New Record - 6 Miles

Wow- I ran six miles yesterday! I was pretty nervous about it, but since I am training to run a marathon...what's six miles right? Ha, well it was a lot of fun. Of course, I was one of the last runners again, but I am so proud of myself for doing it.

This practice was special beacuse we were able to invite our friends and family to come and we had a pot luck breakfast afterwards. Also, all the Team in Training teams were there including the Hike Team and the Tri Team. One of the guys on the Tri team was a Marine and he really encouraged me. I was so proud of myself because I was actually able to keep up with him for a couple minutes.

My friend Amanda came with me. It was her first time to run six miles as well and she did great too! She and I have this little agreement - she wants to be my biggest donor, so she will donate $1 more than my biggest donor. Right now, my largest donation is $100 (Thanks Doc. C). It's not yet posted on my website as I have to mail it in to the LLS Corporate Office.

I am having a lot of fun with this. Running, fundraising, etc - its a lot of work but its also a great experience. This week I need to send out my fliers for the dinner at Chili's where they will be donating 10% of the bill to LLS. Also, I am still working on finding a place for my party. I have talked to Santikos to see if I can host it at their Palladium Theater at the RIM. We will see....but that place would be perfect!

The biggest highlight of my training this week was Saturday. Yes, running six miles was great but I also saw a few people from my running group, R.U.N. (www.meetup.com/runner). They are the greatest and nicest group of people. They always make you feel welcome and a part of the group. Its so amazing how far I have come - from barely running one minute to running six miles and more....and I really have them to thank. From day one, every person there has been so supportive and encouraging. They accept me for me and, at the same time, they challenge me to run longer, harder and faster. They are truly the reason I can now call my self a runner. They are my motivators, my coaches, my friends, they are my home.

I never imagined I would enjoy being an outdoor person so much. I also never imagined I would try to raise $3000 for Leukemia and Lymphoma. There are a lot of things in this world I had never imagined I could do - but I am doing them. It just goes to show that, truly, anything is possible.

Until Next Time....

Julia

Training Log for Week Three:

• Mon, Jun 21: Ran 2.43 miles at Phil Hardberger Park in 37 minutes (15 min/mile)
• Wed: Jun 23: Ran 4 miles at Brackenridge Park. Did the run in 55 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Thurs, Jun 24: Ran 2.84 miles at Eisenhower Park in 38 minutes (14 min/mile)
• Sat: Jun 26: Ran 6 miles starting at Mission San Jose. Finished in 1 Hour and 32 minutes (15 min/mile).