Memphis St. Jude Marathon Year 2

Well it's official. I paid my entry free a couple of weeks ago for the Memphis St. Jude Marathon which means marathon training starts on August 1. Conveniently (note sarcasm) this is the week my second child is supposed to be born. Perhaps my toughest obstacle may not be the marathon. I think I see a lot more 5 am runs in my future.

Over the last 5 months I have continued to reflect on the amazing experience of the Memphis St. Jude Marathon. You can read my prior post for examples but it was a life changing experience for me. As if I wasn't motivated enough to run my first marathon, I was able to see the hospital and the children fighting for their lives the day before the race. Perhaps I was a little too motivated as I did not sleep the night before the marathon.  

While I started the marathon training simply to get in shape and take control over my life, I soon began following the story of a boy named Joseph who was the nephew of one of my friends. His story and his fight was so inspiring. He lost his battle with cancer before the marathon. His story convinced me I needed to do more than just run a race for myself so I decided to raise support. I was overwhelmed that so many people wanted to sponsor me and contribute to this cause. I crossed the finish line completely exhausted, injured and having raised $1,200.

For the subsequent 4 1/2 months I had an it-band injury as a result of the marathon that required visits to my medical doctor, physical therapist and orthopedic surgeon for injections. I have learned some valuable lessons about stretching and injury prevention and I have been injury free for the last 1 1/2 months and started racing again.

The purpose of my blog is simple. My goal is to raise awareness for St. Jude and the children and families that face the horror of fighting cancer. For the next 6 months I will share with you my training, my goals, my thoughts and my races. Everything I do running, while enjoyable, is for a greater cause as it is to get me prepared for the Memphis Marathon. Even the RC Cola / Moon Pie 10 mile race next month will be relevant. The free moon pies after the race will just be an added bonus.

So I welcome all of you to year 2 of my blog. I pray, with God's grace, that this will be another journey that will be exciting, injury free and full of purpose. Whether or not you will be sponsoring me financially, praying for me or just enjoying the ride, I hope it will be a fun couple of months.

3 1/2 weeks to the moon pies. I think I am going for a run.