Pain in the a**

Good morning! :)

I woke up riiiiiiiiiidiculously sore. I cannot BELIEVE that Tuesday's sculpting class was that tough!!!! My legs are sore but oddly enough it's mostly my, ahem, butt that is feelin it. Like I said before, I truly never knew that I had muscles there until this week!!!

Running 6 miles yesterday probably didn't exactly help to promote healing, so while I am itching to work out, I'm going to take today off. I want to hit up spinning class tomorrow, and I need to be pain-free for my 12 miler on Saturday! So today I'll just do a few pushups and crunches here and there perhaps, but not much else.

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I wanted to share with you a great article that my mom sent me this morning from the Chicago Tribune - you can read the article here. I tried to copy a passage from the article but I guess it is copywright protected or something and wouldn't let me do so. Basically, it tells a story of a teen mom who went into the gang life but was offered rehabilitation from Ceasefire, turned her life around, and is now getting ready to attend college!

I love to hear stories like that, but from my experience as a school social worker I already knew about the great work Ceasefire does, and I have seen it with my own eyes.

Please, please consider making a donation on behalf of the children of Chicago. These children deserve the right to be able to walk to school or play in their neighborhood without facing gang violence..... and Ceasefire is a program that can help.

Even if it's just a few dollars, ANYTHING would be appreciated!!! Ceasefire is the charity that I am trying to fundraise for through my marathon training, and it would mean so much to me if you are able to send a donation their way. If you are interested, see the left side of my blog's homepage where it talks about how you can easily and quickly make a donation. Don't forget you will get a shout-out on here thanking you, and a link to your blog if you are a blogger ;)

If you have any questions about Ceasefire or are having any problems making a donation, please let me know! Thank you!

My charity fundraising link is set up!

I'm SO excited to announce that I finally figured out how to set it up so that anyone who wants to can donate to the charity that I am raising money for through my Chicago Marathon training!!!

For those of you who have been reading since the very beginning, you may remember that one of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog in the first place was to raise awareness - and hopefully also raise money for - a fabulous organization that I believe in.

Through my marathon training, I am trying to raise money for Ceasefire: The Campaign to STOP the Shooting, an organization that I am very passionate about!!

Basically, Ceasefire is an amazing organization that does a ton of great things for Chicago residents, but it's main campaign is to stop gang violence. As a school social worker in Chicago's inner city, I have seen far, far too many students be touched by gang violence, and frankly I've had enough. So, it's very important to me to raise money for this awesome organization.

I would love for anyone who wants to help Ceasefire to make a contribution - any amount, large or small, would be appreciated by this organization and for the children and adults whose lives it will undoubtedly help save.

I will personally give a shout-out to every single person that donates, no matter what size the donation is - I don't care if it's a single $1.00!!

If you are interested in helping out this great cause, this is what you can do:

1) Go to http://ceasefirechicago.org/donate.shtml
2) Type in "Marathon Val" under "special instructions" so that I can keep track of how many dollars coming in (I won't be notified right away, but sporadically Ceasefire will email me to tell me who has recently made a donation)

Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing this website, or if you have any questions for me!

THANK YOU so much for your help and support!!!!

XOXOX
Marathon Val :)

My first blog post!

Welcome! :)

Wow, I never in a million years thought that I would be blogging!! I'm practically the "anti-blogger" as I am still one of the few stragglers to hold out against joining MySpace let alone blog for all the world to see... it just seemed too newfangled, too invasive, and I never liked the idea of making my life transparent to strangers.

BUT, things have changed, as I have recently discovered that surprisingly I LOVE blogs!!! A few weeks ago I stumbled onto some great health/nutrition/fitness blogs (Like EatLiveRun, one of my faves!) since those are some of my favorite things to read about. I am completely enthralled with how many people out there have similar interests to me, such as vegetarianism and maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle. I was hooked - and ever since, it's been a new daily pastime to check up on my favorite, bookmarked blogs.

Not only have a simply enjoyed reading the blogs - they have been a source of new info (great recipes, new training plans, new ways of thinking) - but I've realized what a great venue they are to reach out to an endless amount of people, very easily.

And.... that brings me to.... MY blog! This year I am training for the Chicago Marathon, which will be my third marathon. When I trained for the Chicago Marathon in 2007, I raised over $500 for the Afghan Women's Association International because I feel very strongly that these women often face severe oppression, violence, and at the very least, typically have a lack of basic human rights. This year, I have found another organization that I am very passionate about:

Ceasefire: The Campaign to STOP the Shooting
http://www.ceasefirechicago.org/

Basically, Ceasefire is an amazing organization that does a ton of great things for Chicago residents, but it's main campaign is to stop gang violence. As a school social worker in Chicago's inner city, I have seen far, far too many students be touched by gang violence, and frankly I've had enough. So, it's very important to me to raise money for this awesome organization. I hope to talk more about Ceasefire, and what specifically they do, in future posts.

So my plan for this blog is:
1) to have fun with it!
2) to talk about my marathon training, and the diet and lifestyle changes that take place throughout the training process
3) to raise awareness of Ceasefire and the importance of anti-violence programs in Chicago, and elsewhere
4) to hopefully raise a substantial amount of money through Ceasefire, as they are my "charity of choice" while I train for the marathon
5) I would love to also talk about other things that interest me, such as school social work...and perhaps other topics too... if anyone shows an interest!

Hopefully soon I will get this site up and running and will figure out a link to be able to start accepting donations. Please come back to the blog again soon! :)