Monday, September 3, 2012

That's so FAR!

I used to think that five kilometers was a long distance. I marveled at how many people seemed to get out and run a 5K for this cause or that. That just sounded so far.

Even when Matt suggested, back early in the summer - before I started doing this whole walking/eating thing - that we could do a 5K together this fall (well, he'd run...I'd walk), it sounded so out of reach. It was one of those, "Yeah, right. I'll think about that" kind of things. He even dangled the carrot of offering to pay my entry fee - and I still didn't think about it seriously. I could barely walk up the stairs in my house without being winded. How on earth would I walk five kilometers??? (To be fair, I wasn't sure how far 5K really was, either.)

Then a funny thing happened. One of the first times I got out just to walk...not even seriously...I just walked through the neighborhoods until I hit a good spot, then turned around...


...and had done 3.6 miles by the time I got home. 

That was a half-mile more than I needed to be able to do a 5K.

Then I started walking "my" trail - my regular stretch of the Rail Trail. Two miles out. Two miles back. Four miles. Every day. 

Every day I was doing more than five kilometers. 

Seriously?? But that's so far! :)

Of course, Matt moved back home, so doing an event together this fall won't happen. But Sandi suggested that we do one at the end of this month - so we are.

So yes, I've officially registered for my first 5K walk. 

I'm going to do Hoosiers Outrun Cancer. (Or Outwalk, in my case.) The funds raised through this event support the Olcott Center for Cancer Education here in Bloomington, which focuses on teaching patients and their families about cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. It only seems right to walk for a cause that fights cancer, considering that both my mom and Jim's died from cancer (my mother from breast cancer, Jim's mom from bone cancer). We've had several other wonderful people in our extended family and among our friends who have fought this insidious disease. Many have won. A few have lost. Some are still fighting. 

And while Jim is going to be walking with me, I'm most excited that I'll also be walking with my partner Sandi, who has been fighting Stage 4 cancer for seven years. 

So yeah...5K is far. It's a sign of how far I've come.

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I'm not going to do a big push among friends and family to raise donations for this event. But if you would like to contribute, I did set up a donor page:

Hoosiers Outrun Cancer - Jim & Jenni's Donor Page

3 comments:

  1. You are amazing and inspirational, Jenni.

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  2. Luv ya. It will be fun. I think Maria is walking with us also!!!

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