Hey remember that time...

... I was running and my pants kept falling down and showing my underwear so I basically had to run three miles while holding my pants up? Or that other time I was walking out to my car and mistook the step off the curb, twisted my ankle, fell face forward onto the pavement and thought I'd taken myself out of marathon training in the most ridiculous way ever? Or that other time I decided to try my hand at running around Lake Hefner and got lost on what is supposed to be a pretty self-explanatory jogging trail around a predominately circular lake? (That was today, btw. Disastrous to say the least. But 9.1 miles! Go me!)

Well if I haven't mentioned any of that, there ya go. Just some fun little antidotes of me being me, whilst training for a half marathon. Sheesh. Sometimes I just close my eyes for a moment, take it all in and ask God, "Why?" :) At least I entertain myself.

Well! Hello friends! I haven't been on here in quite a while. If you just so happen to be an avid reader of this here blog of mine and wait on pins and needles for the next post to come out, then I sincerely apologize to all (two) of you for this terrible delay. (Hey, mom. Hey, Aunt Rhonda.)

In all seriousness, I'd like to take this time to reflect a little bit about the last month and a half, so grab a seat and take this journey with me, will ya?

Over the course of the last few weeks, there have been some high points and low points, as there always is in life. I've been sticking with my running schedule pretty well, and have made myself get out and run when I wasn't sure I'd find the energy or time. I've made new friends, pushed myself further than I thought I ever could and tried yoga for the first time ever (which is awesome and I love it). I've listened to stories about people whose lives are affected by blood cancers and regained perspective on the purpose of all this. I've even dealt with what I like to call a "hater", who literally laughed at me when I told him what I was doing, basically declared I must not understand how long 13.1 miles is, and generally made me feel like crap. And to you, sir, all I have to say is this:

You are "the counter guy". You refinish counters for a living. At apartment complexes. Don't make fun of my intentions to better myself and others through the quite difficult art of endurance running, mk? And I'd sincerely like to tell you to keep the ten dollars you so begrudgingly handed over, while semi-jokingly stating that you were really only going to give me five now and the other five if (IF!?) I cross the finish line, except your money is going to make a difference. But honestly. Is your attitude necessary? I think not.

Ahem. Ok I'm done. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest (in an admittedly very passive-aggressive way, but off my chest, nonetheless.) Anyway, despite that guy, I've really been blessed to be apart of Team In Training and LLS and all the wonderful people I've come across. I feel pretty lucky to have the opportunity to do something that is really helping people. It's given my life a bit of purpose and direction, and I like knowing that I'm making a difference to someone. I'm also very lucky to have gotten the amount of donations I have over the last month. I most definitely couldn't have done it without you, so THANK YOU (x's infinity) to everyone who has donated to help me out.

I feel like I've had great success in my fundraising, and I've recently been encouraged to up the ante a little. So this week I raised my fundraising goal from $1,500 to $4,400 with the intentions of running another half marathon in San Diego in June. Eep! That's a big number and it makes me a little nervous. I've got some fundraising ideas that I'm going to be putting in motion, including setting up a March Madness bracket, so all the boys in my life can have a little fun and donate at the same time. Also, I've been speaking to Staci, who is the owner of S Studio Salon & Spa (where I have my hair done and they are all pretty much rockin' over there. You should check them out.) about having a wine tasting/salon night to raise money as well. So be on the lookout! I will try to make it as fun as possible!

As always, if you can't donate money but you've got some fabulous fundraising ideas, send 'em my way! I very much could use the ideas and encouragement. The wall above my desk at work is filled with the encouraging letters and notes from my friends and family and I love looking at it every day. If you'd like to take a moment to visit my fundraising page, you can do so by clicking this link.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Saturday!

Yours 'til the cookie crumbles,

Lacy