Weeks 2+3: New motivation

On June 30th, my marathon training changed.  Team Athletes to End Alzheimer's didn't send out a new schedule; I didn't tweak things on my own; I didn't get injured.  The plan itself with its mileage totals and technical workouts wasn't altered at all, but my experience as I go through the months leading up to November 3rd will be very different from now on.

On June 30th, my mother-in-law passed away due to complications from early onset Alzheimer's disease.

Without getting overly maudlin, I'll say that now I have new motivation: I'm not just running in Carolyn's honor, I'm running in memory of her.  I'm running for her brothers and sisters, for her nieces, and for her sons and daughter, because the disease very clearly runs in their family (which is something I don't really like to talk about, for obvious reasons).  I'm even running for my future children, because I can only hope that by the time they're around, there are more treatment options and, heck, maybe even a cure.  I know my/your monetary contribution will be a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, but in a time when it's easy to feel helpless, I feel less so because of my dedication to run the marathon for this cause.

My workouts for weeks 2 and 3 were sporadic given the circumstances, but here they are!

Week 2 Workouts

Tuesday: 5.25 mile run

Wednesday: 1 mile run + 3 miles of striders (5 min jog, 2 min hard run)

Thursday: 6 mile run

Week 3 Workouts

Friday: 3.75 mile run

Sunday: 8 mile run

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If you'd like to donate to either of the charities I'm running for, click one or both of these links!

Athletes to End Alzheimer's
Emslie's Fight - read Emslie's story then click on my name in the team list