The Long Road Ahead

Well 26.2 miles, or 42 k, for all of you European types.
In 2 hours and 19 minutes or less. That's 5:19 miles, a bunch of em.
By sometime mid next year, 2011, or in the early fall.
My current marathon PR, 2:54:47.
I know, I must be out of my mind and probably should shake off the backyard football winning super bowl play mentality. Who cares. In a world where goals are trivial, and personal ambition is frowned upon,unless it is for the almighty dollar, this is one thing that I am going to try harder than I ever have to achieve. I will give you this healthy tidbit, first marathon 3:25, second marathon five and a half months later, 2:57:41. That PR of mine came with no increased training, and was in the 2:45 range until mile 23...so yes, I know how to learn and improve.
Currently it is almost two years until the date, but there is a lot of work to be done, and every day brings my fitness level one step closer. My base is where I want it to be, and I should top out at 90 miles prior to my fall marathon, the ING New York City Marathon. This is by no means the race that I plan on attaining my goal at, however, it will be a great litmus test. If I can dip into the 2:30's in NYC, then I believe I can take a legitimate poke at 2:19 in the spring, or early summer, either in Albany, GA, or at Grandma's marathon in Minnesota.
I plan to share every great workout, and every bad one, including all races in between, as well as life in general.
We live in a nation where generally the privileged excel at this event. Those that competed throughout college, have personal coaches, and great contracts. Dont get me wrong, I would love all of this, however, it is not where I am at right now.
What kind of other things would the average person dream and chase after if a 26 year old, almost 27, with three kids and a 55 hour a week job could qualify for the Olympic trials, and then, from there, who knows?
I hope this blog inspires and is worth following to all of you who love to run, or to those who wish to run, and to those who refuse to give up a dream.