Finally, A Treadmill Recap in Race Report Fashion

Well here it is, my treadmill in the middle of the mall! The wonderful people over at Lifestyle Family Fitness delivered it, set it up and the Westfield Countryside Mall people roped it off and set up the table for me and this is what I walked into the mall and found at 8: 30 a.m!!

You always picture things going wrong and something not working or going according to plan, but not here! Not at all. It was perfect.

Then my dad and I started setting up and my nerves were a complete wreck. All night the night before, all morning, my nerves were just a complete wreck. It was a little better when I got to the mall, but not much. The fact that I was about to become a spectacle for 10-11 hours in the mall was really starting to sink in. (Whose idea was this again? Why did I think it was such a great idea again??)

Anyway, what went on the table: lots of stuff to bribe people to come on over, like purple beads, Hershey's dark chocolate kisses that are wrapped in purple and other purple yummies. And coupons for free massages by Hydromassage (they were AWESOME!) I had also made a big "science fair project" looking backboard with the information about myself, my team, Team In Training, LLS, the whole shabang. I had a "schedule" of what I would wear and when, along with a list of the raffle prizes, and my 1993 prom dress all laid out and ready to wear should someone come along and donate $200 (which they didn't, and honestly, I don't really mind. It's one thing being able to fit my prom dress from 1993 (hurrah!) but it's another thing to have to suck in and squeeze and tuck and breathe in real deep just to zip it up. Then walking on the treadmill on it.. yeah, not sure it was in the cards.

I had a bevvy of hats and attire and "costume" changes, like my fluffy purple pimp hat, a clown hat, some antennae, a cape, and a feather boa (which completes any occasion, including shoveling a sandwich in my face on a treadmill at the mall!)

Then there was my 80's wear, complete with leg warmers and stirrup pants (which were $4, but the getup=priceless!)

And then there was my 8  mile training run, which was in a word, painful. However, I will say, that the people-watching involved in being on a treadmill at the mall kept me distracted enough to gut my way through it. The aftermath was pretty rough though, I was nauseous for a while after that.

And then it was time for the green swim cap to come out. Which as you can see was the hottest outfit of the day. Brought to you by the Tri-Warriors, my tri-group that won the auction with their high donation a couple of weeks ago. That's hotness right there.

Hi, Tri-Warriors!!!

Honestly, not much embarrasses me anymore. I was one with the green swim cap.

And then the tv guy showed up! Hooray! (Post-green swim cap.)

And then the crowds started to thin out, (I had Chick-Fil-A on the treadmill and got scerred when I dropped a bite of sandwich on the treadmill but was relieved when it just flew off the back!) and it started getting dark out and I was running out of steam.

My legs started to revolt and I put on my sombrero (my husband poo-pooed the mustache) and I started getting all teary-eyed. I didn't want to give up, but it looked like things were ending.

It was getting toward 8 o'clock, my legs hurt so bad I was holding my body up on the treadmill handles to take most of the weight off my legs, and we were just past $1400. Not all the way to goal, but I had been there 10 hours. And then right after I put on my sombrero, my phone died. (Another sign...)


My husband turned to me and told me how proud he was of me. And said that it was ok to call it a day. Which we did.

And boy did sitting feel nice.

The great moments: seeing all my friends come out to support me. From my tri-group, to my softball team, to parents and teachers at my son's school, to my husband, my children and my daddy -- and my mom who was there in spirit cheering me on from Facebook because she was at the tail-end of a horrible flare-up.  

This hilarity right here:

My Twitter buddies and Facebook friends who were literally ON the treadmill with me cheering me on from my phone like Pubsgal and Lissa who tweeted me pictures!!!! All the people who donated and supported me (the one guy who was milling around, only to pull out three $50 bills and put them at the bottom of the bucket and walk away...) or the little girls who took a hershey's kiss and dug into their tiny 7 year old purses to donate their change. The maintenance men talking about how we'll do it again "next year..."

I don't know why or how 10 hours passed so quickly and that it only really started to hurt at the very, very end, only to say that I was meant to be there. I was meant to stand on that treadmill and raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I was meant to be there to see all the people who would help me rally around fighting cancer. I would never have pictured this for myself but it was an experience I will have forever. I have a video I'm going to edit together and put up soon too. My only wish in hindsight was that I wish I took more pictures of my husband and dad! (Also, if you missed it on the news, the link is HERE.)

The next day, my legs hurt and my stomach was in tangles and I had a lot of Pepto Bismol, but it all cleared up and I feel fabulous now!
The biggest news is that I met my minimum fundraising goal!! (Hooray!!) And THANK YOU!!!

What a crazy, crazy fun ride this has been.

* * *

The fight's not over, and we are still very much raising money for cancer, so if you haven't donated you still can, either to me or my team and those links are  HERE. I'll even give you a present! (Check it out and read about who I'm running for HERE!)

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Finally, A Treadmill Recap in Race Report Fashion

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2010/03/finally-treadmill-recap-in-race-report.html