Saturday, March 28, 2009

Hi folks-  I'll be updating this site regularly in case you're interested in checking out my training progress for the 2009 Chicago Marathon or my experiences as a Make-A-Wish Wish Granter.   Knowing that we will be helping out this cause is a such great motivation for me to keep running! 

Make-A-Wish Update
A few people have asked when I will be sponsoring the wish child. Technically, this will happen after the marathon; I want to see that I can raise the entire $5000.  Make-A-Wish doesn't specify an amount limit for wishes, but $5000 is the average amount for a wish.   In the meantime, I'm continuing to grant about 4 wishes a year.   My current wish child will be going on a Disney cruise in June.  Disney World and Disney cruises are the most popular wishes.  Besides travel wishes, some children wish for experiences, such as being a honorary pilot for a day.  Other children might wish for material things, such as a new playground set.  Still others may wish to meet a celebrity.   Over the coming months,  I'd like to feature some of my past wish children on this site, with the approval of the families of course.
  
Training
I started running again in January after a 1.5 year hiatus and I'm finally able to run 5 miles comfortably again.  It's a huge milestone to be actually enjoying my runs.  For this first marathon, I'm not going for speed or time, just to train and finish the marathon while staying injury-free.  Also to enjoy it so that I want to run more races.  I'm actually following the Non-Runners Marathon Training Program, which has a training schedule I can live with:  4-5 total runs a week with one long run on the weekend. I've finished the first official week: 3mi, 4mi, 4mi, 3mi, 5mi.