Finishing up my 4 mile run yesterday, I thought to myself: I don't think I have ever ran outside in the month of December. Sure, I have logged miles on the treadmill at the gym in December, but outside... never. I am a total baby when it comes to winter. I hate being cold, I hate snow, I hate getting my shoes wet from puddles and slush, and I hate wearing layers. However, this year, winter outdoor running and I will become best friends (and enemies on some days, I am sure). I have embarked on maybe the biggest challenge of my life, and that is running the Boston Marathon in April! I never thought I would run a marathon, and I especially never thought I would run Boston because you have to train during the winter. I am so excited and nervous all at the same time, but I am super pumped because I am running for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. It was a long shot getting onto the team because of the thousands of applications they receive, but I figured I would apply anyway and if it was meant to be, it would happen. In my application, I wrote about my grandmother who battled colon cancer for years and passed away when she was 74. She lived with my family and I, and we had a very close relationship, so I shared my personal experience about watching her battle cancer and the toll it took on her and our family. I wanted to be part of a team that had a goal to not only finish the marathon, but to put and end to cancer. The biggest sign to me about running the marathon was that this year, the Boston marathon is on April 16th, which is my grandmother's birthday. If there was any year to run, this was it. After applying to the team in September, I heard back in October and was accepted!!!
So now the fun begins :) Training has officially started and I have already had one meeting with the team at Dana Farber. To say I am inspired is an understatement. I had the chance to talk to patients and survivors (some of whom are even running the marathon!), and felt such a mix of emotions leaving the facility. I was excited, nervous, happy, and sad all at once. I listened to stories about loved ones who passed away, heard stories of survivors, talked about my grandmother, and realized we were all doing this for the same reason: to put an end to cancer. I know it is not going to be easy to run a marathon, and I am fully anticipating the challenge ahead. However, I am ready to begin and excited to share my journey with all of you! I will be posting my workouts, runs, nutritional info, fundraising updates, and anything else that comes to mind during the next 4 months of training. Looking ahead at all of the training I have coming up, I have to remember, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Or in my case, "A journey of 26.2 miles begins with a single step". :)
Take a peek at my fundraising website: http://www.rundfmc.org/2012/heatherR
Happy running,
Heather
