Lets be Superheros!

As some of you may know, the HobokenCares team has committed to running a half-marathon to raise money for Mustard Seed. Many of us have never run before, or never participated in a race or only run a 5K ... certainly most of the team has never run 13.2 miles! But we have a couple marathoners in our ranks so they have taken the rest of us under their wings and shown us the way. We have been training since January and now amazingly the race is only a few days away!

I am one of those who has run before but never this far. The most I've ever run was 5 miles, and I was so proud of myself after that accomplishment that I took a break from running - and never went back! I never thought I could run more than that, and quite frankly never wanted to :-) But when this challenge presented itself I thought - I have to do this for the kids. Part of me didn't believe i could do it but I had to try.

As it turns out, my body didn't believe I could do it either. As I progressed in my training, I started feeling the effects - first pain in my knee (probably the result of knee surgery many years ago) then in my hamstring. But I kept training and trying to push through it. I thought about our kids... and how they face hurdles and challenges and physical obstacles every day but they keep trying. I pictured Hakeem in his wheelchair or Jerome struggling to put on his leg braces and then impressing us all as he walked laps around the courtyard at Sophie's place.



I felt I could push through for the kids. But it became painful enough that I was having trouble walking so I went to a doctor to make sure I wasn't doing any long-term damage. Diagnosis - a rotated hip and hamstring tendonitis. Six weeks of physical therapy. And no running.

The race is 3 days away, and I am still on the fence about what to do. I ran 2 miles yesterday and did not feel good - the pain came back almost immediately. I could probably run part of the race and be ok, although the pain will worsen and I'll probably undo whatever healing I have had in PT so far. I know my body probably will not let me complete the whole 13.2 miles - but I'll do what I can... for the kids. Because as coach Michael has reminded us today: "We are their legs. They are our heart."

The SuperHero half-marathon is this sunday , May 16th... check out some of our fundraising pages and please consider supporting us in our efforts for the kids of Mustard Seed!


http://www.firstgiving.com/bridgethughes
http://www.firstgiving.com/karenimbach
http://www.firstgiving.com/andreamilo


~ andrea