Get busy shufflin'...

Welcome to the Merethon Shuffle!

Once again, this is all Darren's fault. (OK, not all Darren's fault.) He mentioned yesterday possibly registering to run in the Chicago Marathon this coming October, and for some reason, it immediately sounded like the greatest idea ever. I've been saying for at least a year now that I'd like to complete a half-marathon, but mostly just because I didn't think I had it in me to complete a full marathon. But now, as I'm staring down 28 just a few weeks away, I can't help but think there's no harm in trying, and certainly nothing to gain from selling yourself short. And instead of waiting until I'm staring down 30 to attempt all those crazy things that people con themselves in to doing before 30 or because of 30, etc., I'm just going to start doing things now, because I can and I want to.

That being said, I'm no marathon-runner just yet. To date, I've never run further than 6.4 miles at any time, and only once did I even do that much. My running routine at present could best be described as "erratic," and there's nothing quite like wintertime to help you stay indoors and eat/drink to excess. Suffice it to say, I've got my work cut out for me. But I've also got about 9.5 months... To keep things interesting in the meantime, I also plan to register for a duathlon in mid-May!

This blog will hopefully be a fun way to keep track of my eventual progress. Maybe it will even inspire someone to give running (or duathlons or triathlons) a try! As I said, I'm no great athlete, myself; just a pretty average lady that enjoys an occasional challenge.

You may have noticed that the theme of this blog invokes the classic '85 Bears Superbowl Shuffle. While I wasn't actually alive to have witnessed any of their success firsthand, they did win that fateful Superbowl just a mere few days before I was born in the great city of Chicago. Thus, I've always felt a fun little connection to those Bears and their shufflin' ways, and to Chi-city as a whole. That the marathon takes place in Chicago is indeed added motivation in itself.

While there's still lots of planning, training, registering -- really all manner of preparing yet to be done in order to accomplish this goal -- I'm excited and hopeful.  So, say it with  me now:

"I don't come here lookin' for trouble,
I just came here to do
The [Merethon] Shuffle!"