The Race (OK Two races)

I've got two big races coming up.  A week from today I'll run my first ever half marathon.  That is a major milestone for me.  A year ago I couldn't even run up the stairs, so the thought that I can run 13.1 miles is almost unbelievable.  But I can do it.  And I WILL do it.  And, yeah, I'm gonna do it in under 2 hours.  Even if I am sicker than I've been in a long long long long time.

Oh my goodness, this cough.  I'll for certain have washboard abs after this.  Oy.  And my nose....it's all red, and not in a cute way, from blowing my snout nonstop.  Honestly, how can one person manufacture THAT MUCH SNOT!?!?

And my head, it's like a thousand bad hangovers all rolled into one, without the nauseated feeling.  That's the only plus.

So my big worry is that I pretty much will be immobile this whole week and I know that tapering is good, but this is beyond tapering, it's FORCED IMMOBILITY.  So then I worry that I won't quite have the "stuff" to go the distance next Sunday.  But it doesn't matter all that much anymore, the fact that I can do it, that I'm going to do it, is really all that matters to me.

My reach goal is merely to achieve the ultimate gold card status of a BAMR, running a sub 2 hour half marathon a mere 3 months after a bilateral mastectomy.  My goal is simply to finish, under my own power, running the whole way.  Easy peasy.

My other big race is Cause + Event Portland, an idea that came to me in what I can only describe is divine intervention.  On an airplane ride home from Spokane for a funeral in early February I grabbed an old file folder in my bag and sketched out the entire event.

I've been involved in planning races before, but not like this.  Not like the big official keep-it-all-in-my-brain official.  No, I helped.  And watched.  And learned.  I hope.

But aside from the logistics of the race, which become so overwhelming to me on a regular basis that I say to myself "what the hell was I thinking?" and I fantasize about running away to Mexico and hoping that my committee will pick up the pieces, I am really proud of the work WE have done.

I couldn't do this alone, of that there is no doubt.  I have a crack team of Mother Runners who are helping me put together what has been described as the most generous race concept ever "invented".  What we're doing is unlike any other race out there, believe me, I checked.

What we are doing is allowing our runners to choose their own charity to run for.  We feature 10-12 local charities, but runners can choose any charity they want.  We are giving $5 or more from every registration to the cause of their choice. 

Our event is November 11, 2012 and we have a 5K and 10K distance option.  We're sanctioned and insured by the USATF and we're having our courses certified.  We don't mess around.  Our end goal is to create an amazingly generous, well run and FUN event that we can affiliate out NATIONWIDE in a few years, bringing our formula to communities across the country and raising a heck of a lot of money for local charities.

So I have a couple of lofty goals, and I don't know if I will achieve them both, but right now the one I wish the most to come true is having an amazing Cause + Event Portland race for many, many amazing charities.  Please visit our website at www.causeandeventportland.com to see what we're doing.

Now, I'm tired from all this writing, so I am going to cough my head off, blow my nose off my face and pass out in bed to rest up for next Sunday.  Lord, I hope I make it.