Sweet Sixteen

So, I reached a major milestone over the weekend by karate-chopping 16 miles!! AHHHH-YAH! I actually was nervous all last week knowing I was going to do this kind of mileage. I had only done just under 14 miles one other time so this was unchartered territory. So Sunday I headed out at 6am in the dark with three other marathoners (two of them have run countless 26 milers) so I was the only virgin.

What's two more miles, right? A-LOT.

Running certainly keeps you humble. I've done a lot of races already this year, including two half marathons, but I'm always amazed at how hard just one or two more miles can really be when you're inching your way to 26. So on Sunday around mile 10 and slogging my way up a seemingly...Never. Ending. Hill...in this neighborhood, I thought - oh my God, am I really going to be able to do 16.2 more miles after this?!? The race is in a little over a month! In this gargantuan and affluent neighborhood, I kept passing smiley joggers in their neatly coordinated workout outfits who probably just came from the grips of their coffee mugs and morning papers and they looked so fresh and bouncy. I became acutely aware that at this point I looked less than fresh after running for more than two hours straight. I probably looked like a sweaty, crazy-eyed serial killer. Alright, a slight exaggeration, but I was definitely feeling dazed like my legs came out of autopilot and were asking "um, it's been hours - why are we still running?" My running mates thankfully kept reassuring me, but a shred of self doubt is there in the back of my mind...one mile at a time I keep telling myself.

Sticking to a training schedule and related rituals has been hard but absolutely essential. It's even funny how before all of this crazy running I used plan my outfits before work, carefully thinking about what cute shoes, jewelry and bag I was going to coordinate with a dress or my favorite trousers. Now, my night time preparation entails carefully packing my gym bag. Picking out a cute red patent leather belt to match a skirt, for example, is less of a concern...but forgetting to pack my 3-inch, velcro-closure fuel belt with holsters for water bottles is disasterous! Sexy. Of late, my bra purchases have been less Victoria's Secret and more Sports Authority. Double Sexy. I have come to not only embrace Spandex shorts, I now really prefer them. Never in my life would I have thought those words to exit my lips. Yes ladies...it's actually more about comfort than what my hind quarters look like these days. Although torching over 1,000 calories a run certainly has its benefits! And for goodness sake, I'm buying Glucosamine suppliments (for healthy cartilage!) in economy sizes. Anyway, you get the picture...life changes.

Well, on to more substantive matters. I want to thank SO many generous people for their amazing support of my TNT efforts so far - I'm at 80% to my goal - just a little left to raise in over a month! I've been working hard to reach this amount from seeking generous donations, to hosting a fundraiser and silent auction, to working concessions at Braves games! It's been great to inch closer to that $2,900 goal. I've been touched by so many people through TNT and it has enriched my life in ways I never knew. I thought I was just doing this for my dear Evie, but it's grown to mean so much more. I'm now even a TNT mentor for a whole new crop of TNT participants so I get to see them experience what I did a year ago, which is amazing! So, I hope to inspire others to "karate chop" this cancer thing and help them reach their own personal training goals too.

Seeing what a bunch of people in purple can do is pretty nifty. Here's a team picture of the "new kids" I took a few weeks ago.