Could you send me your legs for a week?

I'm preparing to set another personal record next Saturday when I run my first half marathon race! 

Up until today my longest run was 10.5 miles, but next weekend I will conquer 13.1 miles in the Lake Sammamish Half.  We'll run from Sammamish State Park to Marymoor (and then hope that I can still walk afterwards).  My friend Carrie signed up to run with me and I just learned last night that my friend Darren will be running it too, along with several others from my marathon training team.  I'm looking forward to having some friends along the route to cheer me on (especially since the Madrid fans will all be speaking Spanish and I won't know if they are cheering me on or not!) and to achieving this next goal in my training.

Six months ago, I would not have believed that a half marathon sounds like no problem.  I've never been one to run regularly, preferring to have a ball in front of me to motivate me to run, but regularly training with so many supportive people has really made me feel that I can do this!  While I only ran 10 miles this week and last week, my 8-10th miles were my fastest of the day.  Who would have believed that?

Several people have told me that they could never run a marathon and I just wanted to share that I am living proof that you can.  It was never a goal of mine to run a marathon and, while I think races are fun (I'm very goal oriented and having a finish line just in front of me is awesome!) I never enjoyed races that were longer that 3 miles.  But next Saturday, I will run 13.1 miles and I am VERY excited about it!

The fundraising is going great and I just had a taco feed to raise a little bit more for the battle, thanks to a generous donation from Whole Foods Redmond.  Thanks for your support, Whole Foods!  I have raised about $4000 so far and have just a little further to go.  Thanks to the many generous friends and family members and strangers who have helped me to raise so much money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Seven weeks until race day!