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Before Training Begins

So why is it called "My First Marathon (x2)" - well, the 2011 San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon will (hopefully) be the first marathon I finish...I had to drop out of the 2009 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon at mile 15 (I got sick at Mile 11 and couldn't hang on) and it still haunts me. I really need to FINISH a marathon.

I am not a runner and not a triathlete despite claims to the contrary. I am a 34 year old fat chick with diabetes (Type II) who managed to decide after diagnosis that I should get off my butt. That was in August 2008. In October that year my best friend decided to talk me in to doing Run Like Hell - a 3 mile costume run on the downtown canal in Indianapolis. I was like - I can't go three miles and I don't run...she said to walk it and see what I could do. I not only finished, I wasn't last, and it was in under an hour (no record setting here). And I was hooked on races. I also did the Drumstick Dash (4.5 miles) with my sisters and Jingle Bell (5K) by myself that year - walking and just being glad to finish.

In 2009 I did more than one race per month, but it was June or July before I started picking up the pace and "running." I also did my first sprint tri. I got very excited and decided I should try for a full marathon. I trained on my own, using an online plan that I stuck to for the most part. I thought I was to be ok. I chose a race with a pretty generous time limit and thought I would be able to finish...but the whole thing was a disaster. After that I declared that 2010 would be the year of the half marathon.

I started out with a plan to do six half marathons in 2010 - three spring and three fall. But after I ran the Sam Costa and took 33 minutes off my first half marathon time I was SO excited that I ran the IU half the next weekend. After the Mini (new PR) and Geist I decided that I needed to "balance out" the year and registered for Air Force in addition to Chicago, Detroit, and the Monumental half marathons. Some were good races, some were great, some were not so good. But I still love the distance. I also rode my bike across Iowa and did three sprint triathlons in 2010.

But I really need to prove TO MYSELF that I can finish a full marathon. So I will share the journey of this fat chick who is just trying to finish.

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