It begins

I have now oficially registered for the marathon.
My bib number is 5728. I'm already nervous. Admittedly, though, it's hard to feel the sense of urgency to get out there and train when the stupid thing is 5 1/2 months away. And training for a marathon isn't something you can just go out and do in 6
weeks.

My registered charity is, once again, Child Advocates. This year's fundraising goal for the marathon is $150.

2 really cool things happened over the weekend. I got up at a stupid hour in the morning to run on Saturday. That was actually cool thing number 2. I ran 5 miles with the Houston Fit running club and chatted with my friend Carolyn. She will help to kick my butt into gear over the next few months.

The first really cool thing, though, happened right before I got out of bed. I found that motivation point that I can go to in order to motivate me out of my comfy bed. That point happens to be around mile 16.5 back in January. The complete, utter, desperate feeling of "I just can't"... pure defeat. That won't happen this time. That motivated me to roll out of bed. No matter how I sugar coat it (it was a heckuvan accomplishment) it was still short of the goal. This year, I finish. Period.

Despite the physical and individual nature of the marathon, it's really not about me. It's really about the 4000+ kids who are abused in Harris County each year. It's not about "look at me", but rather, "Look at them". The larger goal is not just to finish the marathon, but rather to run a good race for the organization and drawing attention to the work they do, so that one day they will no longer have to do that work. Defeating child abuse is not a sprint, but rather a marathon in itself. So far Child Advocates has worked for over 20 years tirelessly working on behalf of the least among us who have no voice. If it takes another 20 years or 100 years, they'll be there. But not without your help.
Check out the website: www.childadvocates.org
While you're there, commit to do something--anything. You won't regret it.