i'm a team in training nerd.* and a lunatic.

every week on wednesday, in addition to the mission moment and the weekly "celebrity", the spirit tee is awarded. the spirit tee is awarded to participants who exemplify the spirit of what team in training is, go above and beyond the bare minimum, are involved, enthusiastic, and an inspiration to the other memebers of the team. people are nominated by their mentors, or other teammates, and then i'm guessing that a smaller group (not sure who) selects the winner.

the winner then adds to the spirit tee - a signature, picture of the person their running for, etc. it becomes a tribute to all the reasons that we run.

it was still raining when i was leaving work, so i traveled in my really spectacular high-boots + running shorts outfit, which was made even more trollopy by my long coat which pretty much hid the shorts. we were meeting in the park, which i was excited about because it meant i didn't have to trapse across canal street.

with the typical wednesday luck though, the trains were still running funky. i blamed it on the rain and decided not to get too worried. i ran into our social captain, jessica, who was doing announcements that night and we braved the way, but since she *had* to be on time, and i could be a minute or two late, she ran off ahead. the rain was steadily coming down, but it was still warm, so i tried to avoid puddles as i made my way to my to the fountain.

jessica first announced the celebrity of the week...and then, as i was peeling off my boots, she announced that i was the winner of the spirit tee! my face expressed my surprise. i got the tee because i was out cheering until the very end on sunday, because of my kick-ass fundraising (and big goals) and because i'm even thinking of...

oh wait. i haven't told you the idea.

i have a rather insane idea. depending on your sense of humor, adventure, and feeling about tattoos, you will think i am more or less insane. alright, i'll stop wasting time and just tell you.

i'm considering doing an e-bay auction. the highest bidder gets their name (first only!) tattooed on my bum.

[dramatic pause for reactions]

yes a real tattoo. no, not big. unless we get so much pr it goes corporate and then i will consider logos. i get final editorial and i will check id. i pick the ink, the font and the spot. i will pay for the tattoo. yes, the winner will get photo proof. no, i do not already have tattoos - this will be my first.

[dramatic pause for further reactions]

before you start commenting, (and by the way, if you guys have no comments on this post, i'm going to think that no one could possibly be reading!) here are my reasons.

1. this could have amazing pr potential. picture: "did you hear about he crazy girl who's auctioning off a tattoo on her butt for charity?" in e-mails, other blogs, who know - let's go for letterman!
2. i'm going to guess that this could build do a few thousand bucks at least. and you know i must reach $10,000.
3. people have gotten tattoos for *way* dumber reasons. or for no reasons at all. this is for charity people!
4. i can always have it lasered off.
5. i think it's a pretty funny story.

but BACK to the spirit tee! so in addition for generally kicking ass at practice and having team spirit and fundraising like a mad woman, i think that i am even considering doing this pretty much put me over the edge to win. and now i have to figure out how to do steve proud decorating the shirt. i'm thinking maybe some red sox emblem of some sort.

we then went and ran 4.7 miles (in the rain) and then had a pizza dinner with one of our honored teammates. unfortunately, she was a little far away from me so i wasn't able to get her whole story and so i'm going to try to attend another event with her.

and about the tattoo - because i care what you think, i'm going to leave you with a little survey on the tattoo topic. but remember. this is a dictatorship. a benevolent one, but a dictatorship none the less. so vote vote vote people!

today's mileage: 4.4
total mileage: 193.1

ps: we didn't do the test today because there were so few people and it was tres slippery to be running in the rain. i'm going to guess it's going to happen next week.

*when i say nerd, i mean it in the most affectionate of terms. steve used to call me "nerd", "kiss ass" and "brown noser" all the time in jr. high school. mmm actually, in high school too. and yes, he meant it will love too.