Gratitude and Appreciation

I have been thinking about all of you since the first donation we ever received, which was also the easiest donation from a business. During a running practice with our YWCA Triathlon Club, I pitched the idea of this beach to beach swim and using it as a fundraiser for ZOE Ministry.  Wouldn't you know one of the runners turned out to be the president of Sweeney PR right here in town?  Immediately, she had ideas that she strung out in several run-on sentences throughout the entire run!  One of the others running with us is a small-business web designer, is writing a book and enthusiastically offered to help with our blog!  The other triathlete with us at practice became our Swim for ZOE director. He determined the best currents and tides for the swim by floating empty bottles in the ICW to find out which direction they'd take. Plus, he took on the responsibility of keeping me safe and alive during the actual swim. My friend (I call her BFF) Beth Sheppard wanted to be a part of our team, and now we're five strong. The YDUBTRICLUB certainly has a few gems! Our Swim for ZOE team was born!  

As it turns out, JenManocchio is our PR Diva and has already gotten me into many media venues: the area newspaper, my hometown newspaper, a local magazine, on our local morning newscast. She continues to seek getting the word out to other media that haven't covered our cause.  Beth Andrew's computer and technology skills have surpassed and surprised all of us - she created a Swim for ZOE dvd, stickers for the donation jars, created Swim for ZOE postcards, parking passes for our beach brunch celebration, she painstakingly updates the blog site weekly, and many other things that have taken up her time for months.  BFF's ideas and business visits have secured a team who will paddleboard with me during the swim.  Ben Bowie continues to check tides and finds dates to have me swim from this particular point to that in order for him to see exactly what that water will do to me. We didn't expect this event to take up so much of our time on a day-to-day basis, nor did we expect to feel God's strength within to keep it up. This has been such a joy-ride!  It is truly remarkable how much work we've all put in to this event in hopes of helping our AIDS brothers and sisters have a chance at a real life.

Part of Our Zoe Team [from left to right]: Jen Manocchio, Leanne and Doug LaFave, Gaston Warner, Beth Andrew and Ben Bowie

Since the birth of this endeavor, it is you, our donors and sponsors that we are the most thankful for.  We cannot reach the goal of $18,000 with our own money - that would not be what we feel God would want.  We feel blessed to share this opportunity.  My joy is multiplied by including you in the whole course of this experience.

I have had so many wonderful contacts through this: Aunt Ida from California whom I've never met; cousin Jae from Oregon whom I had the pleasure to share many Thanksgiving dinners with when we lived in Washington State, business donor friends who have given not once, but twice already; a charming man named Evan (Butch) who I met and see often at our UNC-W Women's Basketball games, and the many friends and family who give out of the goodness of their hearts, that's YOU!  Thank you so much for giving to this cause.  I feel grateful to God who has given me everything I have, and also the choice to participate in things worthwhile.  This is definitely a calling He has given me to help some of the most vulnerable children on earth and I am pleased to say YES! alongside all of you!!

And you think I love the water?  Check out this water-monkey!:

Swimming Has Gone to My Head....and Heart

I have said before that I fell in love with swimming by literally falling into a swimming pool when I was only two years old. This year I've fallen in love with the endurance aspect of it. I believe I have found a new endurance sport that I love. 

A few months after the birth of my second child,  I strapped on a new pair of

running shoes and took off from our home in Port Orchard, WA - desiring some time alone.  I had been an active runner, but the farthest I had ever run up to that point was 6.2 miles. It was in a 10K running event in Bemus Point, NY that left me frustrated: a 70-year-old man ran up to me, encouraged me with a "keep on going" and then passed me! He wasn't even gasping for breath like I was!

I knew I could run that distance again, but vowed to go the farthest distance I could think of - so I signed up for the Seattle Marathon! I was armed with a training plan and determination.  That year of training took me through the many ups and downs - through the streets of Port Orchard and through the challenges of being a new mom.

My challenge was to fit in the time on the road. With no family within a thousand miles, I relied on friends and even hired a teenager to save the day! She'd come over at 4:00am, twice a week to sleep on my couch while I took off into the hills and onto dirt roads. I'd squeeze in ten miles or more before she needed to get to school and before the brothers woke up.  

My reward: I fell in love with my running routine. I'd get so into it that at certain distances, I felt like I could go on running forever, forgetting that I WAS running. I would just float along feeling at peace and unity with all things created.  I know it sounds really weird but endurance sports have an effect on my brain chemistry.  Being in motion -- and alone -- for an unspecified amount of time causes me to forget about myself.  It hits me that it's no longer work, I don't feel my legs moving underneath, or the road or any pain.  It's euphoric - that's the best way I can describe it.  Running gets into my head! Ok, back to earth here!!

I began this blog by stating that I found a new endurance sport that I love - you know I'm going to say that it's swimming long distances!  I have swum for so many years now - always noting the distances from here to there, always seeing the destination point.  My training for Swim for ZOE is totally different.  My focus is no longer on the destination point. Instead, I patiently wait for that goal. Instead I keep my head down moving forward for miles - watching the sea life beneath. With each breath, I catch glimpses of the homes I swim past, of pelicans flying above in formation. I feel the gentle rocking of the water's wake or focus on the flotation that comes from swimming in salt water.

Like running, swimming has become euphoric. At a certain point, it's no longer work. I am so happy for hours at a time while swimming that I can hardly contain it's beauty and wonder that mounts within me!  Now I can say swimming has gone right to my head - and from my head to my heart.

Open Water Swimming with Sea Creatures

It's been a welcome transition to go from four pool swims per week to two pool swims and two open water swims per week.  I love swimming in the open water. The unpredictability of the ocean day to day -- and even hour to hour -- is part of the lure to me!  The tide table makes it easy to figure out which direction to swim (north or south); the unpredictability lies in wind direction, the swell flow, debris and sea critters! 

I've learned that these variables make a BIG difference when you're swimming for a duration versus a distance. In the ocean, it's impossible to tell where you might end up in a certain period of time. The swiftness of the current, the amount of chop in the waves and the number of creatures you battle can make your swim short or long. You may end up on the other end of the island or only a mile away!  I had been in the habit of dropping off a pair of running shoes at my swim destination to use to run back to my vehicle.  I don't drop off shoes anymore since I've no idea where my swim will end up!  I love this aspect of open water swimming, too. 

About a month ago, my plan required an hour and a half swim.  John Pellizari (my coach) and I decided to take off at the Wynn Plaza public docks on Banks Channel at Wrightsville beach. The plan was to swim south to the Coast Guard station, around the tip of the island to the ocean side and then head north to Crystal pier and on to Johnny Mercer's pier.  Somewhere along the way, we knew we'd hit the hour and a half needed in swim time. The problem was, John had never swum past the Coast Guard Station.  I could see the trepidation on his face, but he bravely jumped in for a journey into a new kind of wild blue yonder.

We made great progress through Banks Channel, past the Coast Guard station around to the jetty. We only had to stop to get our bearing a couple of times in that first few miles. We noticed a couple of cabbage head jellyfish go swimming by, but weren't alarmed because they don't sting!

We got out at the jetty, walked around it and headed out once again into the water to swim toward Crystal Pier. I was looking forward to the ocean side of the island. It is usually clear enough to see the ripples in the sand on the ocean floor about ten feet down. On this day, we headed out past the breakers and past the surfers and found ourselves in a swarm of cabbage heads!

The water was crystal clear -- only we could see every detail of these jellies instead of focusing on the wild blue sea!  Each time we'd turn to breathe, we'd get slapped in the head by yet another cannonball jellyfish. We swam zig-zags, thinking we were we were on the verge of swimming out of the bloom.  We shouted expletives at the jellies. We laughed at ourselves and encouraged each other to just make it past the pier before retreating to the shore.  It was about a half-mile swim, and we literally saw thousands of jellyfish. 

When we finally returned to the beach at an hour and twenty five minutes, all we could do was shake our heads in amazement that we had actually stayed with it as long as we did.  John hasn't jumped in the open ocean with me since!  I keep with me the thoughts of swimming champion and one-time English Channel record-holder, Trudy Ederle, "the sea creatures are my friends.  I talk to them!" 

Difficult times call for immediate exercise rescue - and an outrageous pair of shoes!  I am completely sold on and live by the philosophy that exercise reduces stress.  Does it also hold true that the more you exercise, the more your body requires exercise in order to reduce the same amount of stress?

Our bodies become quickly adjusted to our fitness levels. If a 10-15 min walk worked to relieve your stress before, does this amount of exercise not work anymore if done daily for this purpose?  I agree that any amount of exercise is good for body and soul.  But, does it work this way: Just as lifting the same amount of weight daily won't make you stronger, neither will doing the same amount of exercise daily reduce the same amount of stress?  One needs to increase in small increments the weight or exercise intensity in order to reap a benefit.  What happens to those of us who have been exercising all our lives - does it require hours upon hours of exercise to reduce the same level of stress as walking 10-15 min used to?  This scenario makes me laugh to ponder!  How absurd to take it to extremes - or is it? 

Last month, Doug and I spent a whole week making a huge adjustment to our schedules.  We have three vehicles and two ended up at the dealership at the same time.  The amount of money needed to make the repairs is enormous and I was at the end of a pay period, so we decided to hold off on the maintenance.

Now, taxiing our children has become a way of life, but things needed to change immediately that week with a lack of vehicles. Plus, we had to coordinate work commutes, grocery visits, Doug's gym workouts and my training swims! 

Our stress was mounting. My boys pitched in by having their friends over (instead of leaving the house themselves). I combated the stress levels by changing my swims: my workouts were more determined, longer and intense.  A huge plus for my attitude.

Doug and I also dealt with our stress by going downtown on a date.  While there, we walked into a funky store where they sell a wild-looking shoe style called Lita.  These shoes look as though you will instantly walk outside to cat-calls and inappropriate offers coupled with a fistful of money.  Doug dared me to try them on.  I didn't care - I had been living with so much stress that I could be talked into anything.  

The surprise is, I loved them!  I really did! The truth is they cost more money than any outfit I've ever purchased (even if you add jewelry, makeup and a haircut!). But, I was willing to save up to buy a pair.  

Do yourself a favor today if you are feeling an enormous amount of stress:  exercise a little longer and harder, have friends over (or your kid's friends : ) and do something you normally would never do - I can laugh stress directly in the face now and feel so much better!  All thanks to my wonderful family and a fun pair of shoes!!