Nike Woman's Marathon (to benefit the LLS)

fall's a coming. who's with me?

if you're in ny and want to attend a special info meeting, shoot me an e-mail and i'll send along the info.

the smell of fresh meat

so wednesday night was kick-off. 1st the larger season met - all the triathlons, marathons and bike rides for the larger rah rah rah. one of the honored teammates spoke - it was really inspiring as always, and there were a *ton* of people there.

then we had a smaller break-out, where i met the crew of new marathoners. i'd say about 95% of those who attended will be running their first marathon. you could feel the nerves in the air, and i couldn't help but remember our own kick-off, with charlotte & demps. it's weird that that chapter is over, and yet here i am, starting off again.

i didn't have to say much - was a cameo in a little fundraising skit, and announced the first fundraising competition to the marathon crew, so all else was nostalgia.

i'm really excited about starting to run again - i haven't since the marathon. i am *not* excited about the cold however. i have to get all geared-up - but there'll be another post about that.

new season...

i think i'm officially back from my bloggin' burn out. so hi! how have you been? miss me?

what have i been up to? well, frankly, relaxing and abusing my liver. trying to stay warm. learning the global warming presentation. but now, now it's time to start focusing on running again.

as fundraising captain for summer season, i have a few responsibilities. i need to lead the fundraising clinic, help folks with their fundraising letters, be generally encouraging and supportive, and am the designated "go-to" for all marathon runners that have fundraising questions or need advice.

i'm excited but of course a little nervous. remember how i was so competitive with my own fundraising? (ps, is fundraising two words? it looks funny that way. maybe fund-raising. hmmm. nope one is a.o.k. excellent). well, i'd love to have a really successful season. as much as i kicked ass at my own fundraising, this is an opportunity to make a huge difference by helping over 200 people or so exceed their fundraising goals for the lls. pressure!

by the way, it's also FREEZING. and i still don't have pants, which i better pick up before saturday, which is our first practice. for the first few practices we will run with our mentees. since i am a captain, i don't have specific mentees so i just plan on mom-ing them all.

now, i'm off to come up with a fundraising plan/timetable and some other materials...if you have any ideas go ahead and send them my way, otherwise, see you out there!

$$$$$ten. thousand. dollars - reached!$$$$$

we've done it! the last donation pushed the fund-raising total over the top, and we've raised over $10,000!!

i'm thrilled, honored, proud, thankful, humbled and excited to go into marathon day with that goal achieved.

what's more, i want to share something with you about the donations.

there was not one donation that was more than $250 dollars which is *amazing* to have raised so much with so many individual donations. when people hear the amount of money that's been raised, many say "wow, you must have got some thousand dollar donations, huh?"

nope, just a whole lot of people out there that care.

thank you everyone. here's one big stevie-like-grin comin' at you with love.

PS - i forgot to tell you that on friday, i got a call from one of the tnt organizers...i've been nominated by quite a few people to be "fund-raising captain" for summer season! i still need to see what that means as far as time, but i think it would be great to be able to use these skills to a good end...

and now, i'm a mentor

as if there weren’t enough going on, tonight was mentor orientation for the *second* marathon i am going to run in june.

i knew that being a mentor was going to be a big commitment, but it’s probably even more than i thought. there’s what you would expect: certain meetings to attend, attendance at practice, being available and encouraging to your flock of runners. there is more though. a little phone banking. reports to attend to. reflective vests to wear.

ps, who signs up to be a mentor before knowing they can succeed at their event! oh, that would be me.

i’m fairly certain that it may just seem a little daunting right now, with my own marathon looming. LOOMING i say.

you can’t tell by looking at me, but i’m all a’twitter on the inside. i feel like i can’t really let that out until i am on the plane. otherwise, all the things i have to do in the next few days before i leave are simply not going to get done. for instance, right now i should be packing, but i’ve been working on getting the tattoo e-bay post up. of course my internet is not cooperating, per the usual lately. whenever i start to think that this is it, i instantly feel nauseous. i think denial is the best route.

in prep...i’m trying to eat pretty well, i’m now alcohol-free again, and i’m stretching every day. i’m supposed to run 30 minutes tomorrow, which i will probably do at the gym. there is practice tomorrow, but i don’t think i’m going to be able to leave work early...we’re going to have to see.

okay...it's way past bed time. more tomorrow.