Look at that! I finally updated my blog!

Yes, I know. I've been seriously slacking in the blogging department. I apologize to my 2 readers (if you're even still out there).

Let's see... what's been going on?

Not long after the Houston half marathon, my back went out on me (the product of attempting to save my car from a 5 gallon Gatorade spill in the back seat), but I think I'm finally over that. I fixed it by stopping running so much & getting back into the pool at least twice a week. My spine just can't handle all that constant jarring from running 4-5 times a week, so now I only run twice a week with the TNT group. Every Tuesday we have our track/speed practice, then every Saturday we do our long runs. The rest of my workout days are in the pool.

Until last weekend, the farthest I'd run was 9 miles. I felt pretty good after that 9, so the next week I was going to attempt to do 12. (The rest of the group was doing 16.) I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but the weather was SO perfect (temps in the 40's & not a cloud in the sky) that it completely jazzed me. I ended up doing 14 miles & I felt fantastic! What's even better is that it was the fastest I'd ever run (& that includes the Houston Half marathon)! I ran the entire time with a pace of just a smidge over 13 minutes per mile. I've never been able to sustain that pace for so long. I was ecstatic! Even better than that, I had virtually NO pain the rest of the day or even the next day. (See? Ice baths after runs really DO work!) I had so much energy all weekend. It was fabulous! My co-worker attributes it all to my continued weight loss. After stalling in that dept for about 2-3 months, I've been able to lose another 15 lbs so far, for a total loss of 55 lbs. I'm hoping to be down at least 60 lbs. by my birthday in 3 weeks. *crosses fingers*

Fundraising is going ok. Because I did Nike last season, I can't really ask people to donate again so I have to rely on big events instead. My friend Carissa & I, along w/ another friend, Eliza hosted a bachelor & bachelorette auction at the end of January & raised just over $6400 in one night. Not bad. We lost at least $2000 at the door because the people we had at the door collecting donations left after only an hour. Oh well. Live & learn, right? We're having another auction on April 17 which should be even better. We worked out all the kinks with that first auction, we have the venue for a much longer period of time, & we have extra help, so we think we shouldn't have a problem raising the $8000 we all need to get to our fundraising minimums.

In some sad news, it looks like things are getting worse for my TNT coach, Emily. Her cancer is spreading. I saw her at practice last weekend & she just doesn't look like herself. She's lost weight, she's pale, she looks SO tired & you can tell she's in pain when she moves. I don't even want to think about what might be to come. Yes, I'm in complete denial. Every time I have a little pain & feel like complaining, I make myself think of Emily & what she's going through. It's a big wake-up call.

Cancer sucks.

But it just motivates me even more to continue with what I'm doing. Running is my way of giving cancer the finger.