so i'm going to run a marathon.

mmm, yeah.

signing up for a marathon was not exactly what i intended to do with my tuesday night in the middle of a heat wave. i mean, i knew the possibility existed that this would happen...but let me back up.

last october i rode in a three-day bike ride from maryland back to nyc. it was amazing, and benefitted a local charity called New York Scores. shortly before the ride, i got some really sad news about my childhood friend steve, who had been battling hodgkins for quite a few years. he, his wife and his family had decided that there would be no more chemo, no more experimental procedures...they were going to do what they could to make him comfortable.

steve and his family were my inspiration throughout the ride, and the following weekend i went up to massachusetts to see him. i don't really know how to describe it and the closest i can say is that my friend had transformed from 29 years old to 60 with the sickness. just a few days later, he died. i was so lucky to have gotten to say goodbye.

recently i've been a little bored and realized it was time to do something else good for the world. i wanted to find something that was not only that, but something that would be really meaningful to me. i stumbled upon team in training, an organization that raises money for the leukemia and lymphoma society through endurance rides and runs. perfect...if i was going to do another crazy bike ride, i could do something to help families like steve's.

tonight was an info session. i intended to listen, maybe pick out a bike ride, and think on it for a few days. but the more i sat in the room listening, seeing the cheesy-yet-compelling recruitment videos, thinking about steve, hearing a story about a young couple who had been assisted by the society...i knew that i would sign up for an event that night.

the rides were only 100 miles, which would be pretty easy for me. that left...a marathon. seriously scary. running is a whole other animal, one that i've never been very comfortable with. the most i've run in my life is 4 miles. painfully.

but in the moment of sign-up-or-go...i signed up. i signed up for a marathon on january 14th, in phoenix, arizona. my goal is to personally raise at least $5,000. i've got about 6 months to become the runner i never was.

run girl run.