The funny thing is, it's not like I didn't have things to share, things to write about. It's not like I didn't want to write - I just didn't. It started because I was overwhelmingly busy and couldn't do so many things in my day, so the blog was the first thing to go. I figured I would go a day or two and then just do a big catch-up again.
Then several weeks later, it was just a lack of motivation. Again, there were things to write about and things I wanted to share with my friends, family, and followers - but it just became a low priority.
A little while after that it was complete disinterest. I've been in this adventure now for over 3 months - and I just wanted a break. "Wouldn't it be nice to do nothing but watch a movie and knit all day?" I would think....and of course, this isn't what I would do but blogging was also something I wouldn't do.
So, then we're nearing October and I keep saying to myself 'You have got to write your blog today' - but it just got to a point of what's one more day.
The thing is, once you get started on not writing (or not fundraising, or not running), it becomes so easy to go back to the life you had before this adventure. It becomes so easy to just wait until tomorrow - and then you start to feel really bad about it.
Jeff and I have experienced a number of setbacks in the past month - bad weather is one big one, as is our regular poor luck with fundraisers. We've also experienced some great milestones - for me, the day I ran for 115 minutes before attending the wedding of two of my oldest friends; or the day that I brought my pace down to a 13-minute mile; or for both of us, breaking $7,000, with only $5,000 to go.
It has been a challenging, but equally rewarding and amazing month.
So, yes - on the 'state of my running' front: I have improved my pace by an entire minute-per-mile, which is unbelievable to me. I have been more comfortable running for longer periods of time before taking my walking breaks, although I'm not entirely sure I will be able to complete the entire marathon with a 10 minute:1 minute run/walk ratio. But man oh man, you should have seen how shocked I was when I actually finished my 115 minute run.
That was just the week after the 90-minute run that I couldn't complete thanks to shin splints. What a rush it was to surpass the 90-minute mark without much complaint! Of course I couldn't help but think that I was out running for the length of a decent movie (and wouldn't it have been nicer to just watch a movie?), but an audio book and some good tunes made the time fly by - especially when I had to retrace my route 4 or 5 times because I was moving faster than I had anticipated.
Then of course I switched from duration runs the following week to distance runs. That was a real shock to my system that I am still trying to work through. My brain got so used to preparing to run for a period of time that when I say to myself 'today we are running 8km', my brain doesn't understand and ends up afraid. Fear means I consider not running, and some days, I don't.
But I am still progressing and moving forwards and know that I will cross that finish line as I had originally intended.
Also as I mentioned, we have surpassed $7,000 in our fundraising. In fact, we are hovering right around $7,500, which is incredibly exciting. We're both getting exhausted from asking people for money for the same thing so many times for so many months, but are confident we will make our final goal. We currently have a big halloween party planned for October 30th, which will help us move another step closer to our goal. Once all the details are in place for that party, we are going to work on some smaller events that will make up the rest.
I'm not making any promises, but I am going to do my best to not fall so behind on my blog entries again. We have 34 days until our final deadline, and 64 until race day. At the very least, I will make an effort to share a story weekly on here.
And in the meantime, I know Jeff and I both want to thank all of you for following along with our story, and inspiring us to keep going, keep trying, and keep running. Your words, donations, and hours of support are worth more than we can explain!
And remember if you are completing your own adventure alongside us - no matter how tempting your old life may be to go back to, keep challenging yourself to stay in the adventure you are in. It is an amazing reward that you will not want to look back at and think 'I gave up for a while'.
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"Even if I come in last place, I'm still in front of the guy who didn't get off the couch"
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