jumping the gun.

I may be jumping the gun here because I still have $37.13 to raise, BUUUUUUUUUUT I think it's safe to say I reached my fundraising goal! I'm so excited and so proud of myself. There were a few stressful times these past 5 months where I didn't think I could raise it all. A lot of emailing, mailing, messaging, posting, tweeting, and so on. Sorry to anyone who was getting slightly annoyed by the constant reminder to donate, but it worked!

I can remember fundraising when I was younger and it was not this difficult. When I signed up for this I thought "oh this will be easy, I know so many people who will love to donate to a great cause". I jumped the gun on that one. Times are tough right now for a lot of people and a lot of my friends are in entry level jobs, living pay check to pay check. Gas prices are high and sometimes people just straight up forget. I think everyone wants to donate and help they just maybe can't at the time. 

I would never go back and not do this though. The marathon is so close and I couldn't be more nervous and excited at the same time. I have really changed a lot in the past 5 months. I went from never going to the gym to going 5 days a week. I went from smoking and drinking on the weekends to staying home and eating veggies. I love how my life has changed for the better, it was hard though. Training like this and running so much can be very tolling on your body both physically and emotionally. I've been through both. 

Training for my next marathon will be easier and less stressful (hopefully) because my body will be better adapted to the changes. I went from 0-60 that first week and never stopped. I'm planning on doing a 1/2 marathon in San Antonio in November and the full in Austin in February. I'll be taking a short break from fundraising and traveling. I want to continue to train and fundraise with Team in Training, maybe just one race a year though. It gets a little much begging people for money year round. I'm sure I would run out of people to ask. 

A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED 

AND SUPPORTED ME THROUGH THIS! 

I could not have done it with out you. Especially Jeffy who has listened to me gripe and complain through out this process. He truly has helped me through this more than I can ever explain. The end result, crossing that finish line after 26.2, will be REMARKABLE!