Why am I doing this?

Why am I running a half marathon? There are many reasons. It started out sounding like a great accomplishment. I mean, how awesome is it to say I ran a marathon? That was my original thought. But being realistic, I saw that I really didn't have enough time to train for a marathon. So I looked at the 5K or the half marathon. I asked Jeff if he would do one with me. At first, he said the 5K. Then he realized how short it is and said the half marathon. I can't even run a 5K at this point, but since a marathon is my ultimate goal, I wanted a real challenge. So the half marathon was chosen. I also decided it would be a good way to lose some weight. After all, how could I possibly run that much during training and not lose weight?
But now, I have been thinking about it more. I think I want this because I come from a family of runners. I quit running before I really got started thanks to my evil elementary PE teacher who made me run an extra lap on the mile once. She told me I wasn't fast enough to have finished first! My Dad holds the record for the quarter mile at his high school to this day. Don't tell me I couldn't run that fast! It really made me hate running. But now, I regret quitting. Everyone else in my family who went to public school ran track. I think one of my sisters still holds a record at the junior high. Maybe if I do this, I will prove that I do fit in with my family. And maybe if I continue to run half marathons and marathons, one day I might just be really good at it. My dad did run cross country after all.
And of course, I have to credit my old high school friend Andrea for inspiring me. If she can do it, I might as well push myself to do it, too!