On a whim last week, I registered for a marathon. That's right, me, who has only run 1 5K in her entire life, decided, "What the heck, why not run a marathon."

Ok, maybe it wasn't a complete whim. I've wanted to run a marathon for a really long time. (Or at least since I started snatching my mom's Runner's World Magazines before she could even read them, and got inspired).

The general idea of running a marathon probably planted itself in my brain about two or three years ago. I started training last summer to run the Disney World Marathon in Jan. 2006, but I seriously messed up my knee, and never really got back into training before I went back to school.

So that leaves me here. Nineteen years old, a sophomore in college, and training to run what has become my goal in life - 26.2 miles.

The night I so whimsically registered, I was sitting at my computer, browsing running websites, musing to myself that I really wanted to run a marathon and that I should train. Just musings, nothing serious. Until thinking outloud I told my roommate how much I really wanted to do this, and that the Baltimore Marathon was the perfect amount of time away.

Next thing I know, she's bouncing up and down saying how cool that would be and planning the sign she would make me for when I crossed the finish line (because I will cross the finish line, even if I end up crawling, which hopefully won't be the case).

I was still unsure and was definitely questioning whether I had it in me to actually do this. So I started checking Notre Dame's football schedule, looking for any excuse why this marathon wouldn't be the one. Because I watch every single Notre Dame football game, I figured a Saturday, in the prime of football season, wouldn't really work out.

But boy was I wrong. Notre Dame has a bye the day of the marathon. I took it as a sign, punched in my credit card number, and clicked register. And that is how I find myself where I am now - starting to run slowly and steadily, accumulating mileage.