thirteen. point. one.

i will be the first to admit that i can get a little obsessive compulsive sometimes. i mean, yes, i color code my closet and all my shoes are in clear plastic boxes that are clearly labeled, but that's ORGANIZATION, not OCD. generally, my OCD tends to pop up when i set a goal for myself, because as much as i hate to let other people down, it really kills me when i let mySELF down, so i will do pretty much whatever it takes to get myself to the finish line. in this case, i mean that literally, because my dumb ass signed up for another half marathon. about a week ago, i realized that i'm about a month out from having to run 13.1 miles all in one fell swoop, and i am nowhere near being ready. i run pretty consistantly anyway, but it's one thing to run 3 or 5 miles, and something totally different to run 13. last year my knees were in a full on attack against the rest of my body right about the time i hit mile 10, and although i did a decent amount of training, i wanted to be better prepared this year, especially since a) my knees REALLY HURT for about 4 days after the race and that can't be good and b) i decided i want to shave 6 minutes off my total run time this year and finish in 2 hours. i am not very good at math but that pretty much means maintaining a 9 minute mile for 13 miles. i decided i would challenge myself to run every day - with 3 miles being my minimum - for the next 30 days to help me get ready. i'm only 8 days in, but have kept up with it so far (this is where the OCD part comes in since i'm sometimes sneaking in 2 workouts a day - and god help you if you come between me and my schedule while i'm on this kick - and am excited about using my "staycation" days this week to log an 8 or 9 mile run), so fingers crossed that i can keep it up for another 3 weeks. the upside to this is that i sleep like the freakin dead at night. the downside is that i CANNOT get enough to eat. try being ladylike and delicate when all you want to do is put all of whatever is on your plate in your stomach, IMMEDIATELY. but now i can be one of those jackholes who says stuff like, "oh i'm carb loading because i'm training for a race."

thankfully, the race is in philly which means awesome scenery and my friend shannon taking me out for nachos afterwards (HELLO, i do not eat cheesesteak!!), and i'm hoping that the adrenaline rush of actually racing other people and not just taking my sweet time like i normally do will help motivate me to my 2 hour goal. and if that doesn't do it, there is always the fact that i'll be able to make fun of my sister for having completed 5 full marathons and still finishing a solid half hour behind me in a half. muwahaha and HA.