Training has begun

This past Saturday marked 16 weeks till the next race I'm in. My friend and I are going all out. She's never finished a marathon so we are going go for the whole enchilada: 26.2 miles. Yep, I have lost my mind as a matter of fact. But ironically, running is where I usually find it long enough to keep going in the craziness of life. I often joke that I run because I'm too clutzy to participate in any other sport, but the fact is that I really love it. I know I function better in every way when I make the time to do this, and I'm grateful that after law school was done, that Eric has been willing to support me for the last 8 years of off and on long-distance training and running. I'm also grateful for my friend Ken who lit the fire in my belly when he and a couple of other guys in our ward were training for a marathon in 1999 and I thought to myself-are there no women in the ward who are doing this? Then it became a challenge. I did that first one with no real research, no training partner, and even without decent shoes. I quickly learned about the shoes (they are worth every single penny that you have to spend) and have also learned the value of trusting in someone else's expertise, so I train using proven techniques. I complain at times that it hasn't helped me to lose any of my baby weight, but I have to say that I'm sure it has helped me to stay at a stable weight in spite of genes and eating like a mom for all these years (I can't possibly waste this half-eaten sandwich, and it won't keep, so I'd better just eat it...)
Anyway, just for my own little brain, I've put up a countdown and I'm going to keep track of my training miles. It's not meant to brag or bore, but this is part of my journal now, so, bear with me.