Friday eve again! I am in a great mood today. This has been a very up and down week but I am feeling good. In part because I have something VERY special to share with you all today about my future race plans.
I am going to be running the Gulf Coast Half Marathon/Mandeville Half in October!!!
Yes, I know that’s not that exciting, the exciting part is that I am going to be running with…………… TEAM IN TRAINING! and, AND, Bobby is participating too! We will be fundraising as a team as you can see from our fundraising page, which I have yet to personalize and am working on!
Why TNT? Well, I actually have three reasons for choosing to do this:
1.) My mom, Kathy, is a cancer survivor. When I was about 7, she was diagnosed with stage 3 Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma that went to the bone. She was given 3-6 months to live, but her chemotherapy worked and she is still here today!
my mom(left) with one of her sisters who also is a non hodgkins lymphoma survivor on Christmas day, which is also my mom’s birthday!
Helping to find a cure by raising money for TNT is therefore important to me. No little girl should have to go through the things my sister and I did. It was very scary for a 7 year old!
2.) Living in a new town is hard and I would love to make some new friends! We have been here since March, and have made a couple of friends yes, but not as many as I would like. I still feel like a stranger on the coast, and want to change that! I think meeting other runners and running with them on a weekly basis will help!
3.) Having a coach will push me to the next level. Since my last half marathon I have been reevaluating my training methods and trying to heal my injury. I realized I needed to strength train which I have been doing, and I needed to not run as much to heal my IT band. I have only been running about 9-12 miles a week, which is a HUGE step down from what I was doing. I also realized I really need to be pushed.
I thought back to what “worked” for me in high school athletics, what made me excel and get better and better, and it was definitely my coaches. I am not the best self motivator, but I do well having someone push me, yell at me to keep going, more of a “tough love” approach. I think a coach putting me on a plan and hopefully also having other runners to run with that will push my pace will really make me faster. I have always either trained alone or gone on runs with my husband, and sweet as he is he doesn’t push me because he feels bad doing it, so he is no help HA!
the shadow on my teeth makes me look funny heh.
I am already brainstorming ways that I can raise money. I will be sending out e-mails and snail mail, and of course trying to reach out to the runner/blogger community to donate online, but I also would love to host an online raffle or bake sale maybe? If anyone would be willing to donate something they make or sell for a raffle please e mail me at runningwithsass AT gmail DOT com.
I am so excited to get started! We have our first meeting May 5, so I am sure we will start training soon. Hurray! If you have participated in an event with TNT and have words of wisdom, tips etc. to share please either comment or e-mail me. I would love to hear from you! (Like how to put a picture on our fundraising page?)
In other news, yesterday I did my 6 weeks to 6 pack DVD and Bobby and I went for a 3 mile run. With my legs getting stronger I am getting faster which is a nice confidence boost for me!
Also another big thank you for everyone’s sweet words and encouragement over the past couple of days. I have THE BEST readers!
aannndd finally, today is the last day to enter my GIVEAWAY! Hurry hurry!
QOTD: Have you ever run a race for a cause? Tell me about it! If not, what are your thoughts on programs like TNT?
What an amazing story and how wonderful that you will be running in honor of your mom! Team in Training is an amazing organization (my mom did her first marathon, Disney, with them) and offer great resources for their runners. Can’t wait to hear about your training!
Yay for your 1/2 marathon! I’ve heard great things about TNT. I have not run with them yet.
I do run the Susan G. Komen 5k here in Atlanta each year. It is my absolute favorite race. This will be my 3rd year participating. The joy & motivation I get from all the survivors is amazing and knowing I’m enjoying myself and raising money for a good cause does the spirit good!
I’m curious to see how your experiences with TNT go. I’ve thought about either training with TNT (my step-mother has a chronic form of leukemia) or with Joints in Motion (supports arthritis research – near and dear to my heart since I have arthritis). The fund raising aspect intimidates me though. I’m not good with asking people for money.
Yay for Team in Training! I’m doing San Diego with TNT. Signed up for the marathon on my own, but thought it would be awesome to raise money along the way. Its an amazing organization that has introduced me to a lot of new and awesome people. My coaches rock, and we are all becoming faster and better runners for a great cause!
That is so neat! I’m about to run my first race for a cause – Lupus, which I haven’t heard much of but I have a friend that has it so I’m excited to be raising money for people like her. And I think that’s a good idea to meet new people, I’m hoping to do the same thing over here.
Such a great cause. My dad’s non-hodgkins lymphoma has returned so anything that brings awareness and money to the blood cancers is important to me. Enjoy training with TNT!
What an incredible cause to race for!
Good for you! My sister did the nike womens half with tnt. It should be fun to train with a group! I don’t know about those purple singlets though.. Lol. At least you can probably wear your black/purple rs with it. 😉
I think a bake sale is a fabulous way to raise $!
It is so great that you are running for a cause like this! I can see why it’s so close to your heart. You are such a sweet girl!
Ahhhh that is SO AWESOME that you’re running with TNT! I’ve always wanted to sign-up with them, but haven’t found an out-of-town race that’s doable for met (yet!). Can’t wait to hear about your experience with them. Also, thank you so much for sharing about your mom. She must be so proud of you!
PS… I read your post with all the comment drama, and I think you took *such* a high road of dealing with such negativety… and I’m so glad that the blogworld and fellow runners came to your side for support!
I think TnT is great! I’ve never done it, but I definitely would have considered it if I hadn’t found my local Marathoner in Training program and fallen in love. I love it for all the reasons you listed above and I think you’ll be really happy in group training. It’s definitely a great way to meet people!
It is such a great cause! I ran with TNT in the summer and fall of 2009 when I was training for the Columbus Marathon. I wish I’d been able to make it to more of the group training runs (they didn’t fit my schedule very well). You will love doing this!
I am so excited for you to be joining forces with TNT! You are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Team in training was the most amazing experience for me. I met so many great people too. And many of them are not my set running buddies. Good luck to you! 🙂