Coincidence? I think not!

Hello my cilley fwends.  Did you miss me?  Of course you did!

Vacation in Idaho (no, you da HO!) was good but I am glad to be home.  Not family stuff or anything.  I just missed sleeping on mattresses thicker than four inches and pillows thicker than an inch that aren't as old I am or having to choose between oxygen and spending time with my dad (he's a heavy smoker living in a tiny trailer).  I came home and fondled my bed for a good five minutes, I missed it so.

But are you ready for the big news?  Are you?  Are you sure?

Okay, here goes...

I.  AM.  IN.

Thanks to a fortuitous convergence of events, I am running the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon.  Y'all, this event sold out in less than three hours.  But I got in early and got a spot.  And here's why.

I was about seven months behind on reading magazines and since I was subscribing to five or six, this was becoming a problem.  There's not a lot to do in Idaho with the grandparents so I decided I'd take a bunch of the magazines with me to get caught up.  Incentive for reading would be not having to lug them back to Portland with me, and let me tell you after carrying a bag of a half dozen through the Portland and Boise airports, I had incentive coming out the ying yang.

One of the mags I subscribe to is Health and out of the ones like it that I read -- Women's Health, Fitness, Self, and Shape -- I'd say I like it and Shape the best.  Even if I do snicker at all the "eat grains, eat grains, EAT GRAINS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD EAT GRAINS WE'VE GOT FARM SUBSIDY PAYMNTS TO MAKE THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU" messages.  So anyhow, on this trip my only regular internet access was through my phone but I did have twitter, facebook, etc.

By Tuesday, I'm getting really sick of reading fitness magazines.  Really sick.  Hang myself with resistance bands while bashing in my skull with kettlebells sick.  I was also ready to head back to civilization.  I'm reading my last issue of Health and see that they tweet (who doesn't, right?) so I open up my twitter feed to see if they are worth following.  And that's when I see it.

A tweet from Runner's World.  To the effect of:  Want to register early for MCM?  Click here.

And hell yes I want to register early.  Registration was set to open at 3:00 p.m. eastern time on Wednesday, making it 1:00 p.m. Boise time.  I'd be back in the airport waiting for my flight home so at least I'd have a 4G connection but I was worried I'd have problems trying to sign up for the race through my phone.  So I click.

Turns out that MCM is the Runner's World challenge for 2012.  Sign up for their challenge program on Tuesday and you get registered for MCM right then and there.

It wasn't cheap, $349.  The race entry fee was just under $100 and that was included.  But it comes with a training plan and you know me, I like to do my own thing.  And that's when I saw it.

Pre.  Race.  VIP.  Bathroom.  Area.

Sold!

Ooh, and a post race massage, I just noticed that.  Cool! 

I've been telling myself that if I got into MCM that I can't fuck around any more.  I have to train seriously and focus on getting myself healthy.  I still have my original marathon goal of coming in under six hours.  If I eat right and train right, I can do that.  And get my medal handled to me by an actual Marine.*

So I've decided to take a page from Miss Vi's book and break up the eight or so months between now and race day into a series of monthly challenges.   For March, it is to start eating normal portions.  If I end up at Burger King for whatever reason, that means one sandwich, one side, one drink. 

What a long strange trip it will be!

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

*Just really hoping my Marine's name isn't something like Arlene.  I want a hot, buff, MALE Marine.