chloë.

Edit:  While most of my bio still rings very true, one little unexpected occurrence in my running path was the surprise of a baby coming my way May 2011!  While I'll *try* to run here and there while pregnant, it looks like marathon no. 2 will have to wait till the earliest of fall 2011.  Oh well -- the wait is so very worth the baby!  Feel free to keep reading now.

Hey there friends!  I'm Chloë, and I was the one who got Christy in this mess in the first place!  In the summer of 2010, I contemplated starting another blog solely dedicated to running, but was super hesitant about having the time to maintain two blogs.  Then Christy (who happens to be one of my favorite bloggers...not that I play favorites...) briefly-sorta-mentioned-once that she was also contemplating having a running blog and then my brain-wheels started turning.  What about one-and-a-half blogs?  I could totally handle that!...I think? 

Anyway, you can also find me on my real life blog tryin' to throw my arms around the world, where I talk about lots of scatter-brained things, but mostly about my faith, my stud-of-a-husband Josiah and our new baby "Gee", which are the three most important things to me in this life.

I ran my first marathon in March of 2010 for Team Samaritan's Purse.  It was the best/worst experience of my life.  There's nothing like pushing yourself harder than you've ever thought possible for something bigger than yourself, and I wouldn't trade my first marathon experience for the world.  But I trained poorly...very poorly.

It took me a whopping 5 hours and 13 minutes to finish because my IT band decided to snap at mile 17.  Well, not literally snap, but probably something close to snapping.  I never cross-trained, never did any speed work or hills, ate like I normally ate, and didn't rest when things just needed to be rested.

So this blog is about my attempts to train smarter for marathon no. 2...which will be in the spring of 2011 fall of 2011 -- the one and only New York City Marathon.  You'll benefit from my discoveries and my mistakes, and hopefully get a few laughs with me along the way as I figure out just how exactly to run with a jogging stroller.  Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing!

Some "fun" facts about me are:

--I am 22

--I was a dancer for 17 years before I became a runner.

--I am 100% Jersey girl, but currently live in Virginia.

--I got married a month and a half before my 21st birthday, and couldn't be happier with that decision.
--I, like Christy, am a HUGE baseball fan and if you cut me, I will bleed blue and orange [...but please don't cut me]  Go Mets!
--I love Jesus, and often ramble about the parallels I often find between my running life and the Christian faith.  You will probably read about this at some time or other.

--If and when I qualify for Boston and finish a 5k in 20 minutes, I will hang up my running shoes for life and take up knitting or something.  Well, that might not actually be true...but then again it might....