This week’s mileage was 12.3 miles. Next week is 20 miles.

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” -Charles R. Swindoll

I’m going to come clean with you all… I had a break down earlier this week. My belief in myself was tested on SO MANY LEVELS. (Family life. Career. Physical well being. Mental stability. You name it.)

But for the purpose of this post, let’s just talk about running hours and hours and raising thousands of dollars. Up until this week I had all of the belief in the world that I was going to pull it off. But I crashed after last Saturday’s long 20 miler.

I started to think about having to run 6.2 more miles on race day. Which lead to to thoughts of how much money I had yet to raise and my deadline for that. Next thing that popped into my brain was how much weight I would like to loose to make it easier on myself to run the darn marathon.

And then…. I cried.

And then…. I prayed.

I’m telling you this because over the course of this past week (with all the crying and praying) I realized something… I realized that I can run the marathon right now if I wanted to. RIGHT NOW. Might not be pretty, but I can do it!

My struggle over the past couple of days was the same as your struggle. It is the same as anyone’s struggle with anything.  It is all MENTAL. At one point or another, we all suffer from a lack of true belief in ourselves. Whether we know it or not, our strength and our power comes from within. We hold the key. And once we realize that, we can conquer anything.

I found my “key” and am now back on track. Bring. It. On.

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe, writer

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please donate online to my Active.com page.
Together we can work to help children
live longer and stronger! Thank you!

I promised that I would take you all along for the ride in my quest to train for the NYC Marathon.  So here is my official update:

THE GOOD: For the past three weeks we (Katie AKA “Fab Running Partner”) have been slowly ramping back up our mileage.  We’re doing a combination of flat long runs and hilly runs.  At this point our pace is pretty yucky but we are feeling strong.  Last weekend was five miles of hills.  AND I MEAN HILLS.  Surprisingly, our pace was the same as our long flat runs which means WE CAN DO BETTER.  This weekend we are due for a seven miler.  Ideally we would like to be able to hammer out 10 mile runs at a 9:30-10:00 minute mile pace before we begin our “official” training program at the end of June.  I think we are on track.

THE BAD: I am still having a hard time getting up to do those darn weight sessions.  I know that it is crucial to my strength as a runner, not to mention to my overall health and hopes to loose all that darn weight I gained over the Winter. Blech!

ON ANOTHER NOTE: Yesterday I bought these… Yep, AviMotion Toning Shoes. I’ll let you know what I think of them.  They pink (of course) and super cute.  My girlfriend swears by them but since I just started I am not sure yet.  I paid a lot for them so I am hoping I don’t regret it.  I am following @AviMotion which is great in case I need some answers.

Don’t forget! I am running for charity so if you would like to make a donation to support “Run For Something Better” you can do so here! (I just got some fun “thank yous” in the mail that I will be sending everybody that donates!)