indoor tri: super fun stats

Talk about getting more than you asked for.  In my opinion, this past Saturday’s triathlon was the ultimate testament to the word “community.”  With a crazy mix of just over 60 folks from all walks of life (including around 20 refugees from Burma, Bhutan, and Iraq), we battled on the hardwood (soccer, volleyball, and basketball) for fun, glory, and ultimately to raise money and awareness for education and sports enrichment for refugees youth (via World Relief Seattle and the UN’s ninemillion project).   Here’s some super fun stats:

Heartbeats donated: 957,000!!!!

Dollars donated: $1,220!!!!

Soccer balls donated: 137!!!!

Click this link for photos: Super Fun Triathlon Photos

A sincere thanks to everyone that was able to participate, help out, or donate even if you couldn’t make it.  Your support is truly, truly appreciated.  For those that wanted to be there, don’t worry, there will be a “2nd Annual Super Fun Indoor Triathlon,” so get ready!

run: surprise gifts (100+ donated soccer balls)

On my long run yesterday I found myself still surprised by some recent developments with regard to the “1st Annual Super Fun Indoor Triathlon.” A few days ago, I was trying to track down a couple indoor soccer goals.  I went down to Arena Sports (an indoor soccer training place for kids) to see if they had a couple I could borrow.  Well, not only did they have a couple to borrow, but they also asked me if I knew of anyone that could use a few boxes of used soccer balls (100+ soccer balls!!!).   This was so unexpected it caught me off-guard, “uhh, yes, I may know a person or two.”  These soccer balls will be a fantastic gift to the refugee youth here in Seattle.  It’s going to be a great early Christmas present.  Small, yes, used, yes, but they’re soccer balls.  The kids will be thrilled I’m sure.

Note: I started googling soccer and refugee youth and came across some pretty cool sites (gets my mind spinning with ideas):

• Soccer Without Borders
• Youth Refugee Soccer Day
• NY Times Article – Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on Soccer Field

And, finally, here’s the ninemillion.org video that got this whole thing started for me:

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beats today: 16,800
my beats to date: 891,900

run: inconvenient hunger

So my running has been coming along just fine.  I’m up to about 5.5/6 days per week (avg 34 miles/wk).  Feeling stronger and faster as the weeks go by.  There hasn’t been a day where I’ve found an excuse to not run.  None of even the most demanding workouts have caused me to shy from the challenge.

However, fasting has been a little different story.  As you may know, part of my whole “my ninemillion project” has been to not only run to raise awareness/support for refugee youth but also to fast twice a month.  The basic idea is to get a feel for what hunger is like.  Why hunger?  Well, it’s hard to “be poor for the day” or to “not have access to education” or “to not have rights,” but hunger is a fairly easy thing to achieve. 

The tricky thing is that I’m finding it’s not so easy to schedule hunger into the daily routine.  Now, scheduling a 12-mile run, no problem, but not eating – well, that’s a little complicated.  There always seems to be something that doesn’t coincide perfectly with running on empty.  Whether it’s a meeting at work, dinner with friends, or just a “busy” week.  There always seems to be a way out of it.  This past week was no exception.  I had it on my schedule to fast this past Wednesday.  Well, I was up at PSE’s Komo Kulshan outdoor school this week and it just didn’t work out with the schedule up there.  Then the rest of the week just slipped by with one excuse after the other. 

Fortunately, I’ve been able to carve out 24 hours (starting tomorrow at noon) of convenient hunger.  I’ve only done this once so far, so it will be interesting to see any changes from the first go around.  Lets see how it goes! 

Refugee food fact:  BP-5 (aka Compact Emergency Food) is a high-protein biscuit that aid agencies often distribute in emergency situations. International standards call for each person to receive 2,100 calories per day.

 

 

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beats today: 8,400
my beats to date: 363,200

run: indoor team triathlon

Today on my run I made the final decision to pursue an idea I’ve had for awhile – organize an indoor team triathlon to raise additional heartbeat and monetary support for “my ninemillion.”  I’m thinking a Saturday morning sometime near the end of November or beginning of December. 

Sports will be indoor soccer, volleyball, and basketball.  Need to find a venue to host this and then start advertising.  Folks will form teams of 5 to compete/play.  It’s going to be a whole lot of fun – very relaxed atmosphere.  Mary’s brother, Mark, did one a while back to benefit some Cambodian students he’s worked with in the past.  His was outdoors (flag football, soccer, and frisbee).  My hope is to also bring up some refugees from Kent to join in the festivities.   They’ll love the soccer. 

More to come on this, but just know this, I’m already ordering team headbands for all the teams.  It’s gonna be great!

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beats today: 8,500
my beats to date: 329,400