To Run a Marathon . . .

I did it. I bit the bullet and paid my entry fee for the Rock Creek Scenic City Marathon on May 21st.

I signed up the day after the McKay Hollow rain-out. At first, the disappointment of not getting to run the McKay made me want to give up, but then one of my running partners, Naomi, called and wanted to see if I would run the training program with her because she felt undermotivated without a training program to keep her on track. She expressed my feelings exactly. I knew I wanted to run a marathon, but I was scared by the thought of all those miles by myself. So, Naomi calling was the perfect motivation for me to go ahead and go for it!

I want this marathon to help raise funds for my church's Adoption Fund, which was very appropriately started by the younger kids at our church. Despite the fact that we are a small church, many families that go to our church or are in contact with us have adopted. At least one family is currently in the process of an adoption.
Would you join me in raising support for those who selflessly open their homes to children in need of a family?

If you would like to help, write a check to Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship with Adoption Marathon in the memo line. You can either hand this to me personally or mail it to the church at: 6027 Pulaski Pike NW, Huntsville AL 35810-1122 (c/o Dennis Cox). All monies will go directly to the Adoption Fund, which will, in turn, go directly to adopting families :)

Why am I running a marathon?
I'm afraid I don't really have a great answer for that. I have plenty of 'reasons':
I'm goal oriented, so it's a good way to continue getting enough exercise without paying for a gym membership (possibly the single biggest thing I miss about college is the free gym. . . ).
A marathon seems like the sort of thing every jogger/ runner should want to do. I mean, it's kinda prestigious, right?
I don't have a "bucket list", but it seems like if I did, running a marathon would probably be on it.
I'm not exactly doing it to prove to myself that I can. In fact, having run an 18 mile training run with Naomi, I'm pretty confident that I won't have a big problem.
It's a good time to run a marathon- before kids, before knee replacements, before winter etc.
Running/ jogging is more fun after a few miles. Long distance is actually more enjoyable for me than shorter distances.
So why, exactly? I don't really know other than the sortof reasons listed above, but it's in less than two weeks!