My marathon

I decided to start a blog to keep track of my training and make myself accountable. This will be my second marathon and I am already more than half-way finished with the training. The marathon, the same one I ran last year, is the Vermont City Marathon on May 27th. This takes places in my home city of Burlington, VT. It is a great marathon with a lot of crowd support and excitement, if anyone is interested.
But I have much bigger plans than just completing this marathon. Here is my list:
1. Lose about 10 pounds this month.
I am a little bit heavier than I think I should be (154 at 5'5) and think that losing the few extra pounds will greatly increase my performance. I want to lose the pounds this month, so they're off before I begin to taper. With any luck they will stay off during the taper.
2. Run this marathon 15-30 minutes faster than my previous one.
Last year I ran the marathon in 5 hours and 2 minutes. I think I should be able to complete this one between 4:30 and 4:45.
3. Run another marathon in the fall along with one or two half marathons.
Last year I ran the May marathon and then ran a half marathon in October and one in November. I think I can do better than that this year.

So those are my goals. Today is a rest day, so I don't need to report any miles. But those will come soon!