As we know, my new part-time-on-line career has freed me up to try new things and set new goals in my current life. As scary as it all can be, I’m blessed and I know it. One of those goals – as documented in previous posts on this site – is to run a half-marathon this year. I’m 39 and my next birthday is swiftly approaching, so what a great time to start a mid-life crisis, extreme dieting, a writing class, and new exercise regime.

I’m also pretty smart – ‘ya know, Ph.D. and all – so one of my defenses to something new and potentially scary is to arm myself with knowledge. When I was pregnant for the first time, I could have opened my own library of prenatal and pregnancy books. I remember when we interviewed our Doula, and she recommended I read “The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth.”  I walked over to my bookshelf and showed her my HIGHLIGHTED and annotated copy that I had already devoured. I think I actually scared her a litte. (As a dorky sidenote: There is only one acceptable highlighter in my world: Sharpie Accent in Yellow. Bright color, doesn’t show when you photocopy a page, and smear resistant <— uber-important for us Lefties. Don’t try to get me to use anything else. Really, don’t.)

Needless to say, I read. A lot.

So now I am reading about running. Not hard core, but I subscribe to a number of blogs and get the weekly Active.com newsletter with tips and updates on all things running. In between “How to Choose Trail Runs” and “7 Ways to Stretch” I found an interesting link to “Anybody as Slow as Me?” Since I have just recently  – and just barely – cracked into the sub-13-minute mile average, I am not what you would call “light on my feet”. So I clicked the link and found pages and pages of people just like me! Slow and happy. Not trying to win the race – just trying to finish. And just fine with that!

I then stumbled onto John “the Penguin” Bingham’s Team Penguin site and started to laugh. Yep. Everything he was saying was true. Walkers pass me. The pack is out of sight within the first 1/2 mile. I know what the front runners look like because I haven’t gone halfway yet and they are coming at me towards the finish line. I get passed by someone pushing a double jogging stoller…uphill.

Now I have a community and a slogan to keep me laughing for the next few weeks. Today I did my longest run to date, just over seven miles. In my mind I’ve done half of a half-marathon and I can still walk (mostly). I can do this.

Team Penguin For the Win.