Good idea on paper...

Or it could be titled, "What was I thinking?!?"

This is the email I received at 10:30 last night:

Yes, you read that correctly. Three registrations for the Disney Wine and Dine HALF MARATHON! I know what you're thinking, "I didn't know you were a runner!" That's because I'm not.

I've always hated running. Even when I played soccer in high school, and we had to run for tryouts, I hated it. I thought people who ran track were insane. What is fun about running around in circles for hours? Running around in circles chasing a ball for hours, I'm totally into, but if no one's holding a cupcake ahead of me or a gun behind me, the idea of running for running seemed silly.

Around St. Patrick's Day, we did a family fun run, and Hubs ran the 5K. We had SO much fun! I had seen the Disney marathon in January and REALLY wanted to do the princess half last year, but that's about as close as I got to doing it.

But the more I thought about running, the more I wanted to do something. When I brought up the idea to Hubs, he informed me that "most people don't just decide they are going to run a half marathon. Usually, you start running. Then you run a few 5k's and maybe a few 10k's THEN you run a half marathon. You don't START with a half marathon."

So why start with the half? Why not! The thought of paying the registration fee and training to run a 5k just seems silly. A 10k, maybe, but if I'm trying for that, why not just do a half? And the biggest reason I want to do it? It's a goal I can set, and once I achieve it, I'll never lose it. I can tell myself I want to be a size 2, work like crazy, walk into the Loft and buy a pair of 2's that are loose, then walk into Nords and not have the 2's go over my knees. I could set a goal weight and NEVER hit that number no matter how hard I work (that number is 120 by the way. I think I passed it in middle school and haven't seen it since). And even if I were able to get down to a goal weight, whatever it is, there's no guarantee I'll stay anywhere near that.

But if I ran, and finished a half marathon, I'll always have that memory and medal.

And why three registrations? I thought it would be fun to challenge Hubs and since UP will be living in FL soon, I thought it would be a great birthday gift for him! Last Sunday, I ordered these from Bondi Band

(I got a purple one for me!) and three 13.1 car magnets I wrapped up the gifts and gave them to Hubs and UP a couple of nights ago. Monday, I bought a band for my phone. Tuesday, I downloaded the Nike+ app. Thursday night, UP and I planned out our training for the next 12-24 weeks. Then I mapped out neighborhood routes and put the final touches on my itunes wish/playlist. Last night I took the big step and actually REGISTERED the three of us and today, I bought a heart rate monitor watch. Basically I've done everything to prepare for this except for run.

Well, that's not true. Thursday, I ran 2.2 miles. Lance Armstrong said I set a new record, but I don't think my time was anything to brag about. This weekend, we've been training really hard on the wining and dining portion of it.

Real running starts Monday! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to figure out how to program my watch!