Pre-Training

Hi friends! Thank you so much for visiting my blog and hopefully donating at http://www.active.com/donate/MCM_T2DC2011/maighdlindc!

On Saturday I very hesitantly went to the introductory meeting for Team to End AIDS. I had already registered for the Virginia Beach Rock n' Roll Half Marathon, but I was SO nervous to go to the meeting. I kept thinking that I was really out of shape, everyone was going to look at me and judge me... blah, blah, blah, negative voices. With a little (lot) of encouragement from Katie I finally went. I couldn't have been more wrong- it was incredibly inspiring! So inspiring in fact, that I decided to switch to the full Marine Corps Marathon! This has special meaning to me because in addition to the money going to help the prevention of AIDS, my very dear friend Rob Bohn is in Afghanistan right now, and I feel like knowing he's out there fighting for our safety is really going to inspire me to keep on running!

I'll be honest- I've definitely questioned my judgement since switching to the marathon, but after going to the meeting I truly feel that ANYONE can do it (that means YOU! Join at www.t2ea.com and give my name as the reference). They also have runs in LA and Chicago, so you don't have to be in DC to do it! The most amazing thing I got away from the meeting was the camaraderie between all the 200ish people who were there, and their deep love for people and desire to help those affected by AIDS. It was a truly awesome experience.

Now to training...

I've been running a bit for the past couple months, but it's been rough with Nico being there half the time because I have to rely on Katie (shout out to my biggest helper!) to watch him and she's pretty busy these days. But surprise! My family all chipped in and got me a jogger stroller for Mother's Day! I'm still getting used to being honored for Mother's Day and I sure as hell wasn't expecting any presents- especially such an awesome one! Nico and I have been out on two "runs" in it this week and I'll be honest- it's slow going. Nico loves it, but I've found that holding my arms still to hold onto it is the hardest part. I feel like my arms are getting a bigger work out then my legs. One of the walk/runs was 5 miles, the other was 3. I got pretty frustrated because I wanted to be running for all 5 miles, but I'm trying to remind myself that I'm still getting used to the jogger. And we haven't even started official training yet.

Official training begins Saturday on the waterfront. It's a 3 mile timed run to figure out what pace group to put you in. I can't make the first three weeks of training because I have Nico those weekends, so I'll be doing the running those runs on my own. I'm afraid I'm going to run too hard on the three miler and then be with a pace group I can't keep up with. Hopefully I'll be able to hold back my competitive spirit just a little :)

Thanks for checking out my blog! And remember, my NEW donation page is http://www.active.com/donate/MCM_T2DC2011/maighdlindc. For those of you who have already donated (THANK YOU!) it may take a bit for your donations to be transferred from one fund to another, but don't worry- the money is still good! Thanks for the love and support! Happy Wednesday!