Here's a preview of what I have to look forward to...

Welcome!

Hello friends! Welcome to PDaddy's run for Lorraine. I'm new to this blogging thing, so have patience as I try to figure it out without showing my age...

On 10/12/08, I will be completing my first Marathon. At the ripe old age of 41, seems an odd thing to do... especially considering I've never been a runner. I didn't start running until I enrolled in a 10k training class at the Northwest Athletic Club....again, kind of a random thing, but when i got the postcard announcing the class, i was drawn to it. Thanks to Dave Wischmeyer (da coach) and Jon Aguilera (other slow guy in the class) I successfully completed 6.2 miles (10k) at the Rotary Run for Wellness in Clarendon Hills on 10/16/05. Only 10 weeks earlier, I couldn't run more than 3 minutes without having to walk for 2 to recover. And now, 3 short years later, almost to the date, I will have completed my first Marathon. Who wudda thunk?

So...you're probably wondering who Lorraine is, right? I promise that you will get to know her over the next few months and learn what an amazing woman she was. She was taken from us on 5/12 of this year after a hard battle with Lung Cancer. (coincidently, 5/12 was my first official day of training for the Marathon) Lorraine lead a healthy live and did not smoke. Kim, her husband, was the Best Man in my Wedding and a fellow student at Florida State. Liesl, their daughter and my God Daughter, is a beautiful and extremely (i mean extremely) smart student at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. Kieran, their son, is going into his senior year and is a amazing golfer and brilliant on the Trumpet, Piano and drums.

I have a lot to say about this wonderful family, a lot to say about the value of friendship and a whole lot to say about how it's too easy to let life get in the way, but that will come.

For now, I am going to shape up this blog thing and add my training calendar (so you can help keep me on track.) I will use the blog as my training log (any advise is welcome!) and vehicle to raise money in Lorraine's name for Lung Cancer research. More to follow.

5 mile run in the morning, so better sign off and get some much needed rest. Thanks for listening.