GOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!

     All it took was Spain to destroy Italy in the Eurocup final 4-nil for me realize I haven't had a goal in awhile. The commentator made sure of that. Four times in 90+ minutes he yelled at me to find a "GOOOOAAAALLL". Or maybe he was just really excited for Spain. Sure, I still need to find a job, maybe a few hobbies to pass some time, but I don't have a solid "this is what I strive for" kind of goal. I make an awful lot of attempts at things; cook new foods, painting Super Mario characters with oil paints, jam on my guitars, but there's no more competition in my life, which, for an ex-all-star high school athlete (that I like to imagine myself as being), it can make things kind of boring.
     I played basketball and tennis growing up, having spurts of hatred for either or both sports, then realizing they were something I loved and would get back into them.  They were the two things in my life I could really be cocky about and follow through. I don't often brag about much, but when it came to the basketball court, I could tell you I was good and shot like a man and then prove it. And I don't think it was because I was good at basketball, I think it was because I was so competitive. I loved beating people, not physically of course (maybe throw a bow sometimes), but via jump shots, layups, free throws. It didn't matter what we were doing, so long as I beat you.
     In recent years I've realized I'm not that great at board games. I've lost Monopoly, Battleship, Yahtzee, and Apples to Apples the past few times I've played, and only my sisters and my boyfriend truly realize how little fun it is for me to lose. I'm a firm believer that most losses can be leveled with a good 30 minutes of silent treatment or a hard 4 minutes of complaining about the rules to either cry "Muligan!" and get another turn, or give the other person the opportunity to apologize for winning.
     So, here I am, a recent 26 year old realizing my chances of playing competitive sports is dwindling and my forever doomed fate of losing and complaining about board games is upon me.
     I can accept this fate. I'm alright with being the loser of Life (pun!). But that still doesn't satisfy my inner athlete (I say inner, because I may have gained a few pounds the past month and you have to poke my belly pretty hard to find any ounce of muscle).
     I can't think of a good transition, so let's talk about my older sister Savannah. From a distance, she's the quiet one of the 3 of us sisters. But if you watch old home videos, she's obviously the loudest and sought all kinds of attention during our theatrical performances in our living room and never aloud me, who played the family dog in many of our plays, a chance to even bark. And she did it again. She got well-deserved attention the past few weeks for the build up of her first half-marathon. She ran the Seattle Rock-N-Roll half, which, from what she told me, sounds like I'd get distracted at every mile and try to stop and dance to all the live music. Still, she did something all older siblings strive to do and that's to be the first to do something.
     And like the good older sister she is, she set the standard and invited anyone who wants to give it a try to run the half-marathon with her next year. What a coincidence! An open invitation to train for a half-marathon just as the Eurocup commentator was yelling at me! Gee, this blog must have a purpose!
     I wanted to have some sort of televised announcement comparable to when Lebron left the Cavs a few years ago, but ESPN was airing Sportscenter continuously for 4 hours today, so they didn't have any air time for me. So, here's my attempt at a goal. I've been running nearly everyday for the past 2 weeks, and I think it's high time I participate in some sort of K race. I no longer live in Kansas City, so all those cool 5K's and 10K's I had heard about aren't going to be worth driving 4 hours to run. Wichita is only 30 minutes away and it'd give the town a chance to prove to me it's not hillbilly and western Kansas.
     I've already looked through a great Wichita running website (www.runwichita.org) and have found a few runs to strive for. The Dream  Big 5K in September, a Turkey Trot 10K in November, a Jingle Bell 5K in December, and my personal favorite that I may even have my boyfriend on board to run with me, The Zombie Apocalypse 5K Obstacle course just before Halloween. Zombies chase runners through a 3 mile obstacle course and if they grab all your flags hanging from your waist, you become a zombie! How great is that? All those dreams of running from zombies finally to come true, except no real threat of nibbling on a persons face, barring bath salt usage. And it's an obstacle course, which will help with my "but what do I think about while running?!" problem.
     These ol' guys will be running with me:

 And so begins my GOAL!!! of participating in the Rock-N-Roll half in Seattle with my big sister next summer. But, I still don't know what I'll think about while running that distance AND I'm worried I really will stop and listen to all the music at each mile. All issues I will eventually sort out along the running path.