Thanks for visiting my blog everyone! I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time now but never actually got around to it. Truthfully, I was also concerned about sounding stupid or having no one even read it. But, I finally got motivated to start one so that my friends and family can follow along with my training and fundraising for the Chicago marathon coming up in October. I am raising money (goal of $1000 or more) for PAWS for Chicago. PAWS is the largest no-kill humane organization in Chicago. I will post more information about the organization in the near future, but if you're curious now, here is a link to their "About PAWS Chicago" page: http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/ccp.asp?ievent=451667&lis=1&kntae451667=3EB3C098D85244719383340D3AA81DC6&ccp=69987. Go ahead and visit the site and look around!
I got the idea of blogging about my training and fundraising from one of my very best friends Sarah Pikul (I guess it's Sarah Dyerson now :) just can't get used to it!). Sarah blogged about her experiences training and fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) last year. She ran the Nike's Women's marathon in San Francisco last year. She will be running the same marathon again this October and is fundraising again. Visit her page and support her cause as well! http://pages.teamintraining.org/mid/nikesf11/sdyerson. Anyways, I loved reading her posts about training and I thought it was a great way for her friends, family and donors to follow along with her up to the big day! So thank you Sarah for the idea!
This will be my second full marathon (26.2 miles). I ran Grandma's in Duluth, MN in June 2009 with 3 other girls. However, I didn't run Grandma's for a charity, I just ran for myself. I kind of regretted not running it for a charity once I was close to the race. I figured I mine as well help people (or in this instance, animals) while I kill me body! haha.
I was in better shape when I started training for Grandma's than I am right now in the beginning of my training for Chicago which has proven to cause me a little struggle! I kick myself everyday for letting myself get sooooo out of marathon shape...never again (I keep telling myself) will I allow myself to do that. When I trained for Grandma's it was the last semester of my senior year @ KU. I was busier than ever with 24 credit hours, 2 part-time jobs (one of which included traveling most weekends) and trying to enjoy my last little bit of Lawrence. When I look back I don't know how I did it! But I loved training, it made me feel better, healthier and believe it or not, made me much more productive! The marathon went great, despite the temperature being a record high for Duluth that day @ 95 degrees! Needless to say, they were not prepared for the heat! Even the night before the weather said it would be about 75 degrees at noon. Regardless, I ran the whole time so I was happy! I finished in something like 4 hours and 45 minutes. During my training I was running ~9:20 miles so I was hoping to finish in 4:30, but really just wanted to run the whole thing. They did say that you should subtract ~30 minutes from your time because of the extreme heat that day. Oh well, I was happy with that finish for my first marathon! After the marathon I really just let myself go and enjoy my summer before law school. Then, getting into law school didn't leave much time for running. Ever since starting law school I really haven't been on my running game. It's been hard to fit into my schedule and hard to stick to it. I like to run in the morning, pretty much being the first thing I do in the mornings. My first year of law school I would wake up to run and think that I should really go over my reading for class instead. I missed a lot of runs. I've been running off and on ever since...not good!
I'm really looking forward to be back in running and marathon shape! Very excited! I officially started training about a week and a half ago. My longest run yet was only 4 miles, and this week my long run is 5 miles. Most weeks I am going to do my long run on Friday mornings. My training schedule (as of now), which is almost the same as the one I used for my first marathon, has me running 6 days a week. Last time I usually just ran 5 days a week and I'm thinking I'll most likely do 5 days a week again with yoga on the 6th day. I want to make sure I'm doing more yoga this time as I think it will help with injury prevention. I will also (hopefully) do some strength training 2-3 days a week. I wanna get my nice biceps back! haha :)
Going back to PAWS Chicago: I decided to run for this organization because of my love for animals. Obviously, most of you (if not all of you), know how my little yorkie Emma is the love of my life!!! Also, with a vet tech for a mother, I grew up with tons of animals. Thinking of poor, helpless dogs and cats being put to sleep simply because no one has adopted them makes me so sad. I have to turn the channel every time that commercial with Sarah McLachlan's "In the arms of an angel" and the animals in the shelters comes on. It just breaks my heart. I want to raise money in order to keep these animals alive and give them a safe, comfortable place to live while they wait for their perfect owners to come along and find them. It is a cause that is near and dear to my heart and, I believe, many other's hearts. So please, help me make a difference for these animals.
I will make postings about my training (hopefully) a couple times a week and post about my progress in fundraising. I'll also blog about other things going on in my life and random thoughts!
I hope you all enjoy (and find this at least a little interesting!) and follow me along this experience!
Here is the link to my fundraising page: http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough
Please visit and make a donation if you can! Any little bit helps! I would greatly appreciate it...and so would thousands of homeless, innocent dogs and cats!!!
I look forward to sharing this journey with all of you!
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