And, she's off!

Well, I've officially begun marathon training. Michelle met me here at 5:10 and we headed to the Dallas store. (Run On) It felt like the first day of school! There were three different lines to stand in and I wasn't really sure WHY I was in any of the lines until I was at the head. Then we all had to sit on the floor while they went over the rules and expectations. Very similar to school. I would guess with the Early Marathoners and the 301 Class (getting their base mileage up for later marathons) there were no less than 150 folks there.
I'll be running in the NYC marathon on November 1st. And it's my very first marathon. I'm raising $$$ for the charity, ING Run for Something Better. It's a running fitness program for school kids. I'd love to get some suggestions from all y'all on how to raise funds for my marathon! I've committed to raise $2500 and I'm about 22% of the way there. Here is a link to my fundraising site. Any suggestions are appreciated on how I can improve my site or any creative ways to raise money for this awesome charity!
We warmed up to jogging to the Katy Trail and then set out for our timed "Magic Mile." I felt like a tool running strides as we waited our turn to start, but my coach reminds me that strides are key to a good sprint performance. And she's right because I ran a 7:56. My first sub 8 mile!
We'll find out later this week I guess what group we'll be in. Michelle finished right before me (she's a speedy girl) so I'm pretty sure we'll be in the same group. And we should. We are the same pace AND she's my race buddy!
After my shower, breakfast and short nap I caught a movie I've been wanting to see, Running the Sahara. So this takes ultra marathoning to the next level. These guys are INSANE; they ran over 5000 miles across, well duh, the Sahara dessert. In just over 100 days. Straight. Yes, in temperatures of 140 degrees. But what an inspiration! Just what I needed on my first official day of marathon training. At one point one of the guys said, "It's not easy, no. If I wanted to do something easy I would have run a marathon." That's how hardcore they are. Check it out...on Showtime here.
Other than that it's been a lazy weekend. Hubs has been working so much and it seems like I've had a commitment each weekend day for a while now. So we parked it inside and just vegged. And it has been bliss. So, I'm going to head out to the porch and enjoy a little more nothing before I get ready to start the week. Ahhh.