When I was in elementary school, I had a long phase of obsession with Michelle Kwan. Around the height of her career, I even had a replica of her signature Japanese necklace (which of course came included in her authorized autobiography from Scholastic book order!) and spent countless hours daydreaming about when I would eventually be a world famous figure skater like her.
Obviously that went well. I very quickly learned that the only athletic skill I even remotely possess is the ability to (usually) not trip over myself as I rather slowly put one foot in front of the other. Also known to me as "running." And with my lack of athletic prowess, my dreams of Olympic fame have slowly faded into a resignation that I will never be recognized for the champion that I am.
Until now!!
Last month Becky was put in contact with the editor at Chicago Athlete magazine, a local sports paper that does a spotlight on local athletes in each edition. Unbelievably, they were interested in hearing more about our running background and our reasons for running the marathon. So we did a nice little interview with me on Skype to Becky, who was then on speaker phone with the editor. Technology is marvelous. And now the interview has been printed in the August/September edition of the magazine! So while this may not be a gold medal in figure skating, it's about as close as I could ever dream to athletic fame. And it's always incredible to be able to talk about our motivations for running and how amazing Special Olympics is. So check it out and share it around! There's an online link, and the print edition is available in most local sports stores (like Fleet Feet, Dick Pond, etc). If you aren't in the Chicago area but would like a print edition, just let one of us know; Becky would be happy to raid the running stores for extra copies. And as always, we are so grateful for your support!
http://issuu.com/klambo44/docs/caaugsept2015/24
Oh, and training is still happening as well. I hurt my foot a while ago but am back on track, and Becky is just kicking butt with her training (see previous post about how she's way better at this than me). So on we go, with just over two months til marathon time!
Finally, a fun fact: my childhood hero, Michelle Kwan? She is now an active advocate working with Special Olympics!! And she as well as thousands of other athletes from around the world have been at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles this week. It's just about the most inspiring sporting event ever. If you're struggling with your faith in humanity, please please check out what's happening there! Start from here, and there's lots of links to pictures, articles, and other media that will make you feel so much better about the world! Be prepared for tears of inspiration. https://twitter.com/LA2015
As always, here's the link to our fundraising page so that you don't have to comb through aaaallll the blog posts we've done to find it. Or you know, the two we've done. This is going approximately as well as last time we tried this. Shockingly.
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/slowmilesarebetterthannomiles/
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