RUN FOR THE ZOO - I MADE IT!

This morning I completed the 10K (6.2 miles) at the Run for the Zoo here in Albuquerque, NM! Another TeamQuest training milestone. Now I only have 6.9 miles to go until I'm ready for the half marathon (13.1 miles) on June 5 when I go to the Suja Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

IS THIS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE DYSLEXIA?

I had an unforgettable experience while I was in Towson, Maryland for the annual IDA Branch Council Meeting, (a strategic planning marathon for branch presidents of the International Dyslexia Association). I was running at Towson University across the street from the Marriott where we all were staying when I spotted this unusual lawn sculpture.

At first I thought it was just a piece of interesting abstract art, but as I continued running, I saw the image from a slightly different angle. The lawn sculpture seemed to be taking on some sort of form.

It wasn't until I was directly in front of the design that I realized it was a word!


Now I don't presume to know what it feels like to have dyslexia. It is such a multi-faceted experience,  but I couldn't help but wonder if I had just caught a tiny glimpse of what it might be like to be a struggling reader.

At first the pattern on the lawn made no sense at all. It was impossible to extract any meaning. Then it started to take shape, but still held no meaning for me. I was totally in the dark. When the symbols finally all came together, it was a revelation to realize I was reading a word. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have this type of experience with every single word I tried to decode... every day... 24/7, but many of my students understand this all too well.

I guess that's basically the reason why I'm involved with the International Dyslexia Association and why I'm participating in the TeamQuest fundraiser to raise money for the important work of IDA. It's certainly not because I'm a runner.

I'm sort of turning into one though, and I've got to say, it's adding an interesting dimension to my travels. I've been doing a lot of traveling the past couple of months, but I'm still managing to keep up with my half marathon training. I squeezed in a four mile run around this lake with my daughter when I was in Colorado on April 9.

Two weeks before that I went on an early morning run through Seaport Village in San Diego on March 28.

Two days before that I did nearly 7 miles (half walk, half run) in the California Dessert on March 26th. Setting a goal to run a half marathon has been an amazing experience for someone who could barely run half a mile two months ago. It just goes to show that the challenges that are the hardest for us are the ones that are often the most worthwhile.

As part of my training, in two days I'll be participating in the Run for the Zoo 10K. I couldn't be doing any of this without the support and encouragement of my friends and family. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this crazy journey.

If you'd like to know more about why I'm involved with TeamQuest and/or would like to contribute to IDA through this amazing fundraiser, please visit my page at Carolee's TeamQuest Page.

Run for the Zoo

I'm really a glutton for punishment. In addition to signing up for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in San Diego on June 5 as part of TeamQuest, I also signed up for the 10K Run for the Zoo on May 1 here in Albuquerque. I needed some inspiration after being sick for a week with the flu and getting off of my training schedule. I'm back on track now.  Run for the Zoo is a great fundraiser for our local zoo, plus it will be a good mid way goal as I aim for the half marathon in June.

I'm doing all of this to help raise money for the International Dyslexia Association and our local New Mexico branch. I'm certainly NOT doing it because I'm athletic in any way. This past year our local branch was able to provide college and career scholarships to three students with dyslexia. We also put on a big conference for teachers, parents, and students every February with speakers from around the country.

See my FUNDRAISING PAGE to see how you may contribute.

My Saturday morning run in the foothills was a little rough after being home sick. Downhill was great, but uphill was a real challenge.

In previous posts I have mentioned that I'm getting the feeling that my running app is spying on me. Saturday when I was running with Brenda in the foothills, I said, "I'd really like some tie-dyed running pants." When I got home I had a message from Map My Run telling me my stats for the month of February and recommending running pants. This was the link the app provided - HERE.

The pants on the link are not tie dyed, they are kind of boring actually, but this is three times in a row now that something like this has happened. I suspect one of two things:

1) My running app is listening in on conversations while I run and then emailing me similar suggestions (as close as they can get from their data base of links).
2) I'm psychic or maybe just deeply intuitive and I can predict what kind of links the running app is going to send me.

By the way, according to my stats, I ran 36 miles in February. This took me 10 hours across 12 different workouts and I burned a total of 3532 calories.

Here is a math problem for you - If 3,500 calories = one pound of fat (currently there seems to be some debate about this) and I want to lose 15 pounds, how many miles would I have to run to lose 15 pounds?

Answer - 540 miles.

Or I could stop eating so many Girl Scout Cookies... another great fundraiser!