8 miles for my grandfather.

I received a very generous donation and a sweet letter from my great Aunt Norma Jean yesterday. In it she talked about my grandfather, Foster Wright Case, whom I never had the opportunity to meet. She told me that he passed away January 15, 1970 and that he was only 48 years old. He served in the Military under General George Patton and was wounded and received the Purple Heart. In another envelope I received from her, she wrote that he passed away from Leukemia, and that I probably already knew that. Nope, sure didn't! It really blew me away. How did I not know? I never knew much about my grandfather because apparently I lived in my own little world as a child and didn't pay attention to much. I called my mom and she didn't think I was serious that I didn't know. I'm not sure how it slipped by me, but I had no clue. So glad I found out now and not after I cross the 26.2 mile mark.

So today my run was in dedication to him. Although I am also running the marathon and doing all of the training in honor of him, today was a little something extra for him. It was 8 miles just for him. It was my first 8 miles, EVER! I actually feel like I have really accomplished something. Although it was an easy 8 miles, yep I said easy, thinking back, I'm amazed that I did it. When we first started I was a little apprehensive about running 8 miles. Thankfully I had Katie and Rachel by my side the whole time to keep me company and keep my mind off of the running. It made the run so much more enjoyable and very easy. It's definitely a confidence booster to make it through 8 miles without any trouble. I can't wait to hit another "mile" stone. In two weeks we will hit 10 miles and I have to say, I can't wait.