Stick-To-Itiveness (it was seriously a synonym for perseverance on thesaurus.com)

I am on a total high right now! Today I have so much to be excited about, so I'll start at the beginning...

This morning was the TEAM's group run. I love getting to see everyone every Saturday morning, and I love even more that it means I don't have to run by myself. Therefore, I was extremely disappointed when I woke up and realized that I wouldn't be able to join them this week. This is because I have had a stomach bug off and on all week, and it was definitely ON at 6 am. Therefore, I turned my alarm off and hoped that if I got a little more sleep I would feel good enough to go get my 5 miles in at the Y.

When I woke up at 8 I did my routine stretches while still 90% asleep when I heard a crack that sounded like Zeus sent a lightning bolt straight into my loft and into my back. I immediately felt excruciating pain in the same areas I had had so many problems with after my car accident a few years ago. My upper back/shoulders/neck have not felt this bad since right after my accident. I'm talking I couldn't move my head side to side; couldn't raise my left arm higher than my shoulder. I couldn't find a single position that felt comfortable or relieved any pain. I won't lie - I was a little scared that I had seriously hurt myself.

After laying in bed for about an hour I finally made myself swing my legs over the edge to see if I could walk around and loosen myself up...and that's when I saw it.

Last night before going to bed I stubbed my toe. I don't know what was in the path between the light switch and my bed, but whatever it was did a number on my little toe and my tear ducts. Anyone who knows me well knows that this is common practice in the life of Susan. Therefore, I didn't think anything of it. I immediately knew I had broken it, but all of my broken toes and trips to immediate care for X-rays in the past had told me that there was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it, so I just tried to forget about the pain.

This morning I realized I did not break my toe. Oh, no...I did much worse to my littlest piggy. I SPLIT THAT BABY OPEN! I know, it's gross, but true. When I say split open, I do mean that it is splayed open like a baked potato waiting for butter and sour cream, but it's not too terribly bad. Maybe I should go get it sewn up, but we'll just see how it feels/looks tomorrow...

Right about now you're thinking "so why, exactly are you excited?" Well, I'll tell you why!

There I was, laying in bed, feeling sorry for myself...for about 4 hours. I was in a lot of pain, but I knew I needed to get my miles in so I wouldn't get behind.

After watching an episode of Biggest Loser on Hulu I worked up the motivation to get myself to the Y. On my way out of the building I decided to stop and get my mail, and you'll never believe what was in there! There was $460 worth of donations! That was all the motivation I needed. I thought to myself, "self, if these people believe you can do this, then you can! There are going to be days you don't want to go run...those are the days that will get you across the finish line!" Thank you all so much for donating and believing in me!

So there I was on the treadmill at the YMCA - terrible back/shoulder/neck pain; hanging out with the little piggy that had just barely escaped from the slaughter house....all while trying to ignore my spin class "injuries."

I had gone to the Y thinking "just get the miles in." However, before I knew it, I had been running for 30 minutes without stopping! I ran 3 miles without walking! This is HUGE!

I'd like to quickly note that going in to this challenge I had decided that I was going to run/walk the marathon. Many people told me that you can keep the same pace as many runners if you give yourself one or two minutes to breathe every ten minutes. I was easy to convince. After all, the thought of running 26.2 miles without stopping for a break sounds like complete torture...something they should consider in lieu of capital punishment.

I finished the final 2 miles with my normal run/walk combo, but at a much faster pace than usual due to my complete surplus of adrenaline.

I'd like to think that I got through those first three miles with a lot of mind games and little help from my friends *N SYNC. So thank you JC, Justin, gay one, weird one, and one who was in My Big Fat Greek Wedding! Eh, who am I kidding...we all know I know all of their names...they WERE my first concert after all...