Last weekend I spent three LONG days at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois volunteering as a wish escort for Make-A-Wish.   This is the second time I volunteered to escort a wish child and family for a NASCAR wish.  Last year, I knew pratically nothing about NASCAR, except what I knew from the movies Days of Thunder (Rubbin' is racing) and Talledega Nights (I wanna go fast!).  After a "crash course" all inclusive garage tour and history lesson from ISC Guest Services Director Dean Kurtz, I became an expert at NASCAR.  After seeing how kind and generous the folks from International Speedway Corporation, NASCAR Foundation, Chicagoland Speedway, and the drivers were to the wish kids and their families, I became a huge fan of the sport.  

 

Jennifer from Canada wished to meet driver Tony Stewart. Lindsey from Ohio wished to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr.  And Pierce from Michigan wished to meet Jeff Gordon.  Instead of driving home each night, I decided to just pay the extortion "special event" rate at the Fairfield Inn, the hotel the families were staying at.  This way I could save driving time, get a little extra sleep time, and also be able to participate in the morning teleconference calls on Thursday and Friday for work.  I can't believe how much walking around I did this year.  My body was as sore as it was after doing the 2006 Chicago Marathon.  Although I was in a lot of pain, I didn't care all that much... the wish kids had the time of their life, and that's the only thing I cared about. 

 

Yesterday, I had another big Make-A-Wish day.  In the morning, I had to meet Cindy, my wish granting partner to  to drop off Aryln's "goody-bag" and itinerary for her trip to NYC to go shopping, see a broadway play (Wicked), spend a day at the spa, see a mozart concert, and watch a WNBA basketball game.  Arlyn's family didn't have any lugguage, so Cindy and I decided to split the cost of a luggage set for her family.  I hope she has a wonderful trip.

 

Then in the afternoon, I volunteered to do magic for the CNBF (children's neuroblastoma cancer foundation) 2009 conference.  I had previously volunteered at this conference before and looked forward to doing so again this year.  I have worked on wishes with children with neuroblastoma before, and support the work that the foundation does to help families that have a child with this terrible disease.  Because of an arthritis flare up, my ankle was swollen up and I was in a lot of pain.  Despite being on crutches and not being able to move very well... I had promised to do magic for the kids, and I couldn't let them down.  I could have cancelled, but it really wasn't an option.   I managed to ignore the excruciating pain and did a decent job entertaining the kids.  I know my swollen ankle won't kill me and the cancer these kids face and the even more painful treatment they face is lot more serious... so I had to be there... the show must go on. The kids had a lot of fun and were amazed, which is all that really matters to me. 

 

 

Last night I was so tired, I fell asleep without eating dinner.  If you know me, you understand how tired I was.  I can't remember the last time I forgot to eat dinner.  Usually, I have a late night fourth meal too. 

 

It was a very busy weekend for me.  The make-a-wish office called me last Monday, asking if I were availble to escort a child for his wish to meet George Lopez, the actor, commedian, and soon to be television talk show host.  The celebrity meet and greet was supposed to occur on Saturday.  I generally don't have much planed on Saturdays.  I start the day blowing off half marathon triaining, then go to Eggstacy for breakfast (I'm trying to eat everything on the menu!), get my hair cut, then hang out at the magic shop.  

 

I really consider it a huge privilege to be asked to escort a wish child on his/her wish, so I of course said yes.   I'm generally known to be a prankster with an admitted immature sense of humor, but when I'm volunteering as a wish escort... I'm 100% focused on making sure the child's wish is best experience possible.  I know that with celebrity wishes, things pretty much never go as planed, so the escort has to be able to think quickly, improvise, and get things on track.  I'm there to make sure the kid has a great experience, regardless of whether or not I'm having fun.

 

For example, the meet and greet with George Lopez was supposed to be at 7 PM on Saturday.   On Thursday, the plan changed and it was moved to Friday at 7 PM because George was going to be at the Cubs game on Saturday.  He wanted Dalton, the wish child, to see the show on Friday and then spend the next day with him at the Game because he was going to have a film crew from HBO that is doing a special on him.  So I had to make arrangements to do the escort on Friday afternoon/night and all day Saturday. So the volunteering time mushroomed from about 5 hours to a day and a half.  I'm not a Cubs fan (I'm a die hard White Sox fan), but on Saturday I had to act like a Cubs fan because it is Dalton's wish.  Because of inter-league play, the Cubs were playing the Indians, so it made it easier cheering for the Cubs because the Indians are in the White Sox's Division. 

 

Well on Friday,  after a really long weather delayed limo trip and quick dinner, we got to the Rosemont theater on time at 6:45 PM.  I gave RJ (George's right hand man) a call to let them know we arrived.  George's entrourage was stuck in the same traffic we fought through to get there and they were running seriously late. We were escorted to a dressing room in back and waited, and waited, and waited.  The meet and greet was supposed to happen at 7 PM, but it was now well passed that.  The actual show started at 8 PM.  But we were in back still waiting.  I started getting a sinking feeling in my stomach that the meet and greet would be really short; a quick hello and then "I got to go on stage. Nice meeting you."   To pass the time, I kept quizing Dalton on the questions he wanted to ask George and I took a lot of pictures.  Dalton's mom asked if George was just going to pop in and say hi and that would be it.  I assured her he would never do that. (I really wasn't sure, but I wasn't going to let her or Dalton know that.)

 

Around 8:30 PM, George came in and Dalton's eyes got really big and he had this great big smile on his face.  Instead of the quick hello, photo, and good-bye I thought may occur, George was cool as a cucumber, gracious and very genuine.  Nothing about the meeting was rushed.   George sat down with Dalton, chatted with him, posed for lots of pictures, and was extremely nice.  George was 100% focused on Dalton and making sure his wish surpassed his expectations.  Even though he was extremely late and needed to change and get ready for the show, which was already in progress, George made sure Dalton got all his questions answered and spent some quality time with him.  He truly made sure Dolton had the time of his life.

 

I had heard George was a truly nice person, extremely hard working, and completely magnanimous when it comes to his fans.   He was fantastic and treated Dalton with geniune kindness.  I remember reading that George hates Eric Estrada, because when he met him as a teenager, Eric refused to shake his hand.  That really ticked George off, and he vowed to never treat a fan like that.  George knew that Dalton could have wished for anything, and he wished to meet him. 

 

Dalton had gone through a lot in his young life.  Having fought through lymphoma, multiple operations and nearly dying several times from complications and infections.  He spent a lot of time in the hospital, and one of the things that kept him going was watching the George Lopez show on TV. George made him laugh, and that kept him alive.  Now that Dalton is hopefuly through the worst of his medical problems, he wanted to meet the man whose comedy helped him survive.  Being able to be there and help facillitate his wish truly made me feel good.  Having the opportunityh to meet and find out how nice a person George Lopez is was a wonderful bonus.  The show that night was very, very funny.   I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  I now understand how George's humor helped save Dalton's life.  

 

The next day at the Cub's game, an HBO film crew was following George around for a special he is taping.  He had invited Dolton and his family to take part and hang out with him in the Suite he had at the game.  George threw out a ceremonial pitch before the game and sang "Take me out to the Ball Park" during the 7th inning stretch.  He nailed the pitch (he said he had to because the fans will boo you if you throw it in the dirt) and he nailed the song for the 7th inning (did it just like the great Harry Carey used to do).  The fans really gave him a loud roar of approval.  The funnest part of the day was when the desert cart came to the suite.  George went over and started tossing candy apples, cookies, and other goodies down to the fans sitting in the box seats below.  They loved him for it!  Now, it would have been one thing if the food he handed out was free, but it wasn't.   He had to pay for it all, but he didn't care (Last time he did it, it cost him $300!)   The fun he had was worth every penny to him.  He made a lot of friends that day.

 

George has a new talk show debuting this fall on TBS.  At the comedy show on Friday, they played some clips from the pilot, and it was very entertaining.  I've grown tired of Conan O'Brien and David Letterman.  The clips from Georges show were fresh and hip, and he didn't sit behind a desk.  Instead, he and his guests say in a nice big lounge chairs right up front of the stage and he took questions from the audience.  I look forward to seeing his show when it debuts in the fall on TBS.  I hope you tune in too and support George.      

 

 

 

So last week I'm flipping through my hundreds of channels of Direct TV programming and can't find anything I want to watch... at least not anything that I don't have to pay on-demand to watch in four hour increments.  After several minutes of channel surffing,  I came across the 2007 Rob Reiner directed film, "The Bucket List" starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.  I didn't see it when it was in theaters, because it didn't really sound all that appealing, a film about two guys that are going to die.  How morbid.  But at 2 AM on a Wednesday night, going up against Paid Infomercials and re-runs of shows I've seen already, it was my best "free" option.  I put the remote control down and began to watch.

 

The movie is about two terminally ill patients who meet after being diagnosed with cancer.  Carter, played by Morgan Freeman, is an amature historian, who because he was "broke, black, and with a baby on the way" never made it past working at the McCreath Body Shop.  Edward, played by Jack Nicholson, is a four time divorced billionaire health care tycoon, with more money than he knows what to do with.  Anyway, to summarize, the two, knowing they are going to die soon, break out of the hospital and end up taking a round the world vacation doing everything they wanted to do before they "kick the bucket."   Not to give too much away and spoil it for those that haven't seen this movie, at the end of the film, the two friends, after they kick the bucket, end up interred in their own vintage tin can of "Chock Full of Nuts" coffee. 

 

After seeing the film, I thought to myself, yeah, if you're going to kick the bucket, why not spend eternity in an old coffee can as an urn?  I thought that it would be a pretty funny thing to do.  So I got on the internet in search of the same exact vintage Chock Full of Nuts Coffee Tin used in the film.  Apparently, these things aren't all that easy to find.  Turns out lots of other people that saw the movie had the same idea, and even the coffee's website has stories of people looking for the vintage can to bury their terminally ill family members and, sadly, not being able to find one. The vintage "Chock Full of Nuts Coffee Can" market has all but dried up since the Bucket List came out.  But with my hours and hours of experience doing Internet Searches... I finally located one of these rare cans for sale and quickly snapped it up.  Compared to the asking prices for vintage coffee cans of other brands on eBay, I got this thing for an incredibily good deal of $12.  (Asking price for other vintage cans start around $30).   I found my vintage "Chock Full of Nuts" Coffee Can on etsy.com,  an online marketplace for things "hand made."  I'm pretty sure this vintage coffee can wasn't hand made.  But I'm not going to complain to the etsy police.

 

Anyway, I can rest easy now that I have my very own vintage Chock Full of Nuts coffee can, the same exact kind used in the movie.  I can imagine that in time (hopefuly not any time soon), that my Chock full of Nuts tin can will be Chock full of Oliver.  Instead of ending up on top of a freezing mountain somewhere in the Himalayas, I hope to "witness something truly majestic" someplace warmer... and with a really truly majestic mountain view.  Perhaps somewhere on ipanema beach looking up at the mountains surrounding Rio de Janeiro or maybe somewhere else with an even more majestic view of mountains, like the dressing room in Le Crazy Horse Paris.  Where ever I end up, I guess the can needs to be labled, "Dead guy inside" so nobody decides open it up and drink me.  Then again, that would be pretty funny too. Liquid Oliver.  That is what the guys at the magic shop re-named a popular stinky prank product called "Liquid Ass".  If someone actually made Liquid Oliver, I wonder if it would smell/taste the same.  Depending what I had as my last meal... it just might. 

 

 

 

While in Dallas for work a couple weeks ago for work, the swine flu hysteria started.  The first confirmed death in the US occured in the area.  On TV, every newscast covering the breaking story showed scene after scene of frightened people in Mexico City wearing surgical masks to protect themselves from this new and possibly deadly virus that could possibly kill millions and millions of people and end all human life on earth as we know it.  The newspapers ran articles on N95 masks.  Serveral articles stated they really don't protect you, so hoarding the masks is a waste of time.  They said washing your hands is better.  Being the cynic that I am, I figured that the authors of those articles are only saying this to deter people from buying the masks so they have a fighting chance to get their orders in and delivered before the killer pandemic kills all the suckers who listened to their deceptive advice and didn't get any of the N95 respirators.  

  

Realizing that the news media has conspired to screw me over in their attempt to deprive me of my one and only chance to get these life saving N95 masks, I panicked.  I panicked big time.  I got on amazon.com and started ordering all the N95 respirator masks I could find.  I ordered from four different sources, figuring that if I'm freaked out and buying them, a whole bunch of other people must be trying to get their masks orders in also.  I was right.  One order was canceled the next day, saying they were out of stock, even though the website indicated they were definitely in stock when I ordered them.   I received another email saying another order was delayed because of the unbelievable surge in demand, and then later I got another email stating the delayed order was cancelled because they could not obtain new stock to fill my order (it was a big order of 6 boxes, 120 masks).  In response, I got on the Internet and started ordering more masks from even more vendors.  Well, it turns out I was smart to order from as many vendors as I could, because lots of sellers are out of stock and have no definite time frame in filling all the backorders.  Although most sellers screwed me over, about 1/3 of them did ship me my product. I now have approxiemately 200 surgical masks and another 120 N95 masks, and more orders are coming in each day.   I only hope what I do have is enough to last me though this pandemic.  

 

While researching N95 respirators, I discovered there are even more powerful and effective respirators called P100's.  Unlike N95's which only filter out 95% of the particulates, the P100's filter out nearly 100%!    The P100's are more expensive, but what the heck... You can only die from the swine flu once.  So I ordered 20 of these masks... which came in a big giant box.  The P100 masks cost 8 times more than the inferior N95, but they offer significantly more protection. I plan to use these bad boys when everyone around me is dropping dead like flies.    

 

I also considered ordering a reuseable, full faceplate, P100 respirator, but figured that my money is better spent obtaining a HAZMAT suit.  Ok, I admit, I did look into purchasing a Level A, vapor-tight total encapsulation HAZMAT suit, with a NIOSH-certified SCBA.  But further research uncovered the fact that you can't really wear these things for more than 15 - 20 minutes at time, as the air supply in the SCBA is limited.  A level A HAZMAT suit is really designed for short term use in extremely harzardous enviroments, like a chemical spill or fire.  Another deterent is cost, as these things go for about $5,000 a piece, so I'd need 72 of them to get through a full day at a cost of $360,000 dollars.  That's a lot of money.  Knowing full well that a full Level A HAZMAT suit cannot practially be worn 24/7 to protect me from the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, I ordered a more economical HAZMAT training suit, which simulates the look and feel of an actual HAZMAT suit, but offers absolutely no protection at all.  The training HAZMAT suit I bought looks pretty real, so I'm hoping that when I do don it, it would at least scare or intimidate the swine flu virus and make it decide to attack someone else.   If you can't actually protect yourself with a real HAZMAT suit, it is better to at least look as if you are protected with a training HAZMAT suit than to not wear a fake HAZMAT suit at all.

 

From Costco.com, I also ordered a 7 day emergency food supply.  The Alpineaire Food emergency 7 day gourmet food kit says it is naturally good food Anytime/Anywhere.  Under ideal conditions, the freeze dried food pouches can have up to a 15 year shelf life, supposedly taste delicious, and only need hot water to prepare in 10 minutes, or in an emergency, cold water can be used to re-hydrate the food in 30 minutes.  I'm sure that if I had to eat these things in an end-of-the world scenario, they will taste absolutely delicious because they are labeled as gourmet.  With the stockpile of bottled water I have left over from the Y2K disaster preperations I made 9 years ago and my trusty zippo lighter, I'll be eating fine food when the world ends.

 

I also have a pretty good stock of purell hand sanitizer and lysol (both aerosol spray and wipes).  I pretty much slather the Purell all over myself on a routine basis so I constantly have a nice layer of it shielding me from all germs and viruses.   Many people believe Howard Hughes was mentally ill at the end of his life... I think he was a genious, well ahead of his time and doing what needs to be done to protect himself from all the nasty microbes that will eventually kill us all. 

The great thing about my swine flu pandemic preperations and survival plan... it pretty much is the same thing I need to survive a zombie infestation, except my zombie attack survival plan also includes an aluminum baseball bat to knock the heads off any zombie stupid enough to attack me.  When it comes to swine flu and zombie infestations,  I'm pretty much covered.

Ok.  I haven't updated my blog in years.  People keep asking me, "When are you going to update your blog?"  I'm tired of hearing it.  So I'm back.   I'm going to start blogging again.   But I guess there's this big gap.  What have I been doing since August 27, 2006?  Let me explain, No, there is too much. Let me sum up. (quote from The Princess Bride, one of my favorite movies).

 

Yes. I finished the 2006 marathon.  More importantly, I helped raise a crap load of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for research for a cure for blood cancers.  Although I was certain I was going to finish in last, I didn't.  I was the 31,351 runner to finish.  I figured out that I'm not built to go 26.2 miles.  13.1 is more my distance. I have finished five half-marathons since then.  I plan on doing the inaugural Chicago Rock n Roll half marathon this August.

 

A month and a half prior to the 2006 Marathon, I got laid off.   This was the first time I'd ever been out of work.  It freaked me out not having a job, but it really was a blessing in disguise.  It gave me more time to train for the marathon.  I suddenly had a lot of free time on my hands, so I didn't have any excuses anymore.  When I wasn't job hunting, I was either volunteering or training.  If it wasn't for my goal of finishing the marathon, I don't know if I would have made it through the stress of finding a job.  Turns out I wasn't out of work very long.  I started my new job the Tuesday after Marathon Sunday.  I took that Monday in between to recover and do another WWE Wrestling wish escort for Make a Wish.   It took me a good week to fully recover. 

 

I spent a year working for a big bank negotiating IT contracts.  When the subprime mortgage crisis came up in late 2007... I figured I better get out of the financial industry.  I contacted a headhunting firm to start lining up interviews.  My first interview was with an IT Outsourcing firm.   It went very well and I accepted their offer.  I'm still working for them now, and I love it.  They treat me well and value my input.  The hours are long, but because I'm actually happy at what I'm doing, I don't mind it at all.

 

As for volunteering.  I'm still on the ADA Diabetes Walk Committee, on the board for HOBY Youth Leadership, and volunteering with Make-A-Wish.  Sunday before last I did magic for Children's Memorial Hospital Organ Transplant Celebrate Life party at Brookefield Zoo.  I truly enjoy doing magic at these events.  I have a lot of fun watching the looks of astonishment on the kid's faces.  And last Sunday, I volunteered at the Wish Ball.  It always is a late night, but I enjoy helping out at this event.  I'm going to run the Rock N' Roll Half with TNT this year.

 

The swine flu has got me freaked out.  I was in Dallas all last week for work, where the first death in the US occured due to swine flu. All week I saw pictures of people wearing masks in Mexico.  I started to panic and got on the Internet and started ordering N95 Masks.  I knew there was going to be a run on these things, so I ordered from four different suppliers, figuring that there will be problems getting my orders filled.  I was right.  One order was cancelled and another is delayed.  I ordered an emergency food supply kit from Costco.  While surfing the web learning how to protect myself from swine flu,  I discovered that there are even better respirator masks called P100's.  They cost more, but what the heck.  What good is money if you're dead?  So I ordered some of those masks too.  

 

Well... not much of a summary.  But that's all you're going to get.  No sense in talking about the past.  Blogs are about what's going on now.   Right now it's 12:35 AM, and I'm going to bed.

 

 

 

All last week, my feet had been hurting from the last long run… which was only 12 miles.  That session was a cut-back week, where we do less mileage.  Because of my trip to Florida, I didn’t do all the base miles during the week that I was supposed to do before the last long run.  So my feet have been hurting all last week.  Beginning a sixteen mile training run in pain probably isn’t a good idea, so I decided to take it nice and slow (slower than usual) and see how it goes.  My goal was to just go the distance, no matter how long it would take.  The point of the long runs is to get time on your legs to get them used to all the stress of a marathon without injuring yourself. 

Well… the farthest I’ve gone at the Waterfall Glen Forrest Preserve is from the Northgate Trail Head to the Outdoor Education Parking Lot, which is just a tenth of a mile farther than a half marathon at 13.2 miles.  Today I’d be going almost all the way around the 9.5 mile trail, going to the 8 mile marker and then turning around and heading back (counter-clockwise) to achieve the sixteen mile distance.  This trail has a lot of nice long descents and gentle hills, but they suck a whole lot coming back, as those easy descents become ass kicking climbs. 

When I finally got to the eight mile maker… I took a picture of it with my camera phone. I have a picture of every mile marker, except number 9, which I haven’t seen yet because I haven't gone far enough to see it.  As I stood there at the 8 mile marker, I thought about continuing on clockwise around the trail, as from where I stood, my car was only 1.5 miles away going clock-wise on the trail, but if I turned around and went back the way I came, it was eight miles away.  I decided to do the eight miles, a decision I knew I would eventually curse and regret, but if I’m going to do 26.2 miles in October, I have to be able to do 16 miles now.

My feet hurt pretty much the whole time on the trail. But by mile 12, my feet really started to bother me and I cursed my decision to do the full 16, when I turned around at mile marker 8.  Instead of a dull, constant pain in my feet, it turned into sharp, piercing pain.  Each step felt like walking on pins and needles.  I had no choice but to march onward.  They can’t bring an ambulance on the trail, so I’d have to make it back to the trail head all by myself. By mile fourteen, I had to bite my tongue to help dull the pain in my feet.  I know those last two miles of the trail very well, and knew exactly where I was and how much farther it would be to make it back.  By the last mile, I felt like a glacier… moving so slowly you can’t even tell.  Each step was, in medical terminology, "exquisite tenderness". The last mile hurt more than the first 15 all together.  When I finally made it back to the trail head, I had no feeling in my legs.  When I got home, I lay down on the couch and just stared at my dog Happy, who sat next to me and stared back.  I hurt so bad, I couldn’t even fall asleep. Normally my dog would beg me to take him for a walk, but he could tell I was in a lot of pain, so he just sat there looking at me.  That’s pretty much how I spent the afternoon, trying to recover. In the evening, I took an ice batch.  It was freezing cold and I suffered some extreme shrinkage… like a turtle, the head was definitely inside the shell.  

Now it is Sunday morning, the day after, and remarkably, I feel a whole lot better (but haven't fully recoved from the ice bath, my nuts are still somewhere near my kidneys, I'm hoping they'll drop down to normal sometime today)..  I’m still sore, but I’m not in extreme pain anymore. Today I’m supposed to do an hour of cross training.  I wonder if sitting on the couch and watching preseason football all afternoon counts?   Oh well, next week the fun begins again, and we get to do 18 miles.  If I felt like I was going to die after just 16 miles this week, I really wonder how I'm going to feel after 18 this Saturday?  Going the full 26.2 still seems like a fantasy at this point... but the Chicago Marathon is a pretty flat course (no hills!) and it will be significantly cooler in October.  (At least that's what I keep telling myself).

So last Saturday we were supposed to go 12 miles for our marathon training.   Because I’m really slow, I got to Waterfall Glen really early at 5:15 AM, to get a head start and also to beat the heat.  The forecast was in the upper 90s, and I have no hair on my head… so I don’t want to get sunburn by being in the sun too long.

Anyway, this time I remembered the bug spray, so I didn’t get eaten alive.  I also didn’t want to get bitten by a deer tick and get Lyme disease, so I sprayed myself pretty well.  I also wore my Brook’s highly reflective hat, to help when the sun came out and to ensure any deer running on the path can see me.  I also learned not to drink so much water before I start, as I always seem to need to duck off the trail and relieve myself around mile 2.5.

I have heard about the “big hill” around mile 5 that everyone hates.  It is a long decent going clock-wise on the trial, but after you go down it, you must come back up it to get back.  Everyone says it sucks going up it.   I have never gone that far on the trail to experience the beast, but today was the day of reckoning, and I’d have to confront it.  Another reason I like leaving early is that if I have any difficulty on the trail, my teammates will eventually find me when they catch-up and can get help if I need it.  But I’m a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy, so I brought my cell phone too, just in case.

I saw nine deer on the trail, the most I’ve ever seen during a training.   The best time to see them is really early in the morning and I saw them all before 6 AM.  One deer stood on the edge of the trail and stared at me as I went by.  I kept waiting for it to take off and run, but it just stood there and looked at me.   As I approached, I kept waiting for it to run away, but it didn’t.  I imagined it was waiting for me to get close so it can charge at me and take a big bite out of my head and give me Lyme disease directly… but it didn’t.   I passed it by and it just stood there looking at me, probably wondering why my head is bald.  It guess it didn’t consider me a threat, as I do move pretty slowly, like a snail.

Anyway, after I passed mile marker four, I was venturing into unknown territory. Each time the trail split to a decision point, I had to stop and check the map to make sure I went the right way.  I was feeling pretty good, so far. The sun was up, but it wasn’t too hot yet.  And the trail at this point was mostly downhill.  The only problem was a swarm of flies and bugs that I ran into near mile five.  I actually sprinted out of there to get away from them.

Eventually, I came up to some long, weird cement like wall.  Behind the wall, it looked like there was an old burned out structure.  It kind of reminded me of the Blair Witch Project and started freaking me out.  The sun didn’t seem to be shining here and an odd, chilly gust of wind cut through the hot muggy air as I thought about that horror movie. It was still early, and I hadn’t seen anyone on the trial for at least 20 minutes, so I started moving a little faster to get as far from that freaky spot as possible.  I wasn’t really frightened.  No really, I wasn’t.  I just didn’t want to die.

Eventually, I ran into some folks on bikes.  Normally I hate those bastards, because I’m scarred they will slam into me and run me over.  But it was sure nice to see someone else on the trail.  I kind of laughed as I thought about how those bikers are heading towards the freaky spot, until I realized I would eventually have turn around and pass it again on the way back.

When I got the six mile marker I was so happy that I took out my camera phone and took a picture of it to prove to all that I really did make it that far.  To celebrate,  I opened up a gel packet and ate one for the first time.  It was absolutely terrible, but I knew I needed the carbohydrate boost to make it home, so I sucked out every last bit out of the packet, then washed it down with some Gatorade from my hydration belt-bottle. 

Then, maybe from the fatigue, heat, or that nasty gel packet, I started thinking crazy thoughts.  I realized that to actually do a half marathon, I would only need to go another .6 miles further down the trail instead of turning around now.  If I did that, I would have gone 13.2 miles, which is a little longer than half a marathon distance.  I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go for it. 

Using my Garmin Forerunner GPS, I discovered that the Outdoor Education Center Parking lot is exactly 6.6 miles from the Northgate Trailhead.  I took a picture of the Information Board to prove I was there. Then I turned around and headed back.  I was little more tired and the sun was out, but I knew that if I didn’t die on the way back, I’d be accomplishing a huge milestone, a half marathon.

I ran into some of the faster TNT runners on the way back and greeted them.  They started at 6:45 AM and just now were catching up with me.  Many were surprised to see me so far out on the trail already and wondered when the hell I started.  I joked and said I started last night around sundown.  As slow as I am, I think they believed me.

 

Anyway, I got some water at mile marker 4… and it helped a lot.  By now the sun was out and it was really hot out.  This reminded me of when I was a kid, I would conduct scientific experiments by aiming focused electromagnetic radiation through a lens onto groups of Formicidae crawling around outside.  In other words, I would burn ants alive on the sidewalk with a magnifying glass.  Today I know how it feels and now I feel bad about doing that to those poor ants. 

That last mile was a killer.  With the heat and fatigue, I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it back.  I had slowed to stagger, barely able to move at all.  At the bridge about 75 yards from the trail head, my Garmin GPS went off, sounding an alarm to indicate I had finished a half marathon, done 13.1 miles.  Problem was, the damn thing was stuck and wouldn’t turn off.  I pressed all the buttons to try and reset it, but to no avail.  The alarm wasn’t very loud, but just loud enough to be annoying and make me want to smash the thing to get it to stop.  After others tried to reset it, I ended up tossing it in the trunk of my car so I didn’t have to listen to it on the drive home.  (Eventually, at home, I found the directions and was able to get the proper sequence of resetting the damn thing… I lost all the training data of my first half marathon, but at least I have the pictures I took of mile marker six and the outdoor education center info board). 

Anyway, Jen Earl met me at the Trial Head with her daughter Emily. Emily is the main reason why I am doing the marathon.  She came down with Leukemia last November and I joined TNT to raise money for medical research for Leukemia and other blood cancers.  Jen dropped off the remaining checks and cash from the Fundraiser we did on July 9th.  Many of my TNT teammates were happy to meet Emily, one of our patient honorees for the West Team.  Jen pointed out that with my bald head, Emily now had more hair than I did.  Emily laughed at me when she realized that fact. I told Emily that I hope my hair grows back blonde.  She laughed again.  Then I said, I just hope it grows back.

I was so encouraged by going the distance of a half marathon, I decided to re-join TNT for the winter season and do the P.F. Chang’s Rock N Roll Half Marathon in January.   I realize that that event is half the distance I’m trying to do in October, but hey, I’ll be almost three whole months older by then.

Yesterday was the 10 mile long run milestone.  I've never gone that distance before.  The weather was forecasted to be very hot and humid... so I knew this training session was going to suck a lot.  As I'm a walker, I knew it would take me a lot longer to go that distance than everyone else.  So I got up at 4:30 AM and got to Waterfall Glen at 5 AM sharp to get some miles in before the official start.
 
I almost took out the chain sealing off the main parking lot when I got to Waterfall Glen.  The forest preserve rangers are supposed to open the gate 1 hour after sun up.  The sun wasn't up yet.  I parked in the small auxiliary lot near Cass Ave, then ate a Power Bar and guzzled down about 24 ounces of an energy drink to give me enough fuel for the training session.  I went to the path head, turned on my Garmin Forerunner GPS to track my time and distance, and took off.
 
The goal was to go 2 miles out and come back by 6:30 AM, so I'll have 4 miles done before everyone else starts at 6:45 AM.   Then I'll only need to do 6 more miles. 
 
I really like starting early... as I have the path all to myself... actually myself and a few thousand bugs and mosquitoes.  I forgot the bug spray, so I got bit a few times. Yuck.  Anyway, its better than the humiliation of hearing "On your left" as packs of runners pass me by and the fear of a maniac bike rider crashing into you from behind when the path gets crowded. 
 
These four miles weren't too bad at first, problem came at mile 3.  I drank too much fluid and had to pee really bad. I tried to hold it, but it was not to be.  So I pissed on a big tree near mile marker 1 on the way back to meet everyone for the "official start" of practice.   This made me think about how I am supposed to relieve myself during the marathon?   Not many places you can drop your shorts and go. Maybe I'll just wear a big diaper.
 
Anyway, I got the four miles in before the group training started.  I've been to mile marker 3 before, so I knew I can get there and back without dying.  When I eventually got to mile marker three, I slapped it with my hand like I was playing tag.  I had a big grin on my face.  A girl in a pack of CARA (Chicago Area Runner's Association) runners yelled out, "Yeah!  You made it!" when I touched the mile marker and turned around.  I yelled back, "Now that I'm here, how am I supposed to get back to my car?"
 
At the 2.5 mile point, where the path cuts over on a road, I stopped to get some water left by the TNT coaches.  One thing I like about joining TNT, they put out water for us at various places for training.  I'm glad, because I really needed it today due to the heat.  I hydrated to ensure I don't overheat.  The sun was out and it was like a sauna out there. 
 
With about a mile left to go in my 10 mile training day, I was passed by one of my TNT teammates who yelled out "Good job Oliver! You're doing great." as she passed me up.  It was good to see her doing well, as last Wednesday during the speed training at the Glenbard South High School Track, she had problems and had to stop. But when I finally got back and finished, she was in the back bed of one of the coach's trucks.  Apparently the heat got to her after she passed me and she was suffering from heat exhaustion.  She ended up having to go to the hospital on an ambulance.
 
Another reason why I like training with TNT, is they have a sign-in and sign-out sheet.  If at the end of the training someone isn't signed back in, the coaches will go out and look for that person.  It is nice to know that if I go down on the trail, someone will eventually be looking for me.  It is reassuring to know that people will call an ambulance and take care of you if you need it.
 
But the best part about training with TNT is having the teammates.  I look forward to the group trainings to see everyone and hear how their fundraising events are going.   It also is nice to have people yell out encouragement when I feel like quitting. 
 
Amazingly, I did the full 10 miles and didn't die.  The heat made it very uncomfortable, but I felt a lot better than the last time I went 8 miles, when I went home, passed out, and slept all day.  I couldn't do that this time, as I had to go to my friend' s wedding at 2 PM.  And it turned out that sitting in that boiling hot church with no air conditioning and wearing a dress shirt and tie was even more brutal than the 10 mile long run.
 

Since joining Team in Training, I finally did my first race, a four mile race, run by the Glen Ellyn Park District.  This is the first organized running event for me. My goal was simply to finish before it got dark and the fireworks show started.  I’m pretty sure I can do that.  At least that’s how I felt before the race started.

I’m really a “walker,” meaning I do a lot more walking than running… averaging a very slow 18 to 20 minute per mile pace.  I need to get that pace down to a 14 minute mile by October in order to finish the Chicago Marathon under the 6.5 hour time limit.  I’m like an overweight elephant stomping around in motion control New Balance running shoes. At 5’5” and 220 pounds, I’m not going to break any land speed records, but I will leave my mark, in the form of a few pot holes in the road after my feet have pounded the crap out of the pavement. 

Before the race started, I went over to the Team-In-Training Table to say hi to my other friends in TNT running the race today.  I put my bag with my cell phone under the table and asked Val (The TNT Race Crew Captain) to keep an eye on it, and to take it home with her if I’m not back before everyone leaves to watch the parade.  She laughed at me, but I wasn’t kidding.

Anyway, the race began at 8 AM sharp, starting behind the Football Stadium at Glenbard West High School.  Like an idiot, I started running fast with everyone at the front of the pack.  I knew going out too fast is a mistake a novice runner often makes, but I got all caught up in the excitement of my first race. I know I can’t run that fast, at least not for very long.  I also didn’t tie my running shorts on tight enough, and with all the movement, my running shorts started to slowly ride down my butt.  I didn’t want to inadvertently start streaking everyone… so about a half mile into the race, I went off the road onto the grass and did a quick retie.  While retying my running shorts, I realized I was breathing very, very hard. I glanced at my heart rate monitor and also noticed my heart was beating at 202 beats per minute.  I also noticed that I wasn’t feeling very good, just like when the doctor stopped my echo stress test because my heart rate was too high and didn’t want to risk a stroke. 

Wisely, I decided to stop running and begin walking at a brisk pace to get my heart rate down.  I felt like an old man on the highway, going five miles under the speed limit while everyone else passes me by and cursing me for being a road hazard.  Within a few minutes, nearly everyone running passed me by and the lead pack was long out of my sight.  A very humbling experience, but I reminded myself why I was here today and to not quit.  I can’t quit.  It’s only four miles.  I can't quit.

At the two mile mark, about 30 minutes into the race, a driver in a park district truck pulled up next to me, saw that I was struggling, and asked me if I was alright.  At this point, as far as I could tell, I was dead last.  I looked at him and said, “I’m alright.  I’m going to finish or die trying (or did I say try dying… I can’t remember).” He looked at me and said, “You’re going to finish, even if I have to pick you up and carry you across the finish line.”  I smiled and snapped back, “Don’t tempt me, You’re pretty cute and I may take you up on your offer. But I don't think you can carry me that far.”  A few moments later, after he stopped laughing, I said, “Keep your truck right behind me, and if I quit or cut the course short, I want you to run me over.”   He laughed again, but I wasn’t kidding.

At the next intersection, a block over, I could see runners heading back in the other direction towards the High School.  A race volunteer in the intersection asked me if I wanted to cut over, as a couple of the walkers had done earlier.  I told him, “No way, that guy in the truck behind me is going to run me over if I do that!”  He laughed, but I wasn’t kidding.

I’m glad I didn’t cut the course short, because at the next water area, a little kid came up to me and said, “I saved the penny.  I got the penny!  I got the penny!”  Confused, I looked at him and said, “What are you talking about?”  I wondered if I was losing it and needed medical attention.  What penny is he talking about?  He said, “You’re the magician!  I remember you. You turned my penny into a giant one. I saved it.”  Then I remembered.  He must have seen me last week at the Diabetes Camp, when I did a magic show for them.  I took some of the water he was handing out and thanked him for remembering me.  “Thanks for the "magic" water my good friend.  I feel much better now.” And I started running fast again, at least until he couldn’t see me anymore. 

Although many of the runners had already finished the race, a few spectators along the course were still there cheering.  They were cheering for me, as I was the only participant as far as the eye could see. Hearing them cheer me on definitely helped a lot and made me feel better about being last.

I would joke back with them, “Someone’s got to come in last, so why not me?”  or “I’ll see you next year…  when I finish.” And my favorite, “Now I know how it feels to be the Chicago Cubs.”

Just as the earth eventually circles the sun, in time, I made it back to the Football stadium.  I thought to myself, I’ve gone through an awful lot of effort to get back to exactly where I started.  I should have never left.

At the turn off the road and into the stadium, I  thanked the guy in the park district truck for keeping an eye on me and making sure I finished.   Like a glacier, I slowly stumbled onto the race track and finally crossed the finish line.  I was dead last!  Yes, I’m proud to be the last.  Surprisingly, it took me only 62 minutes to go the entire four miles, which is better than I’ve ever done before.  In the big picture, that’s a pretty pathetic time.  But for me, I’ll take it.  It’s a miracle for me to even have finished, as I couldn’t even go half a mile the first day training.  I'm going farther and faster than I ever thought possible for me. I'm not at the 14 minute pace yet, but I'm getting there.

Later on at the TNT table, I proudly told everyone, “I came in last place!”   At that time, the driver in the park district pick-up truck was helping take down a sign and he overheard me.  He came over and said, “Actually, you didn’t come in last.  Two people finished after you did. You should be happy you weren't last.”  I said, “Damn. I wanted to be last.  No one ever remembers the guy who came in third from last.  If you’re going to suck, you may as well suck the most.  Oh well, there’s always next year.”  He laughed, but I’m not kidding.  

I learned my lesson.  Next year, I won’t start out running so fast.

Actually, I really did more than 242 hours, as I could have counted all the time training with the Team In Training for the Marathon and the driving, plus I put a lot more time here and there for the two upcoming HOBY seminars, just didn't get around to tracking it all and blogging about it.  Anyway, my original goal was 100 hours volunteering from June 5, 2005 to June 5, 2006. I  have more than doubled that goal.

 

At the HOBY leadership seminar last year, we asked that all the students do 100 hours of community service within the next year.  Many complained that it is too hard a goal.   I didn't think it was really unreasonable, so to prove it, I agreed to make the same committment.   I won't ask anyone to do something I wouldn't do. So I tracked my hours on this blog and wrote about each volunteering experience.  I didn't volunteer any more than I usually do, and I didn't exagerate or pad the time either.  I honestly volunteered all 242 of those hours (and more as I didn't track all my volunteering).

 

So if a busy attorney working full time can find the time to volunteer 242 hours in one year, then why can't a High School Student that has summer off do it too?  I honestly don't know.  Anyone can volunteer 100 hours of community service if they make it a priority and just do it.  I had a lot of fun, met some cool people, and have some great memories of my experience volunteering this past year.   I got to help a lot of great people too.

 

Maybe next year's goal will be be 250 hours volunteered.   I already know I can do it.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois asked me to volunteer to do magic at the Heart Institute for Children's summer picnic in Pioneer Woods, Palos IL.   When they ask and I can fit it into my schedule, I always volunteer.  I have never volunteered at this event before, so I thought it would be a nice, new experience.

 

The problem was, the picnic started Saturday at 11 AM and I have marathon training for Team in Training on Saturday mornings, starting at 8 AM.  I was scheduled to run 5 miles, which at my slow pace, could take a while and I'd be pretty tired after that. So I probably wouldn't be able to get to the picnic on time if I were to volunteer.  The solution was for me to get up at 5 AM, and run early and finish before 8 AM (so I could turn in my fundraising letters and hand out brochures for Emily's Party to raise money for Leukemia Research).  So I got up at 4 AM, got my dog fed and walked, and got my magic equipment all set-up and packed, and then drove out to the Illinios Prairie Path to do my early morning run. At 5:30 AM, its not too hot out yet and the path is pretty empty.  But there are bugs and mosquitos flying around.  Yuck.  I must be crazy to get up so early to do this, but what the heck.

 

I brought my Garmin Forerunner 301 with me for the run.  It is this fancy, schmancy GPS reciever and heart rate monitor.  It records my location and movement, pace, heart rate, and distance traveled. I can later download the information and play it back on my computer to see how slow I run and how hard my heart is working.  A very useful training aid for me... which helps me understand how much faster I'm going to need to run if I'm going to finish the marathon before the 6.5 hour limit. 

 

I started this early monrning workout at a brisk walking pace and after I was warmed up, then I started a slow jog.  It was really nice running on the nearly empty path.  It is easier to run earilier without the fear of getting run over by a maniac bike rider or have the constant humiliation of hearing "On your left" as yet another runner passes me by.  Anyway, the first time I went this distance, I passed out and slept the whole day after I was finished.  This time, I felt great and not really tired at all.  Slowly but surely, I'm starting to believe I will be able to finish the marathon this October. 

 

The TNT marathon training coaches taught us to keep good form when running.  If you don't keep your hands up and relaxed, they will swell up and start hurting a lot on longer runs.  Sometimes novice runners keep their hands down or clinch them up in a tight fist, which can cause painful swelling.   They taught us to keep our hands loose, with the thumb and forefinger lightly touching, like you are holding a potato chip.  I like potato chips, so throughout the whole 5 miles, I keep thinking about potato chips as I kept my hands loose and up.  I kept thinking about nice salty potato chips.  Umm Ummm.... My hands didn't swell up because I couldn't stop thinking about potato chips.

 

Anyway, I finished just before 7AM, I stretched and waited around until people started showing up for the 8 AM trianing session.  I brought a bunch of flyers for Emily's party, so my TNT team mates can get an update and I turned in some more fundraising letters to take advantage of the free postage incentive.  After everyone took off to start their training run, I headed back home to shower and get ready for the picnic.  I was amazed that I was feeling pretty good after the workout... I thought I'd be wiped out. I went home, got a quick shower and change of clothes, and drove south to Palos, IL.

 

When I got to the picnic, I was surprised to see how big it was.  There were about 500 kids there.  I couldn't believe how many kids were there. It was amazing.  They had lots of fun stuff going on.  A "snake and reptile" show was going on, they had a DJ playing music for line dancing and hula hoop contest, clowns were doing face painting, they had a cool train driving around giving everyone  rides, and I walked around and did magic.  The kids I did magic for had a lot of fun.  I did the old "squeaker" trick on one girl, who was completely fooled.  I enjoyed watching her be astonished so much, I gave her the secret "squeeker" and taught her how to do the trick for her friends.  Her mom thanked me, saying she hasn't seen her daugher so excited and happy in long time.  That comment alone made the trip worth it. After about an hour walking around doing magic, I started getting tired, so I sat down in my picnic chair and broke out the balloon animals.

 

At first, not many kids came by, because I set-up on the other side of all the activities, so I was kind of hidden. But as kids I made balloon animals for started walking around the picnic, word quickly spread and a big line started forming.   I don't think I have ever made so many balloon animals at one event in my life.  Each time I looked at the line, it seemed to be getting even longer. I kept plugging away at it making animals at a furious pace.  Most kids wanted swords, balloon dogs to tie on their wrists, balloon hats, and I also had some requests for a monkey, rabbit, heart, and even fish.  It was fun seeing their eye's light up as they watched me twist the balloons.

 

Near the end, my hands started cramping up and hurting, but the line was so long, I couldn't stop and take a break.  Eventually, 3PM came, when the picnic was supposed to end.  Even still, as they were breaking down the tents and piling up the chairs, I still had kids coming over asking for balloon animals.  I can't stand to see a kid cry or go away upset, so I stayed until every last kid that wanted a balloon got one.  I was pretty damn tired by the time I left, but I was pretty proud of myself.  I did 5.1 miles earlier in the day and got the opportunity to make a lot of kids happy at the picnic.   I was supposed to be at a barbeque at the magic shop at 3PM, but because I stayed almost 45 minutes after the picnic was supposed to end, by the time I got to the magic shop, all the burgers and hot dogs were gone.  But I did have some leftover potato chips... and I was really happy to eat a bunch of them.  I hadn't eating anything all day.  And thinking about potato chips so much this morning during my run, I ate them with good running form.

 

For more information about the Heart Institute for Children, please visit:

 

  

 

Last Wednesday I drove out to Sycamore after work to do a site visit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fundraiser I'm doing with the Earl Family.  The party originally was going to be at the Earl's house, but as we started planing, we realized we were going to need a bigger place, as the expected number of antendees has exploaded.  Lance asked the business association where his offices are if it would be ok to have the party at his offices, and they approved it.  Jennifer has recuited her sister, her sister's husband, her mom, her mom's friend, her sister-in-law, and two mothers of Emily's clasemates to help on the party "committee". 

 

The Sycamore Fire Department not only agreed to bring a fire truck over for the kids to see, but also will be donating and cooking a Pig for the party.  We have a DJ and "bounce house" and tables and chairs donated. We have already gotten some businesses to donate things for the party and I'm pulling in some favors from friends to get donations too.  Everyone I've asked to help donate or do something has agreed to do so.

 

I brought some flyers to the marathon training yesterday and everyone on TNT is excited about the party.  It looks like we're going to have a really great party.

 

A website has been setup for the party and this is the URL:

 

So its been two weeks since I cancelled my cable TV and broadband internet access.  Surprisingly, after I got over the initial shock of nothing coming up on the TV when I turned it on... I've gotten used to not watching it.  After years and years of planting my ass on the couch for hours at a time when I got home from work, I now am doing more productive things like organizing my library, cleaning out old clutter, doing yard work, and even exercising more.  In order for me to watch the White Sox play, I have been going to the health club and getting on a treadmill.  As long as the game doesn't go into extra innings, I hardly notice I'm exerciing.  I also have been driving out to Panera bread to use their free wireless Internet, so I'm still able to watch my White Sox and surf the internet without having to pay anything extra.  I'm going to the health club alot more often.   I worked out at the health club more times the last two months than I did all of last year. 

 

This is also the second official week of the fall marathon season for TEAM in Training.  This week's training was at Waterfall Glen in Darien, IL. This beautiful forest preserve surrounds Argonne National Laboratory, where high tech nuclear energy research is conducted.  It is kind of weird knowing that Waterfall Glen surrounds a highly secretive nuclear reaseach laboratory. 

 

Anyway, marathon training didn't start until 8 AM, but I got to Waterfall Glen around 6:45 AM because parking fills up very fast.  Since I was there early, I decided to workout on my own and leave early.   I started at a brisk pace and kept it up the entire time.  I remember the first time I exercised at Waterfall Glen, which has some nice hills, and it wiped me out.  After a few months of training, I can cover the same distance in almost half the time.  I have noticed that I have a lot more stamina and energy.   I also ran a report on my blood glucose monitor and my blood glucose average has steadily been going down. 

 

I'm actually starting to believe I will be able to finish the Chicago Marathon this October.  I'm glad I started the "early-bird" training with TEAM in Training, as I'm in a lot better shape now than I have been in a long, long time and have a leg up on the marathoners that have only started training last Saturday.

 

 

A couple weeks ago I decided to figure out how much time I waste watching cable TV and surfing on the internet.  I was surprised to discover I averaged about 5 hours each night watching TV and/or surfing the Internet.   Instead of doing things that I wanted to get done, I was wasting my time screwing around on the Internet or watching TV shows I've already seen.  So I decided to try an exeriment... to go back into the stone age and go a summer without cable and highspeed internet access.... I cut the cable.  I think it is obscence that I pay over $130 a month for these services... which mainly just distract me from doing other important things. (Not saying that surfing the web for more porn isn't important, just that its not the best use of my time.) 

 

So I decided to cut the cable.  It has been a week and a half so far, and I really don't miss it.  I do miss the convenience of not being able to quickly look things up on the Internet, like mapquest directions... but I have discovered the local Panera down the street has free wireless access.  So if I need to get on-line, a quick drive to Panera Bread gets me my Internet fix.  Anyway, last time I used mapquest (to get to the Diabetes Walk in Pilcher Park), it gave me directions to go down a closed road. D'oh!

 

If I want to watch TV, I can always go to the health club, which now has flast screen TV monitors on each treadmill, bike, eliptacle, and rowing machine.  (I belong to a really nice health club). 

 

This forced exile into the stone age has enabled me to get a lot more stuff done, and has helped me with my marathon training... As when I want to watch the White Sox play, I have gone to the health club and exercised while I watched the game.  And I'm saving a lot money not paying for the Internet access and Cable.   

 

In fact, I'm sitting in Panera Bread right now, using their free wireless Internet access. I even called the parents in Florida on Skype and talked for free, using Skype's free Internet calling and using Panera's free wireless access.  Its all Free. Although it isn't as convenient as surfing at home, at least I won't be suring or watching inane TV shows at 3 AM or surfing the Internet anymore.  Now I just need to figure out how to get around the content filters at Panera.

 

Nice.

I volunteered to help out with the ADA's Walk for Diabetes in Joliet. I had planed to be there at 5:30 AM to help set-up, but my alarm clock failed to go off (because I set it wrong).  I woke up at 6:00 AM and realized I was late.  Luckily I had spent some time preparing last night, so everything I needed, directions and all, was ready.

 

I didn't want to leave my dog alone all day, so I put him in his travel crate and loaded him in the car. I knew there would be other dogs there, so it would be goof for Happy to socialize with them.

 

I don't know the South Chicago suburbs very well, so I was depending on Map Quest to get me to Pilcher park... it let me down.  The I-355 extension construction has comopletely closed Gougar Road, the road that was supposed to take me to the park entrance... So I had to turn the car around and find an alternate route.  I had no idea where I was and where I was supposed to go.  I ended up stopping at a gas station and asking for directions.  This detour made me delayed me 1/2 hour.. but I got there around 7:15 AM.

 

Just about everything was already setup, so I met Jaime from the ADA and asked her if I could do anything to help.  She told me to help with registration.  I have worked registration at ADA walks before, and it can get pretty hectic getting everyone all signed in and their fundraising forms all turned in on time before the walk starts.  I was impressed to see so many walkers that turned out for the walk, but this made the registration job a little harder. 

 

Happy, my dog, had a lot of fun.  He loves being petted and lots of people wanted to pet him.  Even the ADA staff invited him back to future walks and events, and said I could come along too.

 

Anyway, there was a booth from Becton Dickinson and Co, makers of diabetic supplies.  The lady there gave me a new blood glucose meter.  It requires even less blood than my current meter, so I decided to give it a try.  It was free, so why not?  These Meters usually cost about $50.00, so it was nice to get one for free.

 

My sister lives in Joliet, so she brought my neice and nephew to the walk.  Although they couldn't stay to do the walk, they did volunteer to help greet walkers for the walk. 

 

I'm hoping the St. Charles walk I'm helping plan has a good turnout like this walk.  The weather was perfect.  Not too hot, but nice and sunny. 

 

 

Last Wednesday was the Walk for Diabetes - St. Charles Walk Committee meeting.  It was held at Panera Bread in St. Charles.  The previous two monthly meetings were cancelled, so it was important that I attended this meeting.  The last meeting, we only had two volunteers plus two ADA staff, so we needed to recruit a lot more people to make this walk a success.

 

I recruited Jennifer Earl, and she agreed to help out.  In a "quid pro quo" exchange, she decided to help the Diabetes folks because I'm a diabetic. And I'm running the Chicago Marathon this October to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma research, because her daughter has Leukemia.  I'm commited to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and am training nearly every day to run this marathon... I'm really sore all the time.  Jennifer just needs to addend a few monthly meetings and do some work on the planing and organization of the event.  Not that the work Jennifer is doing isn't as hard, somehow I think Jennifer made out better in this, but that's ok.  Her help is necessary as the Diabetes Walk cannot be a success without everyone's help.

 

Anyway, Jaime from ADA and the other committee members have recruited well, and the committee now has about 10 volunteer members, which is pretty good.  With the added help, I don't feel all the pressure on volunteering I had when there just two volunteers.  We had a lot of information to cover, but the meeting went well.

 

After the meeting, Jennifer and I talked about the fundraising party we're going to throw for Emily.   She had talked to her husband Lance about moving the party to his office, which has a bigger space and a lot more parking.  He has to get permissing from the city to have the party there, hopefully they will let us to do it.  The party planing is going along well, and Jennifer has already secured a DJ and bounce house.  I'm working on getting some entertainment, I'm going to ask some magicians I know to help out with entertainment. 

 

And we also talked a little about the Jr. Staff for the HOBY Seminar.  The Junior Staff are < 21 students that have attended the hoby seminar, that volunteer throughout the weekend in various roles.  I'm supposed to be in charge of the Jr. Staff this year, which goes against my goal of eschewing all responsibility.   Jennifer, as the Alumni Advisor for HOBY, has been in charge of Jr. Staff the past few years, so she gave me some tips from her experience. 

 

Jaime from the ADA said there is a Walk for Diabetes scheduled this Sunday in Joliet.  Since I had nothing planed to do at 5:30 AM this Sunday, I volunteered to help set-up.  I like the folks at the ADA, so I'm always happy to help them.