Sunday, August 26, 2012

Thank YOU!


I have to take a moment to thank EVERYONE who has donated to my fundraising for The National MS Society.  I have been truly blown away by the support of my family, friends, and co-workers.  Withing 12 hours of e-blasting the link to my page, I had raised over $1,200!!  And just 3 days later, I am already at 68% of my goal!


I feel so lucky to have such generous and kind people in my life, who have shown their support not only to me in this endeavor of training for the MCM, but also to a cause that is so near and dear to my heart and many others.

I cannot thank everyone enough for your outpouring of support and generosity and am looking forward to continuing my efforts to train and raise money for this cause.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Help Me, Help MS

As if training for this mother of an event wasn't a large enough task alone, I have set out to raise $2,000 for an extremely important cause.  I will be fundraising throughout my training and the proceeds will go to the National MS Society.


My biggest fan, my grandmother, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) over 20 years ago and has become progressively immobile as a result.  MS is a chronic, debilitating disease that attacks the body's Central Nervous System.  Symptoms and progress vary from person to person, but one thing remains across the board - it is imperative to continue and improve MS research and advancements.
Even after more than 140 years of research surrounding this disease, so much about MS still remains a mystery.  There is no known cause and no cure.  Treatments for MS have come a long way, but still have light years to go.  With your help, advances can be reached much sooner!

My grandmother is one of the most resilient and positive people that I know.  Even after all these years with the disease, I have never heard a frustrated, sad, depressed, or sickly word come out of her mouth. She and many other people, some of whom I know and some I have never met, are battling with this disease every single day, unsure what symptoms the next day may bring.


Please help me move through my fundraising goal as I complete my 26.2 so that others can have a chance of moving and living more comfortably with this disease.

Here is the link for my fundraising page: http://www.crowdrise.com/staceypklein

Thank you, in advance, for your help and support.  Any donation is much appreciated and will have far reaching effects!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Halfway There!!

 

I ran my first HALF MARATHON yesterday!  AND I completed it in under 2 hours, with no mile over 9:30 and most between 8:50-9:10 :)  I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and have to say I actually felt great on 99% of the run (that last mile is always killer) and didn't take any walking breaks.  After last weekend's 12 miler, I have one word to describe the glory of this 1/2 marathon: F-L-A-T!!!!!!!!



I did the run on the Northern Central Railroad (NCR) trail in Maryland and it was BEAUTIFUL and the temperature gods were on my side, and did I mention it was FLAT?!  Kelly and I couldn't find a 1/2 marathon race near either one of us for this past weekend, so we both did the runs on our own and seem to be on the same pace with each other - both completing the run in just over 1:50 and under 2:00 - which is reassuring for the big day!

If anyone had told me two months ago that I would be running a 1/2 marathon, on my own, in under two hours, and feel confident doing so, I would have laughed - like a deep, manly belly laugh in their face.  Before I started this training, the though of 3 miles made me want to skip the gym, and now I can complete 13.1 without stopping, cramping, or crying!

I am a firm believer that this whole running thing is 90% mental and it's pretty easy to fall into the trap of a runner's high, as it turns out.  The hours, days, and weeks before a long run require a lot of one thing, PLANNING (and didn't you know that's why P is my middle initial?).  From the short runs during the week, to sleep and nutrition.  And I've found it weirdly fun to pick a route, map out the mileage, and then get that great feeling in the middle of your run when you know you've hit that halfway point and you get to start counting miles backwards.

Officially 1/2 way through the training program and I'm feeling very confident and accomplished!  Never thought I'd say that about running, but I do.  This week's long run will be a 10 miler, but the weekday mileage has increased.  We're 7 weeks away from the 20 miler before tapering and then THE BIG DAY!

Look for a way to contribute to my run later on this week, and guest post soon, too!