Pradnya Ponders

For ages, people have been trying to get me to start blogging. Although I read and keep up with quite a few blogs, I never found enough motivation to actually start writing a blog. Add to this the fact that my writing style isn’t that great, and I had a recipe for disaster.

Last week, I finally found the one compelling reason I had been looking for, in order to start a blog. I attended a meeting organized by Team In Training (TNT), which is a program for training athletes for endurance sports. I went there with the thought that maybe it was time I considered registering with some marathon training group- something I have been wanting to do for a long time, but never gathered enough courage to get into.

The meeting changed everything. In exchange for the training, TNT asks all participants to raise funds for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The society’s mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma. During the meeting, they introduced a number of “honorees” who have been battling some form of blood cancer, who have faced innumerable sessions of drugs, chemo etc., and in whose honor we will be running the marathon.

One honoree very aptly put it (paraphrase): “The darkest statement most of you would have been told in life is- You need to train for marathon or a triathlon; or You have lost your job; or something similar. The darkest statement I have been told (at age 19) is- You are going to die soon.”

That statement hit home. I am determined to run the Nike Women’s Marathon for this young girl and for many more like her.

The target is 26.2 miles and $2500. Although, in reality, the target is much beyond those two simple numbers. This blog will track my journey down this challenging path.