Doorgaan naar hoofdcontent

Declaring war on ALS

Hi y'all

This morning I woke up with a vivid dream that lingered for several hours. I dreamed about my mom and her ALS and what I could do about it. It was an intense dream like someone shouting in my face for hours on end. I felt like I had to do SOMETHING. Don't just be a bystander watching her body go through the stages of ALS and do nothing. I can't do that. I have to do something. This horrible disease is claiming my sweet and beautiful mother. Do something....anything...that is the feeling I woke up with.

As I made my way from home to the dentist office I kept seeing the huge ALS campaign posters through the city and with each poster I got more angry. When ALS enters your family the posters you see with faces of people asking you to fight for them since it is too late for them, that is when you realize that each and every face on these posters is your family member. In my case it is my mom. And thus I decided that I AM DECLARING WAR ON ALS. This disease has to die! It is an alien invader and it has to be terminated. NOW! So...what to do? RUN! That is it. My blog is called adventures of a MARATHON girl yet I have never ever run a full one. Guess what?

This year I will run a FULL MARATHON. Yes I will. I know half of you will probably think I'm out of my mind, the other half will read this and be total cynics thinking I can't pull it off anyway. Some might actually be worried about my health thinking 'you're not skinny enough and running a full will do a number on your body' Let me tell you this: You think I don't have these doubts? That I don't shit my pants (excuse le mot) just thinking about it? Hell yeah I do! I'm scared beyond believe but you know what? I need to do something and if my body can run half a marathon in San Francisco than I'm sure I can run a full one (though not in SF) too.

My mom, my beautiful, loving, caring and awesome mom who deserves so much better than this life is giving her, that mom, my mom deserves a fighting change. And if not for her than all the others out there deserve someone who makes it their business to fight for them. So I am making it my business and I'm running a full marathon this year while fundraising for scientific research on ALS.

My fundraiser page and the marathon I'm going to run will soon be revealed but for now I have told y'all. I have told the world. I am doing this. I DECLARE WAR ON ALS!! will you fight by my side? Donate, cheer me on, believe in me or kick my ass when I forget to believe in me? I need you.

Until we read again, as always,
Love Marlies

Reacties

Een reactie posten

Populaire posts van deze blog

Doing good feels good

Hi y'all Another week has come and gone and today I wanna share a story with y'all about sharing, doing good and feeling good. For me running is as much a sport I share as it is a solo experience. Now for those following me around you guys know that about me. For those that are just getting to know me: trust me there is no sport out there that in solitary makes you feel like you're part of a group. Just one of the levels of duality in runnning. You are the one doing it but by sharing your run with others, be that virtual or in real life, you will meet the most welcoming, the most supportive group of people ever. I have tried and lived through many sports but only in running did I find likeminded people that set out to better themselves and cheer on others along the way. Only in running have I found people that truely want to see you succeed and only in running have I picked up runners on the brink of giving up and have I been picked up when I was about to give it up altog...
Een reactie posten
Meer lezen

Breaking taboos: The five stages of Runner's trots

Hi y'all After yet another week of teaching and dealing with normal life it seems to become a little easier to combine it all. I wrap my running schedule around my commuter distances to work and that helps. If I'm not running than I'm riding my bicycle to and from work. It's about an 11 or 13 km bike ride depending on the route I take. So switching biking to work for running back makes up for the 11km on Thursday. Now the title of this blog should be warning enough. So if you do not enjoy the dirty parts of running than by all means...STOP READING RIGHT NOW AND GO ABOUT YOUR NORMAL BUSINESS!! Good for you. Even after a fair warning you have decided to stick with me and read on. As you are well aware of I'm running for MLDS (CLICK HERE TO DONATE) a foundation that fights to create funding to help people with stomach/liver/bowel issues. Now after the past few weeks I figured let's see what is happening to me on those 8km-something-runs when I am in dire need of...
Een reactie posten
Meer lezen

Because they get it!

There are moments as a runner when you see the backside of your entire crew the entire race. It is those days, when push comes to shuff, that you will value that same crew even more. You keep going because you have to, because giving up is just not an option, because you can smell the finish line even when you're miles away. Yes you will probably hate yourself for being the slowest one in that crew, you will hate the feeling of all the effort that you've put into that race and not seeing the results but you keep going anyway because you are a runner. Because this time you get to eat the dust but you haven't forgotten the times you stood there watching your buddies finish and feeling their anger, disappointment and pain. You remember those times and you know with all that is you that they will be there. A true crewmember knows what it feels like to just not have it in you that day. It is okay to cry, to kick dirt around, to just shout out horrible words and spit on the flo...
Een reactie posten
Meer lezen