The Avon breast cancer walk was one of those things. Walk a marathon? Raise a lot of money? I definitely was crazy. But it was one of the things that I am most proud of doing in my life. With something like 3000 people walking the Chicago walk in 2006, we raised over $8.3 million for breast cancer research and making early prevention screening and cancer care available to those who couldn't otherwise afford it. Think you can't make a difference? You can. Here's a few pictures of us walking:
This is only about a mile after the start -- look at how many people there are behind us!
About 4 miles into the walk, and we're now on the other side of downtown Chicago.
About 3-4 miles from the finish line. Ready to be done!Then this year, I decided to take up running. I always thought that I hated running, but after the exhileration of the walk and participating in this year's Shamrock Shuffle, I knew that I wanted to start running races. Not for the times, but for the personal experience -- for the chance to do things that I always thought that I couldn't do. So I signed up for a 5k a few months ago, and it's now this upcoming Sunday!
I'm a tiny bit frustrated that I'm not as ready for it as I possibly could be. At the same time, I know that it won't be my last 5k and am excited just to get my first real "race" under my belt. I definitely have plans to do another one this fall once I'm settled in California.
That being said (and getting back to the crazy goals that I like to make for myself), I decided today that I want to do this next year. Not the full marathon -- only the half! But I'm really excited about it. The course is fairly rough, especially considering all the hills of downtown SF! It will take a decent amount of training for me to build up to running 13.1 miles, but I think living somewhere that has great outdoor running weather probably 360 days of the year will help.
Anyone want to join me?
I also think I want to get involved and help out with Girls on the Run after I'm settled. It seems like an amazing way to spend some free time.
3 comments:
Yay! I did my first half this year in Nashville. Very tough but I'm so glad I did! Congrats on walking a full - thats a huge feat!
I would like to do a race someday. I've got to run more than three times a month, though. And probably for longer than 10 minutes a day. :)
I'm going to do Girls on the Run with my oldest daughter this fall. I'm really looking forward to it!
Hey, I forgot that you started a blog and now I have to catch up! Good for you in walking a marathon. That's quite an accomplishment! My husband and best friend and I walked one a couple of years ago. It was amazing.
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