Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running...

I'm finding it hard to get myself motivated for the Thursday non-group runs. If I know the group will notice I'm not there for practice, I'll show up. And they will notice, too, because there are only four of us who are consistently there. But by Thursday, I'm just feeling pummeled by the time and effort all this is taking. I'll work on it next week--maybe I'll recruit a friend to get out there with me.

As far as the group runs go, Wednesday was great. There's another trainer, Barbie, who runs at my pace. This is her first marathon. She was there Wednesday, so I had company. We also had another woman at our pace. Know what acts as an incredible motivator? Having a woman who just last week had outpatient surgery for a cancerous molar pregnancy challenge your pace. (Warning, incredibly sad link, though the occurrences are rare.) She was incredibly upbeat and had such a positive attitude. It just reminds me, like the CFF fundraising does, that I'm incredibly lucky to be healthy enough to be doing all this training.

Last night we had a five-mile run and then did some strength training. I had planned to meet up with friends doing karaoke at a bar in Uptown, but I just couldn't make it. By the time I showered and had dinner, my legs refused to do anything but sit on the couch watching AFI's 10 Top 10.

"Please don't kill it! . . . It's unfair."

Yes, I was definitely the runt of the training group. But the group leader, Johann, was as kind as Mr. Arable and didn't kill me. The other three runners took off at a faster pace, but he stayed back to keep me going. I ran all five miles.

I was feeling a bit down about it, about being so slow. But then today my contact at CFF, Jeremy, e-mailed to see if I'd made it to training. I said I had and that I was going to have to work pretty hard to catch up with the group. He wrote back to tell me "the most important thing is that you run your race." It really cheered me up. I think I may adopt that as my motto for my training. That, and "Keep Up, Runt!"

This whole experience has been really amazing so far. I feel completely surrounded by wonderful people: every single donation has made me cheer and feel supported, every e-mail from my new group training leader and CFF contact has encouraged me, and every run has made me grateful for my health and ability to do something this big.

*Just in case you didn't recognize it, the title is a quote from Charlotte's Web.