Run for the babies

I think I can officially add a new item to my Should-I-Ever-Need-One resume:  10K Route Planner.

Remember this post?  I've found The Answer to 10K-planning stress gremlins and it is simply to NOT be in charge.  Just be on a committee!  YES, we are putting on another 10K (and 5K) ... (and kids' run) ... (!!) this Saturday morning featuring another custom-designed route by yours truly.

The PURPOSE is to raise much needed funds for a nonprofit birthing center in Haiti, called Mama Baby Haiti.  You can read more about it here.  The poorest of the poor in the Western Hemisphere can receive free medical care and education to help combat Haiti's higher mortality rate for newborns in this fledgling little clinic.  A worthy cause if ever there was one.

So the 6.2 and 3.1 mile routes are ready and our ever alert volunteer spotters are standing by.  (Spotters are those highly indispensable people who stand at an intersection and point the way.  Remember this post?  I, for one, owe MUCH to volunteers at organized runs.)  I've learned, in my impressively vast route-designing experience (note the modesty), to plan around sidewalks and wide road shoulders, painted crosswalks and stop signs.  The local police department assures me that we don't need special permission or training for crossing guards -- they just need to wear one of those chic, trend-setting vests and hold a colorful flag.  And deep down, who doesn't want to be a crossing guard?  Now really, think of the power ....

I've tweaked, measured, and have personally run and walked all parts of the route several times and Google Earth has verified the mileage.  This is my home running turf and I know the roads in this town well.  So come and join in the fun, rain or shine, and run (or walk) for the babies!

http://www.mamababyhaiti.org/fundraisers/

http://www.mamababyhaiti.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/jen-with-baby.jpg

P.S.  For added good news, we're already talking about the NEXT Mama Baby Haiti Benefit 10K.  Possibly next spring - in more dependable weather.  So stay tuned .....

The Inner Beast

Soooo, some of us in our Runners Anonymous facebook group, to whom you were all introduced in this post, have begun recording our miles online.  The purpose is to show support for Brandon, one of our members whom I've never met, who is currently stationed in Japan and is shipping off to Korea next spring.  Brandon wants to run 500 miles by then and a bunch of us jumped on board with the idea.  As of November 1, we've been tallying our individual miles.

Now .....  I never thought I was the competitive type.  But apparently I am.  We are ten days into it and I was in 3rd place (with total miles) for several days, but slipped into 4th place today.   First and second places are waaaaay beyond my reach because some of our awesome group members are MACHINES -- including Brandon.  But my goodness, this is motivating ... and it's even .... fun.

Remember my 20 miles per week quota?  Not good enough.  Last week I totaled over 22.  This week will probably top that.   There is no prize nor is there any logical reason to crank out more miles than was in The Plan.  Twenty miles per week is over ONE THOUSAND miles a year for Pete's sake!  But somewhere down in my soul, this competitive Cut-Throat Alter Ego which had been lying dormant for 50+ years, has now sprung to life.  I may not regain 3rd place, or even keep 4th, but By Dang, I'm going to make a good showing.

Let's see.  Tomorrow, if I can manage five more miles maybe I can edge back into 3rd place, and then another five miles on Saturday ..... no, make that 5.6, then I'd have an even 30 miles for the week!   And next week, if I run six miles every day but Sunday, and maybe more than six on Saturday .... say eight or ten .....

Gads!!  Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE the motivation and I adore my friends who motivate me -- it's just what I need!  But it was never meant to be a competition and therefore, before I drop dead from exhaustion, please tell me how one reigns in one's inner beast.  And don't bother suggesting I sedate it with banana milkshakes or chocolate .... or coconut ice cream.

Tried that.  Didn't work.

(By the way, you're welcome to think this is a picture of me.  Unfortunately it's not, but you're still welcome to think it.)

Break out the campaign buttons!

In the World of the Ridiculous, let's say there exists a country of runners with sole voting power, and to add MORE of the ridiculous, let's say I was "running" (no pun intended) for president of said country.  What "dirt" would my opposition uncover as they attempted to smear my name in the campaign?

My first guess would be that they'd find nothing shady in my past.  No criminal record, no illicit affairs with other sports, no scandals whatsoever.  In fact my past is so boring that simply BEING boring might be my biggest hurdle.  But digging deeper, there is one skeleton in my closet.  A skeleton so unspeakable, that it might cost me the election ....

....... I used to hate running.  And I told people I hated running, hence ..... there are witnesses.  I tried running a few times over the years and outwardly rejected it.   Yes.  It's true.  I am a flip-flopper.   Therefore, my campaign strategy is to "out" myself right up front, and deal with the fallout.  Transparency through and through.  After all, it's seldom the crime alone that brings you down, it's often the coverup.

My inconsistent history may cast doubt onto whether or not I am a true runner.  Do I espouse the love of the Daily Run?  Am I sincerely out there braving the pavement regardless of rain, blisters, spandex, and looking dangerously close to being a frizzy, schlepping .... frump?  Or am I running with my finger in the wind ... feigning devotion for my Asics?

I say YES!  A person CAN change!  We, as human beings, can evolve, grow, and become BETTER.  In fact, if one fails to change, when presented with new information and experience that teaches one that there is a point of view that might be a step above one's previous opinion, then SHAME on .... one.  Thus I, as a fictional candidate for the office of President of the United States of Runners, have decided to wear my flip-flopping proudly.  I used to be .... (fill in the blank) ... but not anymore.  I have learned.  I have grown ... (NOT in the waistline!  No!  Yikes!!) ... but in spirit, endurance, and in my own delusion that I don't look THAT bad out there.

So VOTE for ME!  If I win, I promise health, prosperity, and free GUs for all!!