It is official. I have signed up for another 5 months of crazy 20 mile runs, fundraising, and early mornings. I am running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA for the second time. I had such a great time the first time, I thought "Why not?". I will be doing it through Team in Training again because I cannot imagine running a full marathon without them!
I have already started working on my fundraising letter, updating my fundraising website, boot blocking this Sunday, and am working on setting up a series of Crossfit/Bootcamp fundraisers at Crossroads Bootcamp. I am blessed that they are willing to help me out. The key to fundraising is doing the things that come easy to you and following the tried and true fundraising plans, such as a letter writing campaign.
I plan to raise $5000, which was my goal last time and I was about $450 short, so this time I am going to do everything I can to make it!
My training started last week. I have been doing 2 miles 2 times per week and then ran my first 3 miles in FOREVER this past Sunday. It is sad to say that I struggled. Coach Jen, TNT's best coach ever, says that your second marathon is harder than your first because after the first, you forget how hard you worked to get there and slack, but not me. I am going full force, continuing to do Crossfit as well, so I can improve my time by hopefully 10 minutes. It is a lofty goal, but I truly believe that I can do it.
Last year, I was not doing much other physical training besides running, so I am hoping the strength that Crossfit gives me will help me improve.
I am blessed to have a very supportive partner who doesn't bitch and complain when we stay in on Friday nights and I go to bed at 9pm. When I finish a long run, I can call him and have him poor my freezing cold ice bath. He comes to all my races in between and that truly makes me feel special. Growing up, my parents did not come to a lot of the events I participated in, so I really enjoy the fact that he is there.
So, over the next few months, I will also be doing updates about how my training and fundraising are going via my website, http://pages.teamintraining.org/mid/nikesf11/sdyerson, so check it out! Also, please donate if you can. Every $1.00 that is donated brings $.75 to local Kansas City cancer patients and their families. Most other charities only give back $.66 for every $1.00.