26.2 with Donna: The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer

Last Friday, January 15, 2009, my mom's friend and a woman whose family I have known for at least fifteen years, passed away from breast cancer.  The last time I saw Linda was when I was visiting my mom over Thanksgiving.  Due to some recent set-backs and her weakened state, she was temporarily living with my mom.  Before Thanksgiving, it had been several years since I had actually seen her.  I will never forget the last thing she said to me... I was getting ready to leave to drive back home, and she came out to my car and gave me a great big hug.  She was crying.  She said, "Love looks good on you."  At that time, I had absolutely no idea how terrible her medical condition was.  I remember leaving and calling Chris on the phone to tell him that "He made me look good."  Then what seemed like out of the blue, her condition got much worse, and within a week of that news she passed away.  She had children, many grandchildren, and many many friends that are all grieving for her. 

Last night, I was reading a Runner's World magazine, attempting to catch up on all those magazines that went unread over the past few semesters.  I came across a story that discussed all the many reasons why people run marathons or other races, and one of those reasons is cancer.  I went online and looked up marathons that support the fight against breast cancer.  I had previously decided that I wanted to run a marathon before my 30th birthday.  I turn 29 in September of this year.  So instead of running the Palm Beach Marathon in December, like I originally thought I might do, I have decided to run the 26.2 with Donna: The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer on February 13, 2011 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.  (I e-mailed the contact person through the website to find out the exact date).  I even found that they have Galloway Pace Groups.

I am running this for Linda.  I am running this for my Aunt Jennifer who survived breast cancer.  I am running this for me, because it is something I can do to show my support in the fight against Breast Cancer.  I now have just over a year to properly train for the marathon.  This gives me a few more months to really build up my miles and run consistently every week before I start the marathon training.  If there is anyone else who would like to join me in my training or even at the race, please let me know.

As a side note, I met Caitlin and another friend from school for a run this morning.  Caitlin and I had convinced T and J to run with us and train for a half marathon in December.  Today we did a slow but nice two mile run.  We are planning on meeting Thursday as well.