Over the last few weeks, I was pretty much convinced by several people to join MIT – Marathoners in Training. It’s a supported community in the Columbus area for runners to come together and properly train for races, from 5k’s to full marathons. The group consists of beginners, athletes, and people of ALL ages… the biggest percentage of people in the group are actually 40 years or older!
MIT has trainers, coaches, pace groups from 7 minutes all the way up to 13 minutes, and is even supported by Clif… so basically, an all-in-one package deal for anyone. I know I don’t properly train, and I have IT band issues like crazy when I start increasing my mileage. With my busy schedule, I needed some structure and guidance to help get me in a good place to properly train. Between work, family, hobbies, yoga, and traveling, I don’t have time to research all this stuff myself. I’ve always thought about joining, but never committed, because who the heck likes running outside in the cold?! It’s also a huge time commitment, but you can decide your running schedule based on your personal schedule.
Take me back to warm running days & post-stretches at Audubon Park!
With that being said, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. It felt right, and it’s been a pretty mild winter, soooooo… let the training begin! I will be running in the United Airlines Half Marathon in NYC in March – not much time to train, but definitely doable. I chose this race not just because I am itching to get back to NYC after spending last weekend there, but because it is all about charity. In order to run, you need to raise/donate a minimum of $1,000-$1,5000 to a charity of your choice. I absolutely LOVE this – so, I signed up, and committed to raising $1,500 to St Jude. Why St Jude? For several, several reasons, a few of them being:
- It’s all about the kids – they have their entire lives ahead of them, and having an illness at such a young age is totally unfair. St Jude is all about finding ways to cure them 100% so they can live a full life!
- Families don’t have to pay 1 cent for their childs care/treatment – St Jude takes care of it ALL, including travel, food, and lodging expenses for the family
- Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80%
The daily operating cost of St. Jude is $2 million, and about 75% of the budgeted costs of St. Jude are covered by public contributions – another reason why it’s one of the top places to donate to, as it changes so many lives and helps so many families! You can check out the Charity in more detail here.
So to all my wonderful followers – what is your favorite charity to support? And have you ever signed up to be a part of a running community/training group? Or run in the United Airlines Marathon? I would love to hear from you!
PS – if you are in love with St Jude & would like to donate towards my run, you can find my page here. Every cent helps, and your support is so much appreciated!!
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