Dreaming of the big one

We all have those dreams of the 'big one'.  You know what I'm talking about, the biggest bass, the biggest buck, scoring the winning shot in the big game, or in my case the big donation that finally lets me reach my goal and relax.  I think anyone who does a charity event dreams about something like that, opening that envelope left in your mailbox and seeing a check with more 0's than you have ever seen before on anything other than your mortgage bill.  But that is not the way that most fundraising goes, and I think that is what I am starting to come to grips with.  I am now at $455 in donations and am gaining on my goal literally a dollar at a time.  On the plus side, after my 'trial by fire' in fundraising this past week, I think I am literally capable of anything now.

To explain my 'trial by fire'.  You know those people in the mall that you avoid?  The ones who you can tell are just waiting to ask you something/hand you something/sell you something?  The ones you learn from an early shopping age to not make eye contact with, to quickly change direction, or to pretend you suddenly REALLY need something out of your purse when you're near?  You all know the people I'm talking about, right?  Well, this past Friday, I was one of those people as I attempted to sell Boston Store coupon books to people for $5 apiece to go toward my fundraising goal.  Let me tell you, for someone with mild agoraphobia and a twisted version of an outgoing personality that was a challenge.  

On the plus side, besides making $55 in donations I learned alot about body language and added some new weapons to my arsenal of ways to avoid 'those people' in the future.  I also learned that even if you are wearing a t-shirt with "Team in Training" in huge letters on the front and back, if you stand in a store long enough everyone assumes you work there.  Really entertaining when the shoplifting alarm near you keeps going off randomly.  The people who didn't try to avoid me then spent a moment looking to see if I was going to tackle them for shoplifting  :)  Hmmm, maybe I could have used that as a blackmail option (makes notes for next time...)

I've got a variety of options in my fundraising arsenal now.  Besides the letters/e-mails/blog/facebook posts that I have been doing asking for donations, I also have quite a portfolio of products available.  I'm still selling the Boston Store coupon books (until the sale on Nov 14th).  I'm selling BuckyBooks until Dec 1st, which is a Madison Wisconsin area entertainment coupon book for those not familiar with it.  Several companies (www.simplifiedscrip.com and www.city-scrip.com) that sell gift cards on-line have joined with TNT and a portion of the proceeds from the gift cards go toward my donation goal.  See the note to the right if you are interested in these products.  We're going to be selling concessions at local concerts, wrapping gifts at local stores, and who knows what other group projects we will do.  I'll keep everybody posted on where I'll be and when in case you want to stop by and say 'hi'.  

My biggest donation thus far came from my friends Rob and Amy, who gave a $200 donation.  Of course, in true ultra-competitive Bradley fashion Rob had to make it a challenge/contest.  He basically gave me the donation as a bet, I have to give him $150 back if I don't complete the half-marathon.  He determined after we made the bet that maybe he should have asked how far I could run before he said that, because when he found out I could already run a 5K he said 'I've lost that bet', lol.  Of course, now I REALLY have to meet my fundraising goal, it would suck to have to pay him back not because I didn't complete the race but because I didn't raise the funds to go.  So that's my battle cry for the week, people.  Donate so I can do a victory lap around the Bradley gaming table in March!  I'll post pictures...

Running, fundraising, and insecurity issues.

I finally got to meet some of my team mates this past weekend. We had our first team training run on Saturday. I'll admit, I started out feeling pretty embarrassed and kind of pathetic, but by the end they had all put me at ease that I was on the right track. I realized as excited as I am about this event and opportunity, it has the unique side-affect of bringing out some of my less than stellar self-confidence issues.

When I signed up for this event I was all confidence on the outside. I've raised over $2500 for charity events before, $3800 shouldn't be a problem. Then I had my first official week of fundraising, sent out a bunch of e-mails and such, and as of the morning of my first team run I had a measly $25 in donations. When other people there started talking about their fundraising and one had over $900 and another $1250, I started to panic. And to be honest, I haven't really stopped panicking yet. But what kind of surprised me is the mental conversations that I go through trying to figure out what I'm doing 'wrong'. You'd think the fact that I've only been fundraising for a week, I'd be a little easier on myself. Goodness knows, the other team members were understanding and the coaches and mentors keep telling me not to panic, but it's hard. The questions come up in the dark of night. What could I do differently, does the fact that I don't share a personal story of cancer hurt my fundraising, did I word my e-mail badly, and my personal favorite of 'doesn't anybody like me enough to donate'. How's that for a crisis of confidence for ya, huh? In my mind I know that things will pick up and that this goal is achievable, but that doesn't stop the fear in my heart that I will be waving good-by to the rest of the team as they head to New Orleans and I'm stuck in Madison because I couldn't meet my goal. (I told you this wouldn't be an all 'warm and fuzzy' blog, didn't I :) )

I'd like to give personal thanks for a very generous donation from my in-laws, my donation total is now at $125.00, which is helping to give me another wind. Dano (another team member/mentor) recommended that if I try to mail at least 50 actually fundraising letters to people, which puts me in an interesting position since I don't even typically send out holiday cards. I've gotta actually track down mailing addresses for people. Luckily my brother got married a couple weeks ago (congratulations Jason and Kim) so I figure I can hit him up for his address list for all those cousins I only see at weddings and funerals. Thank goodness for printers, I don't even want to consider having to hand-write that many letters. I'm pretty sure no-body could read my handwriting anyway...

I was also a little dismayed at first to find out that I was the only one there running a half-marathon, everybody else was doing the full 26.2 miles. So while they were all running between 6 and 8 miles that morning, I was doing a measly 3. How sad is that, right? But our coach, Art, was really supportive. How did he put it again...oh yeah...something like 'Jo, a full marathon is 3 times the distance of a half, and you'll actually be able to walk the next day, unlike the rest of us.' They were all quick to point out that a half-marathon is still a goodly distance. How many other people do you know that have ever run 13 miles in one shot? To be fair, there are all ranges of abilities on the team, and there are several other people running half-marathons, they just didn't happen to be at my first team run. We even have someone who is walking an entire marathon (that's approximately 7 hours of walking!). On the plus side, I ended up actually running 4 miles instead of 3, but that was mostly because I got a little lost and missed my turn around point. I sure hope they have people to directe us in New Orleans, or I may end up in Omaha before I know what happened! Directions are not my forte.

This week is going to be busy and full of Team in Training (TNT) activities. I've got a fundraising clinic/brainstorm session on Wednesday, selling coupon books for donations at Boston Store on Friday, volunteering at a charity run on Saturday, and running in a team 15K relay on Sunday (5K each member). Next week I'm working with several team members at the concession stand for some concerts locally and we get a portion of the profits as donations. And of course, I've gotta keep up with my schoolwork and my training schedule in all of this as well. Ah yes, and sleep and eat a decent meal once in a while as well! Speaking of which, I've got a paper to finish writing, so...


I'll 'see' you all next time!

Jo

Who I am, what I am doing, and why.

Who I am is probably the easiest question to address. My name is Josephine Horton, although I typically prefer to answer to Jo. I am a 31-year old, married, adult college student living in Madison, Wisconsin. For the sake of this event, however, it might be easier to state who I am NOT. I am not a super athlete. I am simply a person who decided that big problems require a big commitment. This site is my attempt to take you on this journey with me.


On October 10, 2009 I made a decision. I had been languishing for a while, looking for something I could do that would re-energize me, inspire me, and allow me to recapture the feeling of being a part of something bigger than myself that I had 10 years ago when I did a 500-mile charity bike ride. There were lots of small, local events that I could participate it, but they did not have the feeling of community that I longed for. I wanted to do something BIG! Team in Training was that thing. And so it began, this journey to run in the Mardi Gras Half-Marathon on Feb 28, 2010 while raising $3800 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.


I think the first question that jumps into people's minds when I tell them that I signed up for a charity half-marathon is 'why'. That is a complex question, and there really is no simple answer. The reasons that come to mind change in order and status every day. Because I have a healthy, happy group of siblings, nieces, and nephews and I am grateful every day for that gift. Because I've had friends who have lost people they love to the ravages of cancer. Because almost every life is touched in some way by this disease. Because I can. The list goes on and on. Over the course of this story I hope to not only inspire people to join me on this journey, but also to realize that the limits that we so often impose on ourselves are not real, that we are so much greater than we often give ourselves credit for.

A word of warning, this is not going to be a professional journal. It is not in my nature to sugar-coat things. This journal is going to be a running dialog of the trials and tribulations of training, the heartbreak of loss, and the struggle to reach your goals. It's going to be fairly free-form, you will get what is in my mind and heart at the time I write it. My hope is that this will help bring some of my passion for this event and this cause into your lives. There will be laughter, there will be tears, and there will be cheers of triumph.

Come run with me...

http://pages.teamintraining.org/wi/mardigra10/jhorton06n