Let me see if you can run it, run it...

Girl indeed -- I can run it, run it.

I'm pretty sure certain those lyrics have nothing to do with running a marathon, but every time I get up to run, I tell myself that I can do it.

I haven't blogged about it yet, but I'm currently training for the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon on June 6th. I joined up with Team in Training, which is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), and we'll be training as a group every weekend until the actual race day, in addition to mid-week scheduled runs that we can do on our own or with others.

This morning marked our 4th weekend run - we hit the one month mark! Exciting. We're building up our mileage and endurance week by week, and there are three levels you can choose from, depending on your experience. I went with the middle group, and on that first week, we ran 4 miles. (Note: whenever I refer to a "run" at this point, I'm more of a run/walk-er. I try to run for most of it though.) Today we did 8 miles... which is longest distance I've ever gone, and it's only going to keep getting higher until we're ready to run 26.2 miles.

It's definitely going to be a mental game moving forward. I'm pretty good at psyching myself out. But then the cheerleader in my head starts beating down the pessimist, chanting "you can do it, keep going"... and it's a good battle, until I'm back at the starting point and I've completed the entire run. It's tiring, but it's a good feeling knowing I made it. It was raining for a little chunk of the run too, which was an inconvenience... but it's like they reminded us in one of the earlier weeks: though we may get tired/sore, it's nothing compared to chemotherapy. And although our hair may get wet/dirty, at least we still have our hair... it's a good reminder of why all of us are doing this. Every week we hear a story from another team member who has a personal connection to leukemia, whether that's they lost a parent, have a close friend with the disease, or their child was recently diagnosed. And to hear a story about kids who currently have it, and yet still have their spirits up and are fighting the disease, it definitely motivates the rest of us. We know we're running for them, and if they can get through all their treatments and not give up, we can get through a couple miles of running.

Team in Training has helped each of us set up a site for donations, and we all have a goal we're trying to raise. If you're interested in making a donation to the LLS, please visit my fundraising page. I'll try to keep both my blog and that page updated with how everything is going.

With that being said (a phrase I've started to pick up from my mentor - heh heh), my legs are killing me, and I worked out my back yesterday as well, so I am taking the day to rest. And then running on the beach tomorrow... good times!