So I wrote earlier that I was up waaaayy too late Friday night stuffing envelopes to go out today.
This is the letter that is going to bring WWC the big bucks, that's going to go to honor Imette's name, the letter that I sent not only to Rosie Perez and Denis Leary and Liz Garbus and Rory Kennedy and other folk, but also to my beloved family and friends in the US and on la isla. Still working on translating it into Spanish which will take some time, since my Spanish skills seem to be deteriorating the longer I'm away.
Therefore, y'all probably want to know (if you're not here because you got said envelope) what the letter says. I mean, it's so important that I chose it over a group run, right?
Well, it's on the AIDS Marathon Training Program letterhead so thoughtfully provided to me in the enthusiastic burst of fundraising support I got when I signed up for the marathon. It's pretty- red and black logo on cream paper, with a 2 inch margin on the side- and it says: (more…)
I was so surprised last week. I did 6 miles over at the Waterfront site, after two weeks of running on my own (due to necessity- being in NYC and also just being bummed).
Just because I'd been missing the waterfront/mall/museum mile runs, on Saturday when I arrived, I said I'd do the run with the slowest group (17 minute miles) just to be on the safe side. Plus, and this was my real issue, they were doing the 1/3 ratio that I'm in love with. I did 15 minute miles on the run1walk3, so that's my gig and I'm stickin' with it. Since they try to keep us at about 1 minute behind our actual pace, I was supposed to be running 16 min. miles anyhow.
So, why'd we end up doing 15:30 miles for SIX MILES? And that's the raw split time, not even counting my partner Mickey's potty break, or the fact that we walked a couple laps due to the heat. Seriously? Coach was right- 6 miles was way easier than one! I wanted to keep running when we were through. I actually had a problem at one point- I wasn't sweating. The nicest vendor in front of the National Museum of Natural History gave me a handful of ice, no charge. That was refreshing.
Mickey loved that it felt like we had the city to ourselves. And it did- no tourists for the first time in a while. The mall hasn't been killed by the heat, so everything is green, and we run pretty early. Toward the end we had to slow up to let a HUGE group of 8th graders (said the t-shirts) cross the street in front of the Grant Statue.
My maintenance runs this week were similarly breezy. I just took myself up to the Wal-Mart on Rt 1 (hey, it's an easy landmark) and back home.
Now, I was supposed to be at the Waterfront today to do 7 miles, but I slept in. No, don't frown at me, don't boo me- I was writing, stuffing, and sealing envelopes for my fundraiser! So if you're reading this, know that you probably got your letter at the expense of a group run.
I'm making a treat of going to Huntley Meadows park tomorrow to run under that shady canopy instead. For 7 miles. And I'm going to move up to a 1/2 because if I can clock 15:30 at a slow 1/3, I need to push up the effort a little.
And I'm excited! Who'd've thought I could do 6 miles at one time so easily? Man, if I get the $2100 in time, 13.1 is gonna be a piece of cake!
Well, I certainly hope things improve.
My determination notwithstanding, I haven't run as much as I need to in order to stay on track. And my fun-draising isn't off the ground.
Yet.
See, I lost my job, and though I am sooooo employable, haven't got a new one. I also went to see my grad school to see if I'd go. I'm going, God willing, with a lot of loans.\
So, I did my 4-miler in NYC with my very-good friend and former co-teacher (read: ganger-up on student-er) Maggie, in Thomas Jefferson park. Let me pause here and say that I LOVE the NYC park system and can't WAIT to do my last long run before the marathon there.
If I do the marathon. Got a month to raise $1,000- and no handy co-worker base to work with. I'm working on that.
Now is a good time to head over to that side-bar and donate, before I blitz you with letters and calls and emails! You can fend me off better if you've already helped.
Ah, yes, tonight the half-hour run will be so good….
Sorry about that last post. I was trying not to say what I'm about to say.
I'm running/walking/- no COMPLETING- the Rock'N'Roll Half Marathon in Imette's honor. You guys know that.
Her death and the emotions it caused rolled across the nation. I don't know that I'll ever be able to express how I felt when I got that phone call.
Every time I see her face on a news program, I get really sad. Really sad. They always use this one picture of her from her high school yearbook. It gives me this jolt of recognition. They always say her name funny. I never called her "Emmett", always "EEmette", with the i latina del español.
Her mom is soooo tiny, with red and white hair. I remember meeting her, just the once, during parents' weekend up at GW. Frank was with them. Imette definitely got the brightness of her smile from her mom. She was so energetic, yo. Her mom said something last night on the CNN newscast that just resonated.
"She was fantastic. She was just fantastic." I have to agree.
You know, I say that I'm running this in Imette's memory, but through all my efforts I have no idea if her mom's okay with this. I hope so. Just as I like to think that Imette's cheering me on. On the hard miles and especially during this last hard patch, I can hear her SO distinctive voice, not letting me give up. But the truth is, I run to honor her, because I'll never really know if she's okay with this or not. All I can do is look for the signs, and cross off the miles I run on roads I'll never know if she sees. I don't really know how to honor a fantastic person who died so wrongly. But I chose this.
So tonight, when I run, I know that God is with me. I hope Imette asks him to send a wind to dry my tears.
