Hello all! I'm so sorry I have not been updating my blog! I actually have been really busy and did not think many people were reading it, but since I have not updated it, I keep getting asked to update it! Sorry!
Since the walkathon, money has been trickling in every now and then from participants, family, friends, and people who have heard about what I am doing! I am sooo thankful for all of the support and all of the new friends I have made through all of this! It has been a life-changing goal to reach for. We are just shy of $6500 dollars, which is awesome!!! I can not believe I have even made it that far! I set my goal at $10,000 and did not think I would even come close, even though I did not reach my goal (yet), I am very pleased with the amount of money that has been raised. I will continue to work with this organization even after all of this, and hold the walkathon once a year. So be ready for next spring!
My training has slowed down, my race is just 6 days away!!! Crazy how fast time goes! I did my longest run a couple of weeks ago, on the day of the River Bank Run. It was very nice. I am VERY nervous for the marathon though! I feel like I have not trained as well this time. But I do remember that I felt this way the last time too, so you never know what will happen! Either way, I will be happy to say that I have ran 2 marathons in my life:)
So next Sunday, around 8am, say a little prayer for me! I will be just starting my run! I will definitely update my blog after that and let everyone know how I do. Thanks again for all your support and I hope to see you all soon!
About Me
- Jill Gorby
- Hello! This is my running blog. I have started this blog because I am trying to raise $10,000 for a non-profit organization called Of One Heart. You can read my first post to hear more about this organization. This blog will just tell the story of my training and also of my fundraising. Thanks for reading!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Run/Walkathon a Success!!!
Hello everyone!!! I finally have a little bit of free time to tell you about the Run/Walkathon this past Saturday! It went very well! It was a little chilly at first, some clouds, and a lot of wind - but at about 1:30 or so the sun decided to come out for us. We had a great turn out - Dr. Mann was there with his nurse Cathy, and they were able to give a couple of announcements and explain to everyone what Of One Heart is all about and how it helps local children. He ended up running 4 miles!!! Good job Dr. Mann!
We had a massage therapist there doing chair massages, which were awesome!!! Thanks Courtney, I will definitely be giving her a call next year to see if she would like to do it again, because everybody loved it! The hot dogs and cookies from Papa's Dogs and More were also a hit! They were delivered nice and warm and were eaten right away. We had some leftovers when we were done that we sold to some of the fans that were there:)
Also, a girl I have met recently that works with my husband came, her name is Tara. She was also born with a cleft lip and palate and has had numerous surgeries by Dr. Mann. At about 2:00pm everyone was done walking/running and we all gathered around in a circle. Tara and I had a chance to tell our stories about our surgeries and our lives. While Tara was talking I kept getting a little teary - her story reminded me so much of mine! I have never met anyone who knows almost exactly how I feel! I was very touched by her presence there as were many other people. And I have also made a new friend, how awesome!
Along with Tara there were two other people at this event. One of them is Kelsey, when she was born, the plates that make up her skull were fused together, leaving no soft spots, and no room for her head and brain to grow. She had a surgery by Dr. Mann when she was an infant to allow her skull to grow and form properly. She was there and her story is stapled to my board (a board I crafted just for this organization, it hangs up in my room at work.) Another family was there, my new friend Julie and her daughter Addisyn. Addisyn is about 4 weeks old and was born with a cleft lip, her palate is fine. Julie and Addisyn had not met Dr. Mann yet and were very anxious to meet him. Addisyn is adorable, she has to wait until she is at least 10lbs to start her surgeries, but I have no doubt that she will be a beautiful girl!
Dr. Mann had some really cool and interesting things to say about this organization. Of One Heart will soon be rolling into a larger non-profit organization called Healing the Children. This is an international organization that helps children with all sorts of deformities. Of One Heart will be the local division for this organization, and it will also have a new name - I can not for the life of me think of it right now, but I will let you know as soon as I remember! He was also excited to tell us all about the changes in how doctors are treating these deformities. They are able now to reduce the number of surgeries needed to fix this, for example, I had 13 surgeries to fix my cleft lip and palate, and children who are born now may only need 5-6 surgeries to fix this. That is awesome! What a great change!
Well, overall we raised $4058 for Of One Heart!!! The first place winner, which is the participant who raised the most money, was my dad; he raised $1010!! He won a $25 Gift card to Striders and a $25 dining gift card. The second place winner was Tara, she raised $680!! She won 2 free 8 oz sizzler meals at Branns and one month free membership at the YMCA. The third place winner was the Morris Family, who raised $500!!! They also won 2 free 8oz sizzler meals at Branns. What an awesome and amazing event! I had so much fun planning this and have met so many amazing people. I can not wait to do it again next year! Thanks for reading!
We had a massage therapist there doing chair massages, which were awesome!!! Thanks Courtney, I will definitely be giving her a call next year to see if she would like to do it again, because everybody loved it! The hot dogs and cookies from Papa's Dogs and More were also a hit! They were delivered nice and warm and were eaten right away. We had some leftovers when we were done that we sold to some of the fans that were there:)
Also, a girl I have met recently that works with my husband came, her name is Tara. She was also born with a cleft lip and palate and has had numerous surgeries by Dr. Mann. At about 2:00pm everyone was done walking/running and we all gathered around in a circle. Tara and I had a chance to tell our stories about our surgeries and our lives. While Tara was talking I kept getting a little teary - her story reminded me so much of mine! I have never met anyone who knows almost exactly how I feel! I was very touched by her presence there as were many other people. And I have also made a new friend, how awesome!
Along with Tara there were two other people at this event. One of them is Kelsey, when she was born, the plates that make up her skull were fused together, leaving no soft spots, and no room for her head and brain to grow. She had a surgery by Dr. Mann when she was an infant to allow her skull to grow and form properly. She was there and her story is stapled to my board (a board I crafted just for this organization, it hangs up in my room at work.) Another family was there, my new friend Julie and her daughter Addisyn. Addisyn is about 4 weeks old and was born with a cleft lip, her palate is fine. Julie and Addisyn had not met Dr. Mann yet and were very anxious to meet him. Addisyn is adorable, she has to wait until she is at least 10lbs to start her surgeries, but I have no doubt that she will be a beautiful girl!
Dr. Mann had some really cool and interesting things to say about this organization. Of One Heart will soon be rolling into a larger non-profit organization called Healing the Children. This is an international organization that helps children with all sorts of deformities. Of One Heart will be the local division for this organization, and it will also have a new name - I can not for the life of me think of it right now, but I will let you know as soon as I remember! He was also excited to tell us all about the changes in how doctors are treating these deformities. They are able now to reduce the number of surgeries needed to fix this, for example, I had 13 surgeries to fix my cleft lip and palate, and children who are born now may only need 5-6 surgeries to fix this. That is awesome! What a great change!
Well, overall we raised $4058 for Of One Heart!!! The first place winner, which is the participant who raised the most money, was my dad; he raised $1010!! He won a $25 Gift card to Striders and a $25 dining gift card. The second place winner was Tara, she raised $680!! She won 2 free 8 oz sizzler meals at Branns and one month free membership at the YMCA. The third place winner was the Morris Family, who raised $500!!! They also won 2 free 8oz sizzler meals at Branns. What an awesome and amazing event! I had so much fun planning this and have met so many amazing people. I can not wait to do it again next year! Thanks for reading!
Monday, April 18, 2011
I'm so excited!
Hello! The Run/Walkathon is only a few days away, I can't wait! It sounds like it will be such a fun day, I just hope the weather is nice. No matter what, we will do it, unless it is lightening. Everything is checking out so far, the massage therapist, Courtney, confirmed that she will be there giving massages for a "tip" which will be donated to Of One Heart. Thanks Courtney!!! Also, Papa's Dogs and More will be selling their signature hot dogs, we have already ordered 50 White and 50 Wheat. Their dogs are baked into the homemade bun. Their bread is amazing!! We will also be having chips and homemade cookies, yummy! There will be water, Gatorade, and Lemonade offered at no cost to everyone. Also, bananas and Panera Bread bagel bites:)
My sister helped me put together a little Easter inspired game. For every $25 you raise, you can pick one Easter egg from the basket. There will be some eggs with a winning ticket inside, if you pick one of those you get a prize. Sooo..the more money you raise, the higher your chances!!!
I know a few people besides myself that have had surgeries by Dr. Mann. I am in the process right now of having either a poster with their stories on it, or having them speak while the participants are running/walking. How cool!
As long as it doesn't rain, we should have music playing as well. This will be so fun and I can't wait until Saturday! I think we have some pretty big competitors for the first place prize, it will be a close call!
Well, my training for the marathon has slowed down a bit this past week. I was not feeling well at all for a week, so I took some time off to get better. I had a chest cold and running just did not work well with that. So I am feeling much better today and I got some cardio in this morning and it felt great! This weekend will be another 20 miler:) Looking forward to it!
Well, let me know if you have any questions about anything, you can always email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com Thanks for reading!
My sister helped me put together a little Easter inspired game. For every $25 you raise, you can pick one Easter egg from the basket. There will be some eggs with a winning ticket inside, if you pick one of those you get a prize. Sooo..the more money you raise, the higher your chances!!!
I know a few people besides myself that have had surgeries by Dr. Mann. I am in the process right now of having either a poster with their stories on it, or having them speak while the participants are running/walking. How cool!
As long as it doesn't rain, we should have music playing as well. This will be so fun and I can't wait until Saturday! I think we have some pretty big competitors for the first place prize, it will be a close call!
Well, my training for the marathon has slowed down a bit this past week. I was not feeling well at all for a week, so I took some time off to get better. I had a chest cold and running just did not work well with that. So I am feeling much better today and I got some cardio in this morning and it felt great! This weekend will be another 20 miler:) Looking forward to it!
Well, let me know if you have any questions about anything, you can always email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com Thanks for reading!
Monday, April 11, 2011
I love this weather!
Hello again! It has been a long time again since I have written, sorry! Things are going great and I'm getting very ready for the Run/Walkathon on April 23! It's going to be so fun:) This past Saturday was an awesome run! I met up with the Riverbank training group at the zoo for a "prediction" run. This is when every one predicts how long it will take to run 4 miles, and we all write it down. We are not allowed to wear watches or anything that will help us keep our pace. There are volunteers timing us and the person who is closest to their prediction time wins. This week they won a free entry into a race in Belmont. Well, this winter I have been running extremely slow, so I predicted 40min. I thought that was being optimistic. Last year I would have done it in 38, but this year I seem to be running a lot slower. So I was nervous I wouldn't even make it in the 40 min predicted. Well, after the four mile prediction run there was a 9 mile course mapped out for runners to get their miles in. So I found a new friend:) and we ran the 9 miles together. It was great! The weather was perfect and we had a good pace going. When we were done with that, we got to see our times for the four mile run. My time ended up being 37:41! Way better than I thought! That just made my day! I had to get 19 miles in, so I ran a few more miles and then I was done. I ended up doing 19.6 miles in roughly 3 hours.
The rest of the weekend we did some yard work and then went to a Whitecap's game on Sunday. What a beautiful weekend! I can't wait until summer when this is normal weather:)
Well, I don't have much to say right now, but I will keep you updated on the fundraising and the Run/Walkathon! Only 12 more days! Thanks for reading!
The rest of the weekend we did some yard work and then went to a Whitecap's game on Sunday. What a beautiful weekend! I can't wait until summer when this is normal weather:)
Well, I don't have much to say right now, but I will keep you updated on the fundraising and the Run/Walkathon! Only 12 more days! Thanks for reading!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
It's getting closer....
Hello! Sorry it has been so long again! I guess since the weather is getting nicer, I don't have a lot of time to sit down and blog:) I'm definitely not complaining! Well, last Saturday I successfully ran from my house in Grand Rapids, to my parents house in Hudsonville - a total of 18 miles!! It was awesome, it was a sunny day and just a little chilly - the way I like it:) I was very sore afterwards though! This weekend will be 19 miles, I'm not sure about my route yet, but I might meet with the Riverbank group on Saturday at 8am at the Zoo.
Tomorrow is an exciting day! At 10am I will be live on NPR with Shelley Irwin - you can check it out at wgvu.com. I'm a little nervous, I'm not really a fan of being on the radio and/or television - but hopefully it will raise a little more awareness about what I am doing.
I received another donation of $75 in the mail this week! Thank you!!! I will add it to the total...I'm very pleased with how much money we are raising...it's a lot more than I thought I would be able to do.
A lot of people have been asking about how they can help with the Run/Walkathon, so here is the information:
Volunteers:
I still need 2 volunteers to run the aid station from 2-4pm; I need 3 volunteers to run the water station from 2-4pm; I need 2 volunteers to run the food station from 12-2, and another 2 volunteers for food station from 2-4. I have split up the times for volunteering so that volunteers can also participate if they want to. Let me know if you would like to volunteer by emailing me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com
Also - I am still in need of a few other things, they are:
double chafing dish - these are to help keep the hot dogs warm while they are being sold, I have 1 and it would be nice to have another.
Tents!!! Not the kind you camp in:) I am in need of some tents to add shade and protection from rain (if it rains) for the tables.
If you have either of these items and would not mind me borrowing them on Saturday, April 23, 2011, just email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com
I have been going around to local businesses to find sponsors and donors for different items, this is what I have found so far:
Striders of Grandville - $25 Gift Card for prize winner
Branns of Grandville - 4 free 8 oz sizzler meals for prizes
Raap Signs of Coopersville - They are making all the signs we will need
Family Christian Bookstores - donated (5) 2011 Women's Daily Journal Devotionals for prizes
Papa's Dogs and More - selling hot dogs - $1 per hot dog going to Of One Heart
Dent - U - Center - Monetary donation
I am still looking for businesses and or companies that would like to be a part of this - if your business or company would like to help out, just email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com
Thanks so much for reading!!!
Tomorrow is an exciting day! At 10am I will be live on NPR with Shelley Irwin - you can check it out at wgvu.com. I'm a little nervous, I'm not really a fan of being on the radio and/or television - but hopefully it will raise a little more awareness about what I am doing.
I received another donation of $75 in the mail this week! Thank you!!! I will add it to the total...I'm very pleased with how much money we are raising...it's a lot more than I thought I would be able to do.
A lot of people have been asking about how they can help with the Run/Walkathon, so here is the information:
Volunteers:
I still need 2 volunteers to run the aid station from 2-4pm; I need 3 volunteers to run the water station from 2-4pm; I need 2 volunteers to run the food station from 12-2, and another 2 volunteers for food station from 2-4. I have split up the times for volunteering so that volunteers can also participate if they want to. Let me know if you would like to volunteer by emailing me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com
Also - I am still in need of a few other things, they are:
double chafing dish - these are to help keep the hot dogs warm while they are being sold, I have 1 and it would be nice to have another.
Tents!!! Not the kind you camp in:) I am in need of some tents to add shade and protection from rain (if it rains) for the tables.
If you have either of these items and would not mind me borrowing them on Saturday, April 23, 2011, just email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com
I have been going around to local businesses to find sponsors and donors for different items, this is what I have found so far:
Striders of Grandville - $25 Gift Card for prize winner
Branns of Grandville - 4 free 8 oz sizzler meals for prizes
Raap Signs of Coopersville - They are making all the signs we will need
Family Christian Bookstores - donated (5) 2011 Women's Daily Journal Devotionals for prizes
Papa's Dogs and More - selling hot dogs - $1 per hot dog going to Of One Heart
Dent - U - Center - Monetary donation
I am still looking for businesses and or companies that would like to be a part of this - if your business or company would like to help out, just email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com
Thanks so much for reading!!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Spring is here!
Well, life is getting busier - I can tell Spring is here! And only a month until the run/walkathon - I can't wait! But I am also a little bit nervous! I am starting to really buckle down and get everything organized and in place. I am still working on getting some sponsors to donate bananas, apples, bagels, etc... and also some more sponsors to donate some prizes for the top participant:)
This past Friday I had a Dr. appt and had a minor procedure done, but because of that I took Saturday off - BUMMER!! Saturday was beautiful and I SO wanted to get out there and run, but I knew that would probably not turn out well. Sunday I attempted my 18 mile run to my parents house in Hudsonville, but only made it halfway, I think it was just a little too soon and a little too far after my procedure. So that is fine, I still did 9 miles on Sunday and I will do the 18 this Saturday, so hopefully the weather is just as sunny as it was last Saturday:)
This week we received a few more donations, thank you to everyone who has donated!! It is making a huge difference! We received $175 in the mail, so I will add that to our total. I also forgot to tell you that I visited Dr. Mann's office a week and a half ago to update him and also his RN that I have been keeping in touch with - Cathy. They are both so excited about everything and they have both agreed to be at the Run/Walkathon!!! That will be awesome:) Cathy has already informed me that Dr. Mann is working hard at getting sponsors - he plans on running as long as he can:)
Also, they told me about what they have been working on lately - they are working on rolling Of One Heart into a bigger organization called Healing The Children. This made me really excited, my family has supported this organization for a long time by being a host family. Healing the Children helps international children who need surgeries by bringing them to America, finding a family for them to live with while they have surgeries, and then Doctors give their time and resources to help them. Once they are done with their surgeries, they are sent back home to their families. My parents were the host family for 2 different children. The first one, Khadejah, was from St. Kitts - and island in the West Indies. She was here for a few months while Dr. Mann closed her cleft palate. The second child is now my little brother, he came here from Haiti for a short time when he was 4 for some surgeries. His parents realized that he would have a better lifestyle if he were living in America - so they asked my parents to adopt him. They said yes, AJ (my little brother) is also a twin, and in Haiti the law says that if you adopt one twin, you have to adopt them both. So Amos is also my brother! I think my parents would not have wanted to split the two of them up anyway - no matter what Haiti's laws say!
So, Of One Heart will be the local division for this organization - so all of the money will stay here in West Michigan! Also - Dr. Mann asked me if I would be interested in being on the board for Of One Heart when this happens! Of course I said yes! So keep this all in your prayers - this would be a very good thing!
Let me know if you have any questions about anything - my email is ofoneheart@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading!
This past Friday I had a Dr. appt and had a minor procedure done, but because of that I took Saturday off - BUMMER!! Saturday was beautiful and I SO wanted to get out there and run, but I knew that would probably not turn out well. Sunday I attempted my 18 mile run to my parents house in Hudsonville, but only made it halfway, I think it was just a little too soon and a little too far after my procedure. So that is fine, I still did 9 miles on Sunday and I will do the 18 this Saturday, so hopefully the weather is just as sunny as it was last Saturday:)
This week we received a few more donations, thank you to everyone who has donated!! It is making a huge difference! We received $175 in the mail, so I will add that to our total. I also forgot to tell you that I visited Dr. Mann's office a week and a half ago to update him and also his RN that I have been keeping in touch with - Cathy. They are both so excited about everything and they have both agreed to be at the Run/Walkathon!!! That will be awesome:) Cathy has already informed me that Dr. Mann is working hard at getting sponsors - he plans on running as long as he can:)
Also, they told me about what they have been working on lately - they are working on rolling Of One Heart into a bigger organization called Healing The Children. This made me really excited, my family has supported this organization for a long time by being a host family. Healing the Children helps international children who need surgeries by bringing them to America, finding a family for them to live with while they have surgeries, and then Doctors give their time and resources to help them. Once they are done with their surgeries, they are sent back home to their families. My parents were the host family for 2 different children. The first one, Khadejah, was from St. Kitts - and island in the West Indies. She was here for a few months while Dr. Mann closed her cleft palate. The second child is now my little brother, he came here from Haiti for a short time when he was 4 for some surgeries. His parents realized that he would have a better lifestyle if he were living in America - so they asked my parents to adopt him. They said yes, AJ (my little brother) is also a twin, and in Haiti the law says that if you adopt one twin, you have to adopt them both. So Amos is also my brother! I think my parents would not have wanted to split the two of them up anyway - no matter what Haiti's laws say!
So, Of One Heart will be the local division for this organization - so all of the money will stay here in West Michigan! Also - Dr. Mann asked me if I would be interested in being on the board for Of One Heart when this happens! Of course I said yes! So keep this all in your prayers - this would be a very good thing!
Let me know if you have any questions about anything - my email is ofoneheart@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Busted...
Hello all! Sorry I have taken so long to write in here about the Euchre Tournament! Well, you might have heard the news already, but The Venue apparently did not have the right type of license to hold a tournament like that, and we were "busted" by the State of Michigan Liquor Commission. I say "busted" because we were not trying to go against any laws, so we were not actually "caught" or "busted". About halfway through the tournament a man and woman came up and showed me their badges and told me that what I was doing was illegal - so we had to stop. The really bad part that made me start crying, was they had to take all the money we had raised up to that point. They ended up with somewhere between $350-$400! I was pretty upset - this money was donated by good people to give to children with health needs, and it was taken away by the state. I realize they are doing their jobs and rules are rules, but it still sucks. The part that really confused me and also hurt my feelings, was that the detectives had seen our posters around town, with all my contact information on them, so they could have easily emailed me and told me that The Venue did not have the correct license.
The detectives were not allowed to take the checks that people had written to Of One Heart, so they were given back to me. After they left, numerous people starting coming up to me and giving me donations. One guy, who was just there for lunch and a beer, had bought a 50/50 raffle ticket earlier and won $62. He came up and gave it all back! What a nice guy! Another 50/50 raffle winner gave his winnings back as well. After all of the extra donations were given - we ended up with $614!! I was floored! That is more than I could have asked for, and even though we ran into some trouble, we are still able to help a lot of children out! Thank you to everyone who participated!!!
Before the detectives showed up we had lunch, we rounded up a total of 16 people to play - so there were 4 Euchre tables. Everyone seemed to be having a blast! I think there were some friendships made and we raised a lot of awareness for our organization! (Maybe not the way we had planned but...) I am definitely looking forward to the Run/Walkathon on April 23, if it goes as well as the first half of the Euchre Tournament, I will be very happy:)
I do want to add that The Venue was very sorry about what happened and unfortunately they did not know about the licenses they needed. They said they were definitely going to look into getting the right type of licenses and their lesson was learned:)
Saturday morning I woke up at the awesome hour of 5:30am to get my long run in. I ran 16 miles, it started out really bad, my legs felt like lead. But after about 4 miles, I was in my groove and for once I felt like I could run farther when I was done. That is a good thing, because this Saturday is 18 miles! I also received another donation aside from the Euchre Tournament for $100, so all together, the total will go up by $714! That is awesome!
If you would like to sign up for the Run/Walkathon, or if you have any questions - you can email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading!
The detectives were not allowed to take the checks that people had written to Of One Heart, so they were given back to me. After they left, numerous people starting coming up to me and giving me donations. One guy, who was just there for lunch and a beer, had bought a 50/50 raffle ticket earlier and won $62. He came up and gave it all back! What a nice guy! Another 50/50 raffle winner gave his winnings back as well. After all of the extra donations were given - we ended up with $614!! I was floored! That is more than I could have asked for, and even though we ran into some trouble, we are still able to help a lot of children out! Thank you to everyone who participated!!!
Before the detectives showed up we had lunch, we rounded up a total of 16 people to play - so there were 4 Euchre tables. Everyone seemed to be having a blast! I think there were some friendships made and we raised a lot of awareness for our organization! (Maybe not the way we had planned but...) I am definitely looking forward to the Run/Walkathon on April 23, if it goes as well as the first half of the Euchre Tournament, I will be very happy:)
I do want to add that The Venue was very sorry about what happened and unfortunately they did not know about the licenses they needed. They said they were definitely going to look into getting the right type of licenses and their lesson was learned:)
Saturday morning I woke up at the awesome hour of 5:30am to get my long run in. I ran 16 miles, it started out really bad, my legs felt like lead. But after about 4 miles, I was in my groove and for once I felt like I could run farther when I was done. That is a good thing, because this Saturday is 18 miles! I also received another donation aside from the Euchre Tournament for $100, so all together, the total will go up by $714! That is awesome!
If you would like to sign up for the Run/Walkathon, or if you have any questions - you can email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
A trip down memory lane...
On Saturday I did my long run...17 miles:) It went REALLY well! My ankle did good, it was a little sore afterwards, but not painful like the week before. The weather was great and until about the last 2 miles, I was feeling awesome! The last 2 miles were rough, but they will get easier. This weekend, it will be 16 miles again.
Also, this weekend is the Euchre Tournament!!! I can't wait, i think we will have about 20-30 people. Let me know if you want a ticket - there are plenty of seats left:) There will be 50/50 raffles throughout the event and cheap beer and wings. It's going to be a blast!
I have mentioned a Road Rally that my church is organizing - that will be held on April 30th, it is the Saturday after the run/walkathon. I will definitely keep everyone updated on those details. I was asked by my church to tell "my story" about how Dr. Mann has helped me and my family. So I asked my parents to give me some information about what they had to go through when I was a baby. My mom actually kept a notebook/journal about my visits to the Dr.'s and hospitals until I was in middle school. How awesome! It is almost 25 pages of information. It definitely brought tears to my eyes. They also told me that after having my first surgery when they closed the gap in my lip - they wondered if they had done the right thing. They had fallen in love with me the way I was and they didn't want to change that. That was awesome to hear! Thanks mom and dad! They talked about how when I was 3 months old, I had an expander in my mouth to open up my upper jaw. It was a plate that fit on the roof of my mouth and once a week they had to turn a dial on the plate and it would push my jaw apart. In order to do this, they had to hold me down and I would NOT like it! There are many things my parents had to do that I don't even know about and I am sooo thankful for them all!! It must have been really difficult and emotionally draining. I think I will type up that journal (with my parent's permission) and post it, it's pretty cool to read.
So this week has been a trip down memory lane for me and my parents and it has made me realize how lucky I am and how much I have to be thankful for! Another reason I am happy to be raising money for this organization, I would love to help other children feel the same way:) Thanks for reading!
Also, this weekend is the Euchre Tournament!!! I can't wait, i think we will have about 20-30 people. Let me know if you want a ticket - there are plenty of seats left:) There will be 50/50 raffles throughout the event and cheap beer and wings. It's going to be a blast!
I have mentioned a Road Rally that my church is organizing - that will be held on April 30th, it is the Saturday after the run/walkathon. I will definitely keep everyone updated on those details. I was asked by my church to tell "my story" about how Dr. Mann has helped me and my family. So I asked my parents to give me some information about what they had to go through when I was a baby. My mom actually kept a notebook/journal about my visits to the Dr.'s and hospitals until I was in middle school. How awesome! It is almost 25 pages of information. It definitely brought tears to my eyes. They also told me that after having my first surgery when they closed the gap in my lip - they wondered if they had done the right thing. They had fallen in love with me the way I was and they didn't want to change that. That was awesome to hear! Thanks mom and dad! They talked about how when I was 3 months old, I had an expander in my mouth to open up my upper jaw. It was a plate that fit on the roof of my mouth and once a week they had to turn a dial on the plate and it would push my jaw apart. In order to do this, they had to hold me down and I would NOT like it! There are many things my parents had to do that I don't even know about and I am sooo thankful for them all!! It must have been really difficult and emotionally draining. I think I will type up that journal (with my parent's permission) and post it, it's pretty cool to read.
So this week has been a trip down memory lane for me and my parents and it has made me realize how lucky I am and how much I have to be thankful for! Another reason I am happy to be raising money for this organization, I would love to help other children feel the same way:) Thanks for reading!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Lessons learned...
Hello! Well, this week I have been taking it easy on my ankle, I ran 3 miles on Monday on the treadmill, Tuesday was the ladder drill down in the dungeon with my boot camp friends, and Thursday was HIIT's, 12 x 30sec sprints. I am feeling good, my ankle is a little sore, but I have been icing it along and it is actually starting to feel better. Whew! Tomorrow will be 17 miles!!! Whoa!!!
Well, at boot camp on Tuesday, Jim Patch, the leader and also a personal trainer at the YMCA, told us why it is okay and good for your heart, to stop and walk every now and then when you are running. He compared the heart to a bicep muscle. In order to work out the bicep muscle, you need to overload it by lifting weights and doing repetitions. Well, since the heart rate slows a lot faster than blood flow, when you are running, and then slow to a walk, you are overloading your heart. This in turn makes your heart stronger. I really enjoyed this lesson, I have heard from many people that a "real" runner does not stop to walk, well, I consider myself a "real" runner, and I stop and walk sometimes, and now I know that it is actually beneficial to my heart to do so! Thanks Jim!
On another note, I had a different type of lesson this week. I had a moment that made me realize why I am doing all of this fundraising. In my room at work I have a large tri-fold poster hanging with information about Of One Heart and cleft lip and palate. I also have a few before and after pictures of children with cleft lips and palates, about half of them are my own pictures. Well, this week while I was taking xrays on a patient, he was looking at the pictures and made this comment. "Those kids look freaky, they are freaking me out!" This comment stung pretty bad, it is always hard to hear that a picture of you as a baby is "freaky". I told him they are actually pictures of me as a baby and explained to him what a cleft lip and palate is and how it is fixed. He continued to ask a lot of questions and it became clear to me that he did not know anything about this type of birth defect. After educating him a little, he was clearly embarrassed by his earlier comment, and he ended up taking one of my fliers about the organization.
This situation made me realize that I am doing this not only to help the children who need it, but to educate others on these birth defects and to make them realize it can happen to anybody! These children need our monetary help so they can look "normal" and not have to worry about people calling them "freaks". Even though I was hurt by those words, I am happy that happened, it made me want to help even more:)
But, to make this patient look better, he is a very nice guy! He made a pretty funny joke at the end of the appointment. He said I was his favorite "hook-master" (I am a dental hygienist), but he said he was about to say that I was his favorite hooker, but he caught himself before saying that! LOL
Well, we are doing good with the fundraising, we have raised another $250!!! I will add that to the total, which will make it over $1000!!! Yay!! Don't forget, there is a Euchre Tournament next Saturday, March 12, at 12:30pm....let me know if you want tickets! Thanks for reading!
Well, at boot camp on Tuesday, Jim Patch, the leader and also a personal trainer at the YMCA, told us why it is okay and good for your heart, to stop and walk every now and then when you are running. He compared the heart to a bicep muscle. In order to work out the bicep muscle, you need to overload it by lifting weights and doing repetitions. Well, since the heart rate slows a lot faster than blood flow, when you are running, and then slow to a walk, you are overloading your heart. This in turn makes your heart stronger. I really enjoyed this lesson, I have heard from many people that a "real" runner does not stop to walk, well, I consider myself a "real" runner, and I stop and walk sometimes, and now I know that it is actually beneficial to my heart to do so! Thanks Jim!
On another note, I had a different type of lesson this week. I had a moment that made me realize why I am doing all of this fundraising. In my room at work I have a large tri-fold poster hanging with information about Of One Heart and cleft lip and palate. I also have a few before and after pictures of children with cleft lips and palates, about half of them are my own pictures. Well, this week while I was taking xrays on a patient, he was looking at the pictures and made this comment. "Those kids look freaky, they are freaking me out!" This comment stung pretty bad, it is always hard to hear that a picture of you as a baby is "freaky". I told him they are actually pictures of me as a baby and explained to him what a cleft lip and palate is and how it is fixed. He continued to ask a lot of questions and it became clear to me that he did not know anything about this type of birth defect. After educating him a little, he was clearly embarrassed by his earlier comment, and he ended up taking one of my fliers about the organization.
This situation made me realize that I am doing this not only to help the children who need it, but to educate others on these birth defects and to make them realize it can happen to anybody! These children need our monetary help so they can look "normal" and not have to worry about people calling them "freaks". Even though I was hurt by those words, I am happy that happened, it made me want to help even more:)
But, to make this patient look better, he is a very nice guy! He made a pretty funny joke at the end of the appointment. He said I was his favorite "hook-master" (I am a dental hygienist), but he said he was about to say that I was his favorite hooker, but he caught himself before saying that! LOL
Well, we are doing good with the fundraising, we have raised another $250!!! I will add that to the total, which will make it over $1000!!! Yay!! Don't forget, there is a Euchre Tournament next Saturday, March 12, at 12:30pm....let me know if you want tickets! Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Uh Oh....
Hey everyone! Well, Saturday I did not run my long run, so Sunday Weston and I went to early service at church so I could run the 15 miles in the afternoon. About 3/4 mile into my 15 mile run I realized my ankle was hurting, and bad! I slowed to a walk to see if it would go away, and it just got worse:( So I turned around and walked home. I put my foot up and iced my ankle - after about an hour, it started to feel better. I'm not sure what I did, but it's pretty sore. I hope it doesn't last too long:( I am happy with my decision to turn around though, I have learned that when training - you have to listen to your body and do what it needs. That day, my body (more like my ankle) had to rest. I do not want to injure myself anymore than that!
Well, this morning I woke up and after walking around the house for a few minutes I thought, well, my ankle doesn't hurt too bad right now. So I got on the treadmill. I ended up doing 3 miles at a really slow pace - it felt pretty good, my ankle was a little sore, but no pain like yesterday. I still put my foot up and iced my ankle for about 15-20 min after the run. So I am hoping that if I take it slow for a while my ankle will heal up and it will not affect my training very much:) Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, because if I get hurt right now it would not be good!
The fundraising is going well:) I have received $70 more in donations, and have a $200 donation pending right now:) Thank you everyone!!! I'm sooo excited! The Euchre Tournament is coming up soon, we are having a lot of people say they want to do it, but not actually buying the tickets. So if you want to do it, please email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com and we can get you a ticket. It will be nice to know how many people are going to come so we can plan accordingly.
I am also working on getting a few business sponsors for the Run/Walkathon. Let me know if you have any ideas or know of any businesses that might be interested. Thanks so much for reading and I will try and keep you posted a little more often!
Well, this morning I woke up and after walking around the house for a few minutes I thought, well, my ankle doesn't hurt too bad right now. So I got on the treadmill. I ended up doing 3 miles at a really slow pace - it felt pretty good, my ankle was a little sore, but no pain like yesterday. I still put my foot up and iced my ankle for about 15-20 min after the run. So I am hoping that if I take it slow for a while my ankle will heal up and it will not affect my training very much:) Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, because if I get hurt right now it would not be good!
The fundraising is going well:) I have received $70 more in donations, and have a $200 donation pending right now:) Thank you everyone!!! I'm sooo excited! The Euchre Tournament is coming up soon, we are having a lot of people say they want to do it, but not actually buying the tickets. So if you want to do it, please email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com and we can get you a ticket. It will be nice to know how many people are going to come so we can plan accordingly.
I am also working on getting a few business sponsors for the Run/Walkathon. Let me know if you have any ideas or know of any businesses that might be interested. Thanks so much for reading and I will try and keep you posted a little more often!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
One day of spring...how nice:)
Hello! Yesterday I did my long run..I did 16.5 miles:) It was so great! A little chilly but sunny - no ice at all. What a relief to run on dry ground! I felt great the whole time, of course it got a little harder near the end, but I still finished. My time was 2:50...still not as fast as I had wanted - but getting faster. Next weekend will be 15 miles again.
I'm getting really excited for the Euchre Tournament and the Run/Walkathon! I am going to be at Papa's Dogs in Grandville on Tuesdays from 5-6pm and Wednesdays from 12-1pm if anyone is interested, they can meet me there to sign up for either of them:) The address is 3012 28th St SW in Grandville. If you know anyone who might be interested, share the info with them:) I also received $200 in donations this weekend! Awesome! Slowly I am reaching my goal, but I am confident that we can do it:)
Well, thanks so much for reading and I will keep you updated as I find out more. You can email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com if you have any other questions.
I'm getting really excited for the Euchre Tournament and the Run/Walkathon! I am going to be at Papa's Dogs in Grandville on Tuesdays from 5-6pm and Wednesdays from 12-1pm if anyone is interested, they can meet me there to sign up for either of them:) The address is 3012 28th St SW in Grandville. If you know anyone who might be interested, share the info with them:) I also received $200 in donations this weekend! Awesome! Slowly I am reaching my goal, but I am confident that we can do it:)
Well, thanks so much for reading and I will keep you updated as I find out more. You can email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com if you have any other questions.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Volunteers and Participants Needed:)
Hello! I have finally been able to get a nice start on planning the Run/Walkathon on the 23rd of April! So far, here are the tentative rules. I say tentative because I have never planned anything like this before, so I might have to change them as I go:)
When: April 23rd, 2011
Where: Grandville High School Track
Time: Registration 10:30am, starts at 12:00pm, ends at 4:00pm
$5 to enter
Running and/or walking is allowed, there will be separate lanes allowed for running and for walking.
You may sign up by yourself or with a team.
A team can stay together the whole time or do a relay.
You must be there at the start, you may leave when you want.
No strollers, bikes, or roller blades.
Each participant will receive an envelope they can use to collect donations for this event. There will be a prize for the individual who raises the most money.
The donations can be turned in at the registration.
We will have food, water, aid station, and bathrooms available the whole time.
I am going to need some volunteers to help me pull this off, so I will list the areas I will need help with and please let me know if you would like to help or know anybody that would.
AID Station: I will need 3 volunteers, preferably with CPR training and AED training, a medical degree such as RN, NP, PA, etc.. It would be nice if they can stay the whole time.
Water Station - 3 volunteers
Food Station - 3 volunteers
Registration - 3 volunteers - these volunteers should be able to participate if they would like:)
Like I said, this is all tentative. Depending on how many people participate, I may need more or less volunteers.
This will be a blast! We will have a chance to raise a lot of money and really help some local children who need it:) This weekend I will be putting together the sign up sheet and figuring out how people will be able to access it. I will keep you posted - if you have any ideas or tips for me...please feel free to let me know!
Well, I am loving this weather! I ran 4.6 miles this morning and it felt great!!! It was sooo warm and there was almost no icy spots:) I was able to go at my normal speed and I felt like I was flying! Yesterday at boot camp we did some HIIT's (High Intensity Interval Training). We went to our secret "dungeon" and did 12 - 20 second sprints. It was a great exercise and I am feeling it in my abs and legs today:) Tomorrow I'm not sure what we are doing - if it is warm out, I'm sure we will do a tempo run or something outside. Then Saturday is the big 16 miles:) Looking forward to that distance:) Thanks for reading!
When: April 23rd, 2011
Where: Grandville High School Track
Time: Registration 10:30am, starts at 12:00pm, ends at 4:00pm
$5 to enter
Running and/or walking is allowed, there will be separate lanes allowed for running and for walking.
You may sign up by yourself or with a team.
A team can stay together the whole time or do a relay.
You must be there at the start, you may leave when you want.
No strollers, bikes, or roller blades.
Each participant will receive an envelope they can use to collect donations for this event. There will be a prize for the individual who raises the most money.
The donations can be turned in at the registration.
We will have food, water, aid station, and bathrooms available the whole time.
I am going to need some volunteers to help me pull this off, so I will list the areas I will need help with and please let me know if you would like to help or know anybody that would.
AID Station: I will need 3 volunteers, preferably with CPR training and AED training, a medical degree such as RN, NP, PA, etc.. It would be nice if they can stay the whole time.
Water Station - 3 volunteers
Food Station - 3 volunteers
Registration - 3 volunteers - these volunteers should be able to participate if they would like:)
Like I said, this is all tentative. Depending on how many people participate, I may need more or less volunteers.
This will be a blast! We will have a chance to raise a lot of money and really help some local children who need it:) This weekend I will be putting together the sign up sheet and figuring out how people will be able to access it. I will keep you posted - if you have any ideas or tips for me...please feel free to let me know!
Well, I am loving this weather! I ran 4.6 miles this morning and it felt great!!! It was sooo warm and there was almost no icy spots:) I was able to go at my normal speed and I felt like I was flying! Yesterday at boot camp we did some HIIT's (High Intensity Interval Training). We went to our secret "dungeon" and did 12 - 20 second sprints. It was a great exercise and I am feeling it in my abs and legs today:) Tomorrow I'm not sure what we are doing - if it is warm out, I'm sure we will do a tempo run or something outside. Then Saturday is the big 16 miles:) Looking forward to that distance:) Thanks for reading!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Good Run
Yesterday was my long run day, I had 14 miles mapped out, an out and back run. I did very well! I felt awesome and the weather was awesome too:) At mile 6.5 I came to a snow blockage:) The sidewalk was not plowed at all...ever!!! So I cut my run 1 mile short:) I attempted the unplowed/shoveled sidewalk, but after the first few steps, I was buried up to my hips, and felt a little scared that I would get stuck, lol. So I did 13 miles yesterday, but like I said, I felt great!! Next Saturday will be 16...the first time I have done that distance in a long time.
Yesterday I also met with my Uncle Brian who has printed some awesome fliers for me to start hanging up around town. He also printed 80 tickets for me, so let me know if you want to play in the Euchre Tournament, $20 to buy a ticket, need a ticket to play, 4 places will be awarded. Saturday March 12, at The Venue in Standale:) It will be a blast!
Now I just need to really kick it into gear and plan the run/walkathon. I will keep you posted on that as well. Once again, thanks for reading!
Yesterday I also met with my Uncle Brian who has printed some awesome fliers for me to start hanging up around town. He also printed 80 tickets for me, so let me know if you want to play in the Euchre Tournament, $20 to buy a ticket, need a ticket to play, 4 places will be awarded. Saturday March 12, at The Venue in Standale:) It will be a blast!
Now I just need to really kick it into gear and plan the run/walkathon. I will keep you posted on that as well. Once again, thanks for reading!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Update from Of One Heart...
Hello! I just wanted to share with you an email I received from Cathy, she is an RN at Dr. Mann's office, she is the lady I usually contact with any questions or concerns. She has helped me out a ton with this fundraising project. She sent me this email earlier this week:
Hi Jill,
Wanted to thank you for your recent donations. It’s so great that you are working so hard. Your plans for the event in April sound great. I know it’s a lot of work to organize an event like that. I wanted to let you know that the donations you’ve collected so far have gone to a very deserving little girl whose mom is struggling to pay for her braces. It’s so nice to be able to tell her that we can help. Your efforts are going to a good cause! So thank you and pass along to your helpers our gratitude. I will keep you informed of how you and your supporters are making a difference in children’s lives. Talk with you soon.
Cathy
I was so happy to hear that! Already we have made a difference in someone's life:) I hope you are all just as happy as I am! Thanks for reading!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
This week in running...
Wow! What a busy week! Monday I took the day off running. Tuesday was boot camp...we did a three mile tempo run in the "dungeon" - our underground parking ramp:) It was actually just a little longer than 3 miles, my time was 27:40 - I was pretty excited with that. That is a normal time for me - but lately I've been running slower - and I keep blaming it on the snow and slush - now I know that is probably what is slowing me down:)
Wednesday I could not wake up to my alarm!!! One of those lazy mornings:( Well, I felt REALLY guilty throughout the day because I did not work out, so I went home and busted out 5 miles on the treadmill...it was another great run - 51min, which is slow, but I always run slower on the treadmill for some reason. It was such a great run - I watched Biggest Loser while I was running and that always helps:)
This morning I skipped boot camp (I'm starting to sound lazy huh?) BUT - I don't work until 9am on Thursdays - so I slept in for an hour and still had enough time for 45min on the elliptical, 2.5min of planks, 3 sets of bicycles and 3 sets of push-ups. It felt good, I was watching American Idol today as I worked out...I love this show! And I love Steven Tyler as a judge! I really like his personality:)
So tomorrow I am meeting with my uncle to pick up the Euchre Tournament fliers and tickets, so if you want to participate, email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com - just $20 to participate, with 4 spots awarded and 3 50/50 raffles through the night:) Well, tomorrow is another day off and then 14 miles on Saturday. I am now starting to do 2 steps forward and 1 step back. I will do 14 this weekend, then 16 the next, then 15 after that, then 17, 16, 18, 17, etc... I like it this way because every other week is an "easy" week, something I have already done before. Mentally it gives me a break - which is nice:) Thanks for reading!
Wednesday I could not wake up to my alarm!!! One of those lazy mornings:( Well, I felt REALLY guilty throughout the day because I did not work out, so I went home and busted out 5 miles on the treadmill...it was another great run - 51min, which is slow, but I always run slower on the treadmill for some reason. It was such a great run - I watched Biggest Loser while I was running and that always helps:)
This morning I skipped boot camp (I'm starting to sound lazy huh?) BUT - I don't work until 9am on Thursdays - so I slept in for an hour and still had enough time for 45min on the elliptical, 2.5min of planks, 3 sets of bicycles and 3 sets of push-ups. It felt good, I was watching American Idol today as I worked out...I love this show! And I love Steven Tyler as a judge! I really like his personality:)
So tomorrow I am meeting with my uncle to pick up the Euchre Tournament fliers and tickets, so if you want to participate, email me at ofoneheart@hotmail.com - just $20 to participate, with 4 spots awarded and 3 50/50 raffles through the night:) Well, tomorrow is another day off and then 14 miles on Saturday. I am now starting to do 2 steps forward and 1 step back. I will do 14 this weekend, then 16 the next, then 15 after that, then 17, 16, 18, 17, etc... I like it this way because every other week is an "easy" week, something I have already done before. Mentally it gives me a break - which is nice:) Thanks for reading!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Trail Running...sort of:)
Yesterday was my long run day, I did 15 miles, it was a beautiful day and a perfect day for running! I decided to run around the block 10 times instead of doing my usual out and back route. My block is 1.5 miles so after 10 laps I had run 15 miles. It was actually really fun! Three of the roads were clear and residential, so I ran on the road, nice and paved and not slippery. The fourth road is Lake Michigan Drive, which is too busy to run on the road! So I had to stick to the sidewalk, hence the title to this blog:) There were about 3 driveways that were plowed, but the plow truck had dumped all of the snow on the sidewalk making a pretty big hill to climb over:) Along with a few areas of unshoveled sidewalks it made for a pretty interesting run! I was having a blast with it until about the 7th and 8th lap, then my legs were getting tired and I had to start crawling up the side of the snow hill and hoisting my legs over the top. I was shuffling through the snow instead of lifting my legs up and hopping through my old tracks - (similar to the drill of running through tires at a football camp). I'm sure it was a pretty interesting sight to see...I was covered from head to toe in snow by the time I was done, but it was definitely fun!
More good news, I have a date set for the run/walkathon - it will be held on April 23rd at Grandville High School! I can't wait, I will start making fliers and having people sign up soon, so I will keep everyone posted on how you can sign up and get involved if you want to. Also, at church this morning I was approached by a couple members who are organizing a Road Rally for April 30th, and they would like to raise money and donate to Of One Heart - so I will find out more about what they are doing but that sounds fun too!
Today is the Superbowl...as all of you know I'm sure! We are at my parents house today to watch it on my dad's new TV, I'm sure it will be fun - I'm looking forward to watching some humorous commercials. I hope you all have a great day and thanks for reading!
More good news, I have a date set for the run/walkathon - it will be held on April 23rd at Grandville High School! I can't wait, I will start making fliers and having people sign up soon, so I will keep everyone posted on how you can sign up and get involved if you want to. Also, at church this morning I was approached by a couple members who are organizing a Road Rally for April 30th, and they would like to raise money and donate to Of One Heart - so I will find out more about what they are doing but that sounds fun too!
Today is the Superbowl...as all of you know I'm sure! We are at my parents house today to watch it on my dad's new TV, I'm sure it will be fun - I'm looking forward to watching some humorous commercials. I hope you all have a great day and thanks for reading!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Exciting News!!!
Yay! Last night I met with my Uncle Brian at The Venue in Standale and we planned out the Euchre Tournament. So here is the news:
What: Euchre Tournament
When: Saturday, March 12, 2011
Time: 12:30pm registration, 1:00pm Start
Where: The Venue
I am sooo excited to get started, it is a $20 donation and we have room for 80 people! If anyone is interested or would like to buy a ticket, you can email me at jillgorby@hotmail.com. I will have the tickets available by Feb. 12 - you will need a ticket to participate. Registration is at 12:30pm...but feel free to show up before that for lunch. Happy hour is from 11:30am to 7:00pm, they have $1.50 drafts during this time along with $9.99 all you can eat chicken wings. During the tournament we will have 3 50/50 raffles as well.
I know I was going to do this on Tuesday, but because of this crazy winter weather, we had to postpone it to Thursday. Along with me visiting the Hudsonville Winery, I will attempt to go there today to see if they would be willing to do a fundraising project.
Well, this week Tuesday at boot camp we did some repeats, we guessed the distance to be around .65 miles:) I ran with Don and we finished 5 sets, each one a little faster than the last...our longest time was 5:24, the shortest was 4:55. Wednesday I went out to shovel the driveway and I was going to run 5 miles after that, but after shoveling all of that snow...I opted out of running, I was whooped! Yesterday at boot camp we did some running drills, such as skipping, shuffling, high knees, calve raises, planks, and more! It was definitely a good workout! Tomorrow I am on schedule
What: Euchre Tournament
When: Saturday, March 12, 2011
Time: 12:30pm registration, 1:00pm Start
Where: The Venue
I am sooo excited to get started, it is a $20 donation and we have room for 80 people! If anyone is interested or would like to buy a ticket, you can email me at jillgorby@hotmail.com. I will have the tickets available by Feb. 12 - you will need a ticket to participate. Registration is at 12:30pm...but feel free to show up before that for lunch. Happy hour is from 11:30am to 7:00pm, they have $1.50 drafts during this time along with $9.99 all you can eat chicken wings. During the tournament we will have 3 50/50 raffles as well.
I know I was going to do this on Tuesday, but because of this crazy winter weather, we had to postpone it to Thursday. Along with me visiting the Hudsonville Winery, I will attempt to go there today to see if they would be willing to do a fundraising project.
Well, this week Tuesday at boot camp we did some repeats, we guessed the distance to be around .65 miles:) I ran with Don and we finished 5 sets, each one a little faster than the last...our longest time was 5:24, the shortest was 4:55. Wednesday I went out to shovel the driveway and I was going to run 5 miles after that, but after shoveling all of that snow...I opted out of running, I was whooped! Yesterday at boot camp we did some running drills, such as skipping, shuffling, high knees, calve raises, planks, and more! It was definitely a good workout! Tomorrow I am on schedule
Monday, January 31, 2011
Getting better...:)
Well, Saturday I ran my long run:) My friend Erin met me at my house and she ran the first six miles with me - how awesome!! We both did very well, I LOVE having someone to run with, it makes the time go so much faster! We struggled a little when we came to the bridge street hill...but other than that we did really well:) At mile six we passed my street so she turned down to go back to her car and I continued on for another 8 miles. It was an awesome day for running and it felt great! It got kind of bad towards the end, running through the slush and snow for 14 miles gets tiring!
Today I took the morning off running, that felt nice:) Tomorrow is boot camp in the morning, and then in the evening I am meeting my Uncle Brian and we are going to The Venue, a local bar in Standale, to talk about the Euchre Tournament, so hopefully I will have some final dates and information for you on that soon:)
This weekend we received $75 in donations!! Thank you to all of the supporters! I am just so happy this is going well and I can't wait to have some fundraising events:) Thanks for reading!
Today I took the morning off running, that felt nice:) Tomorrow is boot camp in the morning, and then in the evening I am meeting my Uncle Brian and we are going to The Venue, a local bar in Standale, to talk about the Euchre Tournament, so hopefully I will have some final dates and information for you on that soon:)
This weekend we received $75 in donations!! Thank you to all of the supporters! I am just so happy this is going well and I can't wait to have some fundraising events:) Thanks for reading!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Busy week...
Hello all! This week has been pretty busy:) I like it that way! Tuesday morning was boot camp, it was pretty nice outside so we did a 2 mile tempo run down Monroe. We headed up to the carpeted area after that for some chest and abs. It was a nice start to the day! Wednesday morning I ran 4 miles on the treadmill while watching Biggest Loser - I was bummed it was only an hour long this week:( I will have to wait and see next week how everyone does with their weight loss!
This morning was boot camp again, but I missed it! My alarm was set for 4:50am and at 5:15am Weston woke me up and said, honey, why are you still sleeping? I usually leave my house at 5:20am so I did not have time to get ready, but I still got up and ran 3.5miles outside, it was another nice morning:)
The plans for a Euchre tournament and the walkathon are still on...I will keep everyone posted!
This week Saturday I am scheduled to run 14miles. I'm pretty excited, a good friend of mine, Erin, is going to run the first 6 miles with me!! Yay! I ran with her this summer a little while she was training for her first half marathon, it's so nice to run with someone! She just called this week and told me she wants to do the Riverbank Run this year:) I think she has the "bug":) So now I am totally looking forward to this Saturday, I think it will be an awesome day!
Also, my sister-in-law, Betsey, just txted me last night and said she would like to train for her first half marathon this fall!! Soooo excited!!! I can't wait until she gets back here to Michigan (she lives in Alaska), so we can start running together:)
I hope every one's weeks are going well, it's almost the weekend already! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you want to ever join me in a run or two:) I always love company! Thanks for reading!
This morning was boot camp again, but I missed it! My alarm was set for 4:50am and at 5:15am Weston woke me up and said, honey, why are you still sleeping? I usually leave my house at 5:20am so I did not have time to get ready, but I still got up and ran 3.5miles outside, it was another nice morning:)
The plans for a Euchre tournament and the walkathon are still on...I will keep everyone posted!
This week Saturday I am scheduled to run 14miles. I'm pretty excited, a good friend of mine, Erin, is going to run the first 6 miles with me!! Yay! I ran with her this summer a little while she was training for her first half marathon, it's so nice to run with someone! She just called this week and told me she wants to do the Riverbank Run this year:) I think she has the "bug":) So now I am totally looking forward to this Saturday, I think it will be an awesome day!
Also, my sister-in-law, Betsey, just txted me last night and said she would like to train for her first half marathon this fall!! Soooo excited!!! I can't wait until she gets back here to Michigan (she lives in Alaska), so we can start running together:)
I hope every one's weeks are going well, it's almost the weekend already! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you want to ever join me in a run or two:) I always love company! Thanks for reading!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Lazy Bum!
So this weekend was a mess for running! I was such a lazy bum! On Saturday I scheduled to run 13 miles. I decided that since we were babysitting our niece and nephew, I would postpone it until Sunday. We planned on doing a lot of sledding and active activities, so I didn't want to be tired out! Well, Sunday morning I woke up at 6:00am and it was -10 degrees out!!! I have never run in that cold of weather and I didn't dare do it! I have a treadmill but it is really loud and I did not want to wake up the kids, so I went back to bed. I told myself I would run Sunday evening...but by the time we got home it was almost 6:00pm and I was whooped! So I did not do my long run at all this weekend!!
Last year when I was training for my first marathon, I did my long runs on Saturdays no matter what. This year I thought I would try to be more flexible and do Saturdays OR Sundays. I guess that does not work too well for me! I will stick to just Saturdays from now on! I am still pretty upset with myself though. Weston said it just perfect, he said it's a minor setback, but I still have 4 months and I will still be running the marathon! So I shouldn't beat myself up over it. Thanks honey! This morning I woke up and it was 14 degrees outside, what a difference! I went out and ran 5.5miles today, and it was great! Perfect weather:)
Well, Randy Morris, the Grandville HS principal called me this weekend and said that April 23 works to use the track for the Run/Walkathon - but he made a good point - that is Easter weekend! So I asked him to look into April 30th instead. So I am still waiting to hear back from him, but I am thinking it will be held on April 30, 2011 - so mark your calenders!!
Also, Weston and I went to eat this weekend at The Venue, a sports bar on Lake Michigan Drive in Standale, we asked the owner if she would be okay with me organizing a Euchre Tournament at her bar sometime, she said No Problem!! So my Uncle Brian has offered to help me organize it and I will let you know that exact date and information. I'm thinking the end of Feb or beginning of March.
We received $170 of donations in the mail this weekend, thank you to everyone who has donated so far!! We really appreciate it! Thanks for reading!
Last year when I was training for my first marathon, I did my long runs on Saturdays no matter what. This year I thought I would try to be more flexible and do Saturdays OR Sundays. I guess that does not work too well for me! I will stick to just Saturdays from now on! I am still pretty upset with myself though. Weston said it just perfect, he said it's a minor setback, but I still have 4 months and I will still be running the marathon! So I shouldn't beat myself up over it. Thanks honey! This morning I woke up and it was 14 degrees outside, what a difference! I went out and ran 5.5miles today, and it was great! Perfect weather:)
Well, Randy Morris, the Grandville HS principal called me this weekend and said that April 23 works to use the track for the Run/Walkathon - but he made a good point - that is Easter weekend! So I asked him to look into April 30th instead. So I am still waiting to hear back from him, but I am thinking it will be held on April 30, 2011 - so mark your calenders!!
Also, Weston and I went to eat this weekend at The Venue, a sports bar on Lake Michigan Drive in Standale, we asked the owner if she would be okay with me organizing a Euchre Tournament at her bar sometime, she said No Problem!! So my Uncle Brian has offered to help me organize it and I will let you know that exact date and information. I'm thinking the end of Feb or beginning of March.
We received $170 of donations in the mail this weekend, thank you to everyone who has donated so far!! We really appreciate it! Thanks for reading!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Hill blasts and abs...
Sorry I have not blogged since Tuesday! What a busy week! Tuesday night, my friend Sarah called me and she had a bunch of cans/bottles from her parents that she wanted to donate, so I picked her and the cans up and we were off to Meijer. The total came to $25 even! Thanks sooo much to Sarah and her parents! I really appreciate it!
Wednesday I decided to work out after work so I could watch Biggest Loser at the same time:) I ended up doing 45 min on the elliptical and a couple miles on the treadmill. What an inspiring show!
Thursday morning was boot camp, Don Kern was the leader - that always means a HARD workout! We went to a parking ramp that has some steep inclines and ran all the way to the top and then back to the bottom. We then proceeded to do 10 12-15 sec sprints, uphill. The 11th was a bonus round, we had to sprint uphill until the slowest person was done with two levels, whew! That was hard! After that we went to the "round carpeted area" in the sky walk and did some abs and upper arms and chest. Once again we did 2.5min of planks! I think that is one of my favorite things to do, it is extremely hard and I always feel it a few hours later.
This weekend Weston and I are babysitting our niece and nephew - we are really looking forward to it! We will not have time to do any pop can drives or anything, but we are always accepting donations! Just send a check or money order made out to Of One Heart to PO Box 150862, Grand Rapids, MI 49515.
I am still planning the run/walk-athon, and some other events, so I will keep everyone posted on the dates and times. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday I decided to work out after work so I could watch Biggest Loser at the same time:) I ended up doing 45 min on the elliptical and a couple miles on the treadmill. What an inspiring show!
Thursday morning was boot camp, Don Kern was the leader - that always means a HARD workout! We went to a parking ramp that has some steep inclines and ran all the way to the top and then back to the bottom. We then proceeded to do 10 12-15 sec sprints, uphill. The 11th was a bonus round, we had to sprint uphill until the slowest person was done with two levels, whew! That was hard! After that we went to the "round carpeted area" in the sky walk and did some abs and upper arms and chest. Once again we did 2.5min of planks! I think that is one of my favorite things to do, it is extremely hard and I always feel it a few hours later.
This weekend Weston and I are babysitting our niece and nephew - we are really looking forward to it! We will not have time to do any pop can drives or anything, but we are always accepting donations! Just send a check or money order made out to Of One Heart to PO Box 150862, Grand Rapids, MI 49515.
I am still planning the run/walk-athon, and some other events, so I will keep everyone posted on the dates and times. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I'm going to need your help:)
Hello! So I have some wonderful news!!! Grandville HS has agreed to let me use their track and facilities to organize a run/walk athon! I am still waiting to hear the exact date, but probably sometime in late April, on a Saturday. They have given us permission to use their bathrooms, their track, they have water, ice, and very big water jugs we can use. I just have to provide the cups. Also, they suggested I turn one of their locker rooms into the "aid station". They also have an AED on site that will be there in case we need it - hopefully not! So I have a lot of planning to do!! I am going to need some volunteers to help me, I will keep you updated on everything and the areas I need help. I am hoping to have a food station as well. The track has 8 lanes, there will be separate lanes designated for running or walking. The goal is to have the runners/walkers raise money before the big day - they can get donations from friends/family members; such as a monetary donation, or they can donate per lap, or per mile, whichever the walker/runner feels they would like to do. I am hoping to have the event last for about 4 hours. I think it would be fine if people would like to get a relay team together as well. I am pretty open so far for ideas and I do not know exactly how it will all work yet!
I am hoping for a late April day because it will be a few weeks before the Riverbank Run. I think it would be a great opportunity for runners training for the Riverbank to come and do their last or close to last long run on the track!
Well, yesterday was a day off after my long run on Sunday. This morning was boot camp again, luckily inside, out of the sleet and slush! We did mile repeats again, 3 sets of them. That is a great workout and it's really nice to see how you improve week to week. This week I was about 10 sec faster than last week:) On Thursday we are set up to do a hill workout - I will let you know how that goes! Don will be leading us on Thursday and he is usually a little tough:) (which we like!)
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any advice, comments, or questions about the run/walkathon! I would really appreciate it!
I am hoping for a late April day because it will be a few weeks before the Riverbank Run. I think it would be a great opportunity for runners training for the Riverbank to come and do their last or close to last long run on the track!
Well, yesterday was a day off after my long run on Sunday. This morning was boot camp again, luckily inside, out of the sleet and slush! We did mile repeats again, 3 sets of them. That is a great workout and it's really nice to see how you improve week to week. This week I was about 10 sec faster than last week:) On Thursday we are set up to do a hill workout - I will let you know how that goes! Don will be leading us on Thursday and he is usually a little tough:) (which we like!)
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any advice, comments, or questions about the run/walkathon! I would really appreciate it!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Dear God...Thank you for not letting it snow again today!
So this weekend was a little crazy for running. On Saturday I woke up and hit the road at 7:30am. We had gotton a lot of snow the night before, but that usually does not bother me; except for that day! It was ankle deep and kind of heavy, and none of the roads were plowed! It was pretty hard to run through, kind of like running through mud - but the weather was nice - 30 degrees - so I just kept going. About a mile into it I had to stop and breathe - it was harder than I thought to run through the snow! I was on Covell and I thought if I could just get to Leonard, that would probably be plowed. When I got to Leonard and turned the corner, I realized my hopes were shattered. Leonard was a mess, the road had not been plowed and people were sliding all over the place - so running on the shoulder was not an option. The sidewalks were definitely not shoveled yet either. I had to make a decision to keep going and risk hurting myself or turn around. I decided to turn around. By the time I got home I had run 4 miles and my ankles were very sore from the uneven ground. I made the right decision!
Later that day I met my mom and we went out for the second pop can drive. This time we were going to friends and family. It was really nice, it just took a little longer because of the driving time, and of course the talking when we got to their houses. But it was a good way to get the information out there about what I am doing. We raised $50.30! We were very happy with the outcome!
This morning I woke up late, I slept in:) I was sooo happy to see it did not snow last night and the sky looked clear! But I still did NOT feel like running. I expressed my feelings to Weston - my husband - and he told me I definitely NEED to do my 12 mile run - if I do not I will be mad at myself. Even though that is NOT what I wanted to hear, he was right! He knows me so well! So, at noon I went out to do my 12 miles. It was great!!! I was running really good, averaging a 9:50 mile - which is a good pace for me on a long run. About mile seven I started getting stomach cramps, they kept getting worse. I finally called Weston, he came and picked me up. I finished the 12 miles on the treadmill. It was probably the hardest time I have ever had on the treadmill, but i was happy I finished it! Thanks to my wonderful husband!! While running, I remembered the one and only time I had to call Weston last year to pick me up - it just so happened to be my 12mile run then too! I guess the 12 mile training run is just hard for me, if it goes the same as last year, everything will get easier from now on.
Let me know if you have any questions, or if you would like to help with the fundraising progress. Thanks for reading!
Later that day I met my mom and we went out for the second pop can drive. This time we were going to friends and family. It was really nice, it just took a little longer because of the driving time, and of course the talking when we got to their houses. But it was a good way to get the information out there about what I am doing. We raised $50.30! We were very happy with the outcome!
This morning I woke up late, I slept in:) I was sooo happy to see it did not snow last night and the sky looked clear! But I still did NOT feel like running. I expressed my feelings to Weston - my husband - and he told me I definitely NEED to do my 12 mile run - if I do not I will be mad at myself. Even though that is NOT what I wanted to hear, he was right! He knows me so well! So, at noon I went out to do my 12 miles. It was great!!! I was running really good, averaging a 9:50 mile - which is a good pace for me on a long run. About mile seven I started getting stomach cramps, they kept getting worse. I finally called Weston, he came and picked me up. I finished the 12 miles on the treadmill. It was probably the hardest time I have ever had on the treadmill, but i was happy I finished it! Thanks to my wonderful husband!! While running, I remembered the one and only time I had to call Weston last year to pick me up - it just so happened to be my 12mile run then too! I guess the 12 mile training run is just hard for me, if it goes the same as last year, everything will get easier from now on.
Let me know if you have any questions, or if you would like to help with the fundraising progress. Thanks for reading!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Ouch!
I'm sorry I was not able to write the past couple of days...I have been really busy! Wednesday was my day off...I thought about running a few miles...but I knew Thursday boot camp was going to be hard...so I thought it was better to rest. I was right! Boot camp was great! We started by doing some ab workouts...Don chose to do 2.5 min of planks! OUCH! Along with some bicycles and push ups. After that we went over to our "underground" parking ramp. Once there we did 2 20 sec sprints at 75% of our speed. Then we proceeded to do 10 20 second sprints at about 100% of our speed. This may not sound very hard...but 20 sec is a long time to be sprinting! Usually on Thursdays I do a couple of easy miles when I get home, but yesterday by the time I got home, my abs were burning and my legs were pretty stiff. So I just hopped in the shower and went on with my day.
I am so thankful for all the support I have gotton for the fundraiser...I have a lot of plans I am trying to work out right now...and I will keep you updated!
I think this weekend I will do another pop can drive - only this time I will be visiting family and friends...so if you are reading this...I may stop by tomorrow! Beware! Thanks for reading!
I am so thankful for all the support I have gotton for the fundraiser...I have a lot of plans I am trying to work out right now...and I will keep you updated!
I think this weekend I will do another pop can drive - only this time I will be visiting family and friends...so if you are reading this...I may stop by tomorrow! Beware! Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Mile repeats...
Well, today was bootcamp again! We went to the parking garage across the street from the DeVos Place, their lower level is great for running, kind of like a track. We warmed up by jogging there, then we did three 1 mile repeats. That is running at an up tempo pace for a mile, then a lap of walking/jogging; then back to one mile up tempo, etc... It was very nice!
For fundraising...I'm in the process of contacting some people/places. One of them is Hudsonville Winery, I heard they do fundraisers there and I love wine! What a fun idea! Also, I am kind of working on putting together some sort of run/walk. I am waiting to hear back from Grandville to see if I can use their track...I will keep everyone updated on this process! Thanks for reading!
For fundraising...I'm in the process of contacting some people/places. One of them is Hudsonville Winery, I heard they do fundraisers there and I love wine! What a fun idea! Also, I am kind of working on putting together some sort of run/walk. I am waiting to hear back from Grandville to see if I can use their track...I will keep everyone updated on this process! Thanks for reading!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday, Monday....
Oh Monday....the hardest day of all to work out. I always have to set my alarm 10 minutes earlier on Mondays because it takes me that much longer to get up and go. But I did...today I ran on the treadmill, I had enough of the cold weather on Saturday. I decided to do a ladder drill on the treadmill, this makes the time go so much faster! What you do is run one lap at a slow pace, then one lap at a fast pace. Then one lap at a slow pace and 2 laps at a fast pace, then one slow, 4 fast, one slow, 2 fast, one slow, one fast, one slow and your done! It equals 4 miles. It breaks up the time and instead of thinking...I have to run 4 miles, you can think I have to run one lap...then I get to slow down, etc.
Yesterday was my rest day, it was very nice. I went to my parents house and picked up some pop cans, and then my sister said she had a few so I went over there. A few was an understatement! We ended up with $15.80! So I will add that to the other pop can money:)
I am working on some other fundraising ideas, and when I get them set I will let you all know! Thanks for reading!
Yesterday was my rest day, it was very nice. I went to my parents house and picked up some pop cans, and then my sister said she had a few so I went over there. A few was an understatement! We ended up with $15.80! So I will add that to the other pop can money:)
I am working on some other fundraising ideas, and when I get them set I will let you all know! Thanks for reading!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Pop can drive a success!!!
Whew! What a day! This morning I woke up at 7:30am and ran 11 miles. It started out being 10 degrees...brrr! It warmed up as the sun came out though! It was an interesting run, my halfway point was my dad's company Ranger Tool and Die, so I stopped in there to say hi. The guys in there were telling me about a radio station that does a "Pay It Forward" program where they interview people who are doing things such as running a marathon to raise money for a non-profit organization. I will look into that a little more, they could not remember the radio station - so if anyone knows which one it is, let me know:)
On my way back, I ran into a group of 3 runners; they had some water stations set up so I stopped by to talk with them. They said they were a part of the Mars Hill running group, 2 of them were training for their first marathon. How cool! They are planning on doing the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City - that was my first marathon last year. It is really fun and exciting to meet people who are doing the same thing you did, I know how they feel!
When I got home I quickly showered and then went back to my dad's shop - he just happened to have a whole bunch of cans for me to start out my can drive. I think the total from his shop was about $30 - thank you Ranger Die!!! I picked up my friend Sarah and off we went. We did the old Fulton Street, Oswego Street, and Burrit Street. It took a couple of hours and we had a couple of truckloads! We were able to meet a lot of really nice people (and dogs!), we were actually offered a couple of dogs at some houses, lol! I dropped Sarah off and my husband and I went to Meijer to start the returning process....we came out with $91.10 total! Thank you again to anyone who helped with our pop can drive! We can't wait to do another one.
I am still working on doing other fundraisers, if you have any ideas, feel free to share them:) Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!
On my way back, I ran into a group of 3 runners; they had some water stations set up so I stopped by to talk with them. They said they were a part of the Mars Hill running group, 2 of them were training for their first marathon. How cool! They are planning on doing the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City - that was my first marathon last year. It is really fun and exciting to meet people who are doing the same thing you did, I know how they feel!
When I got home I quickly showered and then went back to my dad's shop - he just happened to have a whole bunch of cans for me to start out my can drive. I think the total from his shop was about $30 - thank you Ranger Die!!! I picked up my friend Sarah and off we went. We did the old Fulton Street, Oswego Street, and Burrit Street. It took a couple of hours and we had a couple of truckloads! We were able to meet a lot of really nice people (and dogs!), we were actually offered a couple of dogs at some houses, lol! I dropped Sarah off and my husband and I went to Meijer to start the returning process....we came out with $91.10 total! Thank you again to anyone who helped with our pop can drive! We can't wait to do another one.
I am still working on doing other fundraisers, if you have any ideas, feel free to share them:) Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!
Friday, January 7, 2011
A Skip, A Hop, and A Jump...
Yesterday morning was bootcamp again. We started with a 1/2 mile or so warm up, then we worked on our abs and arms. We jogged to our favorite hallway where we did some special running drills. These are exercises that help build up the muscles in your legs and feet - muscles you do not use very often but work well as supporting muscles for the muscles you do use. We did some high skipping, a lot of backwards running, some butt kicks, shuffling, and probably more that I can not think of right now. This all may sound kind of easy - but trust me - it is not!
Today is my rest day, I will hopefully do 11 or 12 miles tomorrow morning, I will have to tell you how that goes:)
Tomorrow my husband has agreed to help me do a pop can drive. I understand a pop can drive does not usually generate a lot of funds; but we will go through our neighborhood and hand out fliers for my fundraiser as well - so maybe some people will be able to help a little more. We shall have to wait and see:) I have also heard of a couple of other companies that do fundraisers as well...so I will look into them and whenever I have an "event" - I will post it on here. Thanks for reading!
Today is my rest day, I will hopefully do 11 or 12 miles tomorrow morning, I will have to tell you how that goes:)
Tomorrow my husband has agreed to help me do a pop can drive. I understand a pop can drive does not usually generate a lot of funds; but we will go through our neighborhood and hand out fliers for my fundraiser as well - so maybe some people will be able to help a little more. We shall have to wait and see:) I have also heard of a couple of other companies that do fundraisers as well...so I will look into them and whenever I have an "event" - I will post it on here. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
I'm a lottery winner!
okay, just kidding:) But I got you to read this didn't I? Today I woke up and ran 3 miles on the treadmill, it was nice - halfway through Weston (my husband) came downstairs and told me I won $3 of the mega millions!!! Wooohoo! That's the closest I have ever come (I've only played it 3 times!). I might just have to re-invest that $3 in a few more tickets for this friday:)
Later today I went to visit the chiropractor...he put my hip back into place...feels good! When I got home I realized a new episode of Biggest Loser taped last night! That is one of my favorite shows...it's very motivating...especially when the contestants run a marathon. That is one of the reasons I chose to run my first marathon.
I think I will try to go out this weekend and do a fundraiser for Of One Heart...I'm thinking about doing a pop can drive in my neighborhood. Let me know if you want to help:)
Later today I went to visit the chiropractor...he put my hip back into place...feels good! When I got home I realized a new episode of Biggest Loser taped last night! That is one of my favorite shows...it's very motivating...especially when the contestants run a marathon. That is one of the reasons I chose to run my first marathon.
I think I will try to go out this weekend and do a fundraiser for Of One Heart...I'm thinking about doing a pop can drive in my neighborhood. Let me know if you want to help:)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Bootcamp:)
So this morning I had bootcamp. For anyone who does not know what that is, it is a training group that I have been running with for about a year now. We meet on tuesday and thursday mornings, from 5:30-6:30 downtown and do different running drills. The leaders of this group are Jim Patch - a personal trainer at the YMCA, Don Kern, the race director for the Grand Rapids Marathon, and Craig Vaughn - he is the business guy and also an expierienced runner.
This morning we were going to do mile repeats in an enclosed parking ramp, but since it was nice out, Jim decided we should do a 2 mile tempo run outside. We ran down Monroe, starting at Pearl street, down to where Monroe does a 90 degree turn, then turned around and ran back. I think it was just a little bit over 2 miles. It was very nice...my legs were a little sore after the long run on Sunday, but that didn't bother me too much. After the tempo run we went back inside (we use the skywalk for some of our workouts), and we did some abs and upper arm workouts. If you ever see us out there working out, give us a honk and wave...we are always having fun:)
Yesterday was my rest day, I usually take a rest day on Sundays because I usually do my long runs on Saturdays. So this week is a little off for me. Tomorrow is usually my mid-week rest day, but since I took yesterday off, I think I will run tomorrow.
Feel free to ask any questions about the Of One Heart organization or about how the fundraising is going, I am always here to answer questions:) Thanks for your support!
This morning we were going to do mile repeats in an enclosed parking ramp, but since it was nice out, Jim decided we should do a 2 mile tempo run outside. We ran down Monroe, starting at Pearl street, down to where Monroe does a 90 degree turn, then turned around and ran back. I think it was just a little bit over 2 miles. It was very nice...my legs were a little sore after the long run on Sunday, but that didn't bother me too much. After the tempo run we went back inside (we use the skywalk for some of our workouts), and we did some abs and upper arm workouts. If you ever see us out there working out, give us a honk and wave...we are always having fun:)
Yesterday was my rest day, I usually take a rest day on Sundays because I usually do my long runs on Saturdays. So this week is a little off for me. Tomorrow is usually my mid-week rest day, but since I took yesterday off, I think I will run tomorrow.
Feel free to ask any questions about the Of One Heart organization or about how the fundraising is going, I am always here to answer questions:) Thanks for your support!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
I'm an Aunt again!
Well, today was an exciting day. I set out to run 10 miles in this lovely weather and about 20 minutes into it I got a call from my brother - his wife had just delivered their fourth child! Very exciting! His name is Linkin Isaiah, he is 8lbs 14oz:) Mom and baby are doing great!
So I was successful with the ten mile run, it was actually a really nice day out! Not very windy, a little snow, not icy. I actually tried to run the 10 miles yesterday, but the wind was so bad I thought I would wait until today. I am very glad I did - my breathing was right, my legs did not get sore, and it was just an awesome run. My time was 1 hour 45 min. and 53 sec - this is not very good for me, I was hoping for less than 1:40...but that time does include the phone call from my brother - which I walked through - and a phone call to tell my husband the good news:) I'm looking forward to getting into my training a little better now that the holidays are over - the extra cookies, cheesecake, wine, and homemade food does not help my time (or waistline) either!
So I was successful with the ten mile run, it was actually a really nice day out! Not very windy, a little snow, not icy. I actually tried to run the 10 miles yesterday, but the wind was so bad I thought I would wait until today. I am very glad I did - my breathing was right, my legs did not get sore, and it was just an awesome run. My time was 1 hour 45 min. and 53 sec - this is not very good for me, I was hoping for less than 1:40...but that time does include the phone call from my brother - which I walked through - and a phone call to tell my husband the good news:) I'm looking forward to getting into my training a little better now that the holidays are over - the extra cookies, cheesecake, wine, and homemade food does not help my time (or waistline) either!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Hello!
Hello, My name is Jill Gorby and if you are visiting my blog you have probably met me or heard about what I am doing. If not, I will fill you in. I am training for my second marathon and have decided to raise money for a non-profit organization called Of One Heart. This organization was set up to help local families who have children born with different maxillofacial deformities, such as cleft lips and palates. I have chosen this organization because I was also born with a cleft lip and palate. I was lucky enough to have parents who could afford to give me twelve plastic surgeries, years of speech therapy, and five years of major orthodontics. Because of them and Dr. Mann, the founder of Of One Heart, I live a very normal life. I would like to help other children do the same.
My fundraising goal is $10,000! I will need all the help I can get to raise that amount of money. I am training for the Minneapolis Marathon on June 5, 2011. Here are some facts and information about Of One Heart:
Mission Statement: Dedicated to Children's health needs that otherwise fall through the cracks of our health programs on a child by child basis, through the generous support of the communities of West Michigan who care for their neighbors as if Of One Heart.
Of One Heart is a non-profit corporation comprised of local doctors and professionals. It has been operating informally for years as doctors giving their time to work with needy children whose health needs fall through the insurance and federal and state health program cracks.
Of One Heart was formed on a formal basis in order to bring it to a higher level as the number of needy children inquiring help has grown.
Of One Heart helps children with hearing and speech disabilities, facial deformities (including cleft palate), and other medical issues. In early 1998, Of One Heart designed a summer speech therapy school in association with DeVos Children's Hospital.
Of One Heart is committed to operating in an environment free of red tape and making decisions based on common sense and the needs of children. With this commitment, the organization can most effectively turn heartaches into smiles.
In 2010, Of One Heart has contributed over $14,000 toward treatment for their Oral Cleft Clinic patient population that included orthodontia, oral surgery, counseling services and speech therapy.
If you have any questions about this organization, you can contact Dr. Mann's office at 616-486-5885.
My fundraising goal is $10,000! I will need all the help I can get to raise that amount of money. I am training for the Minneapolis Marathon on June 5, 2011. Here are some facts and information about Of One Heart:
Mission Statement: Dedicated to Children's health needs that otherwise fall through the cracks of our health programs on a child by child basis, through the generous support of the communities of West Michigan who care for their neighbors as if Of One Heart.
Of One Heart is a non-profit corporation comprised of local doctors and professionals. It has been operating informally for years as doctors giving their time to work with needy children whose health needs fall through the insurance and federal and state health program cracks.
Of One Heart was formed on a formal basis in order to bring it to a higher level as the number of needy children inquiring help has grown.
Of One Heart helps children with hearing and speech disabilities, facial deformities (including cleft palate), and other medical issues. In early 1998, Of One Heart designed a summer speech therapy school in association with DeVos Children's Hospital.
Of One Heart is committed to operating in an environment free of red tape and making decisions based on common sense and the needs of children. With this commitment, the organization can most effectively turn heartaches into smiles.
In 2010, Of One Heart has contributed over $14,000 toward treatment for their Oral Cleft Clinic patient population that included orthodontia, oral surgery, counseling services and speech therapy.
If you have any questions about this organization, you can contact Dr. Mann's office at 616-486-5885.
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