The beginning

I must be crazy! I'm about to sign up to do my first marathon. It's only 42.2km, so how hard can it be right?

I've been running now for about 2-3 years, just for fun of course. Entering funruns here and funruns there, running with friends and slowly building up my distances as I find it easier and more enjoyable. In August 2009 I ran my first half marathon in Ballarat with a team of 4. Cameron, Laura, Travis and myself did a few long training runs and then headed up to Ballarat with our team t-shirts ready to pound the pavement. It was harder than I expected, not physically - but mentally! It was draining, the feeling of running for close to 2 hours straight. I didn't run with any music, it was just the sound of me huffing and puffing and the occasional cheer from the crowd who ventured out from their warm houses to see why the road was closed around their precious lake.

Jump forward to May 2010 and I've since completed 3 half marathons and a team triathlon, the latest and greatest I have done is the most recent, the Great Ocean Road half marathon. From Kennet's River to Apollo Bay, right down the Great Ocean Road with the most breathtaking views I have had the privilege to see on a run. Finishing this half marathon made me want to run a full marathon all the more! And sitting on the bus back to Lorne next to 'talking Terry' who just did the full marathon was very interesting and inspiring.

SO IT'S TIME! I was lucky enough to see a facebook post of a friend who is also keen to do the marathon in October and has found an organisation that trains people specifically for certain races, and they start training for the Melbourne Marathon next week. 20 weeks of training on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. Gone are my Friday nights on the town with my mates, the bottle of wine with dinner and here comes the 7.30am training EVERY week, the beginning of Winter and freezing cold mornings. What better way to see in a Saturday morning than running.....constantly.....and running some more. I can imagine the steam coming off everyones shoulders and the cold breath from our panting. But it can be done right? Motivation is the key - a goal is required! I can do it!

The training is free. FREE? Nothing is for free these days. So there is a catch, but it's a pretty good one. The training is run through a not-for-profit organisation called 'CanToo'.

"Can Too is a program where professional coaches will train you to run or swim an endurance event while receiving professional team coaching. You have the opportunity to reach your goal in a supportive, fun and sometimes crazy environment, while raising money for Cure Cancer Australia Foundation"

I have to raise a minimum of $2,000 and the crew at CanToo will train me over the next 20 weeks, preparing me to pound the pavement and make it to the end - alive!

Sounds easy right? Well I still have to train, I need to motivate myself to complete this goal, to think I can do it and to show everyone else that I can do it. With 2 goals - Survive and raise money for charity.

So begins my thought process for fundraising - so many ideas are floating through my head right now, what is the best way to do it? My first step is to blog my progress, write about my experience and training and share my road to achieve my goals!

Thanks for supporting me :)