury it sustained when I jumped into a body of water in Mexico and hit my knee on a boulder at the bottom (imagine hitting your funny bone and then multiply that by 10).

So I spent Monday night at Lake Steam Baths, soaking in the hot tub, sweating in the steam rooms, and profusely thanking Patti-the-massage-therapist for releasing me from my body cast. This intervention allowed me to recover full functioning in my legs, but by back was still tweaking. For most of last week it took 20 seconds to stand fully upright after being in a seated position. I looked like I was 80 and I was honestly scared for my back.

The good news is that my back is feeling better by the day (it’s about 90% recovered right now) and I’ve hired a coach to help me successfully reach the goal of running 50 miles by June.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about my experience with the coach and how it illuminated for me why my first attempt at running almost totally crippled me.