Ahh, Friday!

So, I am working on a video for this blog and hopefully I will have it up by the end of the weekend; it is currently taking the backseat to a ton of school work. Anyways, this weekend is the Disney Marathon! How exciting is that!? I, myself, am not running it, but a lot of my teammates are, both from our Central Florida chapter and a lot from all over the country that I have met through Facebook and Twitter. Since this is my first season with TNT, I haven't experienced the excitement of an event like this yet! I am hoping to be out there bright and early on Sunday morning to cheer on TNT and all of the runners. What events are you looking forward to in 2011? Are there events you can't attend but want to? Which ones? Let me know...I am trying to learn about as many new events as I can since I am so new to this! Also, I signed up for the Gate River Run in Jacksonville in March. It is only a 9k, but it should be a great run! A few friends of mine from GA are coming to run it as well. Good times w/ good friends! Happy weekend everyone! 

Pain in my...leg.

If you know me, you know I suffered from quite a few stress fractures all throughout my legs in 2006. It is something that has been holding me back ever since. The worst one was in my right tibia; you can still feel the dip in my bone if you run your finger down it. I had them in my left & tibia, left femur, and my left cuneiform (tiny bones on top of your foot). It hurt, to say the least...and they still hurt. Sure, they have healed, but the pain is still there and when I run, I feel them even more. I stretch and stretch, yet my muscles still get tight around my shins and I often have to stop to stretch them out. Will it ever stop? I hope so. I do warm ups, stretches (before and after walking/running), and use ice...any suggestions for calming this pain down and help with the tightness? 

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."