So, I got into the Chevron Houston Marathon.  I am excited because I know that under the fear and nervousness about training, this is something I really want to do.  I CAN do this.  I just gotta train, and train and train…

I’ve made a couple of decisions about the race since I WILL BE RUNNING ALONE (which is one source of fear and nervousness…).

I am going to run with one of the pace groups.  I didn’t do it at my first marathon because I had my own group. It’s great, though.  There are a BUNCH of different paces being offered.  I’ll figure out which one is most appropriate closer to race date.  It won’t be this one, though!  BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA!

The other decision I made is to adjust down my goal weight.

Don’t worry – I have no intentions of overdoing it.  I know my knees will thank me and I need to give myself the best chance possible in this marathon.  Whittling off more weight than I’d initially planned will surely help.  I love desserts and bread and cheese and delicious breakfast stuff but none of that stuff is worth a DNF!

Maybe that’s a little overboard ’cause I’m not REALLY willing to die just to finish.  Or am I.  Just kidding.  No, seriously.

So anyway, back to weight loss.  I won’t bore you with the actual numbers but I HOPE to get to my goal by the end of the year.  Slow and steady are the names of my game(plan).

The thing I need to work on is eating BETTER.  I do fine with portion sizes and what I eat, but (wait for it…)  I don’t think I eat ENOUGH.  Yes, Virginia, I said it.  I don’t think I eat enough.  It kind of kills me to think I need to figure out how to eat MORE, but I do.

I am on Weight Watchers and I’m allocated a certain number of ‘points’ per day, 26 to be exact.  I eat salads and fruit all day (which do not have points) and at the end of the day, I often have as many as 20 points left.  That is not good because my coffee uses 3.  I keep telling myself to ‘spread the love’, err… points, but I’ve not done a good job so far.

So, that’s my other decision.  I’m gonna eat more during the day.  I already got some black bean burgers/patties – which i love.  I just keep forgetting to eat one.  I like to eat them smothered in salsa or pico de gallo – whichever we have in the fridge.

That’s about it.

Let me know what your experience has been like if you’ve run with a pace leader/group.