EWEB Run to Stay Warm

First thing is first: WOW! It's been all of four days since I made this commitment and I'm already 15% of the way to my goal! Thank you to Sherri, Vickie, and Sean for your generosity and for getting me off to a great start!

This morning I ran in the EWEB Run to Stay Warm 5k. It was COLD - when I got home I checked the weather online and it said it was all of 37 degrees outside. I also met my goal of running the whole course and running an 11-minute mile pace. In fact, I crushed my previous personal best 5k time of 38:08 and ran a 32:49.

About halfway through the race, I thought, "In April, I'll be running 9 of these combined." What a crazy thought.

Hopefully it will be a little warmer in April!

That guy's sign says, "Give me liberty or give me hot chocolate." Amen, dude.

Robyn is running a marathon??!

You might be thinking that it's crazy for me to sign up to run a marathon. Never fear, I am thinking the same thing!

I had been thinking about expanding beyond the world of 5k races for a little while, and noticed that Team in Training was having informational sessions in Eugene this week. My friend Aaren from college trained with TNT to run a marathon with her mom, so I was not totally unaware of their mission. So last night, I went to learn more. I left a couple of hours later having committed to raise at least $1,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and finish 26.2 miles - the ultimate endurance event. I can definitely say the TNT presenters were excellent saleswomen! We spoke with former participants, the coaches, and the local staff.

So, I'm running in the Eugene Marathon on April 29th, 2012. My goal is not only to finish the whole marathon without dying, but also to surpass the fundraising minimum of $1,500 and raise at least $2,000 for research and an eventual cure for blood cancers.

I was moved to commit to the physical and financial challenges because TNT combines my selfish goal of completing a marathon with the wider (and arguably more important) effort to successfully treat and eventually cure not just blood-borne cancers, but all cancer. Advances in one area often translate to other specific cancers, and who among us doesn't know and love someone who has been affected by breast cancer, lung cancer, or prostate cancer?

This page will be a blog of sorts, with updates on fundraising progress and weekly coaching sessions. Our first group training run is Saturday, December 3, so expect to hear from me again then. And, as always, if you are able, I genuinely appreciate all donations of any size. I'm not a natural saleswoman, so I expect fundraising to be just as hard for me as the running. I know the requests from worthy causes are always too numerous for our resources, but please include mine among the others in your thoughts.

This was me in August after running my first 5k. Can't wait to share my post-marathon photo in April!