My first marathon.

I am thirty as of November last year. I have never been a runner. In fact, I used to swear off running altogether. I was one of those people who never ran unless I was being chased. Two years and 35 pounds ago I made a life change and committed to a healthy lifestyle that included running. I was terrible at it at first. I trained on an elliptical trainer for longer than I would like to admit before graduating to a treadmill. It took a lot of practice in order to run without knee pain. I had dealt with a difficult case of bursitis and had to have fluid drained from my knee. It bothers me quite a bit, but the swelling usually stays down if I take it easy for a while. I could have quit at any time, citing the myriad reasons not to run (you would be surprised at the number of excuses I could come up with).  I stuck it out and a year later I ran my first 5k.
I was empowered.
I started running more and shooting toward longer distances and runs outside. Not too far though, I still have not run much further than a 10k. A few months ago, a friend asked me to train with her as she worked toward her goal of a marathon. I told her I'd think about it and I gave her no promises of running said marathon. Two weeks later I had committed myself (at least in my own mind) to running a marathon within a year. Two weeks after that I was training alone. She got a bad cold and decided not to go ahead with it but I was determined to prove to myself that this is something I could do.
I know it will be hard, and long, but I have set my schedule and made the commitment. I already paid for the hotel room, the registration, and a couple new pairs of shoes. If I bow out now, a few hundred dollars and a slice of my pride go out the window.
I have decided to chronicle my experiences in training for Grandma's marathon in Duluth, MN. My mom, Mrs. marathon extraordinaire, is traveling all the way from her home in New Mexico to run with me.
Thanks mom.
I have until June Saturday, June17th to get in good enough shape to pull this off.
Training started on Valentine's day with 2 miles and has gotten a little more intense since then.