why i'm doing this again...

how did i get here?
why do i think i want to try to run a marathon?

a few months ago, i was just a slogger (well, i still am, but i don't call it that any more) ... and i had been for all the yrs of having babies and battling with weight, etc.

that all changed when some friends started training for marathons. i looked at them and thought, oh, well, they're runners, they're little people (runners' builds), they have lots of energy, THEY WOULD train for and run marathons! it makes sense.

THEN our friend, amber, got on board. she was a complete NON-runner. i think amber is TALLER than i am. i am not SURE, but i think amber is a science and techno -geek- and i say that in the most LOVING way! i know she is technologically SAVVY...and i can't at the moment remember her degree but it was something muy inteligente like engineering...something that gives her more brain power in her pinky than in my whole cranium.

**postscript**what does that have to do w/ amber running? i can't seem to follow my OWN train of thought these days....

anyhoo, amber sent me her running schedule and it looked like something i might be able to do! i started on the schedule and started adding a MILE a week to a 'long run' and whoa! it was fun and attainable and sure, i was sore but it was a good hurt, right?

then, my bro got involved (cuz he's muy athletic and interested in anything thereof) and i musta lamented to him a few times that i had to DRIVE my routes to figure the mileages and PRE-drive new routes to figure mileage for each NEW run. (that or try to do it on yahoo driving directions which was TEDIOUS)

well, to try and support me, he banded the family together and they presented me w/ this GARMIN FORERUNNER 301! i had mentioned it (thinking someday i'd buy the 101 or 210), he'd looked into it and by golly, they surprised me w/ it. (i've written b4 about how he had to go for the gusto and get the top'o the line! typical ... gotta love him for it)

[about this time, tho, i think my knee was really acting up and i thought i'd have to throw in the total running-towel! ahhhhhhggggggg!]

ALL THIS TO SAY...{{after resting my knee a few wks}}, i just charged the forerunner, got the basics down, strapped it on and started running. the rest is history. i just use it for my runs, then come home, type in my stats and post about my run.

meanwhile, AMBER RAN HER MARATHON, and C & H ran 2! well, these are women whom i highly regard!

so, that is what i'm doing, the path leading thereto...and i press on. from my LENGTHY reading of numerous blogs and the non-runner's guide ... i have gleaned that everyone feels as i do. but, yknow, my muscles ache when i DON'T run. i love doing this. really. i just have to work on the mental stuff of the long runs.

and i have to stretch more....

i want to hear from you guys out there:

• how much time do you ACTUALLY spend S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G?
• what about your non-run days?
• have you ever had DREAMS about knee pain and not being able to run?

sorry so long.

i think i started this blog saying i wasn't gonna apologize for lengthy posts. ahh me