On October 12, 2014 I'll be running the Chicago Marathon, and my motivation to make it to the finish line again this year is the fact that I'm running to benefit Taller de José, a community resource center in Little Village, Chicago. I've been accompanying clients at Taller de José since August 2011, and the mission has become very near and dear to my heart. Will you accompany me along the journey to run for those I serve?

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Mission Accomplished!

I successfully completed the 2012 Chicago Marathon in 5:25:23 AND I far exceeded my fundraising goal, raising a total of $1912.00 so far (and I'm expecting several hundred more in matching donations from employers!!). I cannot possibly express how grateful I am to everyone who donated and everyone who either came to cheer me on in person (it made all the difference to look forward to seeing my family and friends) or sent their love and support from afar. I am so blessed.

A year ago I never would have thought I would run a marathon anytime in my lifetime, let alone the next year. Then, seven months ago, I had somehow* decided to run a marathon, and I hoped I could do it but assumed it would be painful and miserable. But it wasn’t. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I had so. much. fun. That’s right, it was fun! Granted, I wasn’t battling a dropped metatarsal like my running buddy (or any one of the variety of  injuries other runners were struggling with), but the combo of our relaxed pace, seeing friends and family, getting cheered on by random strangers, seeing a city I love in a completely new way, and running for a cause I wholeheartedly believe made it such an exhilarating experience. (One of the reasons it was so moving to run in Chicago was the fact that we passed so many places I accompany clients on a regular basis.)  During my training I learned so much about discipline, time management, priorities, pain, fear, and endurance, but during the marathon itself I learned about trust, gratitude, and (ironically) how to relax and have fun. We missed our (arbitrary) time goal by quite a bit, but it didn’t matter. In the last several weeks of training I’d gotten caught up in feeling like a slow runner compared to my teammates and others my age and really wanted to make a goal of under 5 hours. But what I realized during the race (and as my running partner verbalized afterwards), we didn’t have a time goal when we signed up. We signed up because we believed that the training process could be transformative and because we believed in the causes that we were running for. As a result I can now say that I’m a marathoner, and hopefully because of that process, Taller de Jose can better serve its clients and I am a stronger, better person. Thank you to everyone who was a part of that process.

(In case you haven’t see the pictures yet, here are a few! There are also some from the official photographers if you click here. If you'd like to see me look really silly you can watch this video featuring Melissa and me from the Chicago Tribune... it won't be the first video that shows up, you have to select "2012 Chicago Marathon: The Race Begins")
Team Taller with our finishers medals!

We were pretty excited to see our fans (it was easy to look so happy at mile 1 :))


 



*Ok, so "somehow" is a little misleading... I actually know exactly how it happened. I walked into work on the day the marathon registration sold out (we didn't know it was going to at the time) and my coworker Lisa said she was signing up for the Chicago Marathon (her second)… and so was Kerry… and Maeve… and they were probably going to try to fundraise for Taller de José. So the wheels started turning… four generations of Amate volunteers running the marathon and fundraising for our service site, how cool would that be?? So I ran to my computer, looked up the information and saw that my good friend Melissa was on gchat. I started the conversation:

12:26pm
me: should i run the chicago marathon in October??
Melissa: hmmm... i was totally being "tempted" by that too

(My thoughts: No way! That wasn’t the response I was expecting… I could run it and have a friend—and roommate—to train with! At this point we had a somewhat disjointed conversation about the time commitment, cost, running for a charity, when registration was going to close, etc, and then this…)

1:35pm
me: I'm tweaking out over here!!
  you should do it with me!!!
  if we pay the $150 to register, we'll be motivated :)
 Melissa: i think i want to?
  aaahhhh!
  i was thinking about the time commitment and feeling kinda guilty. but then i realized maybe it's what i need or at least a helpful motivator to learn to be more focused and intentional (with my time and my work)
  and excercise is healthy
 me: and I bet we could find a way to connect prayer and running and make both things more disciplined :)  (Side note from October 2012: We did. Among other things, our “pace bands” from the marathon had a prayer intention for each mile)
  doooooo it
Melissa: ok i'm convinced..... i will!
me: yay!
  YAYAYAY!!!
  okay, I'm going to do it right now!
Melissa: ok, i'm going to sign up now too! what the heck am i getting myself into?!
me: I don't know!! We're crazy!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

"The Funds Will Come in Somehow or Other"

I just finished reading Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion by Robert Coles, where I came across this quote by Peter Maurin: "In the Catholic church...one never needs any money to start a good work.'... 'People are what are important. If you have the people and they are willing to give their work-- that is the thing. God is not to be outdone in generosity. The funds will come in somehow or other." It stuck me as a very bold and trusting concept, or, put more negatively, a foolish concept! I'm sure many of us would react, "What do you mean you don't need money??" And while I think it is a little extreme to say that one never needs any money, I do think there is some truth at the heart of what he's saying.

At Taller de José, we need money to pay the bills for our office space, the phone and internet, public transportation for our clients, basic office supplies, and the salaries of the few staff members who are paid. But we wouldn't be where we are today without the generous donations of time from our many volunteers. Our volunteers donate about 170 hours per week to the organization--what an incredible gift! The volunteers and interns accompany the majority of our clients, work at the front desk answering the door and the phones, gather information about new resources, assist with clerical tasks and our accounting, design our flyers, brochures, and newsletters, and help with special projects along the way. So in that sense, Maurin is right; people are what are important. Without people, we'd have an operational office space and fully loaded bus cards, but no one to see the clients.

And he was right in another sense-- the funds do come in "somehow or other." For Taller de José, that "somehow or other" is often grants and sponsorship from organizations like the CSJ (Congregation of St. Joseph) Ministries, but a large amount also comes from individual donors. Thanks to all the generous family and friends who donated to Taller as part of my marathon fundraising, I've officially exceeded my goal with a whole week to spare! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I have been so touched by everyone's generosity.

But, that doesn't mean I can't surpass my goal even further ;) Our total team goal is $5,000, and we're still short of that, so it's not too late to donate! You can do so here: https://www.givecentral.org/core.php?do=event_signup&key=GC-4fc7aa9d03cbd or by mailing in your donation to Taller de Jose, 3047 W Cermak, Chicago, IL 60623 (or you can contact me for my home address).

As the marathon gets closer, I just keep getting more excited (I know, it sounds crazy... why would anyone be excited to go out and run for almost 5 hours straight??). It will be such a thrill to be surrounded by so many people aiming for the same goal, and so many of them also running for charities. Please keep all the runners in your thoughts and prayers; I hope that everyone who has put in so much hard work during training is able to cross the finish line safely. Thank you so much to everyone who has accompanied me during this journey!

p.s. If you haven't yet, check out the redesigned website for Taller de José!