At the starting gate

Hey there,

You may not know me, but I'm going to run 26.2 miles -- possibly for your future. I'm running the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon with Team in Training, an organization dedicated to raising funds for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I didn't start out wanting to do it for charity. I've been wanting to run a marathon and on New Year's, just made the decision that this was my year. Two of my friends were involved in Team in Training, so I just kind of jumped in.

But it's an amazing cause and, as I am of the writerly and online persuasion, I thought: why not donate more than my time and money -- why not donate my experience -- and make a blog out of my progress? Maybe I'll even raise some extra money to boot.

So welcome, welcome -- I hope that it's as much of a blast reading this as it is writing it.