Huge Success :)

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT TO THE BENEFIT LAST NIGHT!!

WE RAISED $2,200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night was awesome! We had a great turn out and a lot of fun. If you would have told me I would be getting paid $70 to sing Aretha Franklin's 'Respect,' on stage I probably would have laughed in your face. But indeed I did it. We had two very competitive rounds of the Number game, a Chinese Auction, and a 50/50 Raffle. The food was ALL DONATED!!! as well as the HALL and my Aunt D and Geri even donated their tips from bar tending!! The 50/50 money was even donated back, which was amazing. It was $124!!! Thanks Eric.

I wanted to individually thank people last night but I know how I am and I would have probably forgotten to say some one's name. I may even now, but I do want to thank some people. Everyone who made food: Barbara Stahl donated all of the roast beef!! SO amazing!! My dad, my mom, Aunt Diane, Aunt Mary Esther, Aunt Rosemary, Aunt Bonnie, Lynne, Karen, Beth, Erin, and everyone else who made the food, donated baskets, helped setup, and clean up. All the food was delicious!!! Aunt D for the hall, it looked amazing!!! Ashley for working the door the entire night!!! Julie, Rachel, and Tam for setting up, running errands with me all day and selling tickets. Megan for DJing. Everyone and everything was great!

So with the money raised last night and the donations still left to be added to the website, I only need : $973 to meet my goal!!!

I have a couple more weeks and once I finalize the next fundraising event/idea I will post it. My mom has some pics from last night that I will add as soon as she emails me them.


Training: Yesterday morning I ran with the Team in Valley Forge. This was my first practice there and the team's second or third. I ran 10 miles. Valley Forge is A LOT different than running in Center City. HILLS! It was tough. My body was feeling it by the end. About 2 miles into the run we ran right by 10 deer. They were only 20 feet away from me and they weren't scared off. Just standing there, eating. It was so peaceful. I ran by myself, because there was no one who had a similar pace to me. I had no headphones, so it was just me and my mind. Taming my mind on a long run can be like taming a wild horse. I have to let the negative thoughts float right out without holding the thought in. Thankfully I get practice with letting thoughts go when I meditate, but no one is perfect. Sometimes the thoughts linger longer than comfortable but I got through it. The last three miles I had to think about each step, "Stay in this, just this step, loosen up, relax.." I have to train my mind to stay in the run and not think about tomorrow's run or next week, when it will be even Farther.. Anyway I find it best when I talk to myself like I am encouraging someone else who is running. Like every 5 or 10 minutes just telling myself I'm doing a good job. Volunteering with Back on My feet helped me to implement this thinking when I run by myself. I used to run with other women and it was inspiring to see them run their whole run and I know how good it feels to have some one vocally supporting you. It may seem silly that I do that, but it has been working so far. It's just the simple tactic of changing negative to positive. For example if I used to have the thought "Come on you gotta do this, just 4 more miles, you HAVE to do this, Don't STOP RUNNING, don't SLOW DOWN." It would make me drag and feel not so good about myself. But if I change those thoughts to something more positive like, "You are doing awesome! You have come so far. You feel great! Enjoy this moment, Feel this Run! Great JOB!" I would feel better about that moment.
It is so easy to miss your run by thinking about it being over. So I have to practice remembering how to enjoy every minute, every step, and every mile while I am in it.
I took today off and plan on running after work tomorrow. There is a nutrition clinic this Tuesday that I am going to try to make. I am interested to find out more about how I should be eating while training. Especially when it gets closer to the marathon. I don't want anything weighing me down and making me feel sluggish come crunch time.

OK time for me to get some rest. Thank you all again for everything last night. It was a Huge Success and a wonderful reminder how blessed I am to have such supportive family and friends. Oh and all those who could not make it, you were absolutely missed, especially Patrick and Sean. I love you guys and can't wait to visit :)

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. "~ Lou Holtz