Random thoughts

Weather was touch and go this morning, so I stayed inside and hit the treadmill. Put in about 2.5 miles and alternated running, walking and stretching. It felt ok. I am pleased with today's performance.

I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that my knee won't give me fits this Saturday. I made it about 7 miles last week when my knee decided to just quit participating. It just HURT. And there was no way I could run through that. (That was after my iPod died too. So there I was, kneeless and tuneless. It was awful.) I'm just going to keep stretching and taking the Rx and hope it will hold out for the wonderful fifteen miler.

Another thing that I hope holds out for Saturday is the RAIN. Ugh. We've had so much rain this week. I have some new ideas for my backyard. Maybe this:



Or this:




Three days until the Tiger game. One small bump in the road with the suspension of (my favorite player) Andre Allen, who apparently made some bad choices. I hate that. What was he thinking?!? But we won't let this be a distraction or loss of mojo (a quote from Connie!). The Tigers will be just fine. And continue to DOMINATE and do their thing. All the way to the National Championship. THIS IS THEIR YEAR!!!!! I also like the choice of photos that the Commercial Appeal has put on their home page with this story. My marketing dollars well spent! GO TIGERS!!!!!

Breaking up with my treadmill

Since tomorrow is our 'long run', I thought I would just walk this morning. On my treadmill. I love my treadmill. I'm afraid I'm going to have to break it off with my treadmill. I must start branching out in my running relationships. I will still have to run my treadmill sometimes because some of those runs during the week will be challenging with schedules and kids, etc. So some of the runs will have to be on the treadmill. But I'm thinking most of them need to be in the great outdoors. OUTSIDE. Oh my. I hate to break up with my treadmill. I love him.

I finished up the movie Glory Road this morning. It's a good one. Got a little teary at the end. At one point, I hit some button on the remote and they all started talking in French. Un grande probleme! I was about to settle for English subtitles, but then hit some button that corrected the whole thing and enjoyed the rest of the movie. Good movie. You should watch it.

I've signed up

Well, it's official. I have signed up and am now a member of the Team in Training for the Leukemia Society. I'm training to run a marathon - that's 26.2 miles folks. The funny thing about all this is that I don't even run. Well, I've been trying to run since September (building my 'base miles' as my Coach George says).... I'm waiting for it to get easy and fun. That has not happened yet. Even wearing cute little running clothes from Dick's doesn't transform one into a runner.

I'm going to run in the Rock 'N Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 1.

My official Group Training (GT) starts next Saturday. I guess that's my rude awakening. I've been doing all my running so far (except maybe three mornings) inside on my beloved treadmill. I love my treadmill. It's INSIDE. With my TV and my ESPN Sports Center and all the other indoor comforts. Sister here will have some issues next Saturday when I'm outside and it's 30 degrees. And I have to run on ground that doesn't move. And there is no cable or dvd player.

Why am I doing this? Am I crazy? Yes, probably so. Several reasons I guess. But mainly for my dad. Funny how the training for this starts a year almost to the day of the first anniversary of his death. And when I gave George a donation in 2004 when he did TNT, leukemia wasn't even an issue in my life. Fast forward 3 years..... So, I was really thinking about whether to do this or not. And was really leaning toward doing it. Maybe I just needed that last little nudge to say YES. One night, I was looking at the race route and found that the finish line is on a Marine Corps base. Daddy was a Marine. Enough said.

But at the same time, I'm raising money for the Leukemia Society. My goal is $4000. Check out my fundraising page at: www.active.com/donate/tntmds/AWhitfi1 I hope you will consider making a donation to support my efforts. Your gift will help find a cure for blood cancers. Or maybe just make a donation because you think I'm nuts for doing this and need to seek professional help. Whatever your reason is, I'm grateful for your support.

So I thought I'd set up this blog. As a new person to running, I wanted to share my thoughts as I hit each milestone and roadblock.

I am committed to crossing the finish line. Vertically - on my feet - not on a gurney or in the poop out van.

Anyway, it all officially starts now. I'm TRAINING FOR A MARATHON. yikes.