8 Miles! (End of Week 4)

Greetings, earthlings! Wow -- another week of running has come and gone. As much as I keep saying to people, "I'm not really a runner" -- uh -- I'm thinking that I might actually be turning into one. I love it! I am so happy for your support. Together, we've raised over $4600 for charity, so we're hitting my goal of $1000/week. At this rate, we can hit $10,000 for the season. Overall, our TNT group has raised $61,000 (our goal is $2.2 Million). Wow!!! However -- it's not all about the fundraising (although it's a worthy cause) -- it's about us all coming together to celebrate my survivorship and for our honored teammates, who are survivors or going through cancer battles right now. So please, even if you cannot afford to donate or have other charities you support instead...that's ok!!! Please feel free to stay involved: post comments to my blog at the bottom of this page, send me emails, cheer our TNT team on! It's all a part of the process of CELEBRATING! And hey, we all know us Irish-folk love a good party.

So, what am I learning? Well, I've learned that running can be a team sport. I have met some great people already and feel so blessed to be a part of this running team. Truly, all good folk. I've learned that when I don't feel like running after work, this charity cause comes to mind and I pull on my running shoes to run for our honored teammates (Sarah and Vince) who had days when they couldn't train due to their cancer. Pic to the right is from Saturday. Our honored teammate (and leukemia survivor), Sarah, showed up and ran a few miles with TNT. I've added new pictures to my slideshow, so scroll to the bottom and see the new pics!

Our mileage is increasing per week, which is crazy amazing!! This past Tuesday was the dreaded track practice. It was so strange to stand under the stadium lights, feel the misty grass under our feet, and have a bunch of coaches teaching us form and interval techniques. My form was good according to Coach...but man o' man...I was sooooo tired and hurt for days after that workout!! :)

This past Saturday, we ran 8 miles as a team!! Can you believe it?! I never thought I could do it, and our B Team Coach Pattie said we ran about 10 min/miles. Thank goodness for Coach Pattie -- she got me up a hill I thought I would not survive. "If you're going through hell, keep going." (Winston Churchill) Wow. I purchased a new fuel belt. Still not sure how I feel about these darn things, and they seriously look ugly, but I'm being told that I'll need 'em to run 26.2 miles (did you read that?! 26.2 miles!!). The pics included in this post are of me and my B Team coach, Coach Pattie, and the other pic is my new running pal, Jen (in sassy pink shirt), our happy Mentor Amy (middle) and me.

Well...it was a great week of training. I still gasp for air those first 2 miles of every run, but slowly find my rythm after that. It's awesome. I love it. I am turning into one of those running geeks that gets up early on Saturdays and Sundays, rain or shine, to go running. And yes, it's raining today, and I just completed a 3 mile run in the rain. :)

Happy (running) trails!