Lace Up Like It’s 1995 Week 3 – An Exercise in Humility

Progress

Week three comes to a close… 33.42 miles down, 296.58 to go!  10% of the way there. This week, I logged 13.12 miles, five of them running. I ran four of seven days and clocked in at these times:

4/16 = 7:37/mi

4/18 = 7:46/mi

4/20 = 7:30/mi

4/21 = 7:57/mi

Average = 7:42, 11 seconds better than last week’s average.

33.42 miles gets me 10% to my miles goal this week. Don’t forget that I will ramp up my mileage over time, so I am ahead of schedule at this rate. I move up a ½ mile per run next Wednesday!

So far, I’ve secured $1,454 ($1115 donated, $339 pledged) from 15 donors. This gets me 15% to my fundraising goal. Donations have been incredible but I thought there would be more distinct donors at this point. I have plans to move the needle over time! If you’re reading this…

Give me a hand here!

Dedication

This week’s miles are dedicated to my oldest friend, Mike Murphy. He was the new kid in 8^th grade. We became fast friends and have been best buds ever since. I spent 216 consecutive days with him in 1994 until he got sick and couldn’t come to school. We counted! Fun fact: We introduced my brother to his sister that year and they’ve also been together ever since. Married, 4 kids. We share a niece and three nephews! I had to sport my vintage REM Cake t-shirt in his honor.

At the opening of this campaign, I pledged to post my progress, no matter how slow it was. I actually feel pretty good so far, but posting this picture of me at age 16 is an exercise in swallowing some pride. Look at that neck! I have so many questions… brown cutoff dress pants? A cane (for style)? Bead necklace? All at once? My only answer: I was 16. Which is also why I was pointing at strangers in the Las Vegas airport. Posting this picture should prove how committed I am to raising funds for ToolBank Disaster Services!

What’s in the Walkman?

REM’s September 1994 release, ”Monster”. Mike and I both bought the CD of this album at the River Valley Mall the same night we went to see “Pulp Fiction”. Late 1994, maybe early 1995. Listened to it on the way home and immediately sanctioned it gold. It was in heavy rotation for most of the next year. In fact, I also bought the cassette tape version so I could listen to it in my car.

Reflections

In general getting faster, with my fastest time yet at 7:30. But my legs feel tighter than in the first two weeks. I wrote in my mile log that “Last night’s drinks seem to have caught up with today’s legs.” It was a pretty social week, so I was likely more dehydrated than normal. Something to work on!

ToolBank Disaster Services Deployment

This week’s feature was on an early Blue Sky deployment in August 2015. We empowered 20 organizations with nearly $40,000 worth of tools to fuel their projects marking the 10^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It was a powerful testament to the resource we provide in communities across the country, even in cities where we don’t have a physical warehouse. While we do have a New Orleans ToolBank now, we did not in 2015. Hence the deployment of MU1!

Read the full deployment post here.

Support

Thank you to all my new donors this week! Claire Runquist, Mike Murphy, and Art Garciacano—I see you and thank you!

See you soon and don’t forget to keep your sneaks laced up (like it’s 1995)!