I know these are coming fewer and farther between, but lately there has not been much to report. Runs are still coming along nicely and in addition to the Turkey Trot, I ran the Jingle Bell Run 5k with my husband this week. It was a lot of fun and there were some great costumes!

My training is going well, and my fundraising is going more slowly but I still have hope that I will reach my goal! It's hard to believe after all this time that I am less than four weeks away from actually running my first half-marathon. (Yes, I have come to accept that I will continue to run even after my TNT season is over, and I plan to run more races in the future!)

I have added a picture of our Tuesday night group from last week - meeting new friends has been one of the very best parts of this experience! As always, thanks to all for the financial and emotional support; I couldn't do this without you!

Week fourteen miles: 18

Week fifteen miles: 9

Last year, I completed the couch to 5k running program and my first 5k race was the Dallas Turkey Trot, which is the largest one in the country. Tony went with me and we finished the race in about 43 minutes.

This year, I went down to the Trot alone because I planned to run the 8 mile race. What a difference a year makes! I ended up doing the 5k due to time constraints, but I slashed 4 minutes off my time from last year!

I got sick and missed my long run Saturday, which is why the week 15 miles are so low. But I'm back on track now!

I've also set my final goals - I plan to raise $4000 (which will make me a "rock star") and get 100 people to donate. $965 and 13 people to go! Thank you all for your support, and remember, every little bit helps! I have about five weeks left to fundraise, and less than seven weeks until the half-marathon! Here's a picture of my teammates and me before the Turkey Trot:

Week 12 miles: 19

Week 13 miles: 18

13 weeks under my belt and still going strong! The runs have been a little rough this week but I have still gotten every one in and done. I think I have been neglecting my eating and cross-training - and stretching. A little too over-confident, but either way I now know I will get this done!

Speaking of getting it done...Tuesday I will be mailing in the checks that will take me over my minimum fundraising goal!!! Does that mean I am done fundraising? Oh h*ll no! I will be announcing my next and final goal soon. :)

Next Saturday Tony and I are volunteering at a water stop at a local 5k glow run for LLS - I can't wait, actually. I think it will be a lot of fun!

The Disney half-marathon is two months from tomorrow. Tomorrow, Angi will have been gone three months. I never even realized until printing out some more fundraising letters to mail that I will be running in her memory five months to the day after her passing. It will be an emotional day, for sure.

Here is a picture of the team getting ready to run Saturday - yay, no hills!

Week nine miles: 18

Week ten miles: 19

Week eleven miles: 21.3

Wow, talk about being derelict in updating my page! I've just been busy with life in general and training of course. As we ramp up the miles it takes longer to run, obviously, but it also requires more sleep and recovery.

I'm getting close to my first goal on fundraising, but I'm not quite there yet! I'm selling chocolate bars at work to raise a few dollars and Tony and I are volunteering at a local race in a couple of weeks to make some more money. Thank you all for your continued support and donations!

As our weekday runs get longer and it gets dark earlier, I've started running with the Tuesday night group on a local trail. Here's a picture of us on Knox street running towards the Katy trail - look how fast we are!

So I'm still carrying on, and will try to get back to weekly reports!

Total miles: 18

Two miles on Monday, four on Tuesday and Thursday, and eight miles of hills on Saturday. It's hard to believe that until I started this training I had never run more than a 5K (3.1 miles) and generally ran only 2.5 miles at a time! I think I can safely say those days are over. I'm actually starting to enjoy the longer runs more than the shorter ones.

Thanks to the generosity of the winners of the football squares, we raised $700 for the cause! It looks like I will make my first goal of $3000. Once I do that I will set my next goal. :)

I'm trying to pay a lot of attention to my eating and sleeping in hopes that it will help with the running. I have been running at night instead of in the morning to try to sleep more than 5.5 - 6 hours a night (I'm not really a good sleeper). I don't know if it's making a difference or I'm just getting more in shape, but either way it's definitely getting easier!

Here's a picture from the hills this weekend (I promise you we are not going as fast as it appears from the picture! LOL!)