This is a great forum!! I actually just came here to ask a question regarding which exam to take first, the CEH or OSCP and I'm pretty sure thats been answered already.

My other question is this, I've been in the IT field now for 7 years with the past 1 1/2 years being in the infosec side of IT (Managing IPS/Firewalls/Anti-Virus/Web filters/SIEM, etc..) But I don't have any real pen testing experience to go along with that. 

I've administrated a Windows/VMware/Cisco/CheckPoint network, but is that going to prepare me enough to even attempt the OSCP? I have some linux knowledge and really no coding experience except from college way back.

I'm going to attempt the CEH first, but what I'm concerned with is being ill prepared to start the OSCP after that. This is something I really want to attempt to get the hands on knowledge of pen-testing, but I want to make sure its the wise thing to do at the time.

Any advice?

Thanks!!!

Regarding your first question, see here.

In terms of your second question, I'd recommend to refresh your knowledge in one or two programming languages (e.g. python and c), as this will certainly help for the OSCP course.