Marathon #1 of the series: complete.

And I shaved nearly thirty minutes off my SF time. I will post more tomorrow. I am tired for now.

I love my husband.

Last night I came home to this. This morning, it looked like this on my arm.
Then, he treated me to a new fuel belt, a new pair of shorts and some shot blocks at Fleet Feet.

Love you handsome!

Great day.

Today was a rest day, which means extra time to spend showering Miss G with my affections. We Sea Otter Swim Schooled it, parked it, read it, played it, cooked it, sang it, and I even worked it for a while.

Life is good.

We are entering the rest phase.

I completed the easy five and now we are in a slow steady LONG walking pace for the remainder of the week.

I honestly can not believe that I am going to run my first of the twelve this weekend and that this will be my second marathon of my life in just over a months time lapse.

I have not set any particular goals for this marathon...other than to finish. I will think about it a little more and let you know.

Come September (which is just around the corner can you believe that!?!?!) I am going to try to incorporate speed work.

One of my goals during this process is to act as if I am a runner.

If you act that way you will be, right?

Complete.

Twelve miles completed. With a sixty minute park break (where I completed 25 stair climbs) in between. Miss Gia was a trooper as always and was stuffed full of goldfish by runs end.

My throat is a little scratchy and I have s fierce headache. I am praying it is just allergies....

Tomorrow is an easy five.

Rest day.

And boy was it ever. I slept in...thank you RT! RT made a fantastic breakfast feast and during Miss G's nap, I read the entire issue of Runner's World from cover to cover. It was delightfully relaxing and refreshing. The day was rounded out with a short trip to the pool and a light dinner.

12 miles in the morning.

Sweet dreams.

Long run today....well, not so much.

I was supposed to run a long run today. Somewhere between four and five hours. Life happened and I settled for forty five minutes. There is a four and a five in there. So that will help me next weekend, right?

I think more and more about running. Quite frankly, many would consider me a jogger. I am not fast and I don't know how fast I will ever be. But to me, I am going along, pushing more and more each day and covering ground.

That is what makes the journey of running exhilarating. One foot in front of the other. One step beyond what you have done before.

When I ran my first race (California International Marathon, 12.2008, Seven mile leg of a relay) I felt like I had concord the world. My second big accomplishment: a half marathon (Parkway Half Marathon, 3.2009, 13.1 miles) in the rain, and quite possible the most unvarying course in the country....I thought that I had gone as far as I could go. My first marathon (San Francisco, 7.2009, 26.2 miles) which I finished by most in a laughable time of 5:51......the crazy thing, I felt and still do that I had concord the world.

Each day I go another step, another mile. Another journey. Another few fish thrown down to Miss G to let me keep going. I figure I log roughly 60 miles a week. If I keep this steady and add in twelve marathons come next July I will have logged 3434.4 miles.

I will literally have logged enough miles to jog to Texas and back....at least to Kerrville and back...I am just not sure I know anyone in Kerrville. Maybe my mom would come pick me up if I made it that far.

The schedule.

The original idea was to do one marathon a month. Well, given that there are seasons in the United States and race directors did not consult me prior to their marathons, it is not always possible. So, here are the twelve marathons I will run over the next twelve months:

8.30.2009 Santa Rosa Full Marathon Santa Rosa, CA
10.04.2009 Cow Town Marathon Sacramento, CA
10.25.2009 Silicon Valley Marathon San Jose, CA
11.08.2009 Twin Cities Marathon Fresno, CA
12.06.2009 California International Marathon Sacramento, CA
01.27.2010 Redding Marathon Redding, CA
03.07.2010 Napa Valley Marathon Napa, CA
03.28.2010 Oakland Marathon Oakland, CA
04.04.2010 Golden Gate Headlands Sausalito, CA
04.18.2010 River City Marathon Sacramento, CA
05.02.2010 Reno Rock n Roll Marathon Reno, NV
07.25.2010 San Francisco Marathon San Francisco, CA

So that is it. The proposed twelve marathons in twelve months. The fact that is exhausting just to type them out raises my anxiety levels to new heights.

One thing that was important to me when planning out my journey is that they are all pretty darn close to home and they are all places that RT and Miss G can join me. The River City Marathon is on RT's birthday which makes me a little sad, but he says that it is fine....I am sure I will make up for it somehow!

For now, I need to stop seeing the problems that can arise and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

The deal.

I am just a mom.

I just ran my first marathon last month.

Then I had a crazy idea....to run twelve marathons in twelve months.

I am not an elite athlete. Nor am I even built like a runner. But there is something about it. Something about pounding the pavement that makes me feel like a better wife, mother and worker bee. Something about running that gives me a sense of independence and identity.

This is my journey. Training (which I am hoping will be more like maintaining given the frequency of each marathon). Wifing.....not sure that that is a word. Mothering. Working. Marathon running. And writing about it all.

It will be a challenge, but one thing I do know about myself is that challenges bring out my best.