There's a first time for everything...

So this year is all about first's, first blog, first marathon, who knows what other firsts will come along. I never thought of myself as one to write a blog, but I thought that with the endeavor i'm about to take on, what better way for me to keep track of my journey than to share it will all of you. If you are reading this, thanks, it means a lot, and i hope you keep reading. The more support I have from family and friends, the more successful I will be in crossing the finish line.

You may be wondering, why on earth would you want to run 26.2 miles straight? I started running in January of 2007 on a regular basis, mainly to get in shape and lose a little weight. What happened is I found something that I really enjoyed doing, and the more 5k's I did, the more i realized the competetive nature I have. I set a goal in 2007 to complete a half marathon (13.1) by the end of the year, and I did just that, i completed the OUC Half Marathon in downtown Orlando in 2:09:30, far better than I had expected. I had been thinking all along, "what would it be like to run a full" I knew that if I could do the half successfully, then the urge to take it to the next level would be there. And that it was! The feeling I got crossing the finish line of the half was incredible, so many emotions all at once, but mainly the feeling of accomplishment. Now I would say I have accomplished things in my life, but never did I have the feeling that I did on December 1, 2007. I wanted to bottle it up and keep it with me everyday, and it was on that day that I made the mental declaration to myself..."I WILL run a marathon in 2008".

So here I am, taking the declaration out of my head and onto the page for all the world to see (or at least the 5 people that read my blog :) ). I knew that the first time I ran a marathon I wanted to do it the right way, with a good group of suppportive running mates to keep me on track. So it was a pretty obvious choice for me to sign up for Team in Training, the endurance training program run by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For those of you who know me, fundraising has been something that I have always been passionate about, so it was a natural fit. TNT (as i will refer to it from here on out) allows you an incredible opportunity: raise money for them, and they will send you to an incredible race somewhere in the world, all expenses paid. So running + fundraising + mini-vacation= my perfect match! San Diego was one of two options for the Summer group, and i knew that was definetly the race for me. A) it's beautiful and B) the race consists of a different musical act at every mile marker, which is why it's called the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (check out the link to the right). So not only have i commited myself to running a marathon, I am also going to raise $4,000! More on that challenge later...

So, that's my story, maybe a little long winded, but when am i not? Here is my plea to get you to subscribe to this fantastic blog.... I need moral support for the days when i just won't want to run, I need encouragement to push it one mile more, I will need a place to share my thoughts and diatribes from a long run and it should be some entertaining reading material, I want to share more about the cause and how I'm doing on my fundraising goal, and, maybe encourage some of you who are thinking..."hey, maybe I could do it too". So comment, share your running experiences, or anything really, I want to hear from you!

-T