The Chicago marathon is in T-minus 6 days.
6 days of training left. (for Ben, not me)
6 days of extra water and vitamins. (for both of us, because it's our attempt to be healthy)
6 days for YOU to donate to WORLD VISION through BEN'S fund.
If you're lost and confused... read this.
If you have been waiting until the last minute to donate, it's the last minute. So, click here!
If you want to know more about World Vision to make sure it's a legit thing to give your money to, click here!
thank you, thank you, thank you!
love,
ren & ben
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Monday, October 3, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Ben is running the Chicago Marathon!
This post is in honor of my fabulous husband, Ben. (If you're unfamiliar with blog world, click on the light blue words below to go to another website.)
About a year ago, while we were living in Chicago, we started attending The Moody Church. We loved it there! One of the first weekends we were visiting, some people got up and talked about how great it was to run the Chicago Marathon with a group of people from Moody. They talked about training and asked people to come out and cheer them on, as well as support the team. Many were first-time marathon runners, and they shared different reasons for choosing to take the plunge. Ben leaned over and whispered to me, "I think I wanna do that next year..."
Well here we are. Next year. And the marathon is in 26 days. October 9. And yep, you guessed it, Ben's running :) Yay Ben!
SO, we will head back to Chi-town that weekend and Ben will run with a team from Moody to raise support for World Vision. According to their website, "World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice." Ben could have signed up to run the marathon solo and still achieved his personal marathon goal. However, we really believe World Vision is doing a great work in Africa, and we want to support their organization. They're not only working at a great cause, but they're doing it well!
Ben's goal is to raise $50.00 per mile (BEFORE running the race) for a total of $1310.00. Would you consider contributing? Whether you contribute $.10, $10 or $100, your gift is helpful and appreciated.
World Vision sent us this video to show us (and others who are interested) where all the money is going anyway.
World Vision gives Ben a handy-dandy marathon website to keep track of donations and give donors more information. To donate and/or learn more about World Vision, click here!
Last but not least, a little side story. The Moody Church (TMC) happens to be located right on the marathon route through the city. If you don't live in Chicago, trust me when I say the marathon is a crazy day. You can forget taking public transportation anywhere. It's super cool to see boatloads of people running down Lake Shore Drive and North Ave. BUT, it's crazy. For a long time, TMC tried to still have services as normal on Marathon Sunday. But, with parking, visitors, traffic, people running down the streets, roads shut down, etc... they decided, what the heck? Let's just move our church service and cheer on the marathon runners. An opportunity to support and minister to the community :) Here's a short video from the cheer station. Can't wait to join them this year as they cheer on not only their own TEAM WORLD VISION but also the 40,000 (ish) others running the Chicago Marathon 2011.
Any questions or comments about Ben, the marathon, donating, etc...? Email either one of us at reneecook3@gmail.com OR jbenjamincook@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you. Thanks in advance for your donation!
Well here we are. Next year. And the marathon is in 26 days. October 9. And yep, you guessed it, Ben's running :) Yay Ben!
SO, we will head back to Chi-town that weekend and Ben will run with a team from Moody to raise support for World Vision. According to their website, "World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice." Ben could have signed up to run the marathon solo and still achieved his personal marathon goal. However, we really believe World Vision is doing a great work in Africa, and we want to support their organization. They're not only working at a great cause, but they're doing it well!
Ben's goal is to raise $50.00 per mile (BEFORE running the race) for a total of $1310.00. Would you consider contributing? Whether you contribute $.10, $10 or $100, your gift is helpful and appreciated.
World Vision sent us this video to show us (and others who are interested) where all the money is going anyway.
World Vision gives Ben a handy-dandy marathon website to keep track of donations and give donors more information. To donate and/or learn more about World Vision, click here!
Last but not least, a little side story. The Moody Church (TMC) happens to be located right on the marathon route through the city. If you don't live in Chicago, trust me when I say the marathon is a crazy day. You can forget taking public transportation anywhere. It's super cool to see boatloads of people running down Lake Shore Drive and North Ave. BUT, it's crazy. For a long time, TMC tried to still have services as normal on Marathon Sunday. But, with parking, visitors, traffic, people running down the streets, roads shut down, etc... they decided, what the heck? Let's just move our church service and cheer on the marathon runners. An opportunity to support and minister to the community :) Here's a short video from the cheer station. Can't wait to join them this year as they cheer on not only their own TEAM WORLD VISION but also the 40,000 (ish) others running the Chicago Marathon 2011.
Any questions or comments about Ben, the marathon, donating, etc...? Email either one of us at reneecook3@gmail.com OR jbenjamincook@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you. Thanks in advance for your donation!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Going for a jog...
Running intimidates me. Every time I try to "start running" I feel like I'm going to die after 5 blocks and quit. Also, sometimes, my legs get a strange itchiness that is extremely uncomfortable. I didn't really care to run with my friends or whatever, so I saw no reason to enjoy it. There are lots of forms of exercise anyway. However, for many other forms of exercise, you need a gym of sorts - a membership, a fitness center to play sports at, or whatever... Plus, getting the same cardio workout from, say, biking or the elliptical, as from running takes a LOT longer.
I thought being able to jog for 30 minutes would be a good goal. Not just for the sake of jogging, but to develop a habit of exercise. As my brother graciously commented, "You can eat like that now, but not forever. Eventually, if you eat like that and don't workout, you'll get fat." So, 30 minutes - A manageable amount of time for any season in life. But, since I have insecurities about failure [i'm sure you don't, but imperfect me does] I didn't want to try something that I would end up quitting.
So I found this run-walk training program. You can see it here. It starts with a sequence of running for 1 minute and walking for 2 (for 30 minutes total). And it gradually increases the amount of time you run and decreases the amount of time you walk. After 8 weeks, the goal is to run for 30 minutes. Now for my marathon-running friends, you might think that sounds pathetic. And I'm okay with that. But the first time I ran for a minute and walked for 2 for a total of 30 minutes, I felt REALLY tired. There, it's on the internet. Shameful, but true. But now, after a few weeks in, it's semi-enjoyable (I don't look forward to it, but I feel good after) and I can run for several minutes at a time without exhaustion. This feels like a major accomplishment. [Sigh - nostalgia to high school when I was in shape and even semi-athletic. Oh well.]
I don't plan to run marathons, or even to become "a runner." But, the 30 minutes out and about (especially in this 68-degrees-in-the-morning-with-a-light-breeze weather) getting some exercise and solitude is good for my body and soul.
Here's to exercise :)
-Ren
I thought being able to jog for 30 minutes would be a good goal. Not just for the sake of jogging, but to develop a habit of exercise. As my brother graciously commented, "You can eat like that now, but not forever. Eventually, if you eat like that and don't workout, you'll get fat." So, 30 minutes - A manageable amount of time for any season in life. But, since I have insecurities about failure [i'm sure you don't, but imperfect me does] I didn't want to try something that I would end up quitting.
So I found this run-walk training program. You can see it here. It starts with a sequence of running for 1 minute and walking for 2 (for 30 minutes total). And it gradually increases the amount of time you run and decreases the amount of time you walk. After 8 weeks, the goal is to run for 30 minutes. Now for my marathon-running friends, you might think that sounds pathetic. And I'm okay with that. But the first time I ran for a minute and walked for 2 for a total of 30 minutes, I felt REALLY tired. There, it's on the internet. Shameful, but true. But now, after a few weeks in, it's semi-enjoyable (I don't look forward to it, but I feel good after) and I can run for several minutes at a time without exhaustion. This feels like a major accomplishment. [Sigh - nostalgia to high school when I was in shape and even semi-athletic. Oh well.]
I don't plan to run marathons, or even to become "a runner." But, the 30 minutes out and about (especially in this 68-degrees-in-the-morning-with-a-light-breeze weather) getting some exercise and solitude is good for my body and soul.
Here's to exercise :)
-Ren
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