Wanted

9 days until Grandma's Marathon!!!!!!

I can't believe that it's almost here. I've been trying to jack myself up for it by reading Runners World magazines, Women's Running Community posts, talking with other runners, and of course just running. I think I'm ready to get this over with. Jillian's been kicking my butt and now that the weather is warmer I can try to acclimate. The only thing at this point that will slow me down will be the temperature.
 

But to get through the nerves I've read and heard some pretty cool stories that I thought I would share with all of you.
 

I have whittled my way down on Facebook friends over the past few weeks and started "liking" running pages so I can see the positive quotes and encouragement they offer. So while scrolling through all the pages I came upon a link for this article: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/269115/
 

A woman training for the Duluth half marathon gave birth after experiencing back pain following a training run. The kicker is she didn't even know she was pregnant. Say what? How? I've heard of this happening before but it's just so hard to believe. I gained like 40 pounds with each pregnancy (not typical) and had baby feet in my ribs all the time. Gotta love the differences in every person. Needless to say she won't be running in Duluth.
 

My running partner, Bryan, told me about a male runner who is a streaker. Now I've never heard this term used except when referring to a person running naked in a public place. In this case it's referring to real running. Apparently in the running world a running streak, or streaking, is running every single day without ever taking a day off. This man has been a streaker since he was 45 years old and is now 60. That's 15 years, every single day, no matter what- amazing! He must not have much of a life. Just kidding, I'm really in awe of this man and feel bad I can't share his name with you (since I don't know it).
 

While talking to another fellow runner I mentioned how my sister and I want to run the Women's Running Series Half Marathon in Nashville. I was whoa-ing over myself and telling him that I don't have another woman to run longer distances with. Don't get me wrong my men running friends are awesome but I need a woman to travel with for destination runs. I'm slowing putting pressure on a few of my girl friends but that will take time. Anyway he told me about a friend of his who met another male runner from British Columbia at a marathon. They kept the same pace and hit it off so well that now they meet up in different states to run marathons together. I believe he said they're both part of the 50 states club. How cool is that? That's what I need. Can I post a wanted ad?
 

Wanted: Female runner between the age of 30-40 who runs an average pace of 9:00 and race pace of 7:30. Must run marathons and be interested in ultra marathons. Must watch The Walking Dead and have a love for Zombies. Prefer married with at least 3 children. Also prefer post baby flab, stretch marks, maybe a little frumpy, with a smart ass sense of humor. Must like working out and eating healthy but can't look better than me. Stomach issues are a plus as long as you don't stop more than I do. Please contact Lori at 555-GET-REAL.

Not too bad right? Only in a perfect world.

And she must take pictures of me since selfies don't work so well