The Power of Corn

Nothing makes a busy, stressful week payoff like running a race in a costume and raking in the donations! But first, the rest of my week. Monday I took my last class at Bar Method West LA. My Daily Candy deal finally expired and while all the instructors were great and the studio was nice, I'm really looking forward to using my deal for Bar Method Hermosa Beach. I thought killing time in West LA would allow time for traffic to die down but the worst part of my commute is AFTER West LA and the traffic stays surprisingly late so I'm eager to just get home and take class whenever I want (or have time) and not have to time it just right.

Tuesday I stopped at Body Dynamix to get some pre-run treatment, then I joined the Fleet Feet training group since they were celebrating Team CATS raising $20,000. We ran for 12 minutes then turned around which ended up being just under 2.5 miles for me. Once we got back to the store Phase IV gave a talk on cross training. Then we went over to Yum Yum Yogurt to have frozen yogurt to celebrate raising $20,000. We took our froyo back to Fleet Feet where one of our teammates shared her personal story for why she is on the team. It was heartbreaking to hear about her attack but so inspiring to hear about the amazing work the Center for Assault Treatment Services did to bring her attacker to justice. Thanks to the excellent data collection, he will be imprisoned the rest of his life! I felt proud to be supporting such a meaningful organization and really hope that I can meet my goal of $4,000.

Wednesday was a rest day but Thursday I ran 4 miles along the Hermosa Beach Strand and got to see both piers lit up for Christmas.

Friday I picked up my bib for the Santa Monica-Venice Christmas Run and got everything ready for the morning. Saturday I got up at 5:00 a.m. in order to run 8 miles before the 10k to fulfill my scheduled 14. Unfortunately I left the house a bit late and had some parking issues so by the time I started running I quickly realized that I would have to cut it short if I wanted to start the race on time. I ran 6 miles in just over an hour then donned my corn costume as promised and ran the 10k in 1:03:12.6. I don't know if it's a good or bad sign that I run just as fast dressed in a costume as I do normally. I sure got an earful on the course though! Aw shucks, 'ear me out... my ear was cold! Wish I could remember the rest. Mostly just a lot of shouts of "Christmas Corn" and the occasional "banana?!?!" Coming into the finish with people yelling "Go Corn!" was pretty awesome though.

As I had suspected, the costume got me a much needed uptick in donations! I'm so thankful the race costume idea has been so successful. I got $199 in donations just since Saturday and probably close to $500 generated by love of the costume. I still have quite a ways to go if I want to hit $2,500 by the end of the year but I'm hopeful I can make it happen and stay on target for reaching $4,000 for CATS!

With that said, my next race is January 5th: New Year's Race Los Angeles Half Marathon! It's at night so please make a donation and then send me your suggestions for a costume... maybe something glow in the dark and/or with lights?