I'm running a half-marathon in May!!

Oh yes. Welcome to the new label series "putting the 'psycho' in psychopath"!!

Let me explain.

About a week ago, the Animal Rescue League, the shelter where we adopted both our kitties, sent out an e-mail rallying everyone to support the ARL by signing up as a fundraising runner/walker for the Pittsburgh Marathon in May 2011. As a participating charity, they need a certain number of people to run on their behalf and raise a certain amount of money each year in order to qualify for participation for the following year.

I thought, "That's cool! Hey, the marathon is still pretty far away, I think I could probably do a half-marathon...."

That led to a chain of events that eventually resulted in the following:

1) I am now signed up for the half-marathon (yes, it is 13.1 miles, and yes, I'm scared)
2) I have convinced at least two other people to do the same
3) I have my own fundraising site on behalf of the Animal Rescue League
4) I have spent a lot of time researching how to train for a half-marathon and how to adequately rehydrate myself during an estimated 2-3 hour run. Official training to start in February.
5) I have started running again (I started on Thanksgiving Day, right before binge eating!) to pre-train
6) I have downloaded a free iPhone app called iMapMyRun to record the distance and time of my outdoor runs using GPS (more for in the Spring, since most of my winter training will be on the treadmill)
7) I purchased a runner's fanny pack, or "hydration waist pack" to store my iPhone, ID cards, keys, Shot Bloks (electrolyte chews), and water--it all just fits! I'm good to go!

...and most importantly, 8) I am planning to bake and eat my heart out to "carbo-load" while training!



I promise not to shamelessly beg for money too much until closer to the event. I'll just put a little sidebar with a link in case anyone is interested in the meanwhile. But I'll post some updates as I train!