hello.

Welcome! I'm Leslie, aka bald girl running. It took me months of thinking about it to decide whether or not I wanted to start a "running" blog. It took me just two days of a weeklong, shin-splint-enforced rest to say, "Well, alright then; let's do this."

The blog: I will begin officially training on November 14, 2011 for my first marathon - the Rock N Roll DC Marathon on March 17, 2012. As such, I will post each day on my training and any other reflections on that day's workout. This could be a simple, "16 miles today; I hate life." Or it could be a funny story or a thoughtful reflection. Lest you think I'll be writing solely about distances covered and mile times, which would be less than interesting to a non-runner (and some runners), I will use my "rest" days to create a space for storytelling, one of my favorite things. More on this later.

The bald: The title of my blog isn't simply "girl running," as you'll note. It's bald girl running, because that's what I am - a bald girl running. At age 4, I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack the hair, which then falls out. The condition is cyclical, meaning that since my diagnosis I've had periods of patchy baldness followed by a thick, full head of hair. Beginning in September 2010 with just a small bald spot, I began losing my hair. By August 2011, I had no hair. I've been a runner on-and-off for about 6 years now, but right around the time my hair started falling out, I began running more regularly. I don't think the two are related, necessarily, but you can psychoanalyze me later if you'd like.

The name: In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, the title phrase initially came from joking with a friend about starting a cooking blog called "Bald Girl Cooking." At the time
of the phrase's creation, I was cooking dinner in a retro kitchen in a condo we'd rented at the beach. Alas, I'm a better runner than I am cooker.

Who am I? Currently, I'm pursuing my MSW at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. I live in Baltimore City in an old row house that I love. As part of my program, I'm interning at a Baltimore City public school as a school social worker. I'm an ENFJ, a follower of Christ, and a big fan of people, and I'd never turn down a good burger.

Why blog? Well, first of all, it will be a place for me to keep myself accountable for logging the miles, as well as a place for me to look back and remember the road to the marathon. I suppose I could have left out the bald part and made this a straightforward running blog, but there are enough of those. Second of all, I think it's time to tell this story.

So, sit back, grab a cup of tea (I'm a chai fan, myself), and read on.