Rain nor sleet, nor 40mph winds...

I was recently referred to someones' blog by my cousin. It is a blog about one woman's entry into running...first as a way to manage her weight, then it progressed to her training for the upcoming NYC ING Marathon. I read it eagerly, as I also recently found the joy of running, and am training for my first marathon. I was glued to her blog, mesmerized by every one of her posts, realizing that I too have found a passion for running, a passion that sometimes has me doing some pretty stupid things. Like this past weekend, Long Island experienced torrential downpour and some very very strong winds. But I had a training run, only 8 miles, but hey, it was a training run! My TNT mentor had scheduled this week's run down in Huntington, close to my house, so I was looking forward to the close proximity for a change. And I had run this route before, for the annual Thanksgiving Townwide Fund run. I knew it was challenging, it had kicked my butt last year, but I had still finished with a 9:35 pace, and being that I was running on 2 tendonitis-afflicted calves, I was happy. I was looking forward to doing this course again, uninjured, and a stronger runner. Well...I think that the gods were laughing at the 5 of us who showed up: pouring rain that was landing on my face like sharp pellets, coupled with crazy strong winds making it impossible to stand upright....and so many hills. We extended the course into Lloyd Harbor to add some mileage, and that meant more hills. What a fantastic morning....I loved every minute of it...does that make me sick?

I did it!

2 1/2 months ago, I joined Team in Training to help in the fight against Leukemia and other blood cancers, while training for the Disney Half Marathon. Well, as of today, I met my fundraising goal of $3800, and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. When I joined TNT, I knew the training would be hard, but I was most afraid of the fundraising. I have never really done this before, and have never been comfortable asking people I know for anything, let alone money!

I began my fundraising in earnest in mid August. I realized early on that it wouldn't be easy, and I'd have to dig a little deeper than just my close friends and family to raise $3800. So I did...and while it was easier than I expected, I am so relieved that I met my goal! And now I feel like I can just focus on my training, which is beginning to get tougher...I have decided to run the Full Marathon, and I have a 12 mile training run this weekend, on some of the toughest cross country trails on Long Island. This will be my 3rd run there, last time was 10 miles. Not too bad, I made it, and even managed to drag my tired ass to karate. That was tough, I had no legs, and of course we had to do kicking drills!! I think Sensei did that on purpose!