A new adventure

(Molly 6 month pics, I can't help myself I LOVE the bows and headbands)

After my last race of the year ended so early it left me feeling goalless (if that is even a word?). I won't have a triathlon for 6 months! I thought hard about a new goal to have this winter. I needed something different and still challenging. I feel like after 6 months postpartum I am finally in shape. UGH. And now I have to wait until April to race again. Then it hit me... a marathon! I have never really raced one before. I haven't even run further than 14 miles since I was in college, a LONG time ago. I knew it would be a challenge to talk my coach into letting me race one this winter. I had to think of how it would benefit my triathlon season next year and not injure or take away anything I might do next season. Shockingly Barb was okay with it. It will be a sort of challenge to see how my body handles that kind of run mileage and also to see what my marathon race pace really is. My goal is to run 7 min pace. I have never run hard for any distance further than a half marathon so I wanted to set a hard but obtainable goal. Doing my first Ironman next year as a pro is a huge deal for me. Mostly b/c I have never trained for one before. So running this marathon when my biking and swimming hours are lower is a good test of stress on me before the big stuff comes! Living in a colder climate leaves us without many running races after October. So I found one that was still somewhat drivable and talked my brother into running it with me. So Brian and I will be off to Memphis Tennessee Dec. 5 to do the St. Jude Marathon (http://www.stjudemarathon.org/). I think he is looking forward to the BBQ food more than anything. Brian is actually a really fast runner. His goal is to break 2:50. And it is a somewhat hilly course. Oh and did I mention you get to run thru Graceland. It is Elvis crazy down there!