Sometimes I'm a Little Concerned about My Sanity.........

Hey!
So I've recently decided to become a runner. I've never liked running and have always been bad at it. My body is not exactly made for the challenges a runner faces, I've always felt way more comfortable dancing. Recently though I've made it my goal to run a marathon (here's where the crazy comes in), specifically the Chicago marathon next year. I got the idea from reading the blog> http://mealsandmiles.com/ (go check it out!) The site was recommended to me by my friend Sam. I loved Meghann's story and the food she puts together always looks AMAZING! She ran the Chicago Marathon and made it sound like fun....yeah fun hahahaha. I realize running 26.2 miles is not going to be "fun," or easy, but you got to "go big or go home" right? As a kick start I've decided to run the Turkey Trot, a 5K race on Thanksgiving in TC (here's the website if you want to sign up- do it, you know you want to...https://www.signmeup.com/site/online-event-registration/72316). When Sam suggested the race to me, I was a little worried, but I realized if I was serious about my goal I had to start somewhere. So I asked my dad to help me out, he's always up for motivating me to work out....in a good way, and he agreed to run the race with me :) Thanks Dad!!! The only downside is my dad has apparently gotten the running bug and is way ahead of me on his training schedule. I haven't had much time.....ok, maybe its motivation, to get out running. I've gone out a few times, hitting the inside track at the Student Rec Center and even running with Sam last Saturday. Surprisingly I did not die on that run, and it really wasn't all that bad. I was quite proud of my little accomplishment that day, even though I know Sam was hoping to push me a little harder.
Which leads me to today. I made a list for myself last night of all the things I wanted/needed to accomplish today
-see my academic advisor
-get my part of my Frostic School of the Arts application done (3 drawings and a personal statement)
-run
-clean my room
-read some more of Fuente Ovejuna for my Literary Classic class
-get laundry (this might have to wait till tomorrow)

.........as you can see I still have some things to do.
I figured out what requirements still need to be filled for my undergrad, I straightened up a few things in my room, and I ran
I decided to run on the treadmill today. I just wasn't feeling the indoor track, running is bad enough without having to run in circles inside. So I set my goal at 2 miles and depending on how my shins were doing maybe 3. I obviously did not stretch well because my shins started to hurt pretty badly somewhere around 1.3 miles. It took me 30 minutes too....not the time I was hoping for. But on the bright side, I did run two full half miles during that time :) Hopefully I will get better and avoid getting shin splints. Speaking of does anyone know any good tips or exercises to avoid them?