My Grandmother Payne

I just finished tonight's run, and it was tough. Not the run itself, but the running in the first place. I worked until 8 and got home around 8:35. The whole way home I was thinking, "Well, I won't run tonight. I'll run in the morning. I've got things to do, and I'm hungry" These kinds of excuses keep me and lots of others from just getting out there and doing it.

But one of the TEAM in Training video's I've seen had a scene in it where one of the coaches was telling everyone that the first mile sucks (everyone laughs), but it doesn't suck nearly as much as what someone battling cancer is going through. I thought about that as I was pulling in the driveway, and I thought, "All right, you are going to go inside, throw on your shoes, and do your 5K" And the run tonight felt like nothing. It was one of the easiest runs I've ever done. I didn't stop, I didn't take water with me, I didn't fade at the end, I just ran, and it felt great. It's the getting going in the first place that is the hard thing.

As I was running, I thought about an email that my Daddy sent me. He told me that my Grandmother Payne, who died of cervical cancer, would be proud of me for supporting this project. That led me to think of all the other people that I know personally or know of who are the real heroes.

So, I'm going to dedicate every run from here on out to someone I know who has fought or is fighting cancer. I may run out of people, we'll see. If you want me to run in honor of someone that you know, send me their picture, or tell me their story. I'll do the run, and I'll include them (if you don't mind) in an email or a blog posting. Having those thoughts running thru my head as I'm going are much more motivating than my ipod or the cool new shoes I felt I deserved.

If you get a chance, please check out my Team in Training Website. You can donate to the cause, and help support my Marathon training. You can also follow the links to learn more about TEAM in Training and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

Thanks