In my youth (aka when I was 30) I ran a marathon, and had not run since until today.

My entire life, running is something I would do for a while and really enjoy, only to walk (ha!) away from it for a while. Life would get it the way (I would move, a new job would keep me too busy, {insert any other excuse here}). But then I would remember that I enjoyed it, and lace up again.

This latest break of five years since the marathon has been the longest. I have been considering running again for the last few weeks, but have had reservations: the narrow road I live on isn’t safe for running, I’m too busy with work and a new baby, {insert any other excuse here}. So when a friend called me up and asked me if I wanted to run the Outer Banks Marathon in November, I decided to go for a trial run this morning.

But first, to prepare! I need shoes, and shorts, and a fancy shirt; running socks, a gps, a smaller ipod, a runners log book. A couple of days ago I read Chad Fowler’s article on this exact situation: where we plan a new hobby, and instead of just doing it, we buy all the tools we need as a way to feel like we are making progress, instead of just doing it. I know I’ve done that – in my recent quest to learn to play guitar, I’ve accumulated: a guitar, a gig bag, a stand, two tuners, a capo, and a stack of books, but I don’t yet really know how to play. After reading Chad’s article, I decided to be more mindful of that tendency. I resisted the urge to buy anything for running, at least until I’m actually doing it on a regular schedule (and then all I’ll really need is a new pair of shoes). Last night, I gave in to the urge and started writing a Sinatra based running log application. I told myself I was doing it to learn Sinatra better, and to learn MongoDB, but did I really do it to feel like a runner?