wow!

not sure i could be more excited... i got $150 in individual donations in the last twenty-four hours! i have received donations from 18 people and am at $700 - 28% of my required total!

i'm back to walking and did half of my half marathon last saturday. my time is still pretty slow - i'd like to be picking up the pace, but i'm trying to remember that i need to take it easy so i don't re-injure the knee. speaking of the knee, i'm confused because i'm getting a lot of conflicting information. i was convinced when i saw my physical therapist that i needed to be extremely careful and cautious, that running just wasn't in the cards for me. since then i've talked with several life-long athletes and physicians, some of them with their own knee issues (one has had four knee surgeries), who tell me that running isn't out of the picture for me, that i can run and that in order to do so i needed to be doing exersizes like lunges and squats to strengthen my muscles around the knee (PT said no lunges and no squats). so who does a girl listen to? what advice do i take? a bit confusing to say the least.

i suppose for now i should just focus on the 8 miles i'm doing on saturday... yes 8 miles! i'm SO pumped! i've been training for three months (two if you take out the month i was on rest) and i'm already doing more than half my event. i can't believe it, i'm excited and, to be honest, pretty impressed with myself.

it was really hard getting back into the flow of training, staying motivated when i returned after five weeks off. in fact last saturday, i was this close to sleeping in and skipping practice. in all sincerity, the one thing that actually moved me out of bed and into my running shoes was the thought of my Honored Teammates (Aunt Nancy and Francisco). how many times have they had to get out of bed early in the morning for a chemo or radiation treatment? a surgery? to be sick from one of those? if they have had the strength to persevere through CANCER, most certainly i could do roll out of bed and get my ass moving! thank you to them for continuing to inspire and motivate me. saturday's achievement - half the half marathon - was exactly what i needed to get back on track and more committed than ever to this challenge ahead of me!

more later.

besos,

liz