Less than a week away



THIS Saturday, May 25 is the Bayshore Half Marathon in Traverse City, Michigan. This is the race I have been training for with Team In Training. With the amazing help of family, friends, people on Twitter and on Facebook, I reached my minimum goal and raised over $1400 to fight leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood cancers. But now comes the part no one can truly help with - my run!



Me with Kaitlyn at a race that we both did in April.
She ran 100 yards and I ran 5K!



I have done a better job training for this race than any other race I have participated in in the past. I got up to 10 miles in my training and those 10 miles actually went really well. I only walked up the hills and ran (SLOWLY) the rest! It was a great accomplishment for me! Unfortunately, I went on vacation shortly after that and ended up taking 2 weeks off from training! D'oh! I have gotten back into it and hope race day doesn't prove to be too difficult.

My goal is to finish the 13.1 miles in 3 hours. Yes, I know this is a slow pace. But its my pace. In the past, I have taken around 3:20-3:25 to finish half-marathons, but that always included walking. This time I want to do my "slow run" through the whole race, only walking during the hills, and finish within 3 hours. Statistics say based on what I run in shorter runs, this is possible. But I'll never know for sure until the actual race.



That being said, I am rather nervous. With the decline in training and the goal just within my reach, I fear having a bad run day. Plus, the weather has been so warm and it doesn't look like it will be cooling down. Heat is NOT my friend during runs. It actually makes me miss that hard, pellet-like snow in my face! But, I will stay hydrated and will do my best to keep the right pace. For those of you who don't run, races tend to make you run faster than you've ever run before. The adrenaline, the people going fast around you, and the determination to meet a particular goal all cause you to go TOO FAST when you're a beginner. I'll have to really concentrate to keep my normal pace.

One thing that will keep me running despite my sweatiness, achiness, and fatigue will be the thought of my two "Honored Heros". Matthew - a co-worker's son who was diagnosed with leukemia as a baby. He is now a teenager and is happy and healthy! And Josiah - a little boy who has fought leukemia and is now in remission. These two went through hell. Their families went through hell. And they made it. Running 13.1 miles compared to all of that is a piece of cake.

I will post a blog after I finish so that everyone knows how it went! Thanks again for all of your support!

 - Heather