Finally...A Half Marathon Finisher

Yesterday I completed my first half marathon, something I wasn't sure I would be able to do when I started this journey last November.

The weekend was amazing. I arrived in Downtown Detroit mid-morning Saturday to visit the Expo and get my race bib. Then I took a really cool bus tour of the route seeing parts of the city I'd never seen and learning more about its history.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society hosted an Inspiration dinner Saturday evening announcing that Team In Training raised $170K for blood cancer research for the Free Press event! The millions of dollars they've raised over the past 24 years continues to fund life saving research to cure blood cancers.

After a 4:30 am wake up, we arrived at the 7 am start ready to rock it. I dedicated my run to Survivors Terri Norman, Katie Paulson and Kitty Grund and wrote their name on my singlet so they were with me in spirit the whole time. An emotional moment was when I paused by a fellow TNT runner with "Survivor" written on the back of her shirt. I asked how she was doing and she said "Who would have thought that 6 years ago when I had blood cancer that I'd be running a marathon today!" 

The course included running over the Ambassador Bridge into Canada, running through Windsor, then back through the tunnel into the US. A cool moment was as I exited the tunnel, the announcer said "Deb Drummond of Ferndale"... and something about looking strong and doing great. Caught me by surprise but put some fuel in my tank.

After only having run up to 12 miles in training, 13.1 was another barrier buster so seeing the finish line in the distance was a welcome relief. I was feeling strong so I gave a good kick at the end and was SO thrilled to finally cross the finish line. Even though I didn't start my training intending for the Detroit Free Press to be my first half marathon, I was SO glad it was...everything about the day and the event was absolutely perfect!

24 Hours

Tomorrow morning I'll be running the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon. During this taper down of miles, it feels like I'm not ready but I have to remember all the hard work and discipline I've put in this past year.

This is crazy, but you can follow my footsteps by downloading the Free Press Marathon app at:

http://www.freepmarathon.com/download

Press the little runner guy in the middle of the top line, then enter my bib number:  18373

I'm off to pick up my bib, visit the expo, take a bus tour around the course, then enjoy an Inspiration Dinner with my fellow Team in Training teammates before the big day. I'll keep you posted with a few pix along the way...GO TEAM!

The Countdown

Next week at this time I will be able to say that I've run a Half Marathon. If you had told me that a year ago, I would have said you were crazy.

I started my running journey last November when I could hardly scrape myself up off the sofa during a tough year that included many personal struggles.

Today as I ran my last long run along the course I've logged so many miles on as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training, I reflected on how far I've come. I feel really good about starting this journey for something bigger than myself and having raised more than $1,500 for blood cancer research.

The journey to the finish line hasn't been exactly as I had envisioned it, but it will be sweet all the same. It's never too late and my take away is that now I run for me.