Who cares about Michelle Kwan and the Olympics? Plus, why Oprah Winfrey is the Oly Run Project's patron saint.

I've been sucking my thumb a little bit since Saturday's crap-tastic run. I'm worried that I'll get injured, that I'm not eating right, etc., etc.

Then I remembered what I'd thought about back in August or September when I decided to run the marathon: if Oprah can do it, I can do it.

She ran the Marine Corps Marathon in beautiful Washington, D.C. (Hi, Liz and Margo!), on Oct. 23, 1994, finishing in 4 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds. That's 10 minutes 16 seconds per mile. She lost 83 pounds and took 18 months to train for the big race.

That's a damn good time, I think, for a novice runner. I'm not sure I can hang with Oprah time-wise. A more realistic goal might be to best Vice President Al Gore's 4 hours 54 minutes he ran in the same race in 1997. That's 11 minutes 13 seconds a mile, and likely a lot closer to what I'll run.

So, it might make more sense to anoint the former Veep as my blog's patron saint, but
Oprah is much more inspirational. Plus, she's a winner.

Tonight: 60 minutes walking on the treadmill. Hamstring leg lifts
Tomorrow: 60 minutes, bike or walk, one of the two