Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Countdown to the marathon, and thoughts on beauty

For some reason, I've been thinking that I have 3 weeks until the marathon, but I realized suddenly over the weekend that it's just 2 weeks away. There's a counter on the official ING Marathon website that kind of stresses me out, but really, I'm ready. Well, as ready as I'll ever be! Which if good, because it's too late to do anything about it, really. So until then, I'm just planning on eating a lot of pasta, doing a few short runs, and trying to wrap up my fundraising.

Speaking of fundraising, you can donate here for pediatric cancer research. I think I've gotten one blog-related donation so far! Thank you, thank you Kristy.

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For those of you in the NY area, you should definitely check out the Chihuly exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx--it's there until October 29th. I went there for Chihuly Nights last Thursday for Saho's Birthday, and it was breathtaking. Here are a few pics:

Or check out an exhibit somewhere near you.

It made me think about the different kind of beauty in the world. That something so artificial , and surrounded by nature, could still be so breathtaking. This past weekend I was surrounded by different kinds of beauty. I took a trip out to Princeton with two friends to visit Julie and have a girls' weekend.

Here is some of the beauty I encountered there:

The beauty of the blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and the green in an apple orchard on a brisk fall day...

the beauty of finding my first-ever four-leaf clover...

the beauty of warm homemade apple cake topped with homemade vanilla ice cream...

and, of course, the beauty of friends.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not sure my contribution went very far, Alvina, but here's why I donated:
1. I've run two marathons before and know how hard it is.

2. I have 3 young children and I feel the weight of loving them well when I look in the faces of pedriatic cancer patients.

3. I don't have anything subbed to you so it didn't feel like bribery. :) (Not that you could be bribed anyway.)

Anonymous said...

Alvina,

Good luck in the marathon. Last year, after many years of being overweight and out of shape, my husband decided he was going to try
to get himself back into good physical condition. I was amazed at his determination. He has lost more than fifty pounds, now goes to the gym every chance he gets, and feels like a new man. He even got his ear pierced!

But the accomplishment he is proudest of is his participation in the Pan Mass Challenge this year for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He completed the nearly 200 mile bike ride in two days. He hadn't been sure he could do it. (He turned 60 in June.)

And the best part of it all: Team Daisy--of which he was a member--raised nearly $65,000 for the cause!

By the way, the Daisy of Team Daisy is the daughter of two friends. She is a cancer survivor. We are happy to still have her with us.

http://www.pmc.org