Finishing my first 10 mile race in 2010 - Women Run the Cities, Mpls, MN.

Welcome to my first blog!  Kinda weird, I know.  But it seems like the right thing to do - to document thoughts and milestones during another "first" in my life - running a marathon.  (Excuse me while I pause to take a deep breath.  That's the first time I've typed that I'm running a marathon.  It's not easy to type and  hyperventilate at the same time!)  I never thought I would have a blog... never thought I would run a marathon... never thought I'd miss my mom so much, even 10 years after she died.  But here I am, with all three of those things at the forefront of my mind.   All three of those things are related in ways that may not seem obvious so I plan to use this blog as a way to unpack these connections and to share my experiences as I journey down this foreign path - the path to a marathon.  This path I take in memory of my mom and to raise money for a program near and dear to my heart - hospice.  Specifically, I will be running Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN on June 16, 2012 as a member of the Run to Remember 2012 team, raising money for the National Hospice Foundation.   The great thing about this is that I can identify a local hospice program to receive part of the funding I raise.  All of the proceeds I raise will be divided in this way:  50% to the National Hospice Foundation, 25% to the Regional Hospice Program in Hayward, Wisconsin (the folks who helped us care for my mom), and 25% to the Deaf Hospice Program in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, a program that provides hospice support to Deaf patients and family members. 

Raising money is not something I do comfortably or often.  (It was a stretch for me to serve as Molly's Girl Scout troop's cookie mom for the years I did that!)  But I figure this could be the only time I run a marathon.  And for me to cross that finish line, it's going to take something more than the cool gear, the medal and saying "I did it!"  I want and need the accomplishment to mean something more.  I want to honor my mom and the amazing program that provides so much comfort and support to people during such a challenging time.  So I will run and finish the race, knowing some amazing programs will benefit from the accomplishment too.  The link to my fundraising page is:  

http://www.active.com/donate/runtoremember2012/runpaularun

I will be forever grateful for any support you can provide - monetary, prayers and/or words of encouragement.  All are appreciated. 

Please come back and visit this space again.  My goal is to write a little something each week, as I count down to the marathon.  Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Paula