A Win for Dad

A Win for Dad

Racing is the fun part; it's the reward of all the hard work." 
-Kara Goucher

For the majority of my short 21 years of life running was something I did to improve other aspects of my life. For example in middle school and high school I ran so I could be a better soccer player. When I first started collage I ran so I could improve my figure and fitness.  As I began to run more to stay in shape it became easier for me and I began to enjoy it more. Running each morning became a habit or maybe even an addiction. It never really occurred to me that I was getting stronger and faster each morning that I ran. I won my first 5 K in March last year and ever since then  I’ve been hooked on racing. Now I run to get faster.

This father’s day I competed in my first race of the season. It was a 5 K (3.1 miles) for the Alzheimer's Association. This cause is near to my heart because my Grandfather passed away from Alzheimer’s disease. For those of you that are unaware Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years.. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The Alzheimer’s association was established to fill a support and information gap for families and to advocate for research for treatment and prevention. Since 1980, the Greater Maryland Chapter, which began as a support group at Johns Hopkins, has grown to an organization with 27 staff and over 300 volunteers. The organization services 14,000 people a year through a full array of essential services including over 50 support groups, a 24-hour Helpline, respite care grants, Safe Return and educational programs. So running this race on father’s day  for my father and grandfather inspired and motivated me to be on top of my game. On top of running for a great cause I wanted to have a base time to how fast I am at the beginning of my training to see how much faster I get at the end. I feel so lucky to have Cara training me so I want to make sure I get faster. I gave the race my all and ending up placing first for the females and second overall! It was exhilarating, my time was 20 minutes and 5 seconds  and my pace was 6.27 minutes per miles!  You can check out the results here: http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=115366 The best part was that I won a gift certificate to Hard Times Café, which just happens to be one my dad’s favorite restaurants  (the perfect gift).