In Hindsight... I Probably Should Have Trained

There are some things in life that are best left to chance.  But one thing is for certain:  running half marathons is NOT one of them.

Sadly, this photo was NOT staged.

For those of you who didn't see me hobbling around the office yesterday, I ran 13.1 miles Sunday morning up in Chicago.  Did I train?  Nope.  Did I run anyway? Yes.  Did I think my legs were going to fall off? Absolutely.  In fact, I actually think that's still a possibility.

I spent a solid 5 or 6 miles silently berating myself for deciding to "suck it up" and run the entire half.  I mean, let's be serious here.  Some people are born to be runners. It is not secret that I have never been one of them.  Part of me thinks it's that extra year.  I just can't wing it at 24 the way I could at 22 and 23.  After 13.1 miles of misery, excruciating pain, major dehydration and a temporary near pass out in the field after the race (thanks for holding me up on that one Kate), I have to admit that while running was a bad idea, the rest of the weekend was completely worth it.


In spite of the fact that I have soreness in places I didn't even realize muscles existed, I am on such a high from the weekend.  This weekend was the grand finale to the last six months of fundraising, researching and raising awareness about Ovarian Cancer.  I have written before about Elaine, such a good and genuine friend to me, who has been fighting this disease for the last three years.  When Emma and I first came up with the idea to train for the half marathon and raise money for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, we were hesitant to set our goal at $3,000.  How on earth were we going to convince people to donate a couple hundred dollars to our cause? Let alone three thousand.  But after a lot of networking, spreading the word, and by the good graces of so many friends and family members across the country, we managed to put together a team of 17 walkers and runners and raise $7,300.

Me, Ericka, Hilary, Ola & Emma.

It still gives me chills to think about.  It's a pretty awesome feeling to realize that we as a group were capable of actually making a difference.  And were able to enjoy ourselves in the process. I may have resolved to never ever EVER run a half marathon EVER again.  But I'm so happy this weekend went to the way that it did. I hope to be able to do more things like this as time goes on.  There's something to be said for being a part of something bigger than yourself.  In the meantime, I'm going to stick to biking and 5k's.