Update 10/10/2011: added this really cool video preview of the course...look at these hills! Love the comment by the race director Michael Madison, about the impact this race has on Burundians....I will use that thought to get me through miles 4-6!!
I am now training for the next race in the Distance Challenge - The Run for the Water 10 Miler. Here is what the website says about the awesome charity we will run for:
The Run for the Water is produced by and benefits the Gazelle Foundation. Thanks to participation in the last four years we have been able to provide over 8,000 Burundians with access to clean water for their remainder of their life through the implementation of water systems. For every registrant in the race the Gazelle Foundation is able to provide clean water to one additional person in Burundi. For life.
For only $49, I will be providing clean water for another human being...for life. Unreal to think that is possible, but I believe it. And to add more challenge to the next 23 days or so I have left until this 10 mile race, I'm giving up one of my secret (to most) loves....Coke. No, not THAT kind, Coca Cola. And I ain't going overboard and saying this is permanent! But I will, from this evening forward (you know - after the dying man's last coke) drink only water, and sports drinks during my workouts - and only during/after my workouts. I'm convinced the electrolyte replacement is that important. Once the heat is gone, I'll scale that back too...
Man, this is going to be tough!!! But I've fought it for years...and I think it's one of the things I do that sabotages my health too. Too much stuff out there - and NO, I don't believe everything I read - that says soda is just empty calories. And too much science to deny that aspartame is not good for me - in any way. But I do love my Coke, and the fact that we have not one, but THREE refrigerators here at our data center, where they are - watch it - FREE will rest my resolve! The only healthy choices are juices, and this week we had a run of OJ that had mold under the caps. Ugh, scratch that as an option! So it's filtered water - really cold - and I am sure some real withdrawals coming up!!!!
I want to emphasize here that I am NOT - contrary to what all the fitness stuff I do might seem - a zealot about anything. I simply have learned in life that I abhor health issues, and I want to live a good, long healthy life. To share my daughter's life, and to enjoy my own to the fullest. Yes, I know I'm obsessive about anything I enjoy, but I only live MY life - I won't tell anyone else how to live theirs. If what I do encourages anyone to work on getting healthier, great. Love to hear about your struggles and victories. Preach to me about your latest fad Hollywood diet, and I won't even pretend to be interested. Tell me what is working for you and I'm all ears. Even if it IS the latest Hollywood fad diet!
Now, go away and let me savor this last Coke....:O)
