So, if you read my previous post, you understand maybe a little bit more why I am running 26.2 miles in exactly 109 days, 22 hours and 52 minutes! Or maybe you still think I'm crazy?! Maybe I am, but I think it's the crazy in us that makes us the amazing individuals that we are!
So Team In Training officially kicked off on February 2nd at our kickoff breakfast! We had a chance to meet some of our teammates, our team captain and our coaches. Most importantly, we got our shirts. Okay,maybe not most important, but it's definitely all about the schwag! The morning was motivational, exciting and a bit overwhelming! In the room were all the 2008 summer season athletes for Team In Training-so there were the triathletes, the cyclists and the marathoners, about 277 in total. By now you all know that I have to raise $4000 dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. That morning, it was announced that the National Capital Region's 2008 Summer athletes were goaled at $1 million dollars! I know that with your support, you will help us reach that goal!
The morning was filled with stories of survivors, our honored teammates, who told of their personal battles to the finish line of beating cancer. While I deal with cancer and cancer patients on a daily basis at my job for the American Cancer Society, the stories of personal courage from the survivors and patients alike never cease to amaze and inspire me. I truly know that when the miles get difficult, the remarkable stories of these patients, combined with my energetic coaches and fellow teammates will motivate me to keep moving one foot in front of the other until I get to the finish. Our personal honored teammate is a young girl named Ashley who is now a freshman at James Madison University. Ashley was diagnosed at the age of 7 with leukemia. She spent most of her childhood out of school and in chemo. She tells of not making friends because they were afraid of catching her cancer and taking endless medications. We are dedicating our 26.2 miles to this courageous girl who has fought the battle of blood cancer and turned into bright, beautiful girl with a great future ahead.
This past Saturday, the 9th, we had our first team run. The first Saturday of many to come that I will be waking up before the sunrise to get to practice. We were to get there at 7:30 and it was supposed to be a 3 mile pace run to figure out what pace groups to put us in. Before the run, we had two really great seminars about choosing the right shoes and also injury prevention. While the seminars were really interesting, by the end of them, my stomach was angry at me for only providing it with only a Nature's Valley bar. Not a good sign for a successful pace run!
After the seminars, the 50 or so runners headed down to the track where we were supposed to run. Well, due to some miscommunication, the track was locked and we could not get on it. At first one of the coaches drove around the high school parking lot where we were trying to clock mileage for us to run. When she got back, she blasted jock jams out of her car as we all stretched in the freezing cold. After about 45 minutes of trying to figure out what to do, it was decided that we would forego the run and just go home. Well, not if you're on "Team Hector,"aka my team, the DC runners! We manned up and decided to go for a 3 mile run at the mall. Maybe those of you who aren't familiar with DC wouldn't get this confused, but normally, the worlds, the mall are generally only used down here in reference to the National Mall-or so Kerry and I thought. So Kerry and I geared up to drive down to "The Mall," but quickly realized we were wrong. We were actually going to run around a mall. Not inside the mall, but outside, along the parking lots, of the giant Tyson's Corner Mall in Virginia. So for a little less than 30 minutes, we ran the parking lot of one of the largest malls I have ever seen in our Team In Training shirts. It was probably the funniest and most interesting running experience I have ever had and certainly a great first bonding experience with my teammates! I think we talked the entire time about how hungry we were and where we were going to eat-Chipotle? Silver Diner? Bagels? Olive Garden?! We decided on bagels and of course sat and talked about running. Even things like, how you don't sleep the night before the race bcs you are so anxious and excited.
It was a very low mileage week, but it was so much fun! While it is just the beginning, I feel like joining TNT might possibly be one of the best decisions of my life. While listening to the coaches and various speakers on Saturday, I became completely proud of my decision that brought me to that brought me to this point in my life. I am proud that I am going to take advantage of my healthy heart, my healthy legs (knock on wood), and run 26.2 miles. Furthermore, I am proud that I have entered into this race with countless others who are dedicating their miles of sweat and struggle to those who did not have a choice to enter into the personal physical and mental battle that is cancer. It’s these moments of self-awareness, that make me realize that I am not completely crazy, despite what family members or friends may say. And it seems like I'm going to have great times along the way!
Please continue to check in on my progress and in this blog and on my fundraising website! I'm sure I won't be sounding soooo chipper as the miles increase, but there will definitely be some good reading material--okay I'll be honest, not good, but a boredom filler, how's that?
http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/tntncaSNess
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