She's Going the Distance

The paperwork has been handed in, and I've begun the task of fundraising. I am officially a Guaranteed Entrant in the 2009 ING NYC Marathon for the Achilles Track Club. Over the next 4 months, I'll be raising the money (at least $2500) that goes along with this honor, and training to run 26.2 miles, through all 5 boroughs of the best city in the world.

Most of you know this already, but if not, here's how I got involved with running and Achilles:

3 or 4 years ago, I joined a gym, started eating healthy, and got really into my fitness. It was purely about vanity, I just liked looking good, and being able to eat whatever the heck I wanted. After moving to Brooklyn in April, 2007, this continued. I maintained a gym membership, and kept up with a regular workout schedule of the elliptical machine, weight training, belly dance, and yoga. In January or February of 2008, I was hanging out with some friends, and one of them was a runner. He had done the marathon the previous year and convinced me to try running. So I did. My first race was an 8k in March of 2008. After that, I was hooked.

Wanting to earn some karma points to counteract some of my misbehavings, I started to look around for a volunteer opportunity. Running in the park I had always noticed these T-shirts that said "Achilles". I looked them up, and it seemed to be the perfect volunteer gig for me.

The mission of the Achilles Track Club is to enable people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics, to promote personal achievement, enhanced self esteem, and the lowering of barriers between people.

I contacted them, and they told me to just show up and be ready to run or walk. So I did. And week after week I would meet new people, athletes who overcome amazing odds- blindness, amputation, brain injuries, paralysis, only to name a few. And AMAZING athletes too. So over the past year or so, I've been volunteering at the workouts whenever I can, and getting not only some awesome inspiration from the athletes, but great training too! I can't tell you how many times I have eaten the dust of a blind or disabled runner!

So now, this is my chance to do something I've been wanting to do (run the NYC Marathon) and give back to such and amazing organization, with amazing athletes.

I met with Dick Traum at the Achilles office yesterday. He gave me some great advice, inspiration, and a gorgeous book about Achilles.

I'm hoping to keep up this blog, and share my journey. I've been resting since the Brooklyn half-marathon on 5/30/09, and my subsequent head-cold, but I'm back on Saturday in the 10k in Central Park to officially begin my training.

Please feel free to share advice, encouragement, training tips, and, oh yeah, donations! Every little bit helps, from $5 to $500!

http://firstgiving.com/karathon

See you in the park ;)

xo
K