Friday, December 14, 2012

You can bet against me if you want, but I'm Helen's granddaughter, so I wouldn't.

I haven't posted anything in almost a month, but it's not because I haven't been busy. In fact, I have been extremely busy in the past month. So I will give you a short rundown (pun intended), and then I will let you in on the big scoop.

Update

I shared in a post in August entitled Let's Get Real. In that post, I divulged the bulge. I admitted that since moving to Philly, I had gained quite a bit of weight, and that I intended to lose that weight. I have lost weight over time, but I am still not where I'd like to be. In September, I wrote the following in a post.

As I have mentioned before, my grandma has recently lost the ability to walk. She has, for my entire life, been the pentacle of independence, courage, strength, and  grace. My grandma has lived her life with a strong yet graceful dignity that I admire, and I know that I should always utilize the abilities I have because I could lose them at any time. I do value my ability to walk, run, and be active, so I know that I should take full advantage of those things.

I am oddly both happy and sad to say that my Grandma is no longer an ALS patient. She passed away last week, but I know now that she is no longer in pain, and I know that she is in Heaven. More and more I thought about the promise that I made to myself right after I finished my first half marathon. I vowed to myself that I would run 26.2 before I turned 26. After seeing my grandma lose her mobility, I started thinking about a charity or organization that I could raise money for that would help people regain their mobility. And after she passed away on my 25th birthday, I knew that I wanted to run it in her memory.

The Scoop

Was my grandma a running junkie who would be pumped that her granddaughter has officially signed up for her first, and likely only, marathon endeavor? No, but my grandma believed in me with a pride and confidence that most people, including myself, often do not. If you've read the Anything For 10 Background Story, then you know that I kind of only dedicated to running my first half because most of my family said I couldn't do it. I am honestly let down and annoyed beyond words that once again my family has denied me the support that I wanted in this journey. 

My Anything For 10 Sister is standing behind me, and she will be running beside, or likely ahead of, me on race day for the 2013 Williams Route 66 Marathon. I'm not sure if the rest of my family is trying to be clever in attempting to push me to prove them wrong again, or if they just really don't believe in my strength, but I am Helen's granddaughter, and I have had the best example of strength and courage that any person could have, so I will run this marathon in her memory despite them. I am officially registered, and I am already beginning the mental preparations because I know in this journey that I will have a lot more to deal with than my family telling me that I can't do it.

In the coming of the new year, I will be posting more about the organization I have chosen to raise funds to help, and how you can support the cause and my first marathon attempt. I also encourage you to take advantage of whatever mobility you may have. You never know what you've got till it's gone.

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