A Kind of Glow

Over the past two weeks we have had a 10 mile run and a recovery 6 mile run.

And, believe me, you need a recovery run after running 10 frickin' miles.

Considering I wasn't any kind of runner before I started doing this, 10 miles was a huge milestone to me. We had only run 8 miles prior to the 10 and it was definitely right around the 9th mile that I started to REALLY feel the run taking its toll on me.

Luckily I made it to the finish line without wanting to totally collapse. Most of all, I just wanted to sit down. That's a lot of time to be on your feet! Sitting down and eating a massive breakfast afterward was the perfect therapy. Not to mention a coma-like nap afterward.

The week after the 10 mile run, we did the 6 mile run in order to let our bodies recover from such a shock!

And moving on to an amusing anecdote...

I have found people's relations with me very interesting since I have taken on this challenge. While most people's reactions have been overwhelmingly supportive, there have been some mixed responses in the bunch that are quite puzzling to me.

This is one I will probably remember forever!

Since I have been putting in a good amount of mileage on the pavement, I have noticed that I'm starting to get tan lines from my sports bra and am pleased to have a less-than-pale countenance - especially for this time of year. In other words, I'm more tan than I have ever been in November/December.

The other night I ran into an old family friend who hadn't seen me in a while. After we got past our hellos and how are yous, he paused and quizzically looked at my face. He said, "So, it looks like your skin is a different color."

Decidedly ignoring his lack of courtesy, I nodded and said, "Yes, probably. Maybe because it's tan?"

He doubtingly giggled to himself and said, "Could it be a type of glow....because you're...expecting?"

EXPECTING? I mean, SERIOUSLY? First off, don't comment on my skin color. Ever. There's no point, it just isn't necessary. Second, don't EVER EVER ask a woman if she's pregnant if you're not 100% sure - unless she's in the delivery room and you can see the baby coming out.

I looked at him in shock and replied, "Umm, no. Definitely not."

After setting him straight, I also realized that perhaps I LOOK pregnant and it's not just a skin color thing. And that was SO not what I needed that day.

I continued with, "I don't think I look pregnant."

He then had the audacity to give me the triple pat. (You all know it, the dreaded triple pat. Where someone condescendingly, gently pats you three times as if to say, "It's okay that you're retarded, it's not your fault). SO, he TRIPLE PATTED my arm and said, "It's okay, it's the holidays."

Yes.

It's okay that I'm fat.

Because it's the holidays.

I proceeded to tell him that I was definitely not pregnant and but that I was definitely training for the Los Angeles AIDS marathon. I went out of my way to knowingly pause afterward, as if to say "I know you're too poor to donate to my campaign, so I won't ask."

I quickly moved away from him because I felt that if I stayed near him, I might have plucked every hair out of his head.

While this story may seem stupid and completely meaningless, it really shook me. I'm more tan because I'm training for a marathon and I get called pregnant.

I mean, c'mon, gimme a break.

8Mile

This past weekend we had our 8 mile run. It went quite well, considering I've probably never even walked for 8 miles, let alone run. There's something about running with the group that just makes the time fly by. If you told me that I had to run for 2 hours by myself, I would say, "No, absolutely not." It just gets too boring. But we've got our route, mile markers, coaches, fellow running groups - they all fill the time.

I got news this week that an acquaintance of mine was diagnosed HIV positive. The news really hit me and, again, it became apparent just how close this disease comes to everyone's lives. He has no money so he is having to live off of what the AIDS center in New York City is able to provide for him. The very type of center that I'm fundraising for here in Los Angeles. I'm happy to say that my friend is stable and doing well, he just has to maintain his health and medication. The news proved to be chilling proof of how my work comes full circle.

Since yesterday, I have hit $1,500 in my fundraising. As soon as I send in the raffle money, I'll have $1,700. For a while I was definitely worried that my goal would be really hard to meet, but I feel quite relieved that I reached it comfortably. Now I suppose my next step is to up the goal!

My friend and I had talked about doing a karaoke fundraiser. While my last fundraiser was tons of work, I think this could be something that draws a lot of people in. People love to drink and sing - why not do it for a cause? Not to mention that my friend hosts karaoke at a bunch of places and he would be able to draw in a nice crowd. It could work!

Wish me luck as I keep up with my maintenance runs this week. (Already ran about 3 miles this morning. Was harder than I had hoped it would be. I think I need to carry my water bottle with me, even on these short runs. Gotta stay hydrated!) Next week we run 10 miles, see ya then!

Don't Stop This Train

Today I reached $1,420 in my fundraising efforts.

This is huge. I've never done any individual fundraising so this has been quite the learning experience.

But as I sit here looking at all the people that have made donations, I am sincerely moved. I'm finally part of something that is bigger than me. And I love it.

I consider myself extremely lucky in life and quite blessed with all the people I have known and know - now this is my chance to give forward.

I almost can't believe that so many people would come together and contribute, but their names are there in black and white. I made a commitment to run a ridiculous amount of miles to prove how much I care - and people responded.

This Thanksgiving I will have so much to be thankful for - the people who have donated, the people who have helped me with the fundraising process, the people who support me, the people who run with me and, most importantly, the fact that I decided to do this marathon in the first place. I hope that I will also give people out there, suffering from this disease, something to be thankful for this year.

Thanks to everyone who has made this possible - I'm freezing this moment in my mind.

Stellar

I had my fundraiser event this past weekend - what a stressful event! I never knew that hosting a fundraiser would take up so much time and energy! The restaurant owner, Gary Bric - who is also the mayor of Burbank! - offered to pay for ads in the Burbank Leader. In order to get those out, I had employed my dad to design paper ads as well as online ads. (Originally we did not have online ads, BUT they completely screwed up our first print ad because they didn't run the color yellow the day of our ad. Fantastic. Nothing better than seeing your ad in the paper and realizing half of the information isn't there.) Needless to say, this whole thing snowballed into one big headache!

Luckily it seemed to go very well. I suppose I had really high expectations for it because I was really hoping for everyone that I invited to show up. Alas, people have lives and plans and such an outcome was not feasible.

Once I got past the dinner hours and got into the cocktail hours, naturally, the evening got better. :) If y'know what I mean!!

I also had tons of help from my mom in getting ready for this event. We had prizes for the raffle we put on, which she coordinated. She also prepared all the raffle details - such as actual raffle tickets, their prices, something to put them in, etc. SOO many details!

Once all was said and done, I raised over $600 that night! HELLO! $600!! Let's go shopping!!

Just kidding.

I'm not REALLY gonna go shopping. That money is going straight to my campaign!

I made a speech toward the end of the night because I was so moved by the whole event. It was such a special occasion - these kind of nights don't come along too often. Having the mayor of Burbank believe in me enough to host a fundraiser event was something that truly touched me. On top of that, having all of my friends and family there to share the night with me meant so much.

The next morning I got up at 7am to run 7 miles with my pace group. Not an easy task after you've been up til 2am fundraising! But I showed up and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I've realized that once I pass the 2ish mile marker, I start to really hit my stride. Plus, the people in my running group are really fun and help pass the time.

We started our run at Griffith Park and ran down to and around Warner Brothers and then back up to our starting point. The coaches have advised for us to eat these "Gu" things every 45 minutes when we're out running. They're like power bars in gel form and, let me tell you, are awesome! They re-balance your blood sugar and give you this surge of sustained energy - totally love 'em.

Wish me luck as I get closer and closer to my fundraising goal and prepare for my 8 mile run this weekend!