Four weeks from today I will be running my second marathon. A marathon…26.2 miles. It is sometimes hard for me to believe. Eighteen months ago I was not a “runner”. I walked, I walked a lot – I walked 60 miles in 3 days to honor my mom in her battle with breast cancer. Running however was not something I thought I could do or moreover thought I would like.

How wrong was I – turns out I love running. Right now I have been encouraged to take a break and let my body recover so that I am not injured going into San Francisco in October. I want to be “fresh” before the Nike Women’s Marathon. I am running with Team In Training (TNT) which on a side note is seriously the most amazing group of people. Walking, running, biking, hiking while raising money to find a cure for blood cancers.

Mason, my 6 year old has Leukemia (a blood cancer) and has been in treatment since May of 2005. When people ask me why I run I usually say “for my son, he is my hero and my inspiration”. During my mini sabbatical from running the past 2 weeks I have been thinking about why I run and it boils down to a lot of reasons. I am going to share with you some of the reasons “why I run” over the next 4 weeks leading up to the marathon.

Those of you who aren’t runners please don’t leave me…you may find inspiration in my story and thoughts, you may be able to relate this to something in your own life or you may just enjoy the journey.

Today, I missed running with the TNT group and attended a spinning class. During the class I kept thinking I wish I were running right now. What is it that I like about running? So today, if you asked me why I run I would have to say “because I CAN” I have the ability, desire and drive to run.

I started off 18 months ago and really was not sure what to expect. I knew however that there are tons of people who can’t run due to various injuries, illnesses and sheer lack of motivation. I can run. There is no reason why I can’t so I am going to try it.

A year and a half later I have run a marathon, two half marathons, a 10 mile race and a 10K.

I am not winning these races, I am finishing them.

I run because I can.

I can make a difference in the lives of people fighting blood cancers.

I can show my kids that you have to set goals (the marathons) and work hard to get to those goals.

I can push myself to do something I never thought I could, something only 0.13% of the worlds population has ever done.

There is a ton of power in the word “can”. I am sure that is what makes us so crazy when we hear our kids say they “can’t” right?

I can and so I do…