So who am I?

I know, here you are, reading yet another blog written by some faceless internet writer who thinks they have a story to share.  Maybe you actually know me in real life.  Maybe you got here because you saw a link.  Regardless, thank you for stopping by!  Now let me introduce myself.

My name is Darlene.  While my name means "darling" in Old English, I am more fiery and passionate, with a tendency to speak my mind.  I am a single mom to a daughter who is my pride and joy:  11 years old, active in sports, music, and robotics, loves animals, and really will go farther than I can even begin to imagine.  I will refer to her in this blog as Chewy as this was a nickname given to her from one of her sport's teams.  As for me, I am in my mid 30's, struggling to go back to school to finish my bachelor's degrees, and lover of sports, food, and travel.  I have experienced some major health issues in my life that affect me today, but I will not let them slow me down.  With that, lets talk the dirty stuff...

This is me at 18 years old.  Thin, 150lbs to be exact, but with this crazy idea that I was the biggest thing to ever walk the earth.  

And here I am again, but at 31 years old, 260lbs, and just out of surgery to reconstruct my knee.  This is me at my biggest, and well, I look like crap too, but really, who doesn't after surgery. 

Here I am on September 2nd, 2013, at 33 years old, 235lbs, and with a half marathon finisher medal around my neck.  That is my best friend next to me who also did the race.  This was my first half marathon, of many more to come. 

I know what you are saying, WHAT?  Half Marathon!  You mean, 13 miles, and SHE did that?!?  Well, actually, it is 13.1 miles because let me tell you, that .1 of a mile so counts, especially at the end of race.  And yes, I really did do it!  To top it off, I am also doing another one in December, and if all goes as desired, I am hoping to do one in March 2014 as a birthday present to myself.

Now that you know a little bit about me and I am no longer another faceless internet blogger, let's get on with talking about how I ended up doing a half marathon...