Marathon Training Week #1

Marathon training has begun! Thank you to everyone who has donated to Imerman Angels- you all are the best! Your contributions are making a difference in the lives of cancer patients and caretakers and I am greatly appreciated for taking the time to do so.

I actually was not planning on doing a marathon this year. If anyone would have asked me in January, I would have said, yeah, not really sure, just taking this day by day and looking forward to getting back into running. I was already signed up for a trail Ragnar in August and was chomping at bit to get back to training. After a few trail runs and hiking we started to get our running legs back. It was a bit tough and I was worried about re-injuring my hip. Sometimes you just have to go for it. I have been diligent about my PT exercises and using the Theragun on a regular basis all while trying not to push the distance. I have to tell you one thing- patience is not my strong suit! But with cross-training (lots of slow cycling) I continued to improve my fitness.

And so, that faithful day in late April, I received a newsletter from Imerman Angels highlighting the Chicago Marathon. I clicked on the link to see if spots were still available and of course they were. I sat there thinking "maybe I should do this.... maybe I should wait until next year." But with cancer, anyone knows that it is unpredictable. I am not here to wait for next year. I am here to live in the moment and I decided to sign up for the race. I have decided to be bold because life is not a spectator's sport.

Well, training started last Monday and since we did a 5 mile trail run on Sunday, I made Monday a weight training day. Tuesday through Sunday, I have stuck to the plan as provided by Chicago Endurance Sports and I'll tell you one thing- I am not used to running 5 days a week. I am learning to trust the process and I am putting my miles in, however slow it may be.

We woke up early on Saturday morning to join the Seattle Greenlake run club, which was meeting at the Montlake Park. It was great to see some old friends and also many new ones and to share the common thing we all love- to run. We may have run the long run a little too fast, but we are still trying to find our marathon legs. Things are trending in the right direction.

So, be bold. Get out of your comfort zone and do what makes you happy. I do not regret taking a chance on this race because in the end it is not about the destination, it is about the journey.