A Letter To Friends

Dear Friends,

As I prepare to run my first half marathon, I really wanted to take the time to thank all of you for your support these last few months–both for your words of encouragement and for forking over your hard earned cash during a tough economic time. Thanks to all of you, I was able to raise more than $2,000 for an amazing charity, Aids Project Los Angeles. You guys, my beatnik, journalist, artist, free spirited, college student/recent college graduate, generally broke-ass friends made this happen. I don’t think many people on this earth can say that they have that kind of support.

During my last four months of training I’ve learned a lot about myself. For starters, I know it’s totally a corn dog thing to say, but also something that’s completely true–I now believe that if I put my mind to it, I can accomplish anything.

Here’s why: When I first started racking up the distance, I struggled. When I would be out on a run, the entire time I would be in motion, my inner voice would not stop firing thoughts at me that sounded like: “WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU CRAZY PERSON!? STOP RUNNING!” It was tough, but I eventually learned how to ignore that voice and even figured out how to tell it to shut it’s yap. “Too bad, brain. I’m doing this and you can’t stop me!”

I’ve even learned to like running. I’ve kind of developed an addiction to it, in fact. I now notice that if it’s been a couple of days since my last run, my soul starts to itch (or something) and I know it’s time to hit the pavement, again. Now that I’ve started this, I don’t ever want to stop. I even plan to register for my first full-marathon in the near future. (This one won’t be a charity run, however. I’m not going to bug you for more money, just yet. ♥ )

But, keeping my eye on the now, I have just two days to go and my excitement is growing by the hour. I can’t wait to finally feel what it’s like to complete a half-marathon.

VIEWERS BE WARNED: I plan on acting like a huge dork and posting a lot of (potentially unattractive/sweaty/red faced) photos from the run on Facebook, Twitter and my blog. You’re all just going to have to deal. <3

I could have never done all of this without you. Thanks for your kindness and support, all. It will never be forgotten.

-Caitlin M. Foyt