Yellloooo!

Hey everyone!! Sorry I haven't updated in about...10 days to be exact but I've found myself ridiculously busy both at work and at home the last week or so. Don's mom and grandma were in town from MI this past long weekend so we were running around acting like tourists again and having a blast doing it. Again, I'm glad to hear so many people are reading this! I'm even getting requests to write more often =) I do need to do that though, I agree. So I'm sure everyone's gathered that I'm having knee issues with my marathon training. Let me tell you...it is SO FRUSTRATING!! I've never had knee or any kind of leg issues - ever. And I would have known by now because of how super athletic I've always been up to now. HAHA...if anyone knows me from the past you should know how true that is (Michelle) ;) Regardless, knee issues. It's not really the knee but again the IT band which connects in the knee and has tightened up so much that it's pulling at my knee cap. It hurts is what I'm saying. I feel like I have a pretty high pain tolerance too - I'm not what some would call 'a wuss' even though I don't know how to spell that word (wuss)haha.
So I was doing good, going to the doctor, rolling on my foam roller, stretching and all that good stuff - feeling like it was really making a difference - Tuesday we ran at a high school track in circuits to improve stamina and time and I did really well - minor pain. Thursday I skipped because of our company but we were sure to make it to the 12 mile run on Saturday! I started off and I felt AMAZING! I was running and talking with my friend/teamate Kim and we had ran 6 miles before we even knew it! Just like that. done. Not breathing heavily, not a lot of knee pain, just steady running. So we turned around to run the 6 back but Kim kept going because she was doing 14 miles, so I made my way back...alone. I felt ok most of the way, kind of tired - little bored. Made it to the last water stop which was a little over 2 miles away from the end. Got some water and some jelly beans ;) and started to head to my finish and something happened. My knees stiffened right up from stopping I guess. I can't even describe this pain it was that bad. I felt like a 90 year old woman. Hopefully I didn't look like it too! I guess I must have pushed it a little too far too soon. So bummed out. Have been kind of taking it easy since then, not planning on running this week probably. Fortunately Don's mom is a massage therapist so she gave me an amazing massage last night to loosen up those muscles.
Other than that, I'm going back to the doctor tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. But no one fret, I WILL be running that race. I don't want to give anyone the impression that this will not be overcome and that the money that's being donated will be a waste. First of all, the money goes to an AMAZING cause with or without me running and second of all, I've come this far - I feel like if it weren't for my knee I would be able to run 12 miles no problem so when this gets taken care of...I'm good to go. So that's where we stand.
Speaking of where we stand, I have (sadly) only $225 raised. This is harder than the running - even with a bum knee! I need everyone's help!! I'm glad everyone's staying tuned and reading my blogs but there's more to it than that! My time to raise funds is getting shorter and I'm getting more nervous -I can't let it come down to the very last minute so if you haven't donated yet and you want to donate, PLEASE visit my fundraising site:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/honolulu08/sverbeke

Come back soon!!