The Beginning

One year ago, I never thought I would be where I am today. There were a series of misfortunes. Time has come and gone, I moved to another state and moved back. When I knew I was moving back to Colorado, I knew there was one thing I had to do: sign up for the Bolder Boulder. This is a 10K that takes place on Memorial Day weekend. It is one of the largest timed races in the country. I participated in it in 2005 also. But I knew I would get back on track if I signed up for it. And I did. And on Monday I completed it in 78 minutes, walking uphills, but jogging the rest. My knees are still mad at me for what I did to them in high school with my jumping events in track.
About a month ago, my mom mentioned she was doing the 2-day Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I thought that was really cool, but didn't think much more about it than that. Then, all of a sudden, last week it dawned on me. If my mom, who is XX years old (I'll refrain from saying her age, but I will say she's more than 30 years older than I am) can do this amazing feat, a two day walk where she will walk 36.3 miles during that time, then why can't I? I'm young enough that it shouldn't be a problem at all.
My mom is a cancer survivor. Not breast cancer, but colon cancer. She was diagnosed with it in 2003, and then underwent chemo for quite some time. It was hard being in Colorado and her being in California, but she wanted me to continue living my life, continuing my schooling.
A couple years ago, my aunt Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer. This brought her and my mom very close, as my mom had just gone through the whole process of chemo a couple years before and was able to be there with her through her chemo as a support. She is a survivor, and when I saw her at Christmas last year, which was the first time I'd seen her since her bout with cancer, she looked phenomenal.
Another aunt, Cari, also is a survivor of melanoma.
One of my best friends from high school just finished chemo treatment, not for cancer, but for Langerhan's cell histiocytosis (LCH). Not a lot is known about this disease, but chemo is a treatment for it. She went through just fine and is getting married this fall.
These are some of the closest experiences with cancer I have experienced; at least those who have lived to tell about it. I have also lost both of my grandfathers to cancer, along with one of my mom's cousins who was very close to our family.

So this is why I decided to do the walk. I now need to begin an even more extensive training process for it. Turns out there will probably be a lot more involved than training to run a 10K. But with the help of some faithful companions who are always willing to go on a walk, Skylar and Atka, I think it will whip the three of us into great shape for the walk.