When life throws a curveball... at your face.

I recently found out a dear friend of mine is battling lymphoma. It has taken me some time to swallow that pill because, as with any cancer case, one finds it unfair, outrageous, and infuriating. It also struck me hard because she's my age, she's an amazing person, she's happily married to her high school sweetheart, and -hands down- she has the cutest 17 month old daughter in all of California.

Seating there.  Like. A. Boss. 

So the [normal] question is: With so much awesomeness going on in her life, why this? WHY HER?!

I won't talk about the plethora of sad thoughts, fears, and concerns that went through my mind- She's the strongest gal I know, and I'm beyond confident that she can beat this, so I made the decision to only focus on the positive.

Since we're hundreds of miles apart, I can't physically be there to support her, but that is no limitation in this wonderful day and era.

Now, given my Rogerian approach to my profession and personal life, I'm always looking to empathize with others as much as possible. I can't undergo the chemotherapy process she just started, but I can certainly accompany her "in her pain" (in a much smaller scale, obviously) by undergoing the pain of training for a marathon.
Maybe you'll roll your eyes thinking "Oh, please, That's easy!", but after not being able to do some decent exercise in the last four years due to crazy schedules, going back to my Days of Glory will be very tough. I have an old dance injury to deal with, I have a wedding coming up, I work a lot, and now I'm in my early 30's (yikes!), therefore the process (and my energy) won't be the same. I know, however, that doing this marathon for my friend will make the process less frustrating to overcome.

I must admit, all of my usual pre-training whining goes away in a flash the second I finish reading the latest blog post regarding her therapy. My brain automatically quotes the Nike slogan, and then yells in my mom's nagging voice: "what's your excuse?! Get your ass out there!". (yes, my brain can get hostile)

Once my decision to run the Lymphoma & Leukemia Society "Team in Training" Marathon was made, I asked the running goddesses to aid me (by "running goddesses" I mean my friends who happen to be amazing marathon divas), and they jumped right in to help me get started. I don't plan to turn into the female version of Henry Cavill while he trained for Man of Steel, but I do need to be in good shape to endure a [first time ever] marathon.

This dynamic process will be documented for your entertainment. If you don't find it inspiring enough to get you moving, at least I hope you'll get a laugh or two out of the process itself.

The team has yet to be named by my friend, which makes me wonder if it'll be like naming a ship... and if it'll involve cracking a bottle of champagne over my head while I wear the team shirt. She posted this great pic with #JOELLESTRONG which could lead to the lucky team name selection.

See? I can run, too...

Meanwhile, I'll try to recruit some team members, and eventually, some sponsors (yay!).

Signing off for now to go hunt down my running shoes, wherever they are,
B

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