I Am Doing This For Mom

I Am Doing This For Mom

 

Whenever I struggle on a training run, I always push my self with the same saying.  “I am doing this for mom”.  

 

I adopted this motto because the first race that I decided to run was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure along Milwaukee’s lakefront in September of 2012.  I chose this race because my mom had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. When I learned of the diagnosis, I decided that all this running and training I was doing, I would do it so I could run in honor of my mom.  

 

My parents are very simple people and need very little to be happy.  I wish I could be more like them in this regard.  As I get older, I realize how strong my parents really were for the four of us growing up and how strong they continue to be now that we are adults.  Without getting into all the things they have overcome-just know they are strong.

 

I knew that my mom wouldn’t take this diagnosis sitting down and would fight it with everything she has.  That strength that she has is in tough situations something that I admire about her, and something I’ve tried to emulate my entire life.  My mom proved again how strong she is as she kicked cancer’s butt and is doing quite well.  So I figured if she could become a cancer survivor, I could survive running a 5K.

 

The day of the race I was ready to go.  My goal for this race was to finish the race without walking.  I could not claim that I had run a 5K if I had to walk any of it.  This is not a judgement statement, just a personal one. The race started out slow because there were so many people, but eventually I was able to starting running – and I was off.  I felt good throughout the entire race and kept wondering how much longer I had until I reached the finish line.  I crossed the finish line at about 33 minutes.  I thought that it was a great time for my first race considering about a month prior I could not run one mile without feeling like I was going to die.

 

Almost immediately after that race I began to wonder if I worked at this running thing, could I improve my time?  So, I registered for a 5K in my hometown of Port Washington, WI called Pumpkins in the Park that benefits the Physical Education Department for the Port Washington-Saukville School District.  

 

The race was one month after the Komen Race and started up on the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan and ran down a hill, and for the majority of the race, I ran uphill for almost two miles.  (We also ran past a fish fry, which if you are from Wisconsin you know how evil that is!)  I finished the race in 30 minutes, shaving three minutes of my time in just about one month.  

I was hooked on the idea of doing the races faster and I wanted to place in my age division.  I started to do research on how to do that, and realized that sometimes the best resources can be right in front of you.  I’ll delve into that in my next post.  Until then, keep running!

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