Nike Women's Half Marathon 2012

     I have never been a runner. Ever. In gym class I was always one of the last people when we ran the mile. I never took joy in a daily jog. It's just never been my thing. I was always so envious of the people who loved running. They could just take off and do something that was just for them. No competition, no judgement. Just running. About two years ago, my friend Tanis told me about Team In Training. Team In Training is a charity that raises funds for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by training people to participate in races, triathlons, etc. They literally take people, like me, who are not runners, and make them athletes. Case in point:

    That's me at the Disneyland half marathon in September of 2010. I was super slow and limped the last .1 miles, but I finished and I raised $3000, thanks to my very generous friends and family. It was glorious.  This was one of the proudest moments of my life.

    Six months later, I was diagnosed with cancer.

    I have been in remission for a year now. It's been really taxing to build my endurance back up; even just in my everyday life. Stairs, be it just one flight, kicked my ass for about 8 months. I ran a 5k about three months after my surgery.  And by run, I mean waddled. It was humbling and I felt pathetic. My good friend Lorie was so sweet and basically speed walked next to me and never let me give up. She was  the best cheer squad.

Me, Lorie, Libby, and Danika after the Santa Monica Classic in our TB shirts.

    So I vowed that I was done running. I started hiking and hitting the treadmill and that seemed good enough. At the back of my mind, it was there. I guess it started as a curiosity. Would I ever be able to do that again?  Would my body ever be capable of doing a half marathon? Slowly, it turned from a curiosity to a fascination. I started hiking harder and faster, and really pushing myself. And then it happened.  Tanis posted on Facebook that she was going to do another half marathon...and I jumped at the idea. It's now a battle of the wills. I accomplished this before cancer, and I need to know that my body can do this again.     Enter the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco.

NWM 26.2

     I have never been to San Francisco, so I am super excited. My first time will be running the city! Here's the course map:

Facebook Course Map

    I started my training runs in my neighborhood and I can say this much... I am super weak. This is going to be a long road but I feel good about it. The hills are gonna be brutal, but no worse than anything else that I have gone through this year.  I am up to a 3.5mile run with pretty decent hills. Aidan has been going with me, and runs MUCH faster than his mommy at the beginning, but by the end I am dragging him. I have been using the Nike+ chip for my runs, which is AWESOME. That's a complete other blog post in the works.  I read earlier today that at the finish line there are firemen in tuxedos with silver platters of Tiffany boxes with necklaces for all the finishers... hilarious. Ill leave you with some pics posted by The Spunky Runner.

Finishers Necklaces from years past

The San Francisco Fire Department!

xo