Not This Year, Ventura.

Two weeks ago, I made a very impulsive decision to sign up for The Ventura Marathon. And when I signed up, I thought it was a great idea.

But after I spent a little more time sorting out the idea, I realized that there is a difference between impulsive and manic. And unfortunately, inserting an additional marathon into my Marine Corps Marathon training is not a sensible idea. It's a 26.2 mile run on a weekend that is supposed to only be a 7 mile Saturday.

Once I really started thinking about the extra marathon and not running it, all of the other factors seemed to fall into place. I was able to defer my registration until 2014 at no additional charge. The house I am going to stay at will still be available to me to use. And since I have a whole year to plan, I now can find friends who will either run the marathon with me or, at least, travel on the train with me to Ventura for the race weekend.

Instead of a quick up and back by myself, I will be able to plan a whole race weekend with a group of friends.

Thank you, Universe, for making the decision so crystal clear.

And Ventura Marathon? I'm coming for you in 2014!