8 hilly miles

Yesterday, Megan and I drove to Diamondhead, MS. Why would one go there? To run of course! We had a group run scheduled for this morning at 5 am, so we, along with others from our team, got hotel rooms at the wonderful (awful) Diamondhead Resort. But we were there to run, not relax in the hotel, so it didn't matter that it was disgusting.
The half marathon I am doing is in San Francisco, and here in New Orleans, we don't know what a hill is. The biggest hills we have are overpasses. So in order to train for the very hilly course of San Fran, our coaches have us run in Diamondhead. Man are hills tough!!! Not only was this the first time ever in my life to run 8 miles, it was the first time for me to do a long run on hills. It really slowed me down, but it was so cool to look back at the top of a hill and say "I ran that!" Every run I do, I gain more and more confidence, and I feel more and more like a runner! I am a VERY slow runner, but I have no problem with that at all. People often ask me what time im shooting for in my race, but I don't have one. It's my first half so I know it will be a PR :) I normally run between a 12-15 min mile (told you I was slow!), but today, it took me 2:28 to do 8 miles... so the hills really did a number on me! But I know I just need more hill training! I have had to miss several group training sessions because of weddings and vacations, but I still have 2 and a half months before the big race!
Fundraising is so much harder than I thought it would be. I have only raised about 1000 dollars, so i need about 2900 more! Our recommitment date is August 14th, and if I haven't raised significantly more by then, I will probably have to drop out. As much as I have worked for this and want to do it, I can't justify putting 3 grand on a credit card :( So I'm sending out an email and a facebook message today and hoping donations pour in! If not, I've at least raised 1000 dollars for LLS, and I am proud of that.