8 Miles! Check it off the list!

Hi all!  Thanks for checking out my blog again.  Gosh, I'm getting so good at this!  Just wanted to update everyone on my status for training for this Nike Women's Marathon.  Today we ran 8 miles! 

I really couldn't have asked for a better day.  It's gorgeous in Boise right now.  I've actually been thinking about my brother a lot lately.  He and his wife have not had a chance to make it out to Boise since I've lived here, and I think he will be coming to Boise this August!!!  Unfortunately his wife, Tiffany, won't be able to make it since she is doing her Residency.  I'm very bummed about that because I secretly want her to come here because I KNOW she'll just fall in love with it, and then Jed (my brother) and her will move here!!!  Well, it's an idea, right???  Jed!  I know you're reading this blog!  I'm really excited to show off Boise to you!!!  You're going to love it!

Okay... back to my run.  Today I was fortunate enough to run with someone who ran about the same speed as me.  It made it go a lot faster!  I'd recommend that to anyone once your mileage numbers start to go up a little.  I have to say, I'm still at a point where these runs are more fun than challenging.  I am actually excited to get up to some higher miles just to say, "oh, you know, I ran 18 miles yesterday... no biggie!"  :-)  Ha ha, secretly, I'll be really proud!  But I have to say I am so impressed by this group I'm running with.  They are all amazing!  I've never had a "running group" before, so this is pretty cool!
Yesterday I met with one of the employees, Lynne Wieland, who works at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Her son, Grant, was diagnosed with Leukemia 8 years ago when he was only 7 years old.  For 3 years he went through chemo and radiation, and has now been cancer free for 5 years.  He's only 15 years old, but without the treatments that were made by the donations of so many giving people, he may not be alive today.  It's overwhelming to think about, but your donations truly save lives!!!

So, something else totally cool about Lynne... she was a pro skier in the 80's and early 90's!  She was in the movie HOT DOG!!!  She was also in two Warren Miller movies, as well as several others!!!  Okay, for all of you who know me, you know I'm all about Freestyle Skiing.  It's my favorite sport, and I live and breath it in the winter.  It was so cool to meet someone who paved the way for so many other athletes to learn and grow in this sport.  Especially women!!!  She knew I was really into skiing, so for our meeting she brought her collection of pictures and articles that she was in.  I mean, she was on the cover of all these magazines and editorials galore, you name it, and she did it!  I'm truly honored to be able to run with people like this!!!

How cool is that picture!!!!

Hey!  If you haven't donated yet, and you plan to, Get on it!!!!  :-)  Thanks for all your support and I'll talk to you soon!!!

Rachel

Today is the BEST DAY EVER!!!

Well, I have never blogged in my life before, but there is always a time and a place to try new things!  As you can see by my title, "Today is the BEST DAY EVER!!!", there is no time like the present to start this blog. 

As an introduction, this blog is going to be mostly about my Nike Team in Training Marathon that I am running on October 16, 2011.  I officially decided that I would do this about 4 weeks ago.  I did a half marathon about 3 years ago, and remember when I finished thinking, "It would be crazy to do double this amount of running!!"  That being said, enough time has passed, and the "crazy" in me is saying time to try for the FULL marathon...26.2 miles...

Funnily enough, so far, the running has not been the scariest part.  For those of you who have not gotten my letters, I am not running just for the sake of putting foot on pavement.  I'm actually running for a cause.  And an AMAZING cause at that.  I am running in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society which raises money and awareness towards beating this horrible thing called cancer.  To be able to race in this marathon, I first have to raise a minimum of $3200!!!  That's the minimum!  However, my goal is $4500!  This has been the scariest part for me so far.  I mean, that's a lot of money!!!

That being said, I want to share why today is the BEST DAY EVER!  I just had lunch with a friend who did Team in Training last year.  I spent the majority of lunch asking her creative ways to help raise the funds for TNT.  I have to admit, I'm starting to stress a little...  And then, I get back to my office, all motivated to start putting together some of those ideas and I go to my little TNT website and VOILA!  Someone anonymously just donated to my race $1000!!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING!!!  NO... WAIT... ARE YOU KIDDING???!!!  I'm jumping up and down as I write this!!!!  It's anonymous... so whoever donated that $1000, if you are reading this, I just want to say the biggest THANK YOU I've ever said.  I cannot show my appreciation enough, and I hope that in some way I can repay you in the future.  I am so appreciative of this that I don't feel that I can express this in words.  Thank you...

But... the funding is not done.  I don't know one person who has not been affected by cancer.  My sister, Ruth, was actually diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer in 2005.  I remember when she called me, I remember that feeling of ice and dread going down my back when she said the word c-a-n-c-e-r, and I remember us both crying and reassuring each other.  My sister is alive and well 6 years later, but many are not so lucky.  So, I run for them and for all who have been affected this horrible disease.  If you would like to donate, you can go to my website at http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/nikesf11/rlink7 .

Okay... I'm signing off.  I should apologize now if there are some weird sentences and spelling errors.  I want to have this blog be semi free-flowing with my thoughts as I continue this journey to run this race.  This Saturday I'm running 8 miles with the group.  The training has been really fun so far.  I'm kind of interested to see at what mile I won't think it's so fun... I'll let you know:-)  Talk to you soon!!!