"Just do the best with what you have, and you'll soon be doing it better." -Gil Hodges

I am a big believer that you are never to young, old, fat, or skinny to accomplish what you really want to do.

The past 25 years I've been exploring what I want to do with my life; what I'm meant to do with my life. PR? Publishing? Management? Technology? Medical? So many fields, so many jobs it all boggled my mind to be happy doing just one thing for the rest of my life. Of course, we can always change and follow a new career path, but, to be honest, I could never see myself in one job/career for more than a year.

Until now.

People say that I'm obsessed with running.

Teehee ^_^

Well I guess I am. I'm as passionate about running and I've been so for over a year now, and that is a big deal in my vagabond lifestyle. Securing a job at a running store was a great idea. I cannot lie, I am having new girl learning trials and tribulations. I don't know everything yet and I'm coming to terms with that. I have awesome coworkers that will keep me accountable, help me out when I am failing, and coach me to do better next time. It's too early to tell, but this career path may be "the one". We'll see in a year or so when I'm all trained up. Until then, I'm happy getting paid to geek out about running!

<3 My love <3

Yesterday was my big dress rehearsal run. I was so sore from working the day before (I am constantly kneeling and getting up and down) so the first 3-4 miles were the worst trying to shake out all the aches. It was a beautiful 60-some degrees and sunny. I tried out Clif shot blocks margarita. The margarita flavor has added sodium to help bust muscle cramping. The blocks delivered on that claim and helped my poor legs feel better. The only downside was it didn't sit well in my stomach. I also tried out GU Roctane. Also, did not sit well. So it is normal GU and PowerGel for this girl! You never know unless you try, right? Pictures of these products are below for readers wondering what I'm talking about.

Delicious but not for me :(

^Okay, but again tummy did not like^

^^The winners^^

My pace was 13:30 overall, which isn't bad and definitely helped with the post leg pain. I'll probably run 30 seconds faster than that in the actual race. I'm finding that training long distances has less to do with speed and more to do with endurance. I can run a 11:28 min mile (10:55 at my absolute best) but only for 3 to 6-ish miles. Once you crest 10 miles, the game changes considerably. Until I get used to running 13.1-26.2 miles, speed improvement is not in the cards. That's why people train for years. Of course there are the lucky ones not fighting extra pounds and have a natural ability for it, but I'm doing the best with what I have.

Soon I hope to be doing it better.

So I'm really doing this...13.1 & 26.2.

I've been running for a year and four months. In that time I've done about 13 races ranging in mileage from 5k to 9 miles. I blogged quite a bit during that first year. My first running blog can be found HERE. That blog is full of posts about my successes and failures with running, weight loss, and trying to build some upper body strength.

Now I find myself in a new stage of being a new runner: the marathons. My first half marathon (13.1 miles for non runners) is coming up in 22 days. For the first time since December, I feel ready for it. I managed to run (and walk some of the awful hills) 12.5 miles last weekend. That 12.5 miler was the most painful thing I've done to this point in my training. My legs were screaming with pain and exhaustion. I couldn't fathom why I would want to put myself through this again. And then the next day I wanted to do it again!


Runners are a masochistic bunch and they have somehow converted me into it as well.

So last night I found myself registering for this:

Yeah. My first FULL marathon. In October. In good ol' PA. Running the same streets my dad did, even though he told me not to. My dad knows first hand how painful a marathon is, and is very experienced with the physical and (mostly) mental strength you need to get through it. In a way, I want him to run it with me. On the other hand, I'm more worried about what would happen if he did. I'm sure he can do it if he fully commits to training this summer. Training for a marathon is rough. And slightly mental. Either way, I know he'll be damn proud of me for dragging my booty out of bed at 4 am on a Sunday morning to catch a bus in Scranton to the starting line. And I have to pay him back for all of the times I hugged him as a little girl right after a marathon and he was so sweaty (and slightly smelly)! Watch out dad, you're first on my hug list!

Training has been great the past 2 weeks. I'm finally getting back into the swing of things after the less-than-stellar winter training. This week is recovery week from last week's huge 12.5 miler. My long run this week was only 7 miles and I did a 2 mile tempo run and a 4 mile hill training today. One of the neighborhoods by our place has the BEST hills. They hurt and are hella steep, but slightly sore legs are worth it now if they are going to be stronger later.

In order to fund my awful habit, I find myself employed at a local running store. I adore the company because it is still small and serves a niche market. A niche market I am also a customer in. During training I learned so many things about shoes and gear. In the future I will lecture about the importance of multiple pairs of training shoes and other things, but for now you are spared. After trying to figure out what I want for a career, this seems to be a wonderful answer that will let me not only keep running, but help others learn a love for this crazy, painful, awesome sport. We'll see.

On the weight loss end, I've given up for the most part. I'm just trying to control portions and eat foods that will help me get through and recover from training. I'm done obsessing about food. And I'm sure training will take a few pounds off, especially when I'm running 14, 15, 16, 17+ miles for a long run.

There you have it! Welcome to the crazy training journey to my first 26.2! I hope someone sticks around to read this and I really hope I can inspire women (and men) who think they are too fat to run to get out there and do it! I'll drag this muffin top over the finish line no matter what!