Enter to win a long weekend/three nights at a lakeside cottage in NY!!

My fundraising webpage: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/pfchangs09/ayates

Here's my most recent fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society:

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am raffling off a three
night stay at my mother-in-law's lakeside cottage in Upstate NY.  
A $10 donation to my Leukemia and Lymphoma Society webpage buys you a chance
(two chances for $15!) to stay at this beautiful secluded spot on Owasco Lake, 
one of New York's famous Finger Lakes, during the off-season (September-June)!
Just so you know, my mother-in-law usually rents this out for $400-$600 for the
same amount of time!

If that's not good enough, here are some additional perks: the cottage
is both kid and dog friendly, and the winner has the option of
extending their stay - based on availability - in exchange for an
additional donation to my webpage!

The cottage is small but cozy, and has a kitchenette, two bedrooms, a
full bath, and a living room with satellite TV and wireless internet,
if you choose to bring a laptop.  The bedrooms sleep 4 total and the
living room has a pull-out couch, which allows you to add an
additional 1-2 people if you don't mind being squished.  The cottage
has its own deck that provides lovely views of the lake (I
particularly enjoy being out there at sunset!), and is just a few feet
away from a private staircase that leads directly to the lake.  Down
there, you can hold a bonfire on the beach, canoe, or kayak (provided
the water isn't too cold). 

If you want to do more than sit by the water and enjoy the beauty of
your surroundings, some nearby attractions include museums and historical
sights, vineyards and winetrails, the charming town and great shops of Skaneateles,
and bigger cities such as Rochester and Syracuse.  I'm pretty sure that the nearest
place to ski is about an hour away, but if you're a ski enthusiast, let me know and
I can double-check for you.


If you are interested, you can do the following:

1. Check out the photos above.

2. Enter the raffle by visiting my fundraising webpage and donating
$10 for one chance or $15 for 2.

3. Send me an email at autumn.yates@yahoo.com to let me know that
your donation is for the raffle.  I will send a reply confirming that
I received your message and donation.

It's that simple!  I will pull the winning ticket on Sunday, October
5th, so that the winner still has some weekends to choose from if they
want to use the cottage in the fall.  Make sure you buy your chance
now before it's too late, and thank you for supporting my fundraising
efforts!

Chugging Along

It's amazing how Tuesday's Back to School Night can leave me exhausted for the rest of the week. I think it's because I'm not used to putting in a 13 hour day at school, nor do I ever hope to be. My running also got a little thrown off, too, because I had to switch from a Tuesday run to a Monday one. My legs were still feeling Saturday's 5 miler and Sunday's humid jog, so Monday definitely hurt. Now I know why Mondays are supposed to be rest days. Fortunately this Wednesday was just a cross-training day instead of a running day, so I was able to get home nice and early and use the ellyptical. I had the gym all to myself, which was great.

Today is another 3 mile run, and then I get to rest tomorrow before Saturday's 4-mile run at Fletcher's Boathouse. It's just a recovery run, which explains why it's less than last Saturday. Following the run, we are going to have our Honored Teammate Picnic, during which Personal Honored Teammates (loved ones of team members who have survived a blood cancer) are invited to partake in the activities and share their stories. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and very inspiring. This is good news, since my fundraising has hit a lull and nothing motivates me more than a reminder about the real reason why I'm doing this. I have a bake sale coming up with Erin at the Giant on Duke Street, and I am still working on getting on the list to do gift wrapping at Border's. I also sent an email to the Wonderland to see if they would be willing to let me do some sort of fundraising Happy Hour, but they haven't gotten back to me yet. I'm thinking about talking to the people at Chevy's in Pentagon City, too, and perhaps contacting some other places. I'm definitely starting to feel like I have two jobs!

In related news, thank you to those of you who have been clicking the ads on the left side of this blog. So far, I've made $3.78 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society just because a few people have done nothing more than click on a few ads. Please continue clicking, as my goal is to raise $100 that way!!! Thanks everyone for your help!!

I love my new hobby!

My fundraising webpage: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/pfchangs09/ayates

Woohoo, no tropical storm this weekend! This morning's run went really well. Erin and I left for Bethesda at about 7:00 this morning. Andrea was at that wedding and Keri was home sick, but I ran most of the way with Kate, who's office is only a few blocks from where I work! Kate definitely had me going at a really fast pace, and I talked so much that I got a bit winded by the end, so I let her go on ahead of me. Still, I was only about the 6th person to get back to our starting point, since the fastest people mainly do the marathon and therefore had to run three miles longer than me.

I chatted with people as they came in, and then changed in the car once Erin came back. She has since showed me which set of keys in the key box are hers, so now I don't have to wait for her in order to grab my stuff. Once everyone was present and accounted for, a bunch of us went and got bagels at the place across the street. We crowded around a sidewalk bench and chatted as we ate. I got to hear about different runs and fundraising ideas, and Erin and I decided that we're going to do a bake sale at a nearby Giant to try and raise some extra funds. So many people have these great ideas that will probably put them way over what they need to raise, so I really need to step it up to meet the minimum requirement. My donors have been so generous, though, and I definitely can't complain. Thank you so much to all of you who pushed my fundraising total into four digits!

All in all, I enjoyed my five mile run this morning, and I'm having a great time with the new company I'm keeping. Every training makes me fall more in love with Team in Training and it's mission, and I can see why people come back year after year. Good friends, good health, a good cause, and good food afterwards - it's addicting! Next week's six mile run will be a distance record for me, and I'm so excited. Wish me luck!

Updates

My fundraising webpage: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/pfchangs09/ayates

First of all, I recently gave Google permission to start running advertisements on the left side of my blog. In exchange, Google will pay me about 10 cents for every time that one of my blog readers clicks one of these ads. You don't have to buy anything, just click the link! Any additional money that I make off of this will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as part of my fundraising effort. Therefore, please check back every day and click the ads even if I haven't written any new posts!

In addition, I wanted to let everyone know that as of a couple of weeks ago I added a second Personal Honored Teammate. My neighbor Joyce's grown son has suffered from four bouts of a rare cancer in his blood vessels, and the doctors are currently monitering this fourth and most recent return. My thoughts are with both Trey and his family.

In related Honored Teammate news, Jean has been feeling a lot better recently. She discovered that she can drink creamsicle shakes from Walter's, a hotdog stand that has been a staple for decades in Larchmont. Mom reports that she has also been up and around, doing small chores around the house. I'm so happy for her, and hopefully her strength will continue to improve as we get closer to the holiday season. It's not officially Christmas Eve unless Jeannie is sitting at my mom's kitchen table making the ladies of the family (and my poor, outnumbered Dave) laugh hysterically!

Well, it's back to work for a little while, and then it's time for my Tuesday run. I think I'll run on the mall again today!

Pictures as Promised

My fundraising webpage: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/pfchangs09/ayates


Here are some photos from yesterday's wet and wild event. The first one is of me and Petra, and shows just how soaked to the bone we were after running. The second one is of Petra and Erin demonstrating the wind speed that we felt out on Haine's Point. Enjoy!

Liquid Sunshine

My fundraising webpage: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/pfchangs09/ayates

(Thanks to all who have donated so far. I'm up to $925 in donations that will help save lives!!!)

Ok, so if I had to choose between running in 100 degree weather or running in the rain, I think I would choose the rain. That said, I don't think I ever foresaw running in a hurricane. However, that is exactly what I did this morning!

Today's 8:00am run was scheduled for Haine's Point (the national park past the Jefferson Memorial and along the Potomac). When we stretched and warmed up at 7:45, there was really only a light drizzle. By the time our run was well under way, it started to come down harder. Andrea and I continued to keep each other's pace up, and chatted with ease about our families, education, and past jobs. The coaches cheered us on, calling out that the torrential downpour was just "liquid sunshine." Haha, sure. Still, I think the rain kept us cool and motivated, and we finished our 4 miles easily. We weren't really even out of breath, and I think we both could have gone farther!

When we got back to the parking lot the rain was really picking up and the wind was crazy. Many people were standing there barefoot because everyone's sneakers were soaked through, and the staff was signing people out under an umbrella. I did get my tote bag prize for already raising over $600 (woohoo!), and I was able to use it for some of my soaking wet stuff. I returned home looking like a drowned rat, but all in all it was actually fun! I'll post a couple of pictures once Erin and Keri send them to me.

For those of you wondering about the first week of school, it went really well. I was able transition nicely back to work, and I feel like I'm prepared for the weeks ahead. I'm still figuring out the running/work balance, but I'm getting there. I tried out the Bethesda buddy run, but it was just too far away. I may try the buddy run on the Mall on Thursday, but other than that I think I will stick to running on the Hill and maybe doing one run at home each week while it's still light out.

That's about it for now. This Hurricane Hannah survivor is going to go relax and enjoy a lazy, rainy Saturday on the couch! Check back soon for pictures!