Confirmation About Clothing Types

So I've been having fun with Dressing Your Truth.  As I went through the basic Type 4 course I was pretty disappointed.  There was very little that I hadn't figured out all by myself.  There are, however, additional resources that are pure gold (or, in my case, reflective silver because that's my best metal).  I'm still going through all that and will be for quite a while.  What I was so exited about today was getting confirmation of personal fashion dos and don'ts.  I already had a pretty good idea about what does or doesn't look good on me, but salespeople and the fashion industry try to convince me otherwise.  Their voices are pretty loud and so I start to think maybe I can pull off something I really shouldn't try.  Example: leggings.  I felt vindicated to see that one of DYT's resources on body type says to avoid leggings on fuller calves.  True dat.

In the picture below you can see what I look like in my black exercise leggings.  Leggings aren't my best look and I knew that.  Even with a shirt long enough to cover up mah bidness it's still not a good idea for me.  There was a salesperson a couple years ago who told me my concerns about leggings were just my imagination.  Same with skinny jeans.

Genetics + chocolate chip cookies = full calves.  It is what it is.

Even after getting a good look at me in leggings there are still some who suggest I just wear boots over them and it'll look great.  The picture below is me in the only pair of boots I've ever owned.  They are wide shaft boots made "to accommodate fuller calves".  When I zip them up I lose feeling in my toes.  I'm slimmer now than I was when I got them as a gift, so at least now I can actually get the zipper all the way up.

Yes, the tags are still on my boots.  And yes, that is leg fat coming out the top.

Can you see now why I like being told what I already knew?  Straight leg and boot cut pants are my friends. My type of beauty is the "bold, striking" beauty and I'm so glad they don't just tell me to go for whatever is bold.  Now I just need to keep training my eye to the difference between bold and bright.  I bought a new lipstick last night and I'm still not sure about it.  I was going for the orange shade and I wore it with a coral and white striped shirt.  What do you think?  Does it work?  Jury's still out for me.

Dressing My Truth

I'm trying something new.  Well, I guess "new" isn't necessarily the right word.  Stuff like this has been around for quite a while and I remember looking through my mom's book about seasons many years ago.  I digress.  Anyway, last week I purchased the Dressing Your Truth course.  I'd seen suggestions for it on Facebook and finally decided to check it out when I saw something about the free beauty profiling course they send to your email.  I found it very interesting.

Type 1 makeover

After going through the free course it was pretty clear that I'm a Type 4, the "bold, striking" type of beauty.  I'm good with that.  Actually I'm very pleased about it, which is also kind of the point of the course.  What sets this course apart from other similar systems is that it has less to do with skin, eye, and hair color than it does with personality and how you express yourself.  I appreciate that this course shows that every woman has her own type of beauty and how to dress herself to honor (they use that word a lot) that inner and outer beauty.

Type 2 makeover

As a 12 or 13 year old girl I and other girls in our church youth group were draped in fabrics to find our season.  Before any draping happened we were told about common personality traits among the "seasons".  Winter seemed to have more negative than positive qualities to it.  When my turn to be draped came I didn't care which season I was so long as it wasn't the winter.  After trying a few different drapes on me, the woman talking to us got a look of pity/apology on her face and said, "You know what?  I think you're a winter."  I was so disappointed.  I didn't want to be a winter.  That memory has stuck with me for a long time.

Type 3 makeover.  This one is my favorite.  She looks amazing!

Now that I'm a Type 4 with Dressing Your Truth I wouldn't have it any other way.  I learned to love myself for who I am years ago and it's refreshing that Dressing Your Truth attaches value to that.  It's not as life-changing to me as it has been to others, though I do like the extra permission to just be myself and appreciate the gift that is to myself and others.  Moving forward, the challenge is embracing the change in clothing and adopting things that I might not have tried before.  For example, in the transformation video for the Type 4 women they put a woman in an orange shirt.  That's the one color I've never felt I could pull off.  Now I really want one.  I also need to figure out accessories.  Hopefully I can get comfortable with those again.

Type 4 makeover

I've decided to document the process of dressing my truth.  I took a before picture knowing that the shirt was off.  I like it a lot, but it's not quite right.  Hopefully at the end of 30 days of trying to dress my truth every day I'll have a really fun after picture too.  I'm toying with the idea of posting a picture every day, but common sense tells me that won't happen.  So here's my before picture:

Before.  The stripes are good for my Type but the color could be better. 

It's not terrible but I'm hoping that by the time 30 days is finished I'll be looking really fabulous.  Let me know if it's something you have tried or want to try so I can see how it goes.

P.S.  If you do decide to buy the course for your Type, wait until you get the email with the $99 cost or the $33/month for 3 months price.  Just a hint.  Also, all the makeover pictures were taken from the Dressing Your Truth site.

Mary's Mini Wardrobe

Huzzah!  Blogger is working for me again!  Now I can put up the stuff I've been planning on.

My biggest project of 2013 was a mini wardrobe for my cousin Mary.  She's a grad student living out of state and I was asked to make her some new clothes while she was in town for the summer.  It didn't seem like too large a task at first.  Then I remember I have three kids and that makes it take ten times as long.  Oh well.  Mary and her parents are good and patient.  Her parents told me she needed some new clothes for symposiums and other similar grad school activities.  In Mary's words, "My mom and dad want you to make me some clothes they won't hate."  I love my family.  :)

Perhaps my favorite part of the whole project was my creative freedom.  I was told Mary needed two blouses, two skirts, two dresses, and a blazer.  The day I took her measurements I asked a couple of questions about favorite colors and prints to give me an idea of what she likes.  Then I went to town.  There are few things that can get me so giddy as fabric shopping with someone else's money.

The Blouses

First up is the button-up blouse.  It's just a pretty basic top with pleated sleeves.  I chose the pattern because of the options with cup sizes.  There's no gapping between the buttons there.  Yay!  The fabric is and emerald green polyester with a nice, fluid hand.  The pattern was pretty straight-forward.

Blouse number two is Butterick 5610.  I wish I'd chosen a fabric that holds the pleat better, but it was certainly pretty.  The purple has a black lace printed on it.  This pattern is also very straight-forward.  The only thing different from what one might expect is that the yoke and sleeves are cut in a single piece.

The Skirts

My favorite part of this project, hands down, was the skirts.  I used a pattern I'd been hanging on to for a few months.  I love the seam lines on Vogue 8750.  It added a lot of visual interest.  I knew both Mary and her parents would love it.  The skirt are classic enough to please them and have an unexpected twist to make her happy.  As interesting as the pattern looks, it really goes together quickly, easily, and logically.  I really need to get around to making it for myself.

I love the fabric for the skirts as much as I love the pattern.  When I spotted the royal blue moleskin fabric it practically leapt into the cart.  The fun twist on this skirt was the facing.  The pattern uses a grosgrain ribbon and I chose one with rainbow stripes.  Her mom was unsure about it when she saw it in the bag of goodies but i assured her Mary would be the only one to see it.

She probably would have appreciated it if I'd cropped out her toilet...maybe later

As much as I loved the blue skirt, the houndstooth is my very favorite.  Mary had said she liked that pattern.  I'm a sucker for it myself.  The moment she told me she liked it I knew the straight skirt needed to be made in houndstooth.  As icing on the cake, I decided to put red piping in all the interesting seam lines to really make them stand out.  If anyone could love that skirt as much as I do, it's Mary.

How great does she look in that outfit?!  Seriously, she's a knock-out.

 The Dresses

 Mary's dresses were also a blast to make.  I can't find the pattern I used for the black and teal dress (borrowed it from my mom) so there's no link for that one.  The top is cut on the bias, though you wouldn't think so because of the print.  It has a cowl neckline and gathering detail at the waist.  The hardest part about working on this dress was adjusting the cowl so it wouldn't fall to her navel.  We were going for "classy" with all these items and visible bra simply doesn't fit the bill.

The dress is both lovely AND comfortable

The second dress was also lots of fun.  The pattern was pretty boring.  I chose it because, like the green button-up shirt, it allows for a fuller cup size.  The fabric was a real find.  It was on the clearance table for $1.99/yard, plus an extra 50% off.  Ninety-nine cents a yard?  Yes, thank you.  Because the dress pattern is so plain-jane I knew I could do something more daring with the fabric.  It's a stable knit that's smooth on the inside and has a touch of texture on the outside.  Kind of like moleskin but also very different.  I thought this dress would pair really well with a bold-colored belt and shoes, so there's still room for embellishing.  Probably the highest praise I got for the dress came from Mary's dad.  He told me he usually thinks animal print is trashy but that it looks nice on Mary.  It's always gratifying to pleasantly surprise a customer.  Even better when it's family.

The Blazer

Oh, the blazer.  The #&%@! blazer.  Of all the pieces in the mini-wardrobe, this is the one for which I gave most responsibility to Mary.  I am thoroughly convinced that a dressy jacket like this is one that you must love or you will not wear it.  Ever.  To make sure it was something Mary would like, I chose several patterns of different styles and had her select one from the narrowed-down list.  Vogue 8845 is what she chose. 

I was excited to try out the pattern because its construction is so out of the ordinary.  The sleeves are a raglan style attached to the back yoke, the lapel is wide and dropped, and all the shaping in the front is formed by the pleating.  Click on the pattern link to view the line art and you'll see what I mean.

My excitement for the jacket was short-lived.  Out-of-the-ordinary style details require...creative work in altering the pattern to fit the person.  Mary has several fitting issues, particularly in the shoulders, forcing me to be brilliant.  Brilliance takes time.  Lots and lots of time.  As you can see from the picture, I did finally achieve brilliance and was successful in making it fit.  It may sound like I'm simply bragging about the jacket but that sucker was a beast!  I always keep patterns after I use them as a just-in-case-I-ever-want-to-use-it-again.  The joy I felt at tossing this pattern in the garbage was palpable.

Hated the pattern, but it looks good on

As a bit of info about the jacket fabric, I chose a washable polyester so it could be tossed in the wash.  The button on the front is attached with snaps because it can be neither washed nor dry cleaned.  I just snipped off the shank and attached the snaps on back with epoxy glue.  Because everything took so much longer than anticipated I had to ship several of Mary's items to her apartment at school after she went back.  It was less than a week of wait time (I think) so not as bad as it could have been.  Doing work for people gives me a great deal of satisfaction, I just need to remember that trying to do sewing work with kids in the house is a challenge.  All in all I'm pleased with how the mini wardrobe turned out.  Mary rocks everything she wears.

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

So.  It's been a while since I've written.  It's been even longer since I posted anything about sewing.  I was preoccupied.  A lot.  So let's do a quick photo dump of recent projects, shall we?  Lovely.

I tested the Ruffled Bustle Top pattern for Sumo's Sweet Stuff.  I'll do a separate post of that later.

For the half marathon I made myself a running belt using this tutorial.  It worked great!  My running shoes provided the color scheme for the running belt.  Because you've gotta match the shoes and the purse.  ;)

I also made this shirt and enjoyed wearing it a couple of times.  Unfortunately, I had to stop counting and put the shirt away a couple weeks after this picture was taken.  Hopefully I'll be able to get it back out again in the future.

This year's Halloween costumes were nowhere near the huge production of last year.  The only costume made completely by me is my own.  As I was the only one who didn't get a new costume last year, I deserved it.

Captain Hook

Tinkerbell

Peter Pan...NOT dressed in tights

The whole crew, including Wendy and Mr. Smee

The biggest project was a mini wardrobe for my cousin, for which I will also write a separate post.

I am also in the process of making myself a coat.  Right now I'm in full weight loss mode.  I decided I want to work on losing 15 lbs before the end of January, which is when we would have the doctor's okay to try to get pregnant again. I'm not convinced I'll be ready that soon.  However, I'm racing with myself to see if I can lose those 15 lbs before the waiting period is over.  It's a way for me to compete with myself and I'm already down two pounds.  Now I just need to keep it up.

Half Marathon: DONE!!!

Saturday was the big half marathon!  It's all done and I am so glad!  The race was a big accomplishment and I'm so very, very proud of myself.

The race is all about getting the picture.  And the medal.

My morning started with a 4:25 am alarm.  It wasn't too hard to get up because of the anticipation.  Q-ball also started screaming shortly after.  I worried that it would take forever to get him back to sleep.  He only wanted a bottle so it didn't throw me off much.  I was a touch later to the bus pick up than I'd planned but I was still there in plenty of time.

We had a full bus on the way up and I sat next to a woman who was probably just about my age and running her third half marathon this year.  One of the pacer runners sat just a few seats up from us.  He was loud enough that we could hear his conversations perfectly.  I kind of wanted "accidentally" bean one of his friends with my water bottle.  As they talked about someone who agreed to pace a full marathon at a 4:30 finish time the friend said, "4:30?!  Well, yeah, I guess he could run a 4:30 and get his free medal," in a mocking tone.  Free?  FREE?!  It was good I didn't have anything to throw or I might have dropped something horizontally and in his general direction.  My best guess for myself to finish a half marathon was 2:15 to 2:40 (with a pipe dream of 2:00 if I was having a really fantastic run) so a full marathon of 4:30 seems pretty impressive to me.

Hey, look!  I took a before picture!

Once we got to the starting point we stood around fires to keep warm while we waited.  After a while three women from another bus came to the fire bucket where I was standing.  We chatted and took each other's pictures.  Two of them had been running together for about ten years and the third was running her first half marathon.  The three of them felt bad that I didn't have a running buddy.  I didn't mind.  They eventually left for the bathroom and I met up with them again unexpectedly when I decided I should probably also take a little potty break. That was the point when I decided I would tag along with them.  They were very welcoming and invited me before I would have asked.  Just before the race started I followed their lead and slurped down an energy gel pack.  Nasty.  Super duper industrial strength nasty.  I thought the flavoring would make them taste good.  I was mistaken.  But I guess if they help then choking them down isn't the worst thing I could do.

After the race started I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were running close behind the two hour pacers and that I felt pretty good at that speed.  Within the first half mile one of them intentionally gave us a good look at his right glute.  The half mooning, by the way, was not done in a gross or suggestive manner, I just can't remember the back and forth jokes that led up to it.  We passed them soon after and fell in behind the 1:55 pacers.  I was pretty stoked about that.  One of the ladies I was running with, Tiffani, developed a stitch in her side and dropped back a little.  I dropped back with her to keep her company and make sure she was okay.  We covered several miles like that, chatting every now and again when our breathing would let us.

The canyon wasn't closed to traffic and one of my cousins was scheduled to do his Eagle Scout project at the top of the canyon.  I saw two of my aunts and their families driving up on their way there.  I was super excited to see them and waved and smiled like an idiot trying to get their attention and say hi.  That was fun.  I was still doing pretty well then so I probably looked good when they passed.

One of the 2:00 pacers.  Interestingly, the woman in the green striped shirt is the one I sat next to on the bus ride up.  Also, you can see my butt and shoulders on the left side of the picture.  Blue tank.  I swiped this picture from www.runningtowardshome.com

Before the race I did not stretch sufficiently.  My calves became very angry with me by the time I got to the mile 4 aid station.  At that point they were little knots of pain.  By the end they were great balls of fire.  It wasn't pleasant but it also wasn't anything I couldn't handle.  The calf pain was my faithful and constant running buddy.  :)  On the bright side, the canyon run is gorgeous.  It's easy to take it for granted when it's in my backyard.  I can't wait to go up when the colors change.

We caught up with the other two friends right before an official photographer.  I decided to be a big shot and jump for the picture because I was still feeling pretty good.  The jump wasn't so bad.  The landing, however...  I didn't take into account the downhill nature of the road or how my burning calves would take the impact.  At least I didn't fall down.  I blurted out, "That wasn't very smart," and the photographer had a good laugh.  If there's a picture of that I'm totally buying it.  I would love to see the expression on my face.

After the 7 mile mark I really started to fade.  It became very difficult to feel strong.  I had to pull out some mental techniques to keep going.  That worked for about a mile.  After going through the mile 8 water station I realized my options were to slow down or pass out.  Walking through the water station showed me how weak my legs had become.  I opted to slow down.  I prefer not to get road rash on my face.  Tiffani had caught up with her friends.  They looked back to check on me and I waved goodbye to let them know to keep on going without me.  The two hour pacers had already passed but there was no mooning this time.  :)  At around mile 9 or 10 I allowed myself to go into a fast walk.  I did that twice more before I hit mile 12.  I walked again when I had about half a mile left so I could call the Hubs and let him know when to expect me.  His phone is so fancy it took me a while to figure out how to place a call.  Oh, the irony.  I had hoped not to stop to walk at all, but I'm not disappointed with myself.  I pushed a super fast pace for over 8 miles and that is amazing to me.  I'm not sure how my calf muscles made it through.

Waving to the Hubs and the kids.  You can see that my legs had stopped working.

As I approached the finish I tried to speed up a bit.  There wasn't much left in the tank but I got a little bit out.  I saw my mom cheering me on and choked up.  I got that under control (wouldn't want a picture of me crying through the finish, would I?) and spotted the Hubs and the kids standing with my in-laws.  I finished strong with my arms up and saw my dad standing behind the finish line taking pictures.  Big smiles were shared all around.

Just after finishing

My least favorite picture of the bunch.  For honesty's sake.

After I stepped into the finishers' area I saw Tiffani and thanked her for running with me.  She grabbed her daughter and had her take a picture of us.  I had her do the same for me.  I thought it was sweet that she told her daughter I was the one who had helped her through the first eight miles.  She was the one I'd been leaning on to go as far and fast as I did.  I'm glad I got a picture with her.

Running buddy

Following that I met up with my family again to get a picture at the finisher sign and get some food. Once I'd eaten my food I got that lovely, overwhelming need to rush off to the bathroom.  I ran (read: hobbled along the best I could) to the Honey Bucket line and was lucky there was one available. After that bit of pleasantness I picked up my bag of belongings and we went home.

The water felt SO good.

Now that you've read all the way to the bottom I will post my results.  2:05:59.0 was my final time. I'm totally shocked and super impressed with myself.  I really expected a time closer to 2:15 or 2:20 if I felt good through the whole race.  Had I not kept pace with those women I'm pretty sure I never would have gotten a time like that.  I also would not have been so worn out by mile 8, but that's more than half the race I ran at a pace faster than I thought possible.  I'm pretty proud and my family is sufficiently impressed with me.

Aftermath:  Could be worse.  I saw someone there with a bloody blister on her heel and heard someone else exclaiming, "Look at your toe!"  I'm sore as the day is long, but not injured.  There is a weird spot under my toe callous.  It hasn't yet finished coming to the surface, so we'll see what comes of that.  The sore muscles, however, are nothing to sniff at.  I didn't get a good chance to stretch before or after the race and I'm paying the price for that.  It's kind of funny to hear my legs snap and pop as I walk, though.  I won't be sneaking up on anyone any time soon.

As is customary whenever I run a long distance, I got wretchedly sick and the recovery time for that far exceeded the race time.  It's pretty much four or five hours of shuffling between the bed and the bathroom until I can get up again without feeling the need to void my stomach or my bowels.  The rest of the day after that is spent gingerly getting up and around because being sick doesn't get me out of wife and mommy duties.  I'd rather run the race again than feel so cruddy.  As I lie down on the bed trying to stay in just the right position so I don't puke or mess my pants, I wonder why on earth I did this to myself and why anyone would want to run a full marathon.  Then I remember that the people who do it actually like to run and they probably don't get so sick for so long.  Lucky ducks.  I haven't figured out how to keep from being sick.  Running would be so much more enjoyable if it didn't include sick time.

Now that all is said and done I'm not sure how I feel about running another half.  I love the feeling of accomplishment.  I would like to be able to run a half in under two hours.  That was something I never thought I would approach.  I just don't know that the motivation to run it at a faster pace is greater than the motivation to avoid being sick.  If I could find out what it is that makes me ill for hours afterward and change it then it would certainly be a goal I'd work toward.  As it is...we'll see.  but I'm glad I did it.  Go me!

Last Running Day!!!

I'm surprised I didn't write any updates on the training since the announcement that I'll just be doing the half.  Or maybe I'm not.  I took on a large sewing project for my cousin and that kind of took over everything.  I even ended up missing two training days while trying to get it all done, which, for the record, I didn't.  It was a lot of work.  I'll post pictures after I get everything sent off and then beg for pictures.

Anyway, today was the last day of running before the half marathon.  I still have one more day of walking to go.  I've been following the idea of tapering off the running for a few weeks ahead of time. The idea is that all the conditioning is not lost and the body gets ample time to rest and repair.  I like that it involves less running.

I am very excited for the half marathon.  It feels like a culmination of my efforts, almost like a graduation ceremony.  My last long training run was 14 miles, so I know I can do this.  I'm hoping to make the run without stopping but I won't feel like a failure if I have to walk a little bit.  After running down the canyon a couple of times in training runs I know how much I love it.  That may be one reason why I'm so excited.  A downhill canyon run that ends in crossing a finish line is pretty sweet. Too add to it all, my race will include a pair of these:

These shoes make me think of Spiderman.  Not sure why...

I had kind of hoped for a pair of obnoxiously bright neon shoes, but you go with what is best for your foot.  Although I was a little disappointed to find that this style does, indeed, come in the obnoxious neon, I won't be exchanging them because I also like the purple.  But even if these shoes only came in a combination of putrid green and orange I would still wear them.  I knew my old shoes were worn out, I just didn't realize how bad they really were.  When I went in to get new shoes I asked to have my run evaluated again.  And it's a good thing I did.

After running longer distances I've got a much better grasp on what my legs and feet are doing while I run.  I was correct in guessing that I need a stability shoe.  When the salesman showed me how my foot was striking the ground I was shocked to see the amount of over-pronation I had going on.  No wonder my ankles hurt so much.  Now my ankles are happy again.

Next time I post I will have finished the half marathon.  I can't wait!

Making the Decision

I kept on with my marathon training schedule this morning.  It calls for four miles today, seven tomorrow, four on Thursday, and 16 on Saturday.  Yesterday I made a firm decision about what to do with marathon training.  It took way less time than I thought it would, considering how long I've been working toward this goal.  It's been ten weeks of "real" training and probably as long doing pre-training.  The investment in time, physical effort, and motivation has been considerable.  Aside from what I put into it, there is also the contribution of support from my wonderful husband and my outstanding running buddies.  Without their help, encouragement, and other efforts I'd never have been able to train at all.  I have an incredible support system and I appreciate them more than I can say.  I really feel that I owe my success to them.

Oh, I said I'd made a decision, didn't I?  All I've mentioned above went into consideration.  Thoughts of everyone else who has helped me was the hardest (and easiest) part of realizing that training for the marathon will actually be training for the half marathon.  Everything I've worked up to will culminate in me being awesome on Sept.7 at the half marathon I signed up for last week.  I feel really great about ending my training here.  I feel peaceful about it.  The only part I don't like is telling people I'm not running the full marathon.  My vanity makes me feel that I have to defend my decision because I worry that others will look down on me or be disappointed in me.  The only person who would really carry any disappointment is me, and I'm not disappointed with myself.  I was able to set aside the fear of others looking down on me by remembering that the only people this would affect are my husband and my running buddies.  No one else matters.  In the end, I've trained to run a half marathon and that is crazy good.

Now for the why behind finishing with a half marathon.  I'll try to keep the story short.  It began with me feeling miserable on the toilet and wondering why people choose to run marathons at all when it makes you feel so cruddy.  I thought of my own reason: so I can say I've done it.  Basically it's a bucket list item from a list I've never cared enough to write.  I had no other reason to run a marathon and I realized that reason isn't good enough anymore.  The time I spend running and recovering (ugh, the recovery is a thousand times worse than the running) has started to take over other aspects of my life.  When those "other aspects" include my family and my spiritual development, I need to reevaluate how I'm spending my time.  I've felt that for a while, but tried to ignore it because I had a goal in place.  It's time for a revamp and the heavy training simply doesn't get to keep its place on the priority list.  It is, however, very important to me that I finish with the half marathon rather than just stopping right now.  Thankfully, the load gets considerably lighter by the end of this week and there are only two more weeks to go after that.

This has been such a great decision.  Several times a day I discover a new reason to be pleased to stop with the half marathon.  I was so happy yesterday to read the next section in my marathon book.  I decided to read on a little bit more to make sure I really was happy to be done.  This is what I found, with my own emphasis in italics:

Running this marathon is not something you HAVE to do.  It is something you HAVE CHOSEN to do, something you WANT to do.  In the great scheme of things , it is not that important that it be THIS marathon...

As strange as it may sound, it will sometimes help to take your mind OFF the goal of running the marathon and to remind yourself that training is for you and your self-development and that it is contributing to your physical and mental health.  If, for whatever reason, you don't complete the whole program this time, it will still have contributed to your well-being and you can choose another marathon and restart the program later...You don't HAVE to do anything.  You are doing this because you chose to.

It was perfect.  The book is very encouraging and after reading through the chapters I always feel like I can do anything.  At this time I choose not to run a full marathon because other things are more important to me.  I really love that I can own this decision.  I am neither injured nor pregnant so I can't place blame on stopping anywhere but in my own mind.  There is nothing to feel wistful or bitter or disappointed about.  I've always been a bit sad that the other two times I've tried to do the training I've had to stop because I got pregnant.  This time it's all me...and I'm so happy about it.  No regrets here!  And I'm also excited to be nearing the end of the training.  :)