I wanted to do something special for my 10th fundraising season, partly because it’s my 10th season, but mostly because my donors have experienced “donor fatigue” and fundraising has gotten harder.
My original plan was to do what I thought I’d never do—a triathlon—and create a buzz that way. But the tri I wanted to do for sentimental reasons—the Wildflower Festival in Central CA—was canceled due to low water levels. So I decided to just promote the hell out of the fact that I was doing the NYC marathon, which I’d gotten into last year, but had to put off due to lack of funds.
Coincidentally, we got lots of rain this past winter and the Wildflower Festival probably could’ve been held. Oh well, I’ll save that one for my 20th season.
Officially, I signed up with Team in Training to do the San Francisco Giant Race, which is a flat-ish half-marathon course along the Embarcadero. I did it last summer and it was great! But that was held a few weeks ago (I did okay, not great).
The best part about that was achieving rockstar status for exceeding my fundraising minimum by more than $1,000! My previous fundraising record was just shy of $3,200. This season, thanks in large part to two, super-generous supporters, I was able to raise $4,925!
On the training side, things are a tough slog. I gained back the weight I’d lost two years ago and I’m two years older. So, things aren’t progressing as I’d hoped. But I’m taking a different approach this year and doing more long runs, the goal of which is to build up structural strength for those later miles. I don’t plan on going faster, but I really want to enjoy this race, not suffer through it. NYC Marathon is the biggest race in the world and I want to take in all the sights along the way. So, by doing a few more 15-to-20- mile runs, I hope to prepare my body for the pounding. Of course, I have to be extra-vigilant against aches and pains that could turn into serious injuries that would prevent me from running the marathon. So, it’s a balancing act of training and preventive measures (stretching and icing) and recovery.