The Kids of Easter Seals Need Our Help!

In one month...just four weeks from today...I will be running in my tenth marathon:  The ING New York City Marathon!  I am incredibly excited to have this opportunity.  Even more than the run, though, I am excited to be raising money for Easter Seals, an organization that is truly near and dear to me.

I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to not only run the New York City Marathon (a long-time dream of mine), but to use my love of running to raise awareness and funds for families served by Easter Seals.  Easter Seals is a pediatric outpatient rehabilitation clinic that provides therapy services for children with disabilities.  I'm running this race as a member of Team Believe, a running team that was created to raise money for Easter Seals as well as to increase awareness about the services we provide for individuals with disabilities.

I have had the honor and privilege of working as a Speech-Language Pathologist for Easter Seals of Central Illinois since 2007.  Working as an SLP at Easter Seals was my first job after I completed my master's degree.  While I interviewed with and was offered positions with a number of different organizations in my area, Easter Seals' mission drew me in:  "Easter Seals provides exceptional services to ensure that people with disabilities and their families have equal opportunity to live, learn, work and play in their communities."  Since joining hands with others at Easter Seals, I have had the honor of watching this mission be lived out day in and day out.

Therapists at Easter Seals provide therapy services (speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, feeding therapy, developmental therapy, behavioral therapy...and more!) to help children reach their full potential.  Skills such as walking, playing with toys and talking are things that many of us take for granted.  However, these skills must be explicitly taught to some children through skilled therapy services. 

One of my favorite parts of working for this organization is the fact that Easter Seals prioritizes families and their needs and dreams for their children.  Parents and other family members are encouraged to be active team members in their child's therapy and therapists work alongside families to coach them in ways to help their children.  We've seen that when families take an active role in their child's therapy, the progress can be even greater.

Take a few minutes and watch these videos created over the past year that highlight a few of our Easter Seals kids who have reached some really exciting milestones (and have a tissue handy!):

Easter Seals of Peoria Milestones Video

Easter Seals of Bloomington Milestones Video

I've committed to raising $5,000 (plus!) between now and the end of October 2013.  This is a HUGE, lofty goal and as of today I am almost halfway there!  I still have a long way to go, which means lots of work on my part...but this is nothing compared to the work and dedication the children and families I work with at Easter Seals have to put forth to meet their milestones. 

I am amazed by the ways in which hobbies such as marathoning can turn into much more than a hobby...and into a vehicle to raise money and awareness for a wide variety of organizations, as well as a way to enrich lives and form relationships that may have not been formed otherwise.  The money raised by Team Believe through our participation in the 2013 NYC Marathon will help provide therapy services for children whose families don't have the financial means to pay for all of the therapies needed to help them reach their full potential. 

Your donation is much appreciated by me, but more importantly by the kids and families served at Easter Seals.  Gifts of any size will help me meet my fundraising goal and will help children reach exciting milestones in their lives.

Click on the link to go to my secure First Giving fundraising page: 
Rachel's Marathon for Easter Seals

If you'd rather mail a check, you may send it to:
Team Believe/Run Rachel Run
Easter Seals of Bloomington
2404 East Empire
Bloomington, IL 61704

Me with Matthew, an Easter Seals Ambassador child, pictured on a checklist
of developmental milestones distributed in our community.  Materials like this
help families determine if they should pursue developmental screenings for their child.
 

Me with Iris, an Easter Seals ambassador child, who I worked with for a number of years. 
This picture was taken at one of our Telethon events, held in March each year.  Speech therapy helped Iris develop her communication skills so that she is better able to communicate with her family and classmates.

THANK YOU for your support, on behalf of Matthew and Iris and all of the other Easter Seals kids!

2014 Team Rev3

This morning I sent in my application for the 2014 Team Rev3...after a few weeks of pondering, writing and editing my words.  Rev3 is an organization that puts on some pretty outstanding races.  Each fall, they offer the opportunity to apply to be a member of Team Rev3.  I am now anxiously awaiting November, when they contact athletes they are considering for their team.

Team members have the FUN responsibility of being ambassadors for the brand.  This can be done in ways such as promoting Rev3 on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and by encouraging friends and acquaintances to experience an awesome Rev3 event for themselves.  Additionally, team members get great triathlon gear as well as free entries into Rev3 events.  I already talk to others about how much fun I had at the Rev3 events I've participated in...so it wouldn't be a big stretch to help promote the brand more.  Getting awesome free stuff on top of this would be sweet!

Rev3 races are spectacular experiences.  I had the privilege of attending and participating in two this summer:  Rev3 Knoxville and Rev3 Dells.  At both, I participated in relay teams for the Half Rev (70.3 mile distance) events.  In Knoxville I completed the swim leg and at Dells I completed the run.  At both events, my teams won awards!  In Knoxville, my relay team got third and at Dells my relay team got first!  A a result, we received some pretty sweet prizes.

At Rev3 Knoxville with my relay teammates Laura and Steve

At Rev3 Dells with my relay teammates Melissa and Martha

Rev3 strives to have exciting, family-friendly events.  Race weekends include activities for family members of athletes participating in the races.  They even allow family members to cross the finish line with their athlete!  Having had the opportunity to watch children cross a finish line with their parents, I can say first-hand that this is a pretty neat experience for families to have together.  Additionally, Rev3 actively raises funds for individuals affected by cancer.  The creators of Rev3 clearly understand that while training for and racing in triathlons are great live-enhancing activities, there are also things that are even bigger than the sport:  family, friends and giving back to others.  Now THAT is something I can gladly stand behind!

Rev3 has events all over the country...and next year there will be a Rev3 event in Mexico for the first time!  I strongly encourage checking out their race schedule and considering adding one or more of their events to your 2014 race plans.  Regardless of the result of my application to join the Rev3 team, I plan to participate in a number of their events again next year.  I'm already looking forward to a great 2014 racing season!

Quad Cities Race Weekend (x2!)

I've written before about my love for the Quad City area...it holds a lot of history for me.  It is where my parents and my sister and her family all live and where I completed my undergraduate degree.  I've also completed many races in the Quad Cities.

The past two weekends, I went home for two great races:  The Quad Cities Marathon (I did the half) and The John Deere 5k Fall Classic.

#1:  The Quad Cities Marathon

On Saturday, September 21 I went up to the Quad Cities and had my pre-race dinner at Red Robin (YUM!) with my good friend/cousin Jen and my niece Macy.  Naturally, after dinner we hit up Whitey's for some ice cream (great pre-race fuel!).

Sunday morning, September 22, my sister Megan and I ran in the half marathon at the Quad Cities marathon event.  As I've written many times before, my sister is my favorite running partner.  We've run many races together...my first races (The Maple City 4 in Geneseo, IL was my very first race!  I got 2nd in my age group...out of two...with a time of 33:53, not too shabby for my first race experience and likely one of my first times ever running 4 miles!) were with Megan by my side (well, at the starting line at least...she was always MUCH faster!!).

Sunday's half marathon was Megan's second half marathon after giving birth to her sweet little Macy ten months ago.  I was nervous about committing to run the race, seeing as it was just two weeks post-Ironman, but thankfully it was possible to wait to register until the day before the race.  The day before...I felt great (ish :)).  So, I registered!  While at the expo, I saw my random-stranger-turned-friend Jen Blackorby which was awesome!

Sunday's race went pretty well.  I felt very tight throughout my legs for the first few miles (I hadn't run much since Ironman Wisconsin!), but was able to push through it and stay true to my commitment to stick with Megan throughout the race.  I did consider slowing down, but convinced myself that was ridiculous.  I could absolutely stick with the 8:30 pace we established at the beginning of the race.  Absolutely!

As the race went on, Meg had a few rough spots.  I teased her later because at a number of the water stops she waited until the very end to grab one of the last cups of water held out by volunteers.  Well, each time the last cups were Gatorade...which wasn't what she wanted.  So, each time...she got half (or more) of my cup of water :).

Later on, around mile 10 or so, she really needed to pee.  We had a long conversation about the pros and cons of just letting it go and peeing herself...and determined that we would instead keep our eyes pealed for a porta-potty.  Thankfully, we saw one (though I am sure it was a FAR longer run to it than she would've liked!) and made a quick pit-stop.

We finished side by side in 1:57...under two hours for her second race post-baby:  pretty stellar I do say!  Way to go Megan!  I'm so glad my body wasn't broken from Ironman and that I had the opportunity to run with you again!

Me with Meg post-race!

#2:  The John Deere 5k Fall Classic

A few weeks ago, my uncle Jack contacted Megan and me to ask if we were interested in running a 5k with him and his daughter Lanie (12 years old) for John Deere employees/families on Sunday, September 28 at the John Deere World Headquarters in Moline, IL.  I knew this would make for a crazy weekend...not only would it be the second weekend in a row that I drove up to the Quad City area, but it would mean a very early morning for me.  I had committed to volunteering at the 2013 Easter Seals Grape Soiree Saturday evening September 27, which is an event that typically goes pretty late.  Regardless, I decided that it would be a lot of fun and good to be able to spend time with family...so I said "I'm in!"

Saturday night I got home around 11:30pm from the Grape Soiree and was in bed around midnight.  My alarm went off irritatingly at 5am...and I was in the car by 5:30am.  YIKES!  Those who know me know this is quite a feat...I am NOT a morning person!  Sadly, Gloria Jeans (the coffee establishment closest to my home!) didn't open until 6am so I couldn't even drive by for some morning joe to power my drive there! ;)

I arrived at John Deere around 7:35, just enough time to locate my family and get fired up for our 8am start!  I found our group:  Megan, Macy and Danny, as well as Jack and his kiddos Lanie and Mitch.  Danny and Mitch were awesome spectators, while the rest of us ran in the race (Meg pushed Macy in the Bob stroller...Macy's first official race!).  My parents also came and spectated at the start/finish line.

Meg, Macy, Lanie and myself getting ready to race! (The sun was crazy bright that morning, hence the silly shadows)

The race was a lot of fun.  Jack took off like a crazy man as soon as the starting gun went off ;) and the rest of us started at a more reasonable pace ;).  Macy kept us entertained with coos and smiles and we chatted with Lanie about her school year and volleyball season.  Lanie had never run further than about 2.5 miles...and we were so proud to see her putting fort some serious valiant efforts to finish the race!  We stopped for 2 quick walking breaks, but other than that ran the entire time.  Some encouraging words were needed a few times ;)...and we had some conversations about the food Lanie wanted to eat at the end (precisely one and a half McDonald's cheeseburgers was what she mentioned.  Ha!).  Before long, though, we made it to the finish...in just under 34 minutes.  Pretty great time for Lanie's first 5k!  Meg and I (and Macy!) were both happy to be along for the her journey to the finish for the first time.  Truly one of my favorite things about the sport is witnessing new people give it a try...and hopefully fall in love with it (though I'm not sure Lanie was exactly "in love" with running Sunday!  She may or may not have uttered the words "I'm just not cut out for running!" a time or two ;).

My niece, little Miss Polka-Dots (and favorite toy Sophie!) after the race...gnawing on some post-race carbs!

After the race, we hung out with Jack and his family and my parents and watched some of the kid races:  a 50 yard dash, a half-mile and a one-mile run were among the other events that day.  It was a beautiful morning (though it started out cold and foggy!) and very nice to spend time with family.  Later we went to Panera for some brunch...and then I went back to Megan and Danny's and crashed hard for a few hours.  I.  was.  EXHAUSTED!!

As I napped, Megan texted me from upstairs (I was in their guest room downstairs):  "Pumpkin chai?"  These two little words got me out of bed almost immediately after I read them.  There is a drive-through coffee place in Davenport that makes these seriously AMAZING pumpkin chai tea lattes...we fell in love with them after the half marathon the previous weekend.  We ran out to get our teas and then went to Fulton, IL to a birthday party to celebrate my grandparents' 95th (my grandmother) and 99th (my grandfather) birthdays!  I was happy to be able to attend...living a fair distance away from my extended family, I often miss out on events like this and was glad that I was able to go to this one!  Talk about some impressive birthday milestones!

Next up:  a half marathon adventure in CALIFORNIA on October 13 with my sister in law Laura!  This will be her FIRST half marathon...and it will be THREE weeks out from the NYC Marathon for me!  I'm going for a half marathon PR (so under 1:46:49, which is my current PR set in April at the U of I half marathon earlier this season).  Stay tuned!