Can you spare some change? - Part 2

Two weeks ago, we highlighted about an effort underway in Durham to encourage folks to give funds to organizations like Genesis Home - instead of panhandlers on the street. In Sunday's paper, correspondent Flo Johnston wrote about Rev. Gaston Warner's suggestions for compassionate response. In the story, Johnston discusses Warner's list of non-monetary items that are often useful to our homeless and hungry neighbors:

* Dinty Moore/Hormel meals
* Granola bars and prepackaged trail mix
* Vacuum-sealed bags of tuna
* Travel-sized toiletries, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush
* Plastic-wrapped napkins, forks, knives, salt and pepper
* Bottle of water or juice
* Toilet paper
* A bag of socks

Check out Duke Chapel's newsletter for Warner's full story.

Networking for Good

As we Tri to End Homelessness by raising funds throughout the year for Genesis Home, thousands of folks in their 20s and 30s throughout country have turned to social networking sites to find like-minded souls and gather serious dollars for a range of causes and organizations. Today's Wall Street Journal tells their stories.

Maybe WE Should Move to the Shelter

It's still really hot -- AND on Saturday morning, Robyn and Ryan's 25 year old air conditioning unit started making terrifying screeching noises before it pathetically conked out for good. It was 87 degrees INSIDE when Robyn woke up this morning. The tough swim workout was a welcome respite. The HVAC crew arrives this afternoon. Hallelujah.

All Business

With seven weeks until our goal race for the year, it's all business from here on! Well, maybe not ALL business, but in that 'Git her done' spirit Robyn has added a new uniform to ever changing repertoire. It arrived in the mail yesterday!

The Mile Time Trial

"If I were to wish for anything I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what can be, for the eye, which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating as possibility." - Kierkegaard

(As quoted in The Art of Possibility: Transforming Personal and Professional Life)

The alarm goes off at 5:30 am. Your first feeling is irrational fear. Your first conscious thought is "I don't want to do this."

But, just as you've done hundreds of times before, You.Get.Up.

You start the coffee pot, quickly dress, grab that cup of joe and a trusty PB&J, take one last long look at yourself in the mirror, and head to the track, where your coach awaits.

During your long supposed-to-be-slow 30 minute warm-up, your legs are already feeling a little tired. The tiny aches that have been simmering under the surface all week now feel crippling. Your heart rate seems unusually high and seeds of panic take root. The devil on your shoulder starts to say, "You can't do this today. Just call it off. Why are you going to put your self through this? What's the point?"

But, now it's time. The irrational fear has grown significantly, but you try to mask it by casually saying to your coach, "Oh, I'm a little nervous."

And then, you're off! Coach reminds you that this your opportunity to experience what lies beyond the threshold - your true capacity.

Our biggest fear is not that we are inadequate.....

The first two laps feel quick, real quick. You deliberately don't look at your watch and instead just try focus on turnover. The challenge feels so mental. The little devil pipes up again and you feel doubt. This is definitely faster than you've gone before. How can you possibly keep this up for two more laps?

A new feeling of panic is high in your chest at the start of the third lap. Rounding the second turn, you audibly groan "Oh, God." But then, lap four starts and you just have to hang on.

The fourth lap is a blur - just Don't.Give.Up you keep repeating. And amazingly enough, you don't. Instead, you cross the line and are shocked by the reading on your watch. You've just gone faster - significantly faster - than ever before.

Now, you KNOW. Your world, your limitations, your potential have shifted. And the next time the alarm goes off at 5:30 and you head out the door, you will think "I wonder what's possible today."

Can you spare some change?

"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness."- Seneca

We've all had encounters with panhandlers in our communities - and many of us have felt compelled to give. Here in Durham, the Interneighborhood Council is initiating an education campaign to encourage folks to instead direct their donations to organizations, like Genesis Home, which are providing services that sustainably support folks as they move out of homelessness.

Although we've already exceeded our Tri to End Homelessness fundraising goal for the year, organizations like Genesis Home can always use your ongoing financial support. Can you spare some change?

Central Park Special

For the past week, Ray has been on vacation with her husband and in-laws - touring New York City, hiking throughout Bar Harbour, Maine, and eating lots of lobster in Nova Scotia -- all while attempting to keep up with tri training.

Our flexible coach, designed last week's plan around Ray's destinations - including a 1-mile time trial in Central Park. Here's what Ray wrote in her training log for that day:

I LOVE CENTRAL PARK!!!! What a great run today. I love Central Park and I thoroughly enjoyed my run! My mile TT was 7:50 but now that I've had some rest I think I could go a bit faster. It's just so hard to know how to pace yourself for just one hard mile. I've never done that before. Just when I was thinking holy crap this is really REALLY hard, it was over. The weather was only in the low 80's this morning and the sun was shining. Truly a great start to our long day of sight seeing (and walking on these tired legs!) in NYC! The best part was discovering that the tennis center had free showers, showering with no soap or towel, getting dressed and hitting the city with wet matted hair--talk about the hybrid life we lead!

Shifting Identities

“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.” - Richard R. Grant

We wear a lot of different uniforms -- and lately, as we shift from identity to identity, we've been feeling like Wonder Woman, hurriedly shifting from attentive nurse to super heroine simply by trading her matronly whites for bulletproof bracelets.

The alarm goes off and the transformation begins. We wipe the sleep from our eyes and quickly move from Helpful Partners- coffee made, lunches ready, to-do list complete, laundry started - to Dedicated Fundraising Triathletes with the early donning of our speedos, caps, and goggles.

Swim is complete and we morph again from Dedicated Fundraising Triathletes into Real Life Professionals. Out of our tri bags come the accoutrement of our daytime personas - business casual attire, make-up, blow dryers, jewelry, and the occasional high heel. From behind the gym shower curtain, we emerge ready to take on the next part of our adventure. Few within the world of our Real Life Professional selves, truly know what superpowers we hold within.

Work ends and into the tri bag we reach again to revitalize the Dedicated Fundraising Triathlete within - sometimes changing inside the sanctum of Real Life Professional (the office, the car, the office bathroom) and emerging anew. Bike shorts, jersey, bike shoes, helmet, and our very own bulletproof bracelet -The Road ID - on, and we're off!

With the evening workout complete, we return home and our Helpful Partner selves reemerge as we shower and dress in the evening uniform of well-worn race t-shirts, well-loved stretchy pants, and sports bras we never seem to get out of.

Each day we awake with the power to shift from identity to identity -- a Choose Your Own Adventure of "Who do I want to be and What do I want my life to be about today?" Just as triathlon has helped us find that freedom, the staff at Genesis Home help homeless moms and dads envision new identities for themselves. We all have that power within.

Tri Newbie Shout Out

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”--Henry David Thoreau

Today we're sending a blog-love shout out to our friend Leigh S. who this week begins the official training program for her first triathlon: The Ramblin' Rose Women's Only Sprint. We'll be with her in spirit (and sometimes in the pool!) all the way.

For our other tri and endurance newbie friends out there, here's 10 Great Reasons why you should do a triathlon too!

Dog Days of Summer

“It ain't the heat; it's the humility.” - Yogi Berra

It's HOT. Really, really, really hot -- and hazy--- and humid -- and hot. This morning it was 80 degrees when Robyn left for her run at 7:00 a.m. and according to the weather forecast, we're looking at near 100 degree days every day this week.

Luckily, we're entering a rest week after completing the last three weeks of force work, so we'll be seeking a lot of air conditioned respite. Thanks to a group of housing advocates and human services providers, folks that are homeless will be able to do the same. Members of the White Flag Network hang flags at the doors of their shelters on days when the heat index exceeds 100 degrees. This flag signals that the shelters are open during the day - instead of being closed as they usually are - for anyone who needs some cool shade.