A Fresh Start

Inspired by my lackluster performance at the Shamrock Shuffle, I am declaring a fresh start -- on my running and weight loss efforts. When I started running last year at this time, it was a way to finally lose the "baby" weight. (My kids are um, 6 and 4 years old) And I did lose weight, was just under 20 pounds down come Marathon day. Only problem was that after the Chicago Marathon last October, I took a brief break from running, then winter began, then the holidays, then the brief running break turned out to be a long break. All the while I continued eating pretty much like I was logging 10 and 12 mile runs. Oh, and there was a little bit of stress eating involved too. Bottomline, the weight started creeping back up. Or in my case, sprinting back up.

So, with a training run calendar developed for the Soldier Field 10 Mile and a new attitude (also some inspiration from my friend Marina) I joined Jenny Craig. I'm not about to bare down to a bikini on Oprah, but being able to wear a bikini before I'm 40 would be nice. A goal recap:

1) Complete the Chicago Marathon before I'm 40 (on track with two years to spare)
2) Raise $3,000 for the American Cancer Society
3) Lose 35 pounds (and back to pre-babies, wedding day weight) by Marathon day

Wish me luck!

Running My Ass Off

I'm going to run my ass off this weekend. Enough foolin' around, I have to get my head in the game.

Oh crap, now I have the High School Musical song in my head. Those of you with kids preschool age and older will know what I mean. I bet you have the song in your head now too. You're welcome.

I also added another race to my calendar, the DeKalb Corn Fest 10k. Mike and I had been talking about it doing it this year but the tragedy at NIU got me thinking about it again. NIU is our alma mater, it's the place where we met so although it might seem odd, I just feel like we have to visit DeKalb sometime soon.

Ok, gotta go sign up for the Soldier Field 10 Mile.

Where are my marathon partners? Jeanine, Kim, Lauren, Keith, Jon H.? Sign up soon if you haven't already! Registration tally is climbing.