"Let us then be up and doing, with a heart for any fate. Still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait." My mom. Not sure if she stole it from someone else or if it's original. All I know is that it wore me out as a kid.

I committed to the blog long after I committed to the marathon part. Running is much easier than typing random thoughts to complete (or partial) strangers. But now that I've been to a long run meeting, I see that I do actually know a few people who decided to jump into this pot.

Having read many of your blogs, I do see a huge benefit from the encouragement of seeing where other people are excelling, struggling, and just making the steps each day.

I am an inconsistent runner, needing to lose some weight, and took on this challenge as a specific goal to help me (1) get my consistency back, and (2) lose the weight I need to lose. I always thought a marathon was way out of reach for me, but having looked at several training schedules, I see that it is very doable, as long as I put in the time I need to on the front end.

My current goal is to arrive at the starting line healthy, and to finish the marathon only needing a nap before dinner and not an IV, the ICU, or anything like that.

I love the group concept and feel like I'm in the midst of a really large support group. I've never been in a support group before, but am now tempted to take up some habit that will land me in more of them. I applaud MM for making this such a powerful experience.

Soon I'll get to blogging about my runs with my doggie. For today, I just type those random thoughts.