Change of Venue

One of the biggest factors in running a marathon has been to show my daughters that I can do it.  I am not naturally athletic and we all know I haven't been the best role model regarding health and wellness (no exercise, lack of veggies in my diet, etc.) but I think this initiative I have taken on has turned things around.  So, when I started looking at accommodations and spectator routes for the Chicago Marathon, I realized expecting my husband and my mom to take my daughters to the marathon and keep track of them for 5 hours was not logical.  And, in reality, my daughters probably wouldn't even be able to spot me amongst the 45,000+ runners in downtown Chicago.  So, I am changing the venue.  I have decided to run the Des Moines marathon.  It is the week after the Chicago and has only 1,700 runners for the full marathon.  In all, 4,500 runners jog the offered races (5K, 1/2 marathon, and full).  I did feel a bit guilty about changing locations, because my friend and running motivator is from the Chicago area and I kind of felt like I was ditching her! She assured me otherwise.
So, you will notice a new countdown in my header.  I have bought myself an extra week, or I have added a week of torturous training, depending on how you look at it!