"can I speak candidly"

I am on a quest for the perfect pair of running shoes. In this quest, I have piroozed 4 different running stores while vacationing in fort collins, Co. Everybody in fort collins is fit. They bike, they run (in 90 degree heat even)so where better to find the perfect shoes. The fourth shop brought me another memorable running store experience. The conversation went a little something like this...

Me: "I'm looking for a shoe that will help with my L achilles pain and R knee pain
Him: There are a lot of factors that could be causing that...overtraining, adding mileage, footwear..."

I went on to explain how I'm definately not overtraining and mileage isn't the factor either.

Him: "can I speak candidly with you?"
Me: "yes..."
Him: "for every 1 pound you lose will take 4 pounds off your knees"
Me: "I'm aware of that being a factor and am working on that (ok...not really}. What i'm wondering is if better shoes will allow me to run further before the pain starts".
Me: "So different shoes are not going to help"
Him: Looking me up and down said "No, different shoes won't help. Its not the shoes"

He said He would be interested in training me if I lived locally. I figured he was picturing the "before and after" photos. So I thanked him for his knowledge and took my sore knees and "before" butt out the door.

Strangely, I appreciate people like him. He was honest and just sharing what he knew. I'm weird that way. I'd rather be able to sift through peoples honest opinions than to hear a bunch of fluff. He had asked permission to be candid and I had granted him that.

So later that night I went for a walk/run. It was an awesome night. It was 11 pm. Jason was on his computer on my parents porch and I was running around the circle. Last time I walked at night I was almost attacked by a dog. So jason was chaperoning. I probably looked like I was nodding while running cause I was alternating looking down for snakes and looking up to talk to Jesus. A thought occured to me stemming somewhere between my candid shoe clerk and My awesome heavenly father. The thought being...I have 7 weeks until my marathon and could maybe drop a pound...or 10. Not to worry, as this isn't a vanity thing as much as a joint protection strategy.

My mantra then became..."159 at the finish line" I'm breaking the only 2 rules I have. not sharing my weight or my S.A.T scores...but its for the greater good of my athletic process. "159 at the finish line" has such a great ring to it. Its what I sang out at Mc Donalds when I denied myself a cookie...but silenced when I ate 1/2 of my nephews fries. Lets see if it becomes a reality. Making my mantra a reality would involve saying no to my 2 favorite things...alcohol and dessert (best when served together). Of course fresh fruit and dark chocolate are allowed. The problem is I'm not a big fan of deprivation as a source of weight loss. This was made apparent when I gained 12 pounds on weight watchers. So I may give myself a little room on the dessert side of my new marathon-madness-mantra. But the alcohol I can definately live without for 7 weeks. At least thats what all the running books recommend when in training. My favorite book says not to have more than 2 drinks the night before a run. I usually don't exceed more than 2 drinks in a week so this is definately do-able and its showtime folks!
This entire process has been so Cathartic. I'm getting more serious as the day approaches. The math looks a little something like this: 20 miles in 5hours, 4 running stores, 3 returned pairs of "the wrong shoes", 2 drinks a week and 1 candid conversation with Al bundy at the shoe store = a newly motivated and less intoxicated athlete. I knew she was there somewhere.