The Laziest Runner You Will Ever Meet.

A few weeks ago, I posted this as a status update on my social networking Web site of choice, Facebook:

I got an overall supportive, positive response, so I decided to think about it.

Then, a few days later, I went to my local health food store for a cookie and some organic chocolate milk. (My theory is that anything that comes from a health food store is good for you. Please don’t spoil this for me by pointing out the painfully obvious). While I was waiting in line, I saw this on the newsstand:

I showed this to my friend and said it was a sign, and that I was obviously meant to become a marathoner. She replied, “You think it’s a sign that you should be a runner just because they sell Runner’s World in a health food store?”

No! It’s the Special Beginner’s Edition, silly! Clearly, this was meant to be. I added the magazine to my pile and walked proudly out of the store with my completely unhealthy snack, committed to turning my life around.

I started doing some research to create a training schedule and find a suitable marathon. I considered traveling, maybe to California or Colorado, to really give myself something to look forward to. I had read about the Nike Women’s marathon in San Francisco, and it sounds aMAZing. But it’s in October, which is too soon for a 2009 goal. But in my issue of Runner’s World, I also saw an ad for the 2010 Disneyworld Marathon…which will be held on January 10, one day after my 25 birthday. It seemed like the universe was handing me a neat little package, all wrapped up and ready to go. So I’m making it happen.

My training starts tonight. I’ve compiled a training schedule and it is totally doable. My regiment is actually comfortable and even allows for some time to prepare a little harder for the Big Race. Blocking out a week for my honeymoon (because, let’s face it, who trains on their honeymoon??), I have 38 weeks. Just 38 weeks to go from 0 miles to 26.2 miles.

Holy crap.