My 1st 15K, New Blog, Ragnar, and Cake! Oh, & this week's weigh-in too.

Catch up time. There are a few things I’ve been needing to share here and haven’t yet, so here goes the laundry list of everything including the kitchen sink.

MIRACLE MILES 15K

I know at first it might seem like that’s a typo and that maybe I really meant to type “5K”, but it’s for real! I’m going to be running my first 15K four weeks from now! I can hardly believe it myself, but it’s no joke.

My Caleb’s Crusade running coach, Dana, was talking about this race after practice a couple of weekends ago, and even though the most I had ever run prior to that was just under 6 miles, for some reason I was really intrigued by the race. So was my friend Lynne. So, we talked it over with Dana because we were concerned about the distance being too much for us and Dana said she would adjust our training calendar for the next month to better prepare us for it. So instead of running 5 miles this past Saturday, Lynne and I ran 6. And next week we’ll be running 6.5 or 7 depending on how we feel and it will increase each week until the race. I’m SO excited! Just the idea that I will be running 9.3 miles in a matter of weeks is exhilarating!

It gets better though….This race is in Orlando which is about 4 hours away, so at first, Lynne and I were just going to drive up early that morning, run the race, and then drive home. She invited her aunt to come with us who generously offered to get a hotel room for the 3 of us. It’s a BEAUTIFUL historic bed and breakfast in Orlando! The best part is it’s my birthday weekend and I can’t think of a better way to spend it!!! Speaking of birthdays…

NO MORE 35 AND SHRINKING?

I started this journey on my 35th birthday almost a year ago. For months now, I’ve been thinking about the name of my blog and whether or not I would change it once my birthday came around and I’d no longer be 35. I’ve went back and forth on different names and I keep going back to one in particular, based on a quote that I absolutely love. So yes, the name of my blog will be changing. I started this blog as a way to journal my weight loss, and although it’s become so much more than that over the past year, it’s still -at its core- my weight-loss story. Anyway, I don’t want to say too much yet, I just wanted to give you all a heads up that the name (and theme) will be changing soon and I’m REAL excited about entering this next phase of my journey!

RAGNAR

Remember when I told you that I’d be running the Ragnar Relay this November I just didn’t know which team I’d be on? At first we were trying to get a team together through Caleb’s Crusade, but it was just too much of a short notice (maybe next year). So, instead I’ll be joining Team Jello! It’s an already formed team of people I’ve never met before, so this should be fun! I’ve been talking with the team captain, Amy, via email for a few weeks now and am super, super excited about joining her team and running my first Ragnar!

CAKE!

We had a Casino Night fundraising event for Caleb’s Crusade last night, so I decided to make a cake for it. What do you think?

The event went SO well. The best part was the long talk that Lynne and I got to have with Rob, the founder of Caleb’s Crusade and Caleb’s dad. Here’s a picture of the three of us from the event last night:

We talked a lot about the Disney marathon, fundraising, and training. But mostly we talked about precious little Caleb. And his love of Spiderman. And how a stupid thing called Hypodiploid Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia came along and turned their lives upside down. And how childhood cancer research needs more funding so that families don’t have to go through what they did.

And then Rob took out his wallet and removed a stack of pictures…we got to see Caleb dressed as a mummy (which was his wish!) and as Spiderman. And other pictures of him just being a kid. It’s just so wrong, ya know? So every time I want to complain that my shins hurt, or that I’m too tired to run, I will remind myself of little Caleb, who has etched a serious mark on my heart. He should be out playing ball, or riding his bike…not immortalized in his father’s wallet. Stupid cancer.

…and THAT is why I run now. I may have started running in January as a way to help shed pounds, but it’s about so much more than that now.

and last, but not least…

WEEK 48 WEIGH-IN

Time for this week’s weigh in! I weighed in this morning at 199.4 lbs which is a .4 lb loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss so far to 56.6 pounds.

Hey, it might only be 4 tenths of a pound, but at least I’m still in Onederland!!! I’ll take it! *happy dance*

259.5 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
55.0 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(6) 5Ks finished since January 1st.