I joined a new challenge this month.

This challenge is a Facebook challenge hosted through St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital. If you’re unfamiliar with St. Jude’s, it’s a wonderful organization with a beautiful mission statment.

“The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.“

And it stands true to it’s statement which is why participating in a fitness fundraiser seemed fun and exciting while also helping raise money to those in need. My fundraiser goal was 200 US dollars and that can be given by anyone through my Facebook Fundraising Page. This is also where I keep my friends and family updated on my progress!

Running used to be a type of therapy for me. I have written about it on several occasions but as my fitness goals changed so did prioritizing cardio. I don’t think I’ve ran like I have since highschool and to be honest with you at first, it felt amazing. I felt accomplished and motivated and I always felt great after a good run/walk.

I wanted to pace myself with this challenge so that it wouldn’t feel too overwhelming for me. I calculated how many miles I needed to run a day to reach the goal and then calculated how many I could do on my days off (4 times a week)instead because working twelve hour shifts + commuting doesn’t leave much room for exercise on those days especially when the days started to get shorter and darker.

I discovered new ways to get my miles in. Walking my daughter to her dance practices which were only .7 miles away. Walking to the local coffee shop or around the block while waiting for my girl to come out of dance.

I would put on my Netflix shows while I walked the treadmill just so I wouldn’t get bored and tired too quickly.

In the season of giving, I wanted to show some devotion to a cause that I hold really dear to my heart. No one deserves to have a life threatening illness but it really tugs at my heartstrings when it is someone who has so much more of their life to live. Raising money for a place like St. Judes.

As of today, November 15th, it’s halfway through the month and I haven’t quite reached my 25 mile goal that I was hoping for at this point but there is certainly still time! I have on the other hand, I have raised half of my goal money! Woohoo! It feels good to think that raising this money has given so much opportunity for families in need. Medical care is so expensive on top of the already harsh reality of having a child going through cancer or other life-threatening diseases.

It’s Saturday, November 20th and I have not only reached my 25 mile goal this week but I am now at 30 miles! With just ten days left to the challenge I have 20 miles to accomplish! Breaking it down to about 2 miles a day from here on out! I might take some of my work time to do some laps around the Operating Room corridors and get a little bit more of my daily steps in!

Have you ver challenged yourself to a task for a cause? Maybe a 5K or a even a daily squat challenge? What’s was the most challenging part for you? How did you feel at the end of it all?

with love,

c.p