Is this thing on?

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2004. Seven years later, I decided to run a 5k, then a half-marathon (which I didn't get to run), and now I'm training for a marathon. I have no idea if I'll make it through the 18 week training program, but I'm giving it my best shot. I'm in week 4 now; so far, so good.

I've run on and off for my whole life, sometimes competitively, mostly not. When I found out I had MS, I didn't think I'd ever run again. I wasn't sad about it; in fact I wasn't thinking about running at all. Once I recovered from my first relapse, I was able to walk, but I wasn't sure how long it would last. Most of what I learned about MS indicated that I'd be lucky to walk at all, let alone run. But after having this disease for a few years and not experiencing a significant decline in my health (my symptoms are only noticeable to me and don't affect my ability to move), I started to wonder if I should push myself. I started to wonder if I could fulfill my old dream of running a marathon. And because MS is all about uncertainty, I decided I should try now, before it's too late. 

I was a blogger way back in 1999, but I stopped writing online in 2002. When my daughter was born in 2005, I started a blog to keep track of her life; sort of a modern baby book. I still write there—mostly for her future self, but I find myself wanting to write about me and about running, and that blog isn't the place for it. So I'm going to see how this goes.

The world probably doesn't need yet another running blog, but a blog about a middle-aged runner with multiple sclerosis? We'll see.