Team in Training Kick off is tonight!

I am so excited about this.

Tonight we will meet with out teammates, team leaders, coaches and honoree. This is the official start of this journey, and I'm totally jazzed.

I'm also so amazed by people's generosity. I have had several restaurants donate dinners and gift certificates, t-shirts, you name it, so that I can raffle them off or do a silent auction with them for TnT. I just received a call back from a local chiropractor who is donating a certificate for an hour long massage. His sister won her battle with leukemia, so it is something close to his heart. The thing that amazes me, is HOW many people that I've run across who have similar stories to share with me. Some are stories of victory, and sadly some are not. But, I suppose that is what this is all about. Hopefully one day all of the stories will be stories of victories.

To all of you who have donated so far, thank you very much.

Still sick....

All I have to say is thank goodness for Dayquil and Nyquil!!! I can't remember the last time I have been hit with a cold like this. I've been eating so much chicken noodle soup, I feel like I'm going to cluck at any moment. And we all know that penguins should NOT cluck!

So, no running today...again. I have a 5K that I really want to run on Saturday, as it looks like it will be a lot of fun, plus I already registered for it, so hopefully I will feel better by then.

I the meantime, I'm excited to see a couple of donations have come in, and I've gathered many items from local stores (shirts, gift certificates for dinner, etc) which I hope to put together into baskets to raffle off in the next few months. It is amazing how many people are willing to reach out and help, once they find out what Team in Training is all about. For all these people know, I could be scamming them (which I obviously am not...too many years of catholic school guilt for that), but they are still willing to assume the best and just give.

The official season hasn't kicked off yet (that happens tomorrow night), but I feel confident that I will reach my donations goal, and perhaps will exceed it.

Ok, time to crawl back under the blankets and watch The Wiggles.

Blech!

Well, I now know why my 5K wasn't so hot the other day. I woke up sick as a dog with a nasty cold. Hopefully I can shake this thing soon so I can get back to running.

I am looking forward to our kickoff meeting this Wednesday night. It will be nice to meet the team, our coach, as well as everyone else who will be there too.

Here's to feeling better, and not passing this onto any of the other kids!

And so the journey begins.

I am so excited to get started on this journey. I can't tell you all how touching it was to see all of those purple singlets on the road with me during the Disney Marathon. People running in memory of loved ones, in honor of loved ones, and for those they have never met. The team spirit of all of those who participated with Team in Training was contagious and inspiring, and I am honored to be able to say that I am now going to be running with such amazing people.

This morning I decided I needed to run away for a little bit (some weeks are more stressful than others when you have 4 little kids), so I popped on the computer and found a 5K in St.Augustine. It's about a 45 minute drive from here, but oh the joy of not having to listen to The Wiggles while I drove (sorry guys, love you, but one can only sing, 'Toot-Toot, Chugga-Chugga so many times).

My time wasn't great (32 minutes), but it wasn't my worst either, so I'll leave it at that. It just felt nice to get out and run.

There are some amazing people out there. There were runners in their late 70's (who totally whooped me I might add), and as young as 6 (also whooped me). There was one adorable 7 year old, blond pigtailed little girl who won an award for her time. When they presented it to her, the gentleman handing it to her told us a story about what happened to her before the race started. She was at the front of the pack, and a man told her she should move towards the back. She informed him that she ran a 19 minute time. He said, "Yeah, 19 minutes a mile!" Well, I am thrilled to report that she got plenty of egg on his face, as she completed all 3.1 miles in slightly over 19 minutes!!!!! I hope whoever said that was there at the awards presentation and felt thouroughly humbled.

If there is anything that I have learned in the year since I started running, it's that size and age has NOTHING to do with ones running skills and endurance. Never judge a book by it's cover, that's for sure.

I guess that's it for now. Please check back, and I'll update as often as I can.

Thanks!