Big Thanks to our Corporate Sponsors!

Here is the list of the Team's corporate sponsors for this Summer season. Each of them made a minimum donation of $1,000 with some donating a lot more. Their names and logos will be appearing on all Summer event Jerseys, T-shirts, event banners and brochures. Thanks!

CompanyName

McQueen Kalligan Insurance Services, Inc.

Hitachi Foundation

Hi-Tech Bikes

The Genomics Institute Of The Novartis Research Foundation

Charles & Geneva Hangsterfer

Walton Barber LLP

Law Offices of David C. Skyer

Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek

Henrys Farmers Market

West Coast Mortgage

Marvin K. Brown Auto Center

Transamerica

Supercuts

Valicom, Inc.

Sirris Abatement

Sciberquest, Inc.

San Dieguito Printers

Robek Chiropractic Sports Rehabilitation Center

A Robert Cromeans Salon

Gordon & Holmes

Innovation Energy Solutions

Center for Family Health

The Boardwalk Mission Beach

Sanders Family Dentistry

Mary Ehlers-Pearman

J World San Diego

Robert M. Biter, M.D. Obstetrics & Gynecology

Capital Growth Properties, LLC

Sierra Emergency Medical Group

NetRIET

SoCalCars

Bob Baker Auto Group

AT&T Pioneers

Max Muscle

Max Muscle

Psycotron Paintball

Big Apple Bagels

Schwinn

Frog's Fitness

Goal, Set, Match

I'm a week late reporting this but I have reached my fundraising goal of $6,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Thanks to everybody that contributed. I was officially awarded by purple and green Team in Training jacket. The San Diego/Hawaii chapter is the only one in the country that has jackets. I'm part of the club now.

Fundraising

No training today. It was way too hot anyway. I spent a good 6 hours today at a local park handing out TnT pamphlets, talking to people and handing out water to overheated runners and walkers in exchange for donations. I don't want to be too mysterious about the location but I was asked to keep it a secret for the time being by the person that suggested it to me.

Brutal heat again and attendance dropped to just a few glutton for punishment stragglers after 12pm. I counted a total of 20 cars in the parking lot at that time, which is normally filled to capacity. I came back home to cool down and went back at 4PM to catch the afternoon crowd. Unfortunately they never showed up and after an hour of sitting in the sun with no foot traffic coming by, I decided to call it a day. I plan to go back at 6:30 am tomorrow and will hopefully stay until Noon or until I run out of water.

I've nearly reached about 60% of my $6,500 fundraising goal. I've still got a ways to go so I'll be hitting the fundraising trail pretty hard right up until the event day at the end of October.

Fundraising Weekend

After a quick breakfast after Saturday's walk, I headed over to the Del Mar racetrack to pour some beer for fundraising. The folks at Premier Good Group allowed about a dozen of us to volunteer to work the beer booths during the races and the subsequent Ziggy Marley reggae concert. Better than that, they donated $140 to each of our funds and allowed us to keep all our tips. It was 1o hours of non-stop beer pouring. I made a $142 in tips to go along with the $140 in pay so it was a good fundraising day.

Sunday: San Marcos Street Fair Fundraising. Back for more at the street fair. We assisted the beer and wine vendors for tip money. It was hot and muggy but it was a decent way to spend the day. Don't know what the tips worked out too yet but every little bit helps.

Recommitment!

Turned in my recommittment paperwork today. I have a goal of raising $6,500 to be able to attend and compete in the Dublin Adidas Marathon. Today, I committed to making up the difference if I can't raise the full $6500. I'm currently stuck right around $3,000 and am starting to get a little worried. Need to start doing some serious fundraising!

Working at the car wash, yeah.

Saturday is the big day for our training. Today's course was at Lake Murray and I walked 12 miles which caused a bit of commotion. Let me explain. One of the first weekend session involved walking a timed mile. We were placed in one of three categories depending on our time. There are three groups, A, B, C. The A group are the fast, skilled walkers who have usually competed in previous events. Group B are good walkers but not as fast as the A's. Group C walkers are generally inexperienced walkers. Group A, B, C...kind of sounds like Orwell's 1984. B's are the best because A's have to work too hard, etc.

I timed in at a very solid B. I was about 30 seconds away from being in the A group. The training requirements of each group is slightly different, with A's walking longer mileage earlier than the other groups. To make a long story short, as a "B" I was scheduled to walk 11 miles. Well, walking along with my fellow B, Christine, I was feeling pretty good and decided to do the extra mile. She was cool with it so we did. Apparently this was a major gaff, resulting in one of the coaches, who was ahead of us, actually coming back to walk with us to make sure I wouldn't collapse into a heap of rubble or something. When we got back to home base, we were double-teamed by another two coaches and given a stern talking to. The concern is that we not push too hard too fast. The season is long and we risk an injury by not following the program to the letter. Lesson learned. One other bummer is that since we did big mileage on Saturday, I was strongly discouraged from taking my weekly Sunday afternoon hike which is one of the highlights to my week. Gotta give the legs a rest, you know. Hmmm.

After the workout I immediately took off to participate in a car wash fundraiser. Six of us on the Team and a few volunteers washed cars from Noon to 4pm. It was a lot of fun, but boy was I wiped out afterwards. 12 miles, then an additional 4 hours on my feet in the blazing sun scrubbing down cars. Hardest $55 I've earned in a long while. I'm going to have to think of a fundraiser with a little more bucks for my bang.

Afterwards, came home, showered and took a short nap, followed by a pasta dinner at Demillo's with my Mom. First pasta dinner I've had in 16 months. Felt I earned it, though.

Sunday is a rest day. Grrr.