The Next Big Decision

Deciding to train for the marathon was a big decision for me. I had come a long way in my running, but registering for the marathon meant that I was committing to keeping up with a training schedule for over six months, and committing to run a distance much longer than I had ever run in my life. Once I told people that I was training for a marathon, I knew I couldn't back out.

My next big decision was whether or not to fund raise. When you register for the marathon, they ask you if you will be running for a charity or not. At the time when I registered, I said no, but it definitely put the idea in my head. I knew that if I was going to try and raise money for any charity, it would be something related to fighting breast cancer because both my mom and my aunt are survivors, and it feels like almost every woman I'm related to has had it. Not quite, but it's safe to say it runs in my family.

This was a tough decision for me though because most charities make you commit to raising a minimum amount. I couldn't just sign up and raise as much or as little as I could. This was scary for me because I hate asking people for money. I am definitely no Holly Robinson Peete.(Celebrity Apprentice? Anyone? Anyone?) I began to look around at marathon related charities though, and found that Susan G. Komen, a pretty big name in breast cancer research fund raising, had a program called Marathon for the Cure, and that the Chicago Marathon was one of the races they were associated with.

I finally decided that I would join Marathon for the Cure and commit to raising at least $750. I figured I'm at least doing something to give people reason to donate. I'm not asking for donations just 'cause, I'm running 26.2 miles for the donations! (Not to mention the many, many miles of training). So, I will try not to be too much of a pest about it, but I would love it if you would consider donating. Even the tiniest amount is helpful! There is absolutely no problem with using that "other amount" field and donating ten or even five dollars. I've even put a link to my donation page here on the blog to make it nice and easy! :) And a big "thank you" to those who have donated already!

Miles this week: 15 miles
Weeks of training finished: 12 weeks
Total miles of training: 132 miles