Running For A Cause

I've often thought about using my triathlon training and racing has a vehicle to raise money for a charity or cause. Over the last few years I've looked into several charities and non-profits that I feel strongly about or have a connection to, but I never pulled the trigger on getting something set up.

That all changed about four months ago when I was approached by The Kids Center for Pediatric Therapies. My wife Jessica has done some volunteer work through her photography business for the Kids Center over the last few years. Some of her work can be seen here. Through some casual conversations with the staff at the Kids Center, they learned that I was a triathlete. They mentioned to Jessica that they were looking for people to help them organize a training/fundraising team for the Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon held here in Louisville every April. So upon learning this, Jessica suggested that they give me a call to discuss. I met with the Director of Marketing and Development over lunch in late September and I was immediately on-board.

Before I get into the details of what exactly my roll has been/is with the training team, I want to share a little bit about what the Kids Center does. They are a multidisciplinary treatment center for children with developmental delays and/or disabilities. They help infants through young adults. The mission of the Kids Center is two-fold. First, to involve children with needs and members of their families in the mainstream society, ensuring their ability to assume their rights as equal citizens. Second is to ensure their ability to receive services as needed to minimize the effects of their disability.You can get more details at their website, http://www.kidscenterky.org/

The Kids Center is an awesome place and they have never, and will never, turn a child away - regardless of the health-care or financial situation. That's why fundraising efforts like the one I'm helping with are so important.

Now on to what I'm doing to help. We've managed to pull together a group of about 25 people (so far) that have agreed to run the half marathon or full marathon on April 30th and raise money for the Kids Center as they train for the race. I sent out requests to just about everyone I know that runs, asking them to join us. Many did, some haven't - yet. Since many of the runners are new to the sport or the distance, I also developed a training schedule for them to follow. We are doing group runs every Saturday morning and have lined up three workshops to help educate runners on gear (i.e. shoes), injuries, and nutrition.

Each runner has a fundraising page set up where friends and family can donate directly to the Kids Center. Here's a link to my page - http://www.firstgiving.com/lukepowell1

The Kids Center is an awesome place and I feel a tug at my heart every time I'm there. These kids are working so hard to overcome disabilities that they did nothing to deserve. If only we could all have this much motivation and positive energy!

I'm hoping to raise at least $500 for the Kids Center on my own and overall we are looking to break the $10,000 mark as a group. We have a great group of runners, so I don't think reaching this goal will be a problem!

I have a link to my donation page on the right bar on this blog, so if you feel compelled, please donate...it's going to a great cause!

WORKOUTS:

1/18/2011 - Bike

Started off with a 10 minute warm-up then did a 45 minute Spin Class with some good hill work. Finished off with 8 x 2 minute hills in a big gear - remaining seated.
Total workout was 1:00:00 and my Avg HR was 130 bpm with a max of 154.

1/18/2011 - Swim

Shoulder Rotation Drills
Warm-up 480yd swim (8:31)
1:00 rest
Shoulder Rotation drill - 8 x 25 of this drill (4:16)
1:00 rest
Swim 192yd focusing on high shoulder (3:53)
1:00 rest
Shoulder Throw drill - 50 Shoulder Throw, 50 freestyle x 5 (10:11)
1:00 rest
Swim 192yd focusing on high shoulder (3:38)
1:00 rest
Cool-down 528yd (9:54)
Total 1824 yd in 45:35

1/19/2011 - Elliptical

Steep Hill Repeats
I'm still a little hesitant to do steep hill work outside on my ankle, so I regretfully headed to the elliptical this morning. After a warm-up, I did 13 x 60 second repeats on level 20 with 90 second recoveries between each on level 10. Still couldn't get my heart rate high enough, but it was better than nothing.
Total time was 45:00, Avg HR was 126 bpm with a max of 151.

1/19/2011 - Swim

On Wednesday mornings, I've started to workout with a group organized by Train Smart Multisport - a local triathlon training and coaching organization. There's typically 12-16 people participating in this hour-long workout each week. It's lead by a swim coach with several national championships to his credit. He works us hard...and I love it!
Here's what we did today:
200yd warm-up
Drills (most 4 x 100yd with 2 x 100yd freestyle in between) - legs only, high elbow, catch-up, single arm, 5-3-5, head-up, limited breathing
After the drills, we did 6 x 100yd progressions
200yd cool-down
Total was 3100 yards in 1:17:00



In other news, last week I had a post with some lovely pictures of runner's feet. I asked readers which foot was mine. I received a few guesses in the comments, some via Facebook and even a few over email. Out of all the guesses, only two people were correct...my wife and my mom (despite the fact that my mom hasn't seen my bare feet in years). The correct answer was #2.