miles completed last week (feb 15th - feb 28th): 15 miles

my longest run/walk this week was 6 miles! i was a little nervous when i saw that milage on my training schedule and actually stressed about it the days leading up to it. but i did it! and it felt great! this was my picture of the day for saturday...

donations are starting to roll in as well and i can honestly say that i've been blow away by the love and support my family and friends have shown me. upon returning home from my 6 miles on saturday, i opened the mailbox to find what ended up totaling $300.00 in donations! how amazing is that?? talk about motivation!!

i also had an interesting conversation this past weekend with my six-year old about why i'm doing all this "miles stuff". our typical conversation on the way to school is that he needs to get a three or a four (that corresponds to good behavior in their complicated scheme of conduct) and then i say "and i'm going to do three miles today, deal?". so he knows that i've been putting in the time, but i guess he wasn't quite sure why i was doing all this. it was certainly a good question and it got me thinking about the real reasons why i am doing this. and this is what i came up with...

1. to obviously raise money for a really good cause (explained in six-year old speak as raising money to help buy medicine for people who were sick like mrs trina)

2. to get in shape, feel better and be healthier (explained in six-year old speak as exercise makes you feel better which is why you have gym and recess at school)

3. to be part of something bigger than myself - because the story of the forest is better than the story of a tree - remember that quote from here (explained in six-year old speak as sometimes it feels go to be part of a big team where everyone wants the same thing - like when your whole class brought in the most shoes for the people in haiti and you beat all the other kindergarten classes and got a cupcake party)

4. and perhaps the best reason, because i can and there are thousands of people sitting in hospital beds undergoing chemo right now who cannot (explained in six-year old speak as remember last summer when we went to visit mrs trina in the hospital and how she stayed there for a really long and wasn't able to leave because she was sick. and now she is home but there are other people in her place at the hospital who are sick)

miles completed last week (feb 15th - feb 21st): 12 miles

training is going really well. slow and steady is the name of my game! i got the chance to take things outside this week as we had two days of nice bright sunshine and temperatures in the high 60s. i really enjoyed getting outside and i did my long stretch (5 miles) at a new park very close to my house. there is a 2.5 mile loop that i completed twice. and let's just say that the terrain there is not as flat as that on the treadmill. i was definitely feeling it! still do acutally....

and the news shoes and the new ipod both rock!

and donations towards my $2900.00 fund raising goal have started coming in with lots of words of encouragement and support. thoughts of those words of kindness and monetary gifts definitely helped make it up the last couple of hills this week! great motiviation!

thanks for stopping by!

(my posts for mondays until june will be my place to share my story of training for the san diego rock-n-roll marathon that will take place on june 6th. my first post about this is here in case you missed it...)

miles completed last week (feb 8th - feb 14th): 10 miles

so training has definitely progressed this past week. it still does seem a little unbelievable to me that i did ten miles in one week and in as little as four months i will be doing almost three times that milage (26.2 miles) in one day. but the expert (my coach) has confidence that it can be done so i am just sticking to my training schedule and hoping for the best...

two big developments this week that did help my progress - a new pair of running shoes...



and this new bad boy from my hubby for valentine's day...



yep - a new ipod nano and i'm already so in love with it! my sweet hubby still found time to pull off this surprise even though he was out of town all last week helping restore power to those in the northeast. how sweet is he??

most of my training so far has been inside and on the treadmill with the exception of one bright-sunny-high-in-the-50s day when i decided to venture outside. i'm ready for some warmer weather so i can move this adventure outside in the nice warm sunshine. come on spring!!

marathon madness

a couple of weeks ago i signed up to train and complete a marathon in san diego on june 6, 2010. i've started training as a member of the leukemia & lymphoma society's eastern north carolina team in training team. (you can read all about the leukemia & lymphoma society here and even more about their amazing team in training program here.)

now i'm not a runner by any means and this will be my very first marathon. for those of you who do not know, a marathon is 26.2 miles. yikes! but as part of the team in training program, you are paired up with a coach and given an extensive training program to follow. at the first meeting the coaches said they could get me "from the couch to the finish line" by the race date if i did my part, worked hard and trained per my schedule. so i've gotten off the couch and have started training! my plan is to walk/run with probably more walking than running. did you know that you can actually walk a marathon? obviously at this point i'm not concerned about my time....my goal is just to finish....

so why the leukemia & lymphoma society? last year one of my very best friends was diagnosed with leukemia just after the birth of her second child. at the time of her diagnosis she was 38 years old and a mother of two beautiful children - a six year old daughter and a seven month old litte boy. immediately following her diagnosis she underwent six months of agressive chemotherapy and in early january she was officially in remission! but her battle with leukemia is far from over.

since the day i found out about her diagnosis i have struggled with the question of why all of this is happening to such a wonderful person. my friend is an amazing mother, wife, daughter/daughter-in-law, sister, aunt and friend. i continue to pray for her and her sweet family, but the truth is that i was and am constantly amazed with her strength, her courage and her determination. she is a fighter, a survivor, and she is my inspiration. i am training and completing this marathon in honor of her....

as a member of the team i am also raising funds to help find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers. my goal is to raise $2900.00 for the leukemia & lymphoma society. you can view my fund raising website here.

so why i am writing about all this on my blog? well i plan to provide weekly updates on my training and fundraising efforts here. just little updates to let everyone know how i'm doing, how my training is progressing, my thoughts on the training updates, etc. so now through june, you can look for a weekly post called marathon mondays. i've even designed a cute little logo for the posts....

wish me luck! i'm going to need it! check back next week to see how things are progressing....