March 27

I decided to change my route today. I ran Liberty to Cunningham and then Cunningham deads into this street...I think Cloudview (?). Ran up the Cloud Street which put me on Browning. The other side of Browning is so picturesque. I could not believe how beautiful it is especially with the mountains in the far off background. Then I ran Browning to Liberty and back home. It put me on some massive hills...both up and down. This was really good for me and I pushed my way through it. When I ran the 5/3 Riverbank run in 2003 and 2004, I did almost all my training in Fruitport, Ferrysburg, and Spring Lake on the bike paths which were very, very hills (being so close to the lakeshore and dunes). This put me at a huge advantage. While a lot of people were struggling on the hills, I was pretty used to them. They were still tough, but I could push my way up them without having to walk.

I felt really good while I was running. Really good. Like I haven't felt this good since the 5K I ran at the end of January. I was able to complete the three miles.

Rob and I had a long talk today on the way to Woodburn about marathons and races and raising money. I am thinking about doing Portland in October and raising money for the Athletes For a Cure program which is in conjunction with the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Grandpa Mensink passed away from prostate cancer which also spread to his spine and brain. I would run in memory of him. There is no set amount you have to raise, no cost to register (except registration for the event) and I can do any race I want. The downside is I don't get a team to train with. If I went with the other charities I looked at, all the training runs are in Portland or Eugene. I am not going to drive 1 1/2 - 2 hours to run. If I didn't I have kids, maybe. Even so it's a lot of driving and time away. I figure I can do some of my long runs with Trena and maybe look into the Willamette Roadrunners. I am such a lone runner so I almost prefer to do most of my runs by myself.