I am SO pumped about the marathon I'm doing in February. The Marine Corps Marathon was fun last year, but I really think, now that I know what to expect, that this next one is going to blow that one out of the water. It's in my hometown, meaning I'll be sleeping at home with my parents (rather than in a hotel) and running past familiar sights, and part of the run is even right on the beach! Not only that, but I think I'm going to be able to do it a LOT faster than I did the last one. Now that I know how awesome it can be to use a pace group and a run-walk strategy (run 3 minutes, walk one minute -- wash, rinse, repeat :)), I think I'll be doing that from the get-go rather than stumbling into the group accidentally around mile 21 (as I did last year). My time last year was six hours flat, but I feel supremely confident that I can shave off a full hour this time around, if not more. Right now, I'm planning to start out with the 4:30 pace group, and that way I can slow down as needed to the 4:45 or 5:00 group, depending on how I'm feeling. Also, I'm planning to be around 20 pounds lighter than I was for the last marathon, which in and of itself should help me go a lot faster.

Which brings me to my next point... there are four weeks left of our Biggest Loser competition at work, and as far as I know, I'm still in the lead. I'm kind of at a plateau right now -- I was exactly the same weight at last week's weigh-in that I was the week before), but I'm still loving the way my clothes are fitting. I've been a size ten since high school, but I've been comfortably wearing an eight for the past couple of weeks, which is awesome. (Secret: I also tried on two pairs of Liz's jeans while she was gone -- size six -- and they both fit!) The final weigh-in is October 22nd, and I'm only six or seven pounds away from the goal I'd been aiming to hit by that date, so we'll see what happens.