Training update

Clearly, I'm one for change these days so here's another one. My Friday nights have shifted from going out in the city, eating potato wedges and drinking to having a bowl of pasta and getting in bed early. Giving up my Friday night date with Marisa was no easy task. The reason for my grandma-like behavior is that I wake up every Saturday morning at 6am for a long run with my group. Now that I've completed my fifth week of training, you would think I've grown accustomed to this new schedule but you'd be wrong.

Every Saturday morning, my very loud alarm goes off and the flood of excuses begin to pour into my head of why I should shut off my alarm and go back to bed. Here are just a few...

-It's still dark outside
-It's raining
-It's too cold to be wearing shorts
-I forgot to wash my favorite running shirt
-I should be well rested if I want to run a marathon
-I'm sore from the gym
-I'll run on my own later
-I don't want to drive to the park
-I have a stuffy nose
-My throat hurts
-My finger hurts

Yep, without fail every single week I have this ongoing argument with myself to run or not to run. Curious how the argument ends? I pick my head off the pillow, turn the light on my nightstand on and tell myself to stop being a little baby because no reason is good enough to make me not want to give this training my all.

Of course, by 10am on Saturday morning after my run is completed and I've had a long, hot shower I'm thinking to myself, "Hey, you're awesome. You just ran ___ miles. Keep it up, hot shot." Don't worry, my ego doesn't stay that inflated for too long.

This weekend, I ran nine miles on a very challenging course that included many steep hills and about 12 flights of stairs. I wish I could report my time but my watch stopped working after 50 minutes. It's my own fault for playing with it during my run. Oh well. It was the first non-raining Saturday morning in a while though so I was in a great mood the entire time.

Since my last post of thanking those who have donated, let me add a few more to the list...

-Kim and Lisa Satterfield
-Jim Stewart
-Eddy Dere
-Chris Mercer

Thank you all so much for your generosity. I really appreciate it! :)

As far as fundraising goes, I have raised about $900 which is the the second highest in my group thus far. Clearly, I can't let some boy beat me so I'm asking you to please donate if you haven't. Go to http://www.cantoo.org.au/ and click "sponsor now" on the top, right-hand corner.

"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."
- Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ