Wait … a Marathon is HOW FAR?

Hello, hello, hello! Long time, no see, bloggies! I hope that everyone had a great holiday season — despite getting off to a rocky start I still have high hopes for this new year. I think it’s going to be great.

I celebrated Christmas with family, as always … and I must say, SANTA ROCKS! I got a ton of clothes (which I was desperately in need of), some movies, a food processor, a banjo which I’m totally in love with and … a lot of running gear which is good because I have registered for my first half marathon.

Now, let me just make a few confessions here: I just started running last year and have never run more than a 10K. It’s been more than two months since I’ve run anywhere. And I’m overweight. This should make for a very interesting half marathon in May. People keep telling me that anyone can do it with the proper training, so I’ve decided to take them at their word and train for it. And do it. And I’m so nervous!

What’s more, I have agreed to run a marathon this fall with a group of friends. Even. more. scared.

I haven’t officially registered for the marathon yet because registration isn’t open yet but I haven’t chickened out completely so that says something. I’ve given myself strict instructions to pay attention to my body, to not have time goals for any of the races I’m participating in this year, and above all, to not get injured. I’m not a hard-core athlete by any means and I’m not going to win any of these races … so there’s no reason to kill myself getting to the finish line, amirite?

I was chatting with a non-running friend of mine the other day and I told her that I was planning to run a marathon. She first asked how far a marathon was, and when I told her that it was just over 42 K, she said, “well, that’s not bad. So, what, you complete it over two or three days or something?” Tee hee. When I told her it was a one-day shot and that there was a limit of hours, not days, her response was “THAT’S INSANE!”

And it is. Really, really insane.

I can’t wait!