The training begins

It has been exactly one month since I completed my first half marathon! I literally loved every minute of it and to say I am now addicted to running would be an understatement. I decided to push the limit by committing to run a marathon. In order to run 26.2 miles... I knew I would need some support. I contacted the Leukemia Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT). Much like my experience with running, I was hooked after the first informational meeting. I am turning 30 next month and really wanted to do something special to give back to others in honor of this milestone. God has truly blessed me with an amazing life and I feel that it is time for me to pay it forward. TNT is allowing me to do just that.

Soon after I signed up, I learned about our Honored Teammate, Alyssa. She just turned 4 and is battling leukemia. After reading her story and seeing her pictures, I knew I had to meet this little girl. That same day, I joined my TNT campaign manager to visit Alyssa at Miller's Children's Hospital. She is a beautiful little girl and looked so tiny in that hospital bed. I brought her a Disney Princess activity book and we played with Ariel from Little Mermaid. This little girl touched my heart and I am so glad that I found TNT so I can help make a positive difference in her life.

In order to make this difference, I need to raise $3200 and train and complete the Nike Women's Marathon. I created this blog to keep you updated on my progress. I'll try to update at least once a week. I hope you'll check back often. I have a long road ahead of me and appreciate your continued support!!!

To catch you up on my training thus far - I'm now in my 4th week of marathon training. We started off very slow with 2 miles our first Saturday and will be running 5 this Saturday. I have maintained my midweek runs from my half marathon training because I didn't want to lose the running base I had worked since January to build! Eventually, the marathon program will catch up with me and I'll be increasing mileage...substantially! For now, I run 5 miles Tuesday and Thursday, 3-4 miles on Wednesday, a long run on Saturday (5 this week, 6 next......), and an hour of cardio on Sunday. Monday and Friday are rest days... yippee!

So, I think that's all for now. I'm going to bed to get some rest for the work day tomorrow....

Oh yeah... before I sign off of my first ever blog entry, I wanted to give a quick shout out to my partner in crime.... my husband, Brandon! I can only do what I do because of him. If I need to run out the door for a 5 miler, he takes care of our little one, Tyler, without hesitation. It is a big time commitment to train for a marathon. I will be meeting my Long Beach TNT team every Saturday at 7am until October. We haven't slept in past 6:00am in the last 2 years since having Tyler... but he still has to watch him alone EVERY Saturday for at least 2 hours. If you have kids, you know how much nicer it is to have 2 parents early in the morning (especially on the weekends)... at least 1 of you can have an occasional 10 minute snooze :) Needless to say, he is an amazing husband and father and both Tyler and I are truly blessed to have him!

Now I really am going to bed :)