First Half Marathon...oh my!

So, I'm not the best at keeping things current on the blog.  Training has progressed nicely, I had a little bit of an injury in December which kept me from running for about a week, but that has been worked out.

My friends and I have been training hard, primarily for the Disney Princess Half Marathon at the end of the month, but my faithful training buddy and I are doing the 26.2 Donna half marathon this weekend in Jacksonville Beach, FL.  She can't make it to The Princess, so we are so excited for this race!



There are so many reasons I'm excited about this race!  First and foremost, because not only are two of us running our first half marathon, but our friend and breast cancer survivor is running her first full marathon!  She is such a huge inspiration to so many of us.  She cheered me on at the finish line of my first 5k, so I think it's rather fitting that I get to return the favor on Sunday when she finishes her first full marathon!

This race doesn't just say it's trying to end breast cancer, they mean it!  70% of the proceeds go directly to the Mayo Clinic research department (where the race starts) and the other 30% goes to the Donna foundation that supports families and those going thru treatment for breast cancer.  This is so important to me, I have several relatives (my Grandmother, my favorite aunt ever, my Mother-in-law) and friends of the family that have survived this disease.  With the family background being what it is, I'm so likely to experience this one day.  I'm fine with that, God knows already and will provide exactly what I need.  But if they could just cure it all together, well, I'd be just fine with that too.

Ok, this is a bit selfish, but we get to run on the beach for a decent distance.  It's on hard packed sand, and those that have done this before say it's no big deal from a footing stand point.  I LOVE the beach!  So, to get to run for a great cause, with great people, in a beautiful location breathing in salt air, PERFECT RACE WEEKEND! (but what do I know, this is my first!)

I will make sure and update after the race.  I'm anxious and so excited to get going.  I feel like a kiddo getting ready to go to Disney (oh wait, I get to do that in 2 weeks!)  If I could go to bed now, I so would!

OH wait, last weekend we did our first family 5k!  All three of us ran, I paced with the kiddo to make sure she paced herself well.  Hubby took 1st in his age group, kiddo took 4th in hers, and another friend of ours son took 5th.  I was so excited to get to share running with the family, what a great weekend!

So, now to finish listening to the Extra Mile podcast on the weekend and get ready for the fun weekend ahead!