So, I finally ran the Run For Your Lives 5K. It was ridiculous. Here is a chronicle of everything from dawn until dusk that day.
Lindsey and I stayed with our friends Rusty and Janelle about an hour from the race site. We agreed to head out the door and arrive a solid hour before our wave (Rusty ran with me). Sure enough, the GPS tells us we're only an hour away from the parking lot and it's just one hour before we run. Except, traffic is stopped on this two-lane road in the countryside. Apparently the zombies drew quite the crowd (~10,000!).
Traffic doesn't move after a few minutes, and I'm starting to get nervous. If I can't run during my wave, all my fundraising goes out the door and this is a wasted trip. Rusty proposes we run to the parking lot and grab the shuttle. Oh, a run BEFORE the run. Lovely. We get out and leave the car with the wives, and hustle off. I've got my hair and chops done up like Logan from X-Men, and every other car is shouting comments at me. A few people like our idea so much they run too.
We get to the shuttle and see a line of dozens of people. Some people have been there so long they've missed their waves. My heart sinks. I get in line while Rusty asks the staff what we're to do. There's only thirty minutes to our run start and there's NO WAY we're going to make it. The staff explains that parking is a nightmare and all the runners are late. They are now letting runners run any wave they can make it to. That makes me feel better.
But now my left knee is hurting (a combination of not stretching and something I did to it while running that last mile). Rusty tells me he'll stretch me out and fix it when we get to the race site. We wait at least a half hour and finally get on a bus. Somewhere on the two-mile drive to the race site the bus stops for 20 minutes. An ambulance flies past us on this one-lane farm road and I'm wondering just what sort of race this is!
We finally arrive, check in, attach our bibs and timing chips, and survey the competition. I think I can take a solid percent of these people in a race! Except my knee is killing me to the point that I'm already limping. Of all the pains I had during my training, my knees rarely if ever hurt at all, and never did they feel like this. Every step felt like a dagger jabbed into my knee.
While checking in my bag, I see a man out of breath, covered in water and mud. He just finished the race. I ask him how it is. He grins and says it's hard but fun. He advises me to stick with other runners to increase my chances of survival. Lone runners, he says, are the zombies' favorites.
We happen upon two people from Rusty's training unit in the Navy. They are waiting to run. With the advice in mind, I propose we all run the together. While waiting at the gate to be released for the next wave, Rusty works on my knee. It's super painful, but he assures me it'll help. The wives call Rusty and say they're in the area finally, and we hop out to see them. I limp over to Lindsey and beg her for the ibuprofen she had. But, the girls left it at the car, so my heart sinks again.
I kiss Lindsey for perhaps the last time and get back in line for the run.
And then it starts...
Showing posts with label fundraising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fundraising. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
...and we're back!
"Has no one ever told you about the law of Undulation? ... As long as he lives on earth periods of emotional and bodily richness and liveliness will alternate with periods of numbness and poverty..."
-Screwtape
The Screwtape Letters
C.S. Lewis
I have to admit I was supremely upset at my fundraising failures over the past few weeks. But, I know the Lord is good. And I have tangible evidence!
First, the cigar and Scotch fundraiser. Yeah, I had to cancel and will have to reschedule. There's some good stuff that came from that very weekend, however. Months before, my friend Adam K. invited me to his church's men's retreat. I was planning on going, but inadvertently scheduled the Scotch night for the same weekend, meaning both a) he and two other guys couldn't attend the fundraiser and b) I couldn't attend the retreat. I pressed on with my plans, only to have them fail. But [the other] Adam was faithful. He even prepaid for the retreat for me, knowing I wasn't planning on attending. So, when I canceled the event, I was able to attend Friday night.
And boy did I need it. My anguish over inability to succeed on two fundraising fronts melted away when I got to the retreat. I played some beach volleyball with some awesome guys, ate some great food, and had encouraging fellowship. Then, when it came time for their evening worship service, they asked me to play bass guitar. I was secretly hoping I'd get to jam later that night, but I didn't think I'd be put on the stage. I went up there with no practice, on a 5-string bass (I only play a 4-), and only knew one of the four songs. And to top it all off, I was following off the leader's notes, and he used a capo on two songs (meaning I had to transpose in my head on the fly...not my strength). Despite all of that, it was good. I struggled, but I really got to worship from behind that instrument that night. The speaking afterwards even added to a string of common thought I've been feeling from the Father lately. Bottom line: I needed to be there and despite my stubbornness, He saw me through.
I also lamented my company's HR department and their refusal to let me brew the JustLoveCoffee at work. This seemed like a ridiculous injustice to me. Instead of storming off mad, however, I felt compelled to work out a solution. I kept going back and finding ways to help them justify this. And, after a couple weeks, I received an email approving our new coffee pot. The only drawback was that I couldn't collect money and brew only coffee that benefited my adoption. We agreed to have all the coffee drinkers take turns bringing in their choice of coffee. I had already purchased a box of Ethiopian Sidamo beforehand, and it arrived the SAME DAY I received the approval email from HR. I brewed it up the other day and everyone seems to like it. And most of the people are going to be buying and bringing in coffee from our storefront when it's their turn. So, the coffee fundraising is off the ground! Including me, there are three other customers who've purchased from our site, and we've raised $30 towards the adoption in the last week.
So, I'm back into one of those aforementioned periods of emotional richness.
For those of you experiencing similar drawbacks, do not give up. Accept His guiding. Don't stop laboring to bring your adopted child home. Forces will push back against you, but you must remain faithful as He is faithful.
To quote Screwtape again, "[The demonic] cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do [God's] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
First, the cigar and Scotch fundraiser. Yeah, I had to cancel and will have to reschedule. There's some good stuff that came from that very weekend, however. Months before, my friend Adam K. invited me to his church's men's retreat. I was planning on going, but inadvertently scheduled the Scotch night for the same weekend, meaning both a) he and two other guys couldn't attend the fundraiser and b) I couldn't attend the retreat. I pressed on with my plans, only to have them fail. But [the other] Adam was faithful. He even prepaid for the retreat for me, knowing I wasn't planning on attending. So, when I canceled the event, I was able to attend Friday night.
And boy did I need it. My anguish over inability to succeed on two fundraising fronts melted away when I got to the retreat. I played some beach volleyball with some awesome guys, ate some great food, and had encouraging fellowship. Then, when it came time for their evening worship service, they asked me to play bass guitar. I was secretly hoping I'd get to jam later that night, but I didn't think I'd be put on the stage. I went up there with no practice, on a 5-string bass (I only play a 4-), and only knew one of the four songs. And to top it all off, I was following off the leader's notes, and he used a capo on two songs (meaning I had to transpose in my head on the fly...not my strength). Despite all of that, it was good. I struggled, but I really got to worship from behind that instrument that night. The speaking afterwards even added to a string of common thought I've been feeling from the Father lately. Bottom line: I needed to be there and despite my stubbornness, He saw me through.
I also lamented my company's HR department and their refusal to let me brew the JustLoveCoffee at work. This seemed like a ridiculous injustice to me. Instead of storming off mad, however, I felt compelled to work out a solution. I kept going back and finding ways to help them justify this. And, after a couple weeks, I received an email approving our new coffee pot. The only drawback was that I couldn't collect money and brew only coffee that benefited my adoption. We agreed to have all the coffee drinkers take turns bringing in their choice of coffee. I had already purchased a box of Ethiopian Sidamo beforehand, and it arrived the SAME DAY I received the approval email from HR. I brewed it up the other day and everyone seems to like it. And most of the people are going to be buying and bringing in coffee from our storefront when it's their turn. So, the coffee fundraising is off the ground! Including me, there are three other customers who've purchased from our site, and we've raised $30 towards the adoption in the last week.
So, I'm back into one of those aforementioned periods of emotional richness.
For those of you experiencing similar drawbacks, do not give up. Accept His guiding. Don't stop laboring to bring your adopted child home. Forces will push back against you, but you must remain faithful as He is faithful.
To quote Screwtape again, "[The demonic] cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do [God's] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Let's Run!
I've been trying to run all-terrain, since the race is all-terrain. So far the best I've done is two miles. But this race is a 5K (over three miles). And there are obstacles (and zombies!). So, I need to be able to run well over three miles no sweat. I found a cool tool online that helps log local running routes. It's on walkjogrun.net.
Here I go, 2.8 miles. I'm going for it. Hit you up when I'm done.
UPDATE: I ran 29:38 the first time.
Then I went back two days later and ran it in 27:52.
Here I go, 2.8 miles. I'm going for it. Hit you up when I'm done.
UPDATE: I ran 29:38 the first time.
Then I went back two days later and ran it in 27:52.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Argh! Fundraising Woes
I'm just going to wear my frustration on my sleeve for a bit. I'm finding some (what I thought to be) really slam dunk fundraisers coming up fruitless right now. It's bumming me out.
First, at work. There is a coffee pot in my department. It is run by a couple of the employees, with cups of Joe costing a meager $0.15; drinking coffee for a day will run you $1.00. Here's the deal: the coffee is BAD. Terrible. It's Maxwell house, which they buy in bulk, then pre-fill into filters which then sit for up to 48 hours in a drawer in the kitchen. And they make it so WEAK. Every day, entering the office means being hit by a wave of stale coffee aroma. If you ever had to go to work with a parents on a sick day, you know that smell I'm talking talking about. I mean, there are a solid dozen coworkers that HATE this coffee, and only drink it because it's the only game in town.
Why bring up the nasty coffee? Because Lindsey and I have a Just Love Coffee storefront and it donates to our adoption every time someone buys through the storefront here. Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian coffee. Real primo stuff. I mean, coffee BEGAN in Ethiopia, before it was anywhere else in the WORLD! Sadly, not a single bag of this coffee has been purchased, and I thought it would be cool to brew it and sell it at work. You know, like they ALREADY DO. I wanted to be above board, and I contacted HR. Bad idea.
HR said they couldn't allow it because it would be supporting my personal fundraiser and if they did that they'd open the door to a myriad of other fundraisers. Apparently they're not hip to the Girl Scout Cookies, Greg's daughter's band trip candy bar sale, and all the other rackets going on. Somehow putting a second coffee pot (so that I don't upset the people who like the bad coffee) just won't do. This all kinds of stinks.
Second, my cigar and Scotch night. I had the idea to do a guy-friendly fundraiser after seeing Lindsey do all these girly parties to raise adoption funds. I found a local cigar shop with a private lounge. They agreed to host. I had four bottles of Scotch donated by family. Men could come and pay a cover charge and get a cigar and some Scotch (included in the price). All the proceeds would go to the adoption.
At one point I had 15 confirmed attendees. Then, one-by-one, they dropped out. I even had a buddy coming all the way from Maryland. But sadly he had to drop out last-minute. The night before the event, several folks dropped out, too. I decided to cancel when I got down to three confirmed attendees. I couldn't see the benefit in cracking open $150 worth of Scotch for donations totaling less than that. Sigh...I'll reschedule and hopefully it'll go better.
I'm really trying to be ok with these failures. Surely the Lord is in control. In fact, we just received a donation which put us over our next funding hurdle. Praise Him for providence.
Phillippians 2:12 has been on my heart for a week now, and it hits me right now: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..."
First, at work. There is a coffee pot in my department. It is run by a couple of the employees, with cups of Joe costing a meager $0.15; drinking coffee for a day will run you $1.00. Here's the deal: the coffee is BAD. Terrible. It's Maxwell house, which they buy in bulk, then pre-fill into filters which then sit for up to 48 hours in a drawer in the kitchen. And they make it so WEAK. Every day, entering the office means being hit by a wave of stale coffee aroma. If you ever had to go to work with a parents on a sick day, you know that smell I'm talking talking about. I mean, there are a solid dozen coworkers that HATE this coffee, and only drink it because it's the only game in town.
Why bring up the nasty coffee? Because Lindsey and I have a Just Love Coffee storefront and it donates to our adoption every time someone buys through the storefront here. Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian coffee. Real primo stuff. I mean, coffee BEGAN in Ethiopia, before it was anywhere else in the WORLD! Sadly, not a single bag of this coffee has been purchased, and I thought it would be cool to brew it and sell it at work. You know, like they ALREADY DO. I wanted to be above board, and I contacted HR. Bad idea.
HR said they couldn't allow it because it would be supporting my personal fundraiser and if they did that they'd open the door to a myriad of other fundraisers. Apparently they're not hip to the Girl Scout Cookies, Greg's daughter's band trip candy bar sale, and all the other rackets going on. Somehow putting a second coffee pot (so that I don't upset the people who like the bad coffee) just won't do. This all kinds of stinks.
Second, my cigar and Scotch night. I had the idea to do a guy-friendly fundraiser after seeing Lindsey do all these girly parties to raise adoption funds. I found a local cigar shop with a private lounge. They agreed to host. I had four bottles of Scotch donated by family. Men could come and pay a cover charge and get a cigar and some Scotch (included in the price). All the proceeds would go to the adoption.
At one point I had 15 confirmed attendees. Then, one-by-one, they dropped out. I even had a buddy coming all the way from Maryland. But sadly he had to drop out last-minute. The night before the event, several folks dropped out, too. I decided to cancel when I got down to three confirmed attendees. I couldn't see the benefit in cracking open $150 worth of Scotch for donations totaling less than that. Sigh...I'll reschedule and hopefully it'll go better.
I'm really trying to be ok with these failures. Surely the Lord is in control. In fact, we just received a donation which put us over our next funding hurdle. Praise Him for providence.
Phillippians 2:12 has been on my heart for a week now, and it hits me right now: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..."
Friday, August 26, 2011
Adoption Shirts For Sale
We are selling adoption shirts. $23 ($20 + $3 shipping) will get you this shirt that Lindsey masterfully designed. 100% of the proceeds fund our adoption journey. They are a great way to show your support for international adoption in general.
The shirts are made of high quality fabric, and produced by Action Sports Apparel. I've worn the heck out of mine so far and there's no sign of fading or decal chipping.
Just PayPal $23 to me here: adamcrock at mac dot com. Put 'adoption shirt' in the notes and don't forget your size! If you'd prefer to send the money a different way, email me at the aforementioned address and we can work it out.
To get the ball rolling on this, the first 10 people to buy a shirt from this site will be entered in a random drawing to get a shirt free. You can either get refunded for the shirt, or I'll send a second one your way gratis.
The shirts are made of high quality fabric, and produced by Action Sports Apparel. I've worn the heck out of mine so far and there's no sign of fading or decal chipping.
Just PayPal $23 to me here: adamcrock at mac dot com. Put 'adoption shirt' in the notes and don't forget your size! If you'd prefer to send the money a different way, email me at the aforementioned address and we can work it out.
To get the ball rolling on this, the first 10 people to buy a shirt from this site will be entered in a random drawing to get a shirt free. You can either get refunded for the shirt, or I'll send a second one your way gratis.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)