Lace Up! Progress Weeks 6 - 8

Progress Weeks 6 – 8

Week eight comes to a close: 86.38 miles down, 243.62 to go! 26% of the way there. In week six, I logged 12.96 miles, 4.5 of them running. In week seven, even with some travel out of town, I logged 9.73 miles, 3.01 of them running. I ran less in week seven more due to schedule and traveling than anything else. In week eight, I got back on track and logged 9.55 total miles, 4.6 of them running.

I logged these times in Week 6 at a distance of 1.5 miles:

5/7 = 9:02/mi

5/9 = 8:51/mi

5/11 = 9:11/mi

Week 7 (1.5 miles):

5/13 = 9:45/mi

5/18 = 9:00/mi

Week 8 (1.5 miles):

5/21 = 8:31/mi

5/23 = 9:00/mi

5/25 = 8:47/mi

So far, I’ve secured $1850.30 ($1485 donated, $365.30 pledged) from 18 donors. This gets me 19% to my fundraising goal. Donations have been incredible but my march to 101 distinct donors looks like a reach goal at this point. This may be the only ambition of the campaign that I do not achieve. If you’re reading this…

Give me a hand here!

Dedication – Week 6

Miles this week go out to my buddy Matt out on the West Coast, who I met when I hired him as a food delivery driver in 1999. Pre-Uber Eats, pre-smart phone, we communicated via Nextel two-way radios in and around San Diego. I remember debating the 2000 election with this *young* man and I remember being right! Hard to believe it was the 90s when I met Matt. I felt all grown-up at 21 years old, living on my own out in San Diego after my 10- month stint in AmeriCorps. We are still close and connect on an annual baseball trip somewhere in the country. Fun fact we found out after knowing each other for three years: We’re birthday twins! June 4^th rocks. Fun fact #2: We’re shirt brothers forever!

Here’s a shot of Matt and I over a beer when we visited Cincinnati for our annual trip in 2022.

Dedication – Week 7

Miles this week go out to my long-time colleague in Cincy, Kat. She’s a ToolBank OG as the founding Executive Director of the Cincinnati ToolBank and has been my thought partner in crime since I joined the network as ED of the Baltimore ToolBank in 2014. Time flies when you’re serving others! Kat’s dedication and brilliant leadership over the years has made the Cincy ToolBank the envy of the network. They own their space, have a tool training center, and recently launched the ToolBank Academy to go deeper in service to so many young leaders. Keep rocking, Kat and Cincy!

So… I have to explain the photo here. In 2017, the Cincinnati ToolBank won “ToolBank of the Year” which came with the Golden Hammer seen in the photo. The year prior, Baltimore had won the distinction, so the Hammer went from me to Kat. So this was originally just a photo of Kat posing with the Golden Hammer. In a fit of curiosity that has turned into an epic inside joke, Kat decided to allow Facebook to mash up the original photo with a photo of mine. So you know… we’d both be holding the Golden Hammer. The result is… well, judge for yourself! This photo may or may not sneak into my texts when we’re on a joint ToolBank call. It makes us both smile every time!

Dedication – Week 8

Week 8’s miles are dedicated to the one who has dedicated so much to me: My partner, Stephanie Eaddy. Around her part-time gig as my cell phone camera person, Stephanie and I trade secrets of the observable universe nightly over (mostly) homecooked meals in the space and time our cats allow us to talk. She’s my ride or die and we ride in style! She’s my #1 supporter and ever the early adopter of all my conceits to build the world we want to live in. She also works in the community as Director of Strategic Engagement for the Historic Ships in Baltimore (a must-visit when in town). In her work, she brings the full force of her intellect and vision for equity. We met in the late 2000s when I got my first full-time job working in the community sector in Baltimore. We’ve been cracking each other up and serving others ever since.

This photo shows us after both slipping on ice in Hampden (Baltimore). She fell first. I gallantly went to help her up, only to end up going down right next to her, where we chilled for a bit and took pictures. We have fun!

What’s in the Walkman?

Week 6 – The Roots’ 1996 classic, “Illadelph Halflife”

Week 7 – Took it back a couple years to Pavement’s 1994 album, “Crooked Rain”

Week 8 – Lingered in 1994 with Sonic Youth’s “Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star”

Reflections

It’s going! As the miles build, I feel stronger and am no longer worried about adding mileage to my runs. I’m working on the mental side of the workouts by reminding myself that pain is an invitation to grow. I keep growing, as my shins constantly remind me.

When running with a friend in Frederick, MD in Week 6, I found out that social runs feel faster. I may seek a buddy for a run or two coming up. It feels like less distance when I diversify terrain rather than run the same loop multiple times. I originally thought it’d be just the opposite but different scenery does make the run more interesting, less monotonous, and time feels faster altogether.

I can’t really track why certain days I am so much faster than most other days and I haven’t pinpointed why certain days feel better. I do believe my off-day routine has gotten better but haven’t found the silver bullet yet. We’ll see if I ever do. Not sure if there even is one.

ToolBank Disaster Services Deployment

The most recent feature focused on a deployment in South Carolina in 2015 following a 1-in-1000-year storm that hit in late September and persisted through the first two weeks of October that year. In those two weeks, more than 2 feet of rain fell throughout parts of the region. We deployed with multiple partners and were able to serve sites over six large counties covering the state. To date at that time, this was our largest deployment and showed that our outreach and service in prior deployments lent us legitimacy in the space, which ultimately meant we were able to serve more partners and residents with essential tools.