For MiMi

I’ve been MIA. Not sure why. I’ve just been tired and not really motivated. But I have exciting news! Not only did I sign up for the Chicago Marathon, but my bestest friend MiMi signed up too. And now we started a fundraising team! We’re still working on making the page look pretty, but we’ll have it up for everyone soon.

Since MiMi will be running a marathon for the first time, I’ve decided to share some of my favorite things about marathon training.

1. Everyone thinks you’re a badass. When you tell someone that you’re training for a marathon, they look at you differently. They look at you like you’re awesome. Because you are.
2. You can eat pretty much anything you want, and you deserve it. There might be some things you crave more than others, like things that are good for you, but if a coworker offers you a cookie or 6, you don’t have to pass it up.
3. You learn that you’re capable of a lot more than you ever imagined. Marathon is training is about pushing your limits. You’ll realize you can push yourself more than you thought.
4. Having goals is awesome. Achieving them is even better. You get addicted to that feeling and then you start setting all sorts of goals.
5. Awesome legs. Or abs. Or both. I don’t need to say more.
6. This one is the most important. For the rest of your life, you can call yourself a "marathoner." Even if you crawl across the finish line, you're a marathoner. If you hit a rough patch later in life, you can say to yourself, "I'm a marathoner. I got this." And that's pretty freaking awesome.
   

So this is what we have to look forward to. It won’t be easy, but when your legs are sore and you start losing toenails from all that running, just remember this list.