Ready to commit

Thank you to those who took the time to write messages of support after my last post. My mom is strong and she's a fighter - she is a six year colon cancer survivor and there aren't many of those - and I'm confident she's going to kick cancer's butt again. Did you know that the five-year relative survival rate for women with localized breast cancer (cancer that has not spread to lymph nodes or other locations outside the breast) increased from 74 percent in 1982 to 98 percent in 2007? I like those odds, and I know that the Komen foundation and their campaigns to raise awareness and funds are responsible for much of that improvement.

It is with that in mind that I am kicking off my fundraising efforts for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day in Washington DC on October 9-11, 2009. I'll be keeping a detailed blog of my training activities on that site as well, in case you're interested in following my progress toward being able to walk 20 miles a day for three days. If you'd like to make a donation on my behalf, please go here, the link to which will also become a widget on my sidebar once I can figure out why the widgetizer isn't working for me.

I was really on the fence about whether I could or should make this commitment until I realized something important: I'm a great starter and a crappy finisher...and it's time to break that cycle. Not just in terms of training and fundraising, but also in terms of putting myself on the path to better health. I'm a diabetic who eats horribly and never gets any physical activity, and that's the Fast Trak path to an early death. This program will give me a goal to shoot for plus plenty of time to accomplish it. I'm not looking to be the fastest - I might even be the slowest! - because it's about getting out and getting active for a change...for a lifetime. For a LOOOONG lifetime.