Good morning!

Remember funk town Friday? Yea, it’s gone now. Actually, it started to dissipate pretty soon after posting—partly because writing is theraputic, and partly because I started listening to the ’90s pop station on Pandora. TLC, LFO, BSB…you guys make me happy.

Today is a new day, and it’s an exciting one.

Remember last week, and I think some weeks beforehand, when I said I had a sweet announcement to make? Right—well, even though the title of this post kind of gives it all away, let’s back track a bit to provide some appropriate lead up.

I am pretty chronically in a state of planning my next endeavor. In the past year or so it’s mostly been marathons, but there have also been moments of considering other extreme athletic endeavors, planning a race to start myself, or checking flight prices to exotic locations all over the world. Most of the time, these things don’t actually emancipate—sometimes because of practicality, but mostly because something else comes along that seems even more exciting. You might call it ADD, but it’s really just a case of getting really fixated on certain ideas, and then trying to make those ideas even more exciting.

However, every so often, one of them sticks—and once they stick, I am completely incapable of letting myself off of the proverbial hook. I become mentally and physically committed to the sticking ideas, and I refuse to let any logistical issues get in my way. Last year, this was training for my first marathon. Next year, I know it will be a (half) Ironman. And this year?

Well, after much deliberation and “patience,” the perfect opportunity came to me—and I grabbed the bull by the balls.

The bull, in this case, is the prestigious Chicago Marathon…which I will officially be running on October 7!!

I was really wanting to run the Chicago Marathon about two months ago, however when I checked the website they were already sold out. I was bummed, but I knew I’d find something else—so I sort of forgot about it.

And I did find a few more race ideas, however none of them were really calling to me. I began wondering it I even wanted to do a fall marathon or if I just wanted to play around for a while.

Well, that was right when the universe was all, “Yea right lady…try and ignore this opportunity,” and low and behold—an email from Girls on the Run shows up in my inbox.

The email said that it had bonus entries for the Chicago Marathon, in which runners would raise a certain number of dollars for GOTR and then run the race as a GOTR Solemate.

Um.

YES!

This was exactly what I’d been looking for. Not only is it the race I was after, but it would offer something entirely new and exciting in terms of training. This would allow me to run and train for something much bigger than myself, which is just what I’ve been looking for. In the midst of looking for an epic fall race, I was also on a mission to stop taking my running so seriously. Running is supposed to be fun, and despite how much I love competing, I also need to stop being so concerned with performance and times and all that jargon as much as I have been. Those things are important, but they aren’t everything, and I’m confident that this opportunity to run for Girls on the Run will be just to ticket to work outside of my own selfish training endeavors. Because the ultimate purpose of this endeavor is to raise money, and advocate for, Girls on the Run.

So, where does that leave me? Well, logistically speaking….a lot of fundraising to do and a training program to start. Both of which I am officially starting today! Hooray starting to train again! I have a number of changes I’ll be making to this training regimen, which I’ll talk about soon, but overall I’m really excited to be a Solemate and spread all the good word about Girls on the Run to everyone I know. (And when I say everyone, I’m serious…get ready, every family member, friend, family friend, blogger, twitter follower, coworker, etc.)

And thus commences my first request for donations! The minimum fundraising amount is $750, but I’m going to go for $1,000. And perhaps more if possible! If you are interested in joining my training/fundraising endeavors, you can donate here!

Girls on the Run is an amazing organization, and one that tugs on my former tomboy heartstrings. Their mission is essentially to inspire and encourage young girls through running—and their program hopes to create confidence in a healthy and active lifestyle. These are lessons that are so pivotal for girls to learn at a young age, particularly in our society which is so focused on unrealistic image expectations(read: lies) for women. Running has done so much for women, both young and old, in terms of instilling a sense of self-motivation and self-love, and I think it’s so inspiring that Girls on the Run is bringing this mission to the next generation of women.

So today marks my first day of training for the Chicago Marathon! And it’s a rest day….awesome.

More details on my training program and approach to come, but for now I’m just excited to start fundraising and prepare to run in one of the greatest marathons in the world!