Why This Race?

There are many half marathons going on more locally in the fall (Atlantic City Half, Philadelphia Half, etc.) that I could have signed up for and for which I also would not have had to raise $3,900 (!).  But instead I took the plunge and signed up with Team in Training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco.  Why, you ask?  I shall tell you!

In no particular order…

1. I ♥ San Francisco

San Francisco has always held a special place in my heart.  From the first time I ever stepped off the plane there on a business trip in August 2007, I just felt at home.  San Francisco is also where I ran for the very first time after losing 70 pounds.  I was on the elliptical in the hotel gym one morning and thought, “Hey, wonder if I can run?”  So I hopped on the nearest treadmill, and sure enough, I could!  It was liberating to be able to do something I never thought I could (or even had the desire to until that point).  I’m the kind of person who enjoys when things come full circle, so it means a lot to be doing my first half marathon in the place where running began for me.

2. My grandma had leukemia

My grandma (who passed away in November 2007) had leukemia for the last few years before she died.  Although I don’t believe she died specifically due to the disease (I think it was a confluence of things), she did deal with it on a daily basis.  I still have dreams about her sometimes and think of her whenever I drive by certain places near where she lived…and also when I eat a homemade Rice Krispie treat.  She never let me live down the fact that the one and only time we made them together, I dumped the entire box of cereal all over her kitchen floor!  That might have been more acceptable if I had been 3, but I was closer to 13 at the time!  I’ll be running the race in her honor.

3. To prove to myself (and others) that I can

I have never considered myself an athlete.  As a kid, you were much more likely to find me reading a book than playing any sort of organized sports (not counting epic kickball games in the backyard with all of the neighborhood kids!).  That is still somewhat the case, but I’ve become much more active as an adult than I ever was growing up.  I actually still don’t consider myself an athlete and think of myself as an “unlikely runner” (in fact, that was almost the name of this blog).  I want to prove to myself than I can train for an event like this and overcome the mental aspect of it.  I’ve mentioned before that I tend to give up on things when it gets hard, and I want to push pass that this time around.

4. A little bling never hurt anyone!

I’m not gonna lie….the fact that everyone gets a specially designed Tiffany necklace at the end of this race instead of a finisher’s medal doesn’t hurt.  In fact, I think this may pretty good motivation for me in the last few miles come race day!  All kidding aside though, I like this idea because it’s something tangible that I can wear on a daily basis once the race is over of how far I’ve really come in my running and in life.

So that’s why I chose to run a half marathon all the way across the country rather than sign up for one in my own backyard.  I had my heart set on this race, and since I can be pretty impulsive at times, this is the one I had to do!

In other news, I have another run scheduled for tonight (C25K, W4D2…a repeat of Monday’s run, I believe).  Be back later tonight or tomorrow morning with the update!

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