My Cape

Hello! If you're reading this, you know I have been training for my first half marathon, The Country Music Marathon, on April 30, 2011 with Team In Training which is part of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Each member has to raise a certain amount of money to be able to compete in their event with the team. My goal is $2,700.00. Fundraising is coming slowly but surely. I know it is all in God's hands and honestly, this isn't about me and the race, this is about raising money for cancer patients. Honestly, I didn't even have the money to join the team back in October when I did. I had to come up with $50 to join, and well, I didn't have an extra $50 laying around so I prayed. It had been laid very heavily on my heart to do this and finally I told God that if this was something that He wanted me to do, then open the doors for me and I would do it. The day after I prayed, I checked my paypal account, which I never do because I never use it. What do you think I saw? $50.00 account balance. I checked all my transactions on there and there was NO reason I should have that $50 in there, so I took it as God's "Go Ahead!," and transferred it into my bank account and joined Team In Training. 

Now, they say, "Not all heroes wear capes," and while I do believe that, I don't see myself as some sort of hero, cape or not. I see myself as someone just trying to raise money and awareness for these cancers because I know if I did this horrible disease, I'd want someone fighting for me too. The real heroes are the patients that get up every morning and continue to fight these cancers and push through. I complain (to myself) whenever I am out running/walking/doing intervals, but then I think about how blessed I am to even be able to go out and run, so then I stop complaining and push through. I wouldn't and couldn't do this without them. They are what make me train, diet, run, sweat, and raise money. These patients are my cape; they are what help me get off of the couch and go outside, even if I only do a mile. So, I won't train with a cape that others can see and identify me with, instead I will proudly train with an invisible cape that holds every name of every patient, past, present, and future to remind me of why I am doing this.

"The only thing harder than training for a marathon is not being able to at all."