The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Where to start, oh where to start.

Both the training and fundraising has been going really well as of late...which is really good considering my race is TWO WEEKS AWAY!  I have more to say about that a little later.

I found myself in a serious panic about fundraising two weeks ago.  It was just getting too late to host any kind of well-organized event and frankly, I'm not very good at asking people for money and following-up.  But, I managed to get over the shyness of asking and found that 85% of people are really generous!  All I can do is ask and remind...if someone chooses not to give, that's fine.  I know there are plenty of causes and fundraising efforts of friends that I've skipped and everyone knows that I need plenty of reminders.

There were a couple of "organized" fundraising events in which I participated.  On two different Sundays, I stood outside Giant (that's a supermarket if you're not in the know) and sold baked goods. I always thought bake sales were cheesy and probably a little gross if I did any of the baking myself.  Little did I know, with the right combination of people, how much fun they could also be.  The stories that I have...the woman yelling at me in Japanese, the person who refused to donate because she "doesn't support Lymphoma" and the guy who showed up in the banana suit...thinking about any of these incidences makes me dissolve into giggles.  I'll probably need to remind myself of these stories when I'm running by myself on Hains Point on race day.

Training has also felt super good lately.  On Wednesday, I ran 6 miles. (I would like to give a special shout out to every gym teach I had through grade school, junior high, and high school.  All of those mile runs that I gave half-assed efforts toward, it really was childhood rebellion and not an inability. Thank you.) 6 miles is probably the farthest that I've ever run in one shot. Ever. And let me just say, it felt awesome. By no means am I breaking any records. In fact, I'm pretty slow, but it feels good.  It's awesome.

Today was the cherry on top of the sundae. We had a mini practice triathlon.  It was only a 200 yard swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run but it still felt good.  My transitions were easy and despite that getting on my bike wet and running after riding both feel really weird, I still like it.

Race day is 14 days away. I want to wet myself when I think about it, but really, I think I'm ready.  I'm scared and know that I'm not going to be fast, but I'm definitely going to finish this thing.  And hey, if it goes well, maybe I'll even do something like this again.