PENSIVE

This is so funny. I keep getting lost on my runs! Today's was a group run, so we had directions and everything. My running buddy and I were at the end of the pack, but we weren't necessarily following anyone.

We are running along, looking for the street to turn on and eventually realize that we must have missed it. We decided to create our own route. My goal for the morning was 5 miles, but the route we ended up taking was 6.3, according to the map I tracked when I got back home. I had to stop to walk a few times, but I would guess I ended up running 5 or 5.5 miles. Yay! Progress!

I promised I would wait until the new year to harp about donations. The marathon is almost three months away and I am pretty shy of where I should be with my fundraising. I'm about to send letters out and all of that, but you guys are the ones I "talk" to everyday and know the most about my training. If everyone that visited this blog gave at least $10-15 two times between now and my fundraising deadline in April, I'd probably have it met.

I had to have an MRI done for my leg this week and was flipping out. Meanwhile, a lady that works with me finished her third-to-last round of chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma. While I was lying perfectly still and waist-deep in the MRI machine, I tried to spend some time thinking about how fortunate I was they were only scanning my leg for a stress fracture, instead of my body for cancer cells and such. I guess the big scary machine just put it in perspective for me, and now I am actually kind of glad I have a little pain to run through. It's like a little reminder of why I am raising money and who I am running for.

I've mentioned before how initially, I wanted to join an American Cancer Society running team (in memory of my grandfather) but there wasn't one in Nashville. Well, at this morning's group run, a lady shared how her father was undergoing chemo for pancreatic or liver cancer, but the technology/procedure his doctors were using originally developed from blood cancer cure research, which is what I am raising money for. It's interesting to me how this all relates/connects. While the ACS may not be getting my funds directly, the more money spent on research for cures of any kind of cancer, the better off we all are.

Sorry to get all deep this morning. Running makes you think! The point - if you are able to, please make a donation.