Am I really doing this? I AM!

Each Saturday, I feel an increased sense of accomplishment as I leave group training! This week, we upped our mileage to EIGHT MILES! Holy cow! Weeks ago, I was saying "There is NO WAY that I can do more than three miles at a time!" Now, I'm thanking God that next week, we taper our mileage to five miles for a week. : ) However, it is one week after that that we increase to TEN MILES. Can I do this? There have been moments where I have truly doubted that I can, but I KNOW THAT I CAN DO THIS! I know that I am getting stronger and stronger with each passing week. I am getting out of bed each Saturday morning, while most of us are still snuggled tightly in our sleepy beds, to run 5, 6, 7, and now 8 miles! This is sincerely a proud experience, but I as I feel increasingly more accomplished, I also become increasingly more aware of why programs such as Team in Training exist...

Today, after I had run my eight miles, I was chatting with some team members. I recognized one woman from seeing her at a majority of the practices, and she had usually been out there with us. She told us that she had been training with TNT since 2005, and she has been a TNT "Coach" for the majority of the years that she has been a part of the program. Today, she was spending time with the team with her dog Ollie, but she wasn't in her running gear. She explained that she has cancer, and that today she wasn't feeling very well to run. When we asked her to tell us more of her story, she told us that she had breast cancer a few years ago, but that treatment went well. Then, they discovered that the breast cancer had spread to her liver. Treatments for that went well also. Unfortunately, now the cancer has returned again in her bones, and she is undergoing more treatment for that. On the outside, she looks to be a healthy, happy woman. How is it that cancer, this disgusting, silent monster could hurt so many people unnecessarily? This woman, with such a beautiful spirit and positive outlook, is forced to come to terms with this silent killer. Even as she said, "It's Stage 4, and it doesn't look like it will go away." she was smiling and showing us that she feels everything is going to be okay. While she is finding strength to battle this monster, she shouldn't have to....

And that is why I must run. Many weekday mornings at 5:00 AM, hours before many alarm clocks even think of chiming. That is why I run. Every Saturday morning when my body is craving extra hours of sleep. That is why I run. More miles than I ever knew that my body could.

For our TNT Coach, and millions of other men and women worldwide who have experienced that "monster" that we call cancer.... This is why I run.