Sports Weekend: 5Ks and Bike Rides

My lover and I had quite an exciting and super athletic weekend. We are highly tuned, super buff and healthy type people, you know. Ripped, shredded and. . lean, mean fighting machines!

Me: Why didn't you tell me I had a cheese doodle crumbs all over me?
Him: I am just so use to seeing them on you.

Gone shortly after

But, seriously, we had a pretty busy weekend.

It all needed to start with some spaghetti with meat sauce. You need to make sure you get some good carbs, meat, veggies and all that good stuff into you the night before a big event. At least, I assume. I don’t know much about runners, but, bikers eat a lot. 

Food is fuel!

Go to a 5K

I hit a goal, this weekend - I went to a 5K. I didn’t run. I don’t actually run. I’m much more likely to stab you in the face with my stiletto heel than run from you. Unless you have doodles, then I think we would work whatever it was out.

My superhero-esque boyfriend ran in his first 5k of the season for the Clean Air Council. Who doesn't like clean air?

This was my first 5k that I have ever been too. It was cold. The whole weekend was cold. I was cold. Here are a couple things I learned (keep in mind, I only can compare and contrast running events to what I do know about – which is biking events)

• It’s cold.

  

  The finish line goes both ways

• There was no coffee – in fact, there was little to no food.
• It only takes a maximum of 30 minutes.
• People stop right after the finish line and do not fear someone running into them.
• Runners make really funny faces.
• Runners will stand at the finish line and look for other people who have not crossed the line without fear of being run over.
• Some runners puke.

Do I have any wish to run a 5K? No.

Girls with Gears

I gotz my number

Sunday, it was my turn to rock the house! I went to the Girls With Gears even hosted by CAROL For Heart. This is a group that educates women (and men) on women's heart health. Who doesn't like a health heart? Anyhow, me and some co-workers signed up for this delightful ride about the countries of Pennsylvania.

I ended up mildly coasting around the fridge tundra-roads of Pennsylvania re-evaluating my life decisions. Totally was ready to give up at mile 2, I think. The whole tour started on an incline and the incline turned into a hill, an incline and another hill. It's times like these, I totally want to give up.

I'm graceful

Actually, the first 5 miles of every ride I want to give up. I then spend a good 2-3 miles coming up with every reason I should stop, how I am going to make up the ride later and how I hurt and need a rest. By then, I normally am feeling pretty good and after 7-8 miles, I figure I might as well do 10 miles - and so on.

It was cold. It was a cold weekend. I did not dress warmly enough but I did wear just about everything I had. I figured I would start moving and warm up. I think my toes are still cold.

I did a nice 25 miles. By nice I mean – there were two harsh hills at the start. I figured if the whole course was like that, I would die. Luckily, it turned out to be some nice rolling hills after the initial heart attack. My super-hero boyfriend snapped this awesome shot of me about 2 miles from the finish line-area-place while yelling, "I have coffee and cheese doodles for you." That's love right there.

Heading to the finish. . .area

I felt a lot better about my conditioning though I have a long ride to go if I am going to be riding 270 miles in an event in September followed by a century 10 days later.

Stuff
Do you know you get stuff when you do events? I got a sweet water bottle (I only use them at home to prevent me from spilling water everywhere) a coaster, a magnet, a red-flashy light in the shape of a heart and a bunch of pamphlets.

One was for zip-lining.

Final Thoughts
My thoughts are never final!

I am not sure if I am going to be able to do everything on my list. I would have a metric century in a couple weeks (that's 62 miles) and I am not 100% confident it is a great idea. I will see how the coming weeks are.

I posted my wish-list on a post titled, My Year In Biking - but here is my master list!

Girls with Gears
Date: 4/21/2013
Route: 25 miles

Quad County Metric Ride 
Date: 5/11/2013
Route: 62 42 miles

Nockamixon Lake Century 
Date: 8/24/2013
Route: 100 miles

Tour DaVita
Date: 9/14/2013-9/18/2013
Route: 270 miles

MS City to Shore
Date: 9/28/2013
Route: 100 miles

Covered Bridges Ride
Date: 10/20/2013
Route: 33 miles

Be Part of the Adventure

Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

First Event - Registered!

I just signed up for my first bike ride of the season. It was one of those things where I was mentally on the fence. Did I really want to drag my bike out to some place, get lost, ride alone with packs of people then not be able to eat anything and head home with only some random picture and mis-sized t-shirt (if I can find where I get them) for my trouble?

Here we go!

No. Not really.

But, I’m trying to be more, mm, not that. So, I plunked down my $35 registration fee and I will be riding the 25 miles for Carol for Heart's Girls With Gears biking event. 

I did some friends if they wanted to come out with me, even reached out to this sports club I belong to through my job - so far, everyone has declined.

This sort of gives me a little fuel for the fire - if everyone is trapped in the same rhetoric I was in and can't get out of it, then maybe it's time to go against the current and do it.

Training

My bike is currently in the shop getting a tune-up so it is all ready for my training. I'm pumped. The weather is getting nicer and I really want to get back into my training mindset. The winter off was sweet - I'm ready for a change. This year, I want to do a couple things:

• Ride in more events - if possible.
• Train my team for the MS City to Shore Century.
• Ride all 270 miles in Tour DaVita.
• Learn to change a flat tire.

Charity Events

When you have some skill or if you are trying to get in shape or anything, it’s not a bad idea to look for causes you want to support and sign up for those events. Your registration fee will then go to that cause.

You are also going to want to keep your receipts! Most of the time, these registration fees or any money you donate is tax deductible so you can get it back in the form of a tax refund. Not too bad. Every little bit helps, right?

Warning: The Right Charity

For motivation or inspiration, any event will do. If you are serious about your charitable donations and whatnot you are going to want to do some research on the event and the charity. Some the money is going to go to the event directly – understandable, besides, the PR from a really good event can bring a lot of education and awareness to a certain cause.

How we view those with more

However, you might want to poke around a little to see how much money is raised for the event and how much goes to actual research, treatment or helping others. You are going to want to make sure you verify your facts through at least two creditable sources. A while ago, this post/email went around with the salaries of CEOs from places like Goodwill and the American Red Cross – it was somewhat inaccurate and you can read about it here at Snopes.com.

Make sure any statistics you are looking at are accurate, up-to-date and you are mostly looking at the percentage of money raised that goes directly to the cause. It doesn't matter if a CEO makes 1 million in total compensation (this is not a paycheck, alone – a monetary amount is assigned to health benefits and perks to create a “total compensation”) if the charity pours 99% of what it raises right into those who need the most help.

Warning: The Fundraising

Charities are, well, charities. I have found some great ones I would want to ride for but I can’t do it because the registration fee PLUS the required fundraising amount is more than I can swing.

I would love to participate in the Best Buddies Challenge but with a $50.00 registration fee plus a $1,550-$1,800.00 price tag for fundraising, I can’t do it. Remember, when you are fundraising, you can probably only hit one person up per event. If someone donates $50 to my MS City to Shore Century I can’t ask them to donate another $50 to my Tour DaVita ride and then another amount for another event. 

People aren't made of money. Choose wisely.

You can always self-fund, though. If I made a lot of money, I could just fund the Best Buddies Challenge myself or whatever. Sometimes, you might have to do that depending on your “fan base” and willingness of people to donate.

Be Part of the Adventure

Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Image Credit

Girls with Gears logo from carolforheart.org

Money girl from venturebeat.com

Follow Up: World Kidney Day

Remember World Kidney Day last week? If not, you can read my post where I required something of you my awesome readers.

I had asked you all to do one good deed - one selfishness act of pure altruism to help make this word a better place. While I would like to think it was done in honor of the human race, it could be done on behalf of kidneys everywhere - functional or not.

What did you do? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Volunteer

Mission Level
Success! And ongoing.

Most people seem to want to volunteer, at least, I always did. I think one of the most valuable things you can give someone is your time. You can always save a couple bucks to give to some charity or attend a function or buy a product where a portion is donated – but to give your time. . .

Money comes and goes. Words are pretty airy.

You are only given a very specific and measured amount of time.

Time is huge.

You can do a lot with time.

My Pre-Volunteering Life
I grew up in a pretty charitable house. Even today, once a month my Mom buys baby food and delivers it to Catholic Services for their food pantry.

We always got our Christmas wreaths from the Boy Scouts (and later our Christmas trees).

Giving
I won't go as far as to say "giving back" because I don't think I am paying someone or something back. I think giving is just giving. I'm not paying forward or back or karma. It's about just helping out because you can and not expecting anything  back.

Adopt-a-highway

As a friend once told me, ". . .it's a giant waste of time or money." Ha. Basically  At least you are doing something to improve the world. Sometimes things have to come from your own heart entirely.

As a child, I rode at a stable called Thorncroft that mixed people in therapy (emotional, mentally or physically handicapped) and participated in a study which showed how riding a horse stimulates the same muscles as walking and does a whole other bunch of good stuff.

I even participated in a “Adopt-a-Highway” program through my job.

First Steps – What to Do?
I hemmed and hawed about what I was going to do for quite some time – mentoring kids, stocking food banks. Soup kitchens.

I think there are three things you need to figure out when volunteering.

• What skill someone else could use that you have.
• How much actual time you have.
• Where to go to participate in something. 

You can figure these out in any order you would like. Then it’s just a matter of finding out where you can fit.

Time
You are going to have to figure out how much time you actually have to donate. Remember, even as a volunteer you need to be true to your word, show up when you are asked to and do the best job you can.

I find a lot of people who say they can do something often do not honor their commitments. This includes the famous, “I will totally help out. I’ll be in touch!” Which ends up to mean, “I never wanted to do anything and have no intention of following-up.”

You don’t get paid to volunteer and it is work (even if it’s fun). It can suck up an otherwise lazy Saturday or a busy Monday night. Know the amount of time you can donate and pretend it is your job. People will rely on you when you say you can do something – they will get hopeful. Don’t lie and crush their spirits.

If all you can do is an hour every month, show up for that hour and month. If you can do three times a week, show up three times a week. If you find you want to do more or have to do less, make arrangements and be transparent about why.

Anything is better than just not showing up.

Skills
A lot of places look for people with certain skills or abilities. Maybe you are an accountant or a lawyer or even a carpenter. These are pretty useful skills to non-profits or small places with all volunteer staffs.

You might have skills. My skills include:

• Archery. 
• Falling down. 
• Napping.
• Uno.

But, don’t short-sell yourself and over think like I do. Skills also include:

• Driving (Check out Beverly Foundation).
• Cooking (Check out Cooking Matters)
• Digging (Check out UB Archaeologist).
• Shopping (Check out the YMCA).

What makes you happy? What do you like to do? Someone wants you to do that for them, I promise you. Plus, you have the opportunity to meet some people and have some fun – even if you are just picking up trash or running a cash register at a thrift shop.

Finding a Place
There are a lot of big groups you can look up like the Salvation Army, Big Brothers Big Sisters or even a place like Volunteer Match which covers a lot of different groups. You can even find places that you can travel while doing a good thing (if you have the funds to do this, don’t ever expect a volunteer operation to give you something – other than the feeling you get from helping out).

Religious groups like a local church is another awesome place to go to get in some grassroots volunteering since they often work very close to the community. You don’t have to be religious or a member to participate. Remember, you don’t have to subscribe to a spiritual path to drop off a casserole once a month to feed the hungry.

What I Did

Cuddle ambush

I fell into my volunteering situation. I had wanted to do something through the church because they have a lot of sturdy programs, but, I shied away because it can cause me a lot of anxiety to meet new people and stuff.

Here’s the story: I went to adopt a cat. The cat was already adopted. I got another cat. I got on the adoption email list. They emailed they needed help at the kennels. I cleaned cages in the store where the most adoptable cats go bi-monthly for three months. Then I learned they needed help in their shelter where sick/weird or recovering cats are. I now clean little boxes of poop there for 20-30 cats.

In the process, I went through three Feline Leukemia positive cats – fostering them in my own house. But, more on fostering later.

So, now I am a volunteer cat woman.

Future Plans
Finding something you like – even something you aren't good at but can learn – is a great way to give back. I’m not great with kids or people. I don’t want to go into a big city or be part of a huge committee. I just want to do my thing, get my hands dirty and go home. I enjoy the interaction with the cats.

After all, in the beginning, God gave man dominion over the animals. This means we are suppose to protect and take care of them. So, I am doing my little part.

Also, it totally breaks up my week. It’s something different to do and I have met some people I otherwise would never have known.

Be Part of the Adventure

Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.