the pros, the kids, and me

One of the athletes I admire and have been inspired by is Craig Alexander. For anyone who may not know, he is the 2 yr reining champion of Ironman Championships in Kona. I have followed his career for a while and have read and watched interviews. He has always seemed kinda soft spoken, humorous, and dedicated to his sport. his job. He has also appeared to be a pretty classy guy. confident, yet humble. So…i had seen where he along with 2 pro women triathletes, Heather Gollnick & Mirinda Carfrae, were going to be in Atlanta for a fundraiser for 2 local kids’ charities. Of course, i had to go. The event was held at Piedmont Park on a hot, sticky evening last Tuesday. The athletes showed up and everyone was just kinda mulling about at first. I went up to talk to Craig. I told him how inspired i was by him and then asked him some stuff about his training plans, etc.. So easy to talk to. Very unassuming, humble, and damn handsome. oh, and probably not one ounce of fat on his body. Amazingly lean! The large group split up in 3 groups for a short run. I was in the group with Craig and it was pretty neat to run right beside him — he was good natured with everyone. I didn’t have much interaction with the female athletes, but i saw that Heather was full of spunk and energy and Mirinda was on the quieter side.

All the proceeds from the event (entry fee, silent auction, & raffle) went to two local kids’ charities; East Atlanta Kids Club & Tri Kids Inc. Both organizations are involved in getting kids to be active and healthy and there were many kids at the event. I absolutely love seeing this kind of stuff and being a part of it.

Saturday, I ran a 5k race put on by Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation. I ran this local race 2 years ago and this year, it was substantially larger! There were approx 1000 runners for 5k and about 600 for 2k. $250k was raised for brain tumor research! Amazing. One of the things a speaker said at the end was that it was great so many people came out for event and all the money raised, but it would also be wonderful to not HAVE to host such an event. Amen to that!

This year, I participated as a way to show support for a client who had lost her husband to a tumor. I was honored that she asked me to be a part of her team. She did not run, but was a volunteer at event (and is also involved with SBTF) She was at the Wall of Heroes which was a place where families and friends could post photos and stories, etc…of loved ones lost to this disease. It was not a sad event. It was an event of celebration and determination to beat something that takes so many lives.

I pushed kinda hard in the run. Temperatures were 80 degrees with 85% humidity, so it was far from easy, even for a short distance. As I ran, I thought about my client and her husband of many years and got strength and focus from those thoughts. There were many kids out running, too, which i love to see!

i placed 2nd in my age group and got a very cool medal w/ a butterfly on it…the symbol of hope the foundation uses. While waiting for awards to be given out, I walked around and found a table where we could color in these pictures of butterflies. A lady asked me if i wanted to color, and i said yes. I got some crayons and colored in my butterfly. I was thrilled. This might not seem like a big deal, but to me, it was. I rarely do things like that — maybe because i don’t have kids and am rarely around them…whatever, it was neat. It cracks me up to look at the photos cause I look pretty serious. HAHA

Sunday’s long run began about 6:50am outside. I ran for  4 mile and thought, this (weather) is ridiculous. i’m going INSIDE to run on the freaking treadmill. And, so I did. I ran another 10.5 miles on treadmill for a total of 14.5 for morning run. Later that evening, I went back to treadmill for another 4 for 18.5 total on Sunday …i think treadmill and I are no longer dating; we are in a full blown relationship. i think those 10.5 miles might be the longest I have ever run on treadmill at one time. Why do i have a feeling that is a number that will be surpassed very soon…

The donations for the My Stuff Bags Foundation are coming in and I’m thrilled. Thank you to all who have contributed. Truly Appreciated!!

Overall, feeling ok. Did a couple of other shorter runs mid week. Body has been kinda out of sorts lately, but I cannot dwell on any one thing. I just gotta trust that some days are good days, some days not so good. I’m running on my 2 legs and 2 feet and a whole lot of heart. What else do i need?

Well…maybe some crayons…