Lofty Goals

I am loving 2010 so far.

I've been making all these grand goals and basically planning to conquer the world. So I thought now is the perfect time to really push outside my comfort zone and set a super crazy goal like running a marathon. Okay, maybe not a whole marathon. Let's go for half a marathon. It may not sound like such a big deal to those who don't know me, but for friends of mine....I'm sure they just wet themselves. Or they're still laughing.

You see....I'm a fat girl.

I never really realized that until a recent picture of me surfaced and I thought, "Wow, that girl has the same shirt I do!" However, it was actually me sitting there in all my flabby glory. Who knew? Apparently all those years of avoiding mirrors and blaming the shrinking of my clothes on the dryer add up to plain and simple denial.

Anyway, this little realization is not the reason I've decided to start running. (It was more to inform you as to why my friends are laughing or reaching for some clean underpants.) I've actually been wanting to venture into the world of running for quite some time. I have friends who run marathons and they are all sorts of inspirational - not to mention a whole heck of a lot of fun to be around.

The main reason I want to start training is for the discipline. It is more a matter of changing my time management habits than changing the way I look. (Not that I'll complain about the latter!) I've always been a top notch procrastinator. I usually finish what I start out to accomplish, but there are typically long nights and buckets of coffee involved right before the deadline. This whole running thing is different in that I can't cram for a marathon. I need to stay true to a training schedule for months at a time. I can't just show up at the starting line after cramming the night before. So the intellectual side of me thinks that training for a half marathon is just a brilliant idea and makes all the sense in the world. The realist side of me is wondering what the heck I'm thinking.

I'm sure I'll revisit that question at some point along the way.

So here are the deets:

The longest I've ever run is....well....you know those few steps you take after you trip to keep yourself from falling. Yea, that is probably the quickest forward movement I've had in the last 20 years.

I'm 36 years old. I am a single mom of two pretty awesome kids, ages 12 and 13.

My driver's license lists my weight as 230 pounds which would actually be an accomplishment if I were to see that number on the scale.

I'm running a half marathon on October 2, 2010. I will run a quarter marathon on May 30th as part of my training.

I'll keep you posted on my experiences, my training, and my sanity along the way.