five days out

As Grandma's approaches, I'm thinking more and more about why I wanted to run a marathon.  I really have no frickin' reason why, other than I thought it would be a big challenge for me.  So why not?

I had originally signed up with a friend to run the 2010 Twin Cities Marathon and had just begun training when my world sort of exploded around me - June 13, 2010.  Exactly one year ago today.  Training had to take a back seat - hell, training didn't even fit in the vehicle at that point - as I began to deal with all that was happening.  So we had the upheaval going on, and then a couple other things happened...... I was in a three-car accident on the freeway and totaled my car in July (on the husband's birthday, no less),......on Friday August 13th our house was struck by lightning and we lost several appliances and a couple of computers..... We were lucky in both instances, no significant injury to me in the car accident, and our house didn't start on fire when it was hit, but overall, summer 2010 kind of bit the big one.

During all the chaos that was my life, running was an escape for me.  Even though I wasn't sure I actually enjoyed running, I was grateful it was there when I needed it.

Fast forward to last October, and my friend and I got together despite not running the TCM.  We decided we'd try it again and picked Grandma's as our target.

I wanted the run to mean something to someone other than just me so I decided to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  Cancer is a beyoch and it has affected my family in a variety of forms so raising money for ACS seemed like a good fit.  Unfortunately for me, Grandma's is not an "official" ACS Team DetermiNation event, meaning there was no team with which I could train alongside, so I don't get that perk.  No big deal.  Um, yeah, when you're fighting cancer you don't get a lot of perks either.  I decided to continue with my plan to raise money for ACS as a solo runner.

Life is still tumultuous, but things have definitely improved.  We're pretty much back to our baseline of (more or less) controlled chaos.  What a difference a year makes!

Here's who I'll be keeping in mind during my run next Saturday......


I'll be running in honor of:
My dad - prostate and skin cancer
My brother Ben - prostate and skin cancer
My Aunt Lois - leukemia
My first mom-in-law Renee - ovarian and breast cancer
My friend Sue - breast cancer
My friend Kris's dad - lung cancer
My friend Suzy's dad
My friend Nora's cousin Katie

And I'll be running in memory of:
My Grandma Annie - pancreatic cancer
My Uncle Larry - prostate cancer
My friend Kris's mom - pancreatic cancer
My friend Suzy's friend SuperDave

If you want me to run in honor of or in memory of someone special to you, let me know.  I will add their name to my list.

Remember my disclaimer at the top of my blog?  You know, that eventually, I'd be asking for donations to ACS?  

Well, I'm asking now.

Please consider donating to ACS.

Any amount!!

It's a worthwhile way to spend a couple of bucks.  Just click here or on the button at the top righthand side of my blog.  My fundraising goal is $1000.00.  Help me surpass that goal and give cancer a swift kick in the ass!!

If you've already given a donation - THANK YOU!!  THANK YOU!!  THANK YOU!!

One more request <Good grief, does her list of demands never stop???>:  regardless of whether you are able to make a donation, please send strong, healthy, powerful, and inspiring thoughts my way come Saturday - help me finish this marathon and do these people proud!!  I would appreciate your kind words more than you will ever know!!

Thank you!

bulgarian butt...... and another donation!

Gotta love my core class - and last night's class was a typical killer.  We did something called Bulgarian squats where you have one knee bent behind you with your foot up on a box that's about knee high.  Other foot on floor is out quite a ways directly in front of box.  Grubby hands hold a kettlebell snug to the chest.  Bend knee of foot on floor and get your butt down to knee height then back up. Do reps until the buzzer goes off (30 seconds?  30 minutes? sometimes it's tough to tell) then switch to other foot on floor.  My ass is killing me today.  So I think I was doing it right.

I think there is something amiss with my treadmill.  I've been ramping up the speed a little bit and the treadmill doesn't seem to like it.  It's getting pretty wobbly and my water is splashing all over the place.  Just got the damn thing paid off and it's acting up.  Figures.  And it's sooooo cold out right now!  I've gotten much better about running outdoors in the winter but -20 below zero is pushing it for me. Plus, with the new snow and the ice everywhere, I'm kind of afraid to run outside.  My knee is doing pretty well and I'd like to keep it that way.

On a happy note - I received another donation for ACS - Thanks Sarah B.!!!!

the eagerly awaited link to donate to ACS is here!

Despite the fact that Grandma's Marathon is not going to be an "official" ACS race, I'm still going to raise funds for them.  You can click on the link at the top of the page or right here to get to my donation page.  You'll recognize the same lovely picture of me running slowly to the finish of the WRTC 10 mile.

To paraphrase the motto of Chicago elections from days gone by, feel free to "donate early and donate often!"

and so it begins.....

A friend and I signed up for the marathon last night after drinking a couple glasses of wine.  In the harsh light of day, I have to admit I'm questioning the wisdom of that move.  We had already bailed on the 2010 TC Marathon due to a broken toe (hers) and some life events causing serious training interruptions (mine).  The fact that we bailed didn't stop us from going out for a celebratory dinner.  She's already done 8 marathons; the TC was to be my first.  We decided we still want to do a marathon together and being Minnesota girls, Grandma's seemed like the logical choice.  Plus, it's all downhill right?  I mean, it's point to point/North to South all along Lake Superior.  How bad can it be? Life remains crazy right now, but who knows when that's going to change.  So what the hell, I'll give it another shot!

I've been running off and on for three years.  For some reason, I wanted to start running and found the Couch to 5K  program online in May 2007.  I'm not kidding when I say it was REALLY hard for me to run 60 seconds in a row when I first began and I was terrified when the program called for me to run 10 minutes in a row.  I ran my first 5K August 18, 2007 and when I finished I truly felt like I could do anything!  I've since run in a few 5K and 10K races, and I've even done a 10 mile and a half marathon this year.  I'm slow and not the most graceful runner but I always manage to finish my races in an upright position.

I'm thinking I'll need some external pressure to keep me going when the long runs get super long so I decided to:
A. Run for a charity - my choice is the American Cancer Society (link to my donation page coming soon!).  I figure anyone going through cancer has it lots tougher than anything I'll encounter in training - hopefully that will keep my whining to a minimum but no promises; AND
B. Go public so I'm more likely to stick to some type of training regimen and less likely to stay up late and play on Fridays thereby causing me to skip those early Saturday morning runs.

255 days to go.  Wow.  So do I LIKE to run?  The jury is still out on that one.  I like some of the benefits of running: ever so slightly smaller butt, able to eat things larger than my head, and a reduction in my crabbiness level on the days I've given the endorphins a boost.  I just wish running would erase cellulite.  But do I LIKE to run? I dunno.  We'll see how this whole thing pans out.