I had two choices. I could tell myself I am not ready to run a marathon. I could justify that I didn’t train enough, my body isn’t healthy enough, it isn’t part of my overall training plan, I don’t need to do this, it's smarter to take it slow, I should just wait until next year. Or I could see this as possibly my only opportunity to run a marathon this year. A year I will never get to live again. A fourth year in a row without running a marathon. It became binary. Guarantee I do not run a marathon or give myself a chance. $40 later and I had a chance.