Team e-mail 11. 9.08
Hello Runners!
Can you all please stand up and applaud really loudly for 3 minutes?? Congratulations on starting the training!! NICE JOB!
I loved meeting the 30 of you who came to the team run on Saturday morning. I’ve loved e-mailing with you folks who maybe can’t join the team runs, but you’re sure with us in spirit. I want to introduce:
Stephen and Lynne, running in
Shelley, running in
Jennifer, running in
Sallie, running in
Deedra, running in
Emili, running in
And the wonderful Karen, running in
If you’re training remotely, please keep in touch. Send me and Coach Darren an e-mail telling us how you’re doing. Thanks for joining the team! I have attached this week’s Coach Note from Coach Darren.
FOOD: Check out The PETA Pack blog for eating tips. I’ll post new information every couple of days and I’ll let you know what I’m posting. We all need to eat well (and eat enjoyably) for the next 12 weeks! Check it out now if you want to read about oatmeal and donuts (or read at the end of this message).
MONEY: Time to gradually start thinking about your fundraising. I know it’s hard to talk about money—every time I bring it up I can feel people thinking, “Geez, I thought lawyers were bad…” J Since we’re all busy working and training, I won’t waste time beating around the bush. The animals need you AND fundraising is fun! Click here to get started on your page (or read below).
It looks like The PETA Pack is a magnet for fabulousness, as you all have proven, and I am honored to be on your team. The next 12 weeks are going to be a blast!
Thank you, everyone. Enjoy your rest day!
Alex
MONEY: Time to gradually start thinking about your fundraising. I know it’s hard to talk about money—every time I bring it up I can feel people thinking, “Geez, I thought lawyers were bad…” J Since we’re all busy working and training, I won’t waste time beating around the bush. The animals need you AND fundraising is fun!
First: Make your personal fundraising page on Active.com. Check out Steve’s for inspiration. He created a jpeg collage to upload so he could show off three sweet animals instead of just one. If you need help doing that, Steve said he would be glad to help (I had to donate to his page to make him offer that) (just kidding). Go here to log in to your page, using the username and password you created when you registered. Problems logging in? No sweat. Let me know and I’ll talk to Active.com for you.
Make your page YOUR page. Your photo can be you, your dog, or an animal suffering on a factory farm. Your text can be anything you want. The most important thing is to be yourself and be sincere!
Second: Write an e-mail message to everyone you know. Again, be yourself. We all have different reasons why we’re training, and why we want to help animals. Some people want to help stop cat and dog overpopulation. Others want to fight fur or shut down slaughterhouses. Whatever your passions are—they’re OK and you should share them with your friends, colleagues and family members. Tell them you’ll do the sweating and huffing and puffing for 3 months, and you hope they will emotionally support you by donating to your page. Send them a link to your page.
Remember this as you write your message: Animals are dependent on us for help. They cannot speak for themselves. You are asking your family and friends to give for their sakes—the animals—not for your own interests.
On top of that, you're giving a gift to the people you ask. By asking them to support your training efforts and PETA's vital work, they'll know that you've included them in something wonderful. They'll get to hear about how your training is going and your feelings of achievement and happiness, and they'll feel like they're a part of it.
It's good to ask for help. Animals are counting on us, and many of our friends and family members want to be involved in our challenges and achievements, they just don’t know what we need.
We'll talk about this more during the training. You won't be left to handle this important task alone!
If you create your page and e-mail it your peeps, and 40 people respond by donating $25, you’ve met the minimum! Voila!
Thank you so much for helping to make PETA a stronger voice for animals, who are voiceless.
Alex
Breakfast!
This post is a little late because I was busy making the Breakfast of Champions. Every Sunday I make a gigantic pot of steel-cut oatmeal, to feed me for the next week. Steel-cut oats are also called Irish Oats. They’re tough little things, totally different from the quick oats we’re used to. You can’t really eat quick oats the next day. Ick. But Irish Oats cook for a good 30 minutes and make a fabulous thick porridge that reheats beautifully. 30 seconds in the microwave, some sliced banana, voila: a perfect breakfast.
Make a big pot on Sunday so that your mornings are taken care of. Now that we’ve added training to our already busy lives, we need to find food that is both fast AND healthy. I cook 2 cups of oats in 8 cups of water and that lasts me through the week. Sometimes I add a handful of raisins, a chopped apple or two, or a whole cinnamon stick. Every morning I spool out my serving, heat it, and top with banana. Sometimes walnuts, cinnamon, more apple, things like that. Not only is this convenient and healthy, it’s filling. A big bowl of oats will keep you from grabbing a donut or fatty muffin, it will give you loads of energy for the day, and it won’t give you any fat for those hips.
Compare this: One donut has around 340 calories and enough fat to condition your hair. One big bowl of oatmeal has only 140 calories and no fat!! Donuts are fatty and calorie-dense, but not filling. Eat a donut and 30 minutes later you’ll be hungry for more junk. Oatmeal is the opposite. Filling and packed with nutrients and energy, but not fat and calories. When you’re full you don’t have to worry about giving in to junk food temptations.
Icing on the cake: When you eat foods like oatmeal you don’t have to measure or count calories. The more you eat the better because it will fill you up. I’ll be posting lots more energy foods like this. I’m not suggesting we won’t be eating our beer and French fries on Saturday nights, after our long runs. I’m suggesting that we eat less fat in general so that our training goes better and our junk food nights are that much more enjoyable!
Note: I don’t eat a big bowl of oatmeal before running. A bouncing, full stomach does not a fast runner make.
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