Brace yourself - this is really big news.

I can't believe I completely forgot about Travis Corcoran - and to know that I shut him down - that is probably the first time I realized what a rush it was to shut a man completely down. That moment has had a tremendous impact on my life. Damn you, Travis Corcoran!!

But that 's not the really big news - the really big news is this: I have joined Team In Training (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) and will run the Rock & Roll Marathon on June 4 in San Diego.

OK, breathe deeply, and bend over and put your head between your knees. The dizzy spell will pass.

I am too tired to write more, since I left my couch dent this morning at 6:30 and proceeded to run/walk 3 miles - literally from a couch dent of 3 years duration to 3 miles. And I have agreed to do more of the same 3 times per week, with alternate days of cross- and weight- training - until the marathon. [The shopping spree at Road Runner Sports, the World's Largest Running Store, was only a small consolation.] And while this is going to severely curtail my reading schedule, it will be a personal milestone that I have never before wanted to pass. Or maybe I just want runner's abs.

My dear friends are probably wondering if someone has hacked into this blog and is making up crazy stories - but it's really true. It will become more real to you when I send you literature and ask for your donation to sponsor me. With the heart- and wallet-string tugging picture of the tiny urchin with leukemia who manned the Gatorade station this morning. He literally tried to give me the Gatorade out of his own cup!

So I'm signing off now - my arms hurt because apparently my chicken wing method of boosting my speed is both unorthodox and highly stressful to the arm muscles.