Thursday, March 31, 2011

Stanford and Run to 2012

I've been a little lazy lately on updating my blog, but hopefully I can salvage the last few weeks with a recap!

Stanford Recap

This past weekend a group of us travelled to Palo Alto to compete at the Stanford Invitational. It was forecasted to be a wet and rainy weekend, uncharacteristic for a Stanford meet, but fortunately Friday evening welcomed us with perfect conditions. It was a long day waiting for the time when we would make the quick ride over to the track. I wasn't slated to run until after nine at night, so a lot of my day was spent relaxing at our hotel. 

Last year I had a great opener at this meet, running a solid time in my first try at 10k. I was hoping to repeat that success this time around, again running the 10k. The end result wasn't very impressive to look at, thirty seconds off my pr, on the surface a lackluster performance. I've been running long enough though to sift through the various emotions that accompany a race like this and find small positives. Racing is as much a personal and internal struggle as it is a competition against other athletes and this time around I scored a personal win even though the result wasn't near acceptable. 

In a few weeks we head out to Walnut, California and the Mt. SAC Relays where we all be looking for some new pr's and big performances. As the season progresses we line up against better competition, faster individuals, and proven winners. If we didn't approach these races with zeal we would be lacking a critical part of the formula for success. 

Run to 2012!

In other important news, my team, Team USA Arizona, is holding it's 2nd annual fundraiser dubbed  Run to 2012. This title represents all of our efforts towards earning a spot on the next US Olympic team, and the fundraiser is put on in order to raise support for these goals. This Friday (tomorrow!) we will be holding Run to 2012 in the Orpheum in downtown Flagstaff. There will be music, live and silent auction items (very cool ones I hear), as well as catered food from local restaurant Big Foot BBQ. Every member of our team has put together a silent auction item and they are pretty creative. I would spill the beans on them but perhaps if I don't you (whoever you are who reads my blog) might be tempted to travel far and wide to see for yourself! It is very difficult to run and operate a team such as ours and every bit of support helps - even if you can't attend there is a way to donate on our website through PayPal

I just wanted to end with a thanks to those who have supported me all these years. You have played an integral part in guiding me to this point. Thank you. 

 

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Fit Kids Finale!

Last Wednesday was the final day of Fit Kids at Cottonwood Elementary, the principal and mayor of Cottonwood came out for the medal ceremony. Some of the kids behaved nicely while we called out names and handed out medals, but others couldn't sit still, fidgeting and talking loudly, even running around! We had the medal ceremony right off the bat, so even with the distractions I would have to say it went smoothly considering the kids were really antsy. 

Since it was the last day I thought I would let the kids choose what games they wanted to play. There was absolutely no question what game was the fan favorite: Sharks and Minnows!!! Without getting into too much detail it is essentially a modified game of tag. We played for over 45 minutes, it seemed those elementary energizers would play forever, yet slowly but surely groups of two and three would sit down on the benches, completely exhausted. 

While it was my last day with Cottonwood Elementary and I was going to miss heading down the hill every Wednesday, I could leave there that day knowing that I had made an impact, even if it was very slight, in the lives of some kids. Throughout the program I received positive feedback not only from parents and other adults but most importantly from the kids themselves. All the big smiles and happy excited greetings I got every time school ended were confirmation enough. In addition to this (and one of my favorite moments over the eight weeks) I was bestowed with the nickname "Jet" on my last day. My awe-inspiring display of speed several weeks back was more than reason enough for my 9, 10, and 11 year olds to gift me with such a high honor. I laughed inside as they gathered around to ask if they could call me that, and of course I agreed. Who wouldn't? 

I'll be returning to Cottonwood in a few weeks however, to start the middle school program! A little older, much more wiser, I expect for that group to be just as entertaining and challenging as this one was and I'm very much looking forward to it!