I over-complicate everything. 
Take running for example. In January 2009, I was in Arizona for my grandfather’s birthday and I went to watch my sister and our friend Mandi run in the Rock ‘N Roll half-marathon in Tempe.  Seeing the race atmosphere and the wide variety of runners, I was completely inspired. Later that spring I told Matt, “I know I’m insane, but I think I want to run a half-marathon.”

Because he has mad-people skills and over a decade of married experience dealing with me, he cheered me on and declined to remind me that I couldn’t even run a mile.

I bought some shoes on Ebay (I actually made my sister gasp audibly when I told her that). I went up to the track by our house. I ran one length then walked the rest of the mile. That was September. Each week, I just went out and ran/walked the distance that the training grid listed. I ran my first half-marathon in Vegas four months later on December 4, 2009 in 2:37.

I had no fancy water pack or bottles, no gear belt, no specialized shoes or insoles, no anti-chafing gel, no energy packets, no compression socks, no recovery sandals, and no idea what I was doing. It was simple.

Fast-forward. Now, with five half-marathons under my belt, I have all the equipment listed above, I commandeered my husband’s Garmin, and I subscribed to Runner’s World magazine, where I read more information about running in one month than I could probably use in an entire decade.

You know what’s interesting? For all the information overkill and rad gear, I am not significantly faster. The only way for me to get faster is to do what I did training for that first race—print out a training grid built for increasing speed, get up, and RUN what’s on the grid for the day.

Blah. Sometimes I over-complicate things because the SIMPLE truth is hard. Do you ever do that?

In honor of the VB Half-marathon which I am running on Sunday, I bring you this picture from downtown during last year’s race. It makes me laugh. I will need that reminder on mile 10, especially if there are no construction signs smiling at me.