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| What I like to eat - not what I should eat |
We all have moments of discouragement or weakness. What’s important is to not let these moments
distract us from the most important parts of life. I find myself faced with my weaknesses every
step of the way while training for this marathon. Dang, it’s hard to get out and run almost
every day. Especially when you are like
me and love the sedentary lifestyle. I’ll
admit it. My idea of the ideal day is to
stay at home with Alex reading a good book, playing computer games, going out
to eat (cooking healthy food? What?), and watching a movie. That’s not really conducive to getting in
shape for running 26.2 miles.
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| My new shoes |
I’ve got the shoes. I’m
slowly investing in trendy running gear.
I even have a whole Costco case of the blue variety Gatorade. Mmmm. I
have an awesome team cheering me on.
Actually, I have two awesome teams cheering me on. Team in Training and Gordon’s Running Dork
Squad (my family team that was created for those of us specifically running for
my uncle Gordon – for his story go here.)
What amazing people, all running for a common cause – to wipe out
cancer! The strongest reasons in the world propel me forward – Gordon and Jamie
(her story is here). Yet, getting up and
going out to run every day seems to be the hardest thing in the world for me
right now. Well, until today.
I’ve had a terrible case of the “blahs”. I’ve been listening to my family members talk
about how motivated they are and how well they are doing with their
running/walking and I’ve been feeling really discouraged about my lack of
anything even remotely resembling motivation.
Yes, that’s terrible. I probably
shouldn’t admit it out in public, and yet, I think it’s important to realize
that no matter how important something is and how close it is to your heart and
even how much steam you had running behind you at the start, there may come
moments (and there probably will) when your physical, mental, emotional
strength will fail you and you want to quit.
Here I am, looking at this HUGE goal and thinking “What have
I done?” and suddenly feeling the very overwhelmingness of it all. (The dictionary just told me “overwhelmingness”
isn’t a word, but I think it should be. All good authors make up their own
words. I’m just getting a head start.) Let’s just say I’ve had a lot of "moments" lately.
Then this morning happened.
I have known for a few days now that I needed something to get me back
on track. This morning was our second
official run with the TNT team. I had my
uncle Brian next to me (Gordon’s brother), keeping pace with me, as we tried to
match running and walking with the gals around us. It was hard!
I had to work hard to keep going. But I
felt so good when it was over! And I finally feel like I have my spark
back. Honestly, it was only 3 ½ miles.
(Should I even admit that?) We weren’t very fast. But, I have 5 more months to work up to 26.2
miles. From here on out, I am in all the
way!
Like I said, we all have ups and downs, but it’s all up from
here.
Writing my blog helps to keep me motivated and excited, so
hopefully you will be hearing more from me as the season progresses. Plus, I will be trying to put together some
fun incentives for my fundraising. When
you donate to my fundraising efforts you are helping to save lives (and cheering me on!) Every donation helps.
You can donate to my efforts online here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/trees12/kristygriffard
or you can donate to my team (Gordon's Running Dork Squad) here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/trees12/gordonsrunningdorksquad
You can learn more about LLS here: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® - Official Website
You can learn more about TNT here: Team In Training - Together We Train to Beat Cancer
