So I haven’t been ignoring my duties to journal about bike commuting. Ok, actually, I have. But the reality is, circumstances have changed recently, as they often do.

Mattk, another Trusera member, recently lost his beautiful daughter to twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. I will not do his family a disservice by trying to summarize their (continuing) journey; rather, I encourage everyone to read it for themselves.When I read it, though, I felt compelled to do something – not to “help” but to respond.

I had briefly considered running the Seafair Marathon here in Seattle on June 29th, but never seriously. For whatever reason, after reading the story about Emma, I decided that it could be my response. Through the Trusera site, I messaged Matt and asked him how my running a marathon could possibly advance a cause in Emma’s name. Immediately, he directed me to http://climbforkids.org. It is an incredible organization with a great purpose and a wonderful team. In short order, he let me know how I could use the marathon run to raise money and awareness for the group and its mission. And just like that, I was signed up for a marathon in June, ready to raise money for a cause I knew nothing about in 2007, but today, is anything but an abstraction. I couldn’t be more honored...

Unfortunately, I could be in better running shape. As everyone’s probably sick of hearing about by now, I was commuting by bike pretty regularly. My last post about tracking my mileage on an imaginary trip to Texas got some fun responses and my plan was on track for the rest of the year. But training for a marathon is changing everything. I started by doing a 10-mile run on a Saturday to see how the legs would hold up, since I was already fairly confident about my cardiovascular state. I spent the next day hobbling around, with my 2-year old son asking “Why is Daddy doing silly walk?” I introduced a few small runs during the next week, over lunch breaks, then tried a 12-miler that went much better. I repeated the following week and that 12-miler went even better. It’s all relative, of course – I’m running at a very slow 9:00-9:30 minute a mile pace, but I’m gradually ramping up.

This is all to say, I’m changing focus for the next couple of months while I zero in on this marathon – as in, I’m commuting by bus, in order to save my legs. Yes, I’ve thought about backing out multiple times. No, I don’t enjoy running or taking the bus nearly as much as I enjoy biking. But for serendipitous reasons, I am where I am today, preparing for another run over lunch, scheduled for a 14-miler on Saturday, and as nervous/proud/honored/terrified as I’ve ever been, preparing to run for a great cause in Emma’s name. I’ve written about motivation before – and trust me when I say nothing compares to this.

I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, again, check out http://www.trusera.com/users/mattk/journal_entries when you get the chance – their story is just beginning.