Pay it 40-ward in Action: Mile 31

Holy Monkey Brains. I am beat. Our darling 23-month-old is reeeeally putting the Terror in Terror-ble Twos these days. I say if you define a terrorist as someone who destroys what others hold dear, bringing fear and frustration to the wider community without regard for the consequences or others' feelings, every toddler should be on the "No Fly List". Or maybe that's just MY toddler. Of course, after 10 or 15 minutes of nightmareish behavior he is cuddled up, sweet as pie, like the cherub we have known for so long. Gawd... and these are the early days of all of this. 

Mom had a meeting tonight about Tommy and his classmates starting band lessons. The only thing that kept me quiet for the 7 minutes we were there was playing with her phone... which I am techinically not allowed to do... Do you like my boogers? 

Just kidding, Gungah. Heh heh. He's great. You won't have any problems when you come help out for my surgery. Ha. Ha. (OMG. Please still come and help me!!) 

Okay. To the real point of this post. My teammates keep coming through with the most creative and thoughtful ideas. The one you will read about here is from Liz, my Mile 31 pal, with whom I ran track in high school. Liz now lives in Massachusetts and, well, she does a great job of explaining her job and her family and how it it all plays into her Pay it 40-ward plan, so I'll just allow her to do that:

Liz's kiddos. Bet these 3 were angels right through toddlerhood and beyond!

Hi Phoebe--

So sorry to hear about your knee. I am a P.T. however it's been many, many years since I've worked with anyone other than the geriatric crowd so I won't offer much advice other than--do what they tell you! Best wishes and I hope that it's sooner rather than later that you are back out pounding the pavement :)

I have loved telling anyone that will listen about your fabulous journey over the past several months and how impressive it is that you were even THINKING of running 40 miles at one time...After lots of brainstorming, The Hughes Family has figured out how we are going to Pay-Your $5- Forward. Our oldest, Jillian (12 years old), has been teasing to run a road race for a couple of years and we just have not made it a priority. With 3 kids that are involved in (what feels like) every sport under the sun, we don't have many free weekend days. Well now we've made it a priority. She has gathered up some cousins and Uncles to run the ShamrockShuffle 5K in North Kingstown, Rhode Island on March 16th.(not just coincidentally so close to your expected run date). We have committed to donating $5 for each mile Jillian runs in road races from now until she graduates from High School--with a $200 cap to equal your initial "investment". (Editor's note: WHAT!?!?! That's INCREDIBLE) Her first $15 ($5 x 3 miles in this 5K) will be given to her cousin Melissa Hughes who is a Peace Corps volunteer teaching math in Malawi, Africa. This is an email from Melissa explaining a race being held there this summer---

"The race is in July but the currency fluctuates with the harvest so right now if I exchange $15 it will probably be equal to about $30 in July! It is called the Porters Race, it is a 15 mile race up and down the mountain. It attracts a lot of professional runners but a Malawian porter has always won. Their job throughout the year is to guide tourists and carry their belongings up and down this trail. They run it without shoes, torn shorts and shirts and always finish far ahead of any non Malawian with their new Nikes, spandex, and camelbacks!"

Thank you, Dr. Google, for giving me this image from the Porters Race. I don't know if she's a Mother Runner, but she sure is Badass!

Our 1st donation will be used to feed the runners the night before the race. If Jillian can get another race in before July, the next will be used for the runner's transportation to the race.This is Melissa's response to the Pay-it-Forward concept--

"I will work with the other volunteer to come up with a project for them to learn what pay it forward means. The language barrier and a culture with little respect for creativity probably won't understand unless we show them. I think it's a great idea because Malawians have an unfortunate mindset that they are helpless and they need people to help them but they have nothing to offer in return, which of course is not true!"

 Our donations will go to Melissa as long as she is in Africa for a running/sports related cause. After that, we will be exploring other options to donate for Jillian's 40 miles. Not as impressive (editor's note: No. WAY more impressive!) spread out over 5 years, but just as effective. Thank you, thank you for making us think about what we can do to make a difference.

Best wishes--

Liz

I committed to put in the training get this puppy turned out in about 5 months. That seemed like PLENTY, let me tell you. And now that I am hurt I will add a few more months to that. But, Holy Huge Hughes Family!, you are committing THE NEXT FIVE YEARS to paying it forward. They could be paying it foward until 2019, ladies and gentlemen. Just. Wow. I am speechless. Again.

And now I have to go get the screaming should-be-sound-asleep-but-isn't darling boy to lie down and sleep. 

So. Namaste. And, once again, how do you guys keep managing to be so incredible!? Thank you, Hughes Family.

Now where did we put that Benedryl.....