Jumping.

Have you ever jumped because of excitement? I don't know that I actually have jumped from being so excited, but I have been very excited. I was excited when I made the decision to start running again and improve the quality of my health. Mostly I think that after being laid off of my full-time job I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to set the bar so high that it would pass anything I had done before and would keep me focused on improving myself over time.

Seeing a friend of mine survive cancer and decide to run a marathon was amazing to me. Especially since he had never been a runner all his life. However, he set the goal to challenge himself and run the 2009 Chicago Marathon. I ran with Matt a few times during training, went to one of his weekday workouts with his team and then volunteered to help out his charity on the day of the marathon to support other runners. I was there for him when he finished and was really proud that he followed his goal to the finish. He finished the Chicago Marathon and completed the journey he set many months prior. I was so happy for Matt and his wife and family! I was also very proud to be involved in the process and also proud that I was working toward my own goal.

See, after hearing that Matt was running a marathon, I also wanted to run for charity. I decided shortly after talking to Matt that I would run for Team Hole in the Wall camps. Team Hole in the Wall supports Hole in the Wall Camps who provide fun camps around the country to seriously ill children. They are able to attend a camp and have fun like children that are well without the surroundings of a hospital, and normal routine of doctors, nurses and full time care at home. The camps are setup so that they can be a kid as much as possible while at the same time medical care is provided as needed to support their fun experience. It really is about fun and taking the daily stress that the child normally endures (and his family endures) away for a week or a weekend. These camp experiences are provided free of charge to the campers and their families and are completely supported by donations from corporations and individuals. I decided that this was the charity for me and that Paul Newman the actor was such a good man for having the idea to start these camps back in the 80's.

I set my goal early in the Spring of 2009 to run the Marathon at Walt Disney World in January 2010. This would give me a year to train and to raise my commitment of $2000. After running my first 5K in the early Spring, I wasn't so sure of my high expectations I set for myself. Now in October of 2009, I have completed over 7-5K races, 2-10K races, and a half marathon. I am continually training to improve on my running and recently ran my first 16 mile run. 16 MILES!!! That is amazing to me since running 3.1 was a huge accomplishment just a few months earlier. Anyway, now that I have seen a friend of mine finish a marathon and see my progress, I am having the sense that this is really an achievable goal. That I DID make the right decision and that this experience is going to be the greatest accomplishment I have achieved. After January 10th, I will be changed. I will be part of the 1% of the world's population that have run a marathon. Yes 1%. Wow! Then a lifestyle change at that of running and continuing my quest to improve my fitness.

I love running. I love the peace, I love the attitudes of the people that run (most of them anyway), and I really have found a group of people that are goal setters, achievers, and very motivated to reach beyond what is easily achieved.

Please see the link at the bottom right of my blog to learn more about Team Hole in the Wall and support my charity. Every penny that is donated to this 501 (3) (c) organization is provided directly so another child can attend camp. They also provide an option for company matches and make it very easy to complete that process. Please contact me or leave a comment if you have any questions. I do need your support and appreciate you helping me meet my goal of raising $2000 for the camps.

Tread Lightly,

Mouserunner

www.getfitwithmouserunner.com