As it turns out, as the year went on, I discovered I was in the wrong company.  I did advance in my job, and began to see that the “quirks” I’d seen in my company as a technical contributor were a bit tougher to take in my new role as a spokesperson in the company.  It’s one thing to be in a role where you think the company’s doing things differently than you’d do them; it’s another thing to be one of the folks whose job it is to do those things.  I ended up deciding to leave.

You may notice that someone commented on that post.  That someone turns out to be my new CEO.  We both think we know each other reasonably well, having worked together before.  He knows that I’m a good great addition to his company, and I know that he runs a great company, one that I’m proud to be associated with.  As I interact with some of the people he’s brought into his new company, I’m even more impressed.

John’s comment was that he wasn’t sure if I would actually want to start a company, that I should examine my reasons.   I’ll admit that those reasons have always been of the sort “when I start my company, I’ll do it differently than..”.    I think companies should behave in certain ways, and do certain things…

Behave in certain ways… do certain things… nebulous words worthy of much more than I’m willing to go into here this evening.  Worthy of more explanation for my own sake.  All I’ll say is that the story I keep telling folks about what attracted me to this company is that in my first meeting with the team, before I was interviewing with them, I got into a discussion of business as a ministry opportunity and what that would look like.  That I could have that conversation with that group of people highly impresses me and convinces me I’m in the right place.  If I’m in the right place, though, I need to consider whether the “one [I] might consider” is my destiny.  At the moment, at least, it’s the place I’m delighted to get the opportunity to help grow, and to grow with.

On the fundraising front: things are picking up! I sent out quite a few fundraising letters to friends, family, and business friends, either through mail or through LinkedIn. Over the last few days, I’ve had 4 contributions, bringing the total tally in for BOMF so far to $790.93. Still a ways away from $2500, and a LARGE ways away from my personal goal of $5K, but definitely going in the right direction. See the links to BOMF on the right-hand side of the page if you’d like to help make that fundraising total go further.

I’m still 2nd in the list of fundraisers. There’s one woman in front of me, and 8 men listed behind us. I find that interesting… It looks like most of the dollars raised for the Marine Corp are through ‘Team Accenture’. Accenture is a global management company, large size, and makes a point of impacting the community. So, it doesn’t surprise me that they’d have a team. What I wonder, though, is what the makeup of the top 10 fundraiser list suggests: are 1/10 of the folks on their team women? Is that woman outstanding at fundraising, or are the set of individual men less motivated? Curious… wonder if I’ll meet these folks at the race or at BOMF events. (Note that I’m assuming, based on the total $s raised by Team Accenture, that the other 9 folks on the list are all Accenture team members. That may not in fact be true.)  If you’re interested in the list of fundraisers for BOMF’s Marine Corp Marathon team, see the BOMF Active fundraising site.

Have run Sunday and Tuesday so far this week, and am intending to run tomorrow. Nursing sore leg muscles today, due to an pushing too much weight in squats on Tuesday. I did manage to run 3 miles after the squats, but had to do so slowly and convince my legs they still knew how to run. Hopefully the day of rest today will let me recover enough to push out 5 or so tomorrow. Hopefully, anyway.

Leadership challenge #1:  [can't talk it about it here until the fullness of time has passed].  Will update later, but is causing me to stretch and weigh commitments to team members versus commitment to company, and determine whether I’m serving my office well.  If I’m not, I need to figure that out quickly.

Leadership challenge #2:  a new company policy came out that is unexpected.  There’s no argument that it’s within the company’s rights to establish such a policy.  There’s some debate in my mind as to whether it’s in the company’s best interests overall.  It’s distinctly not in the employees’ favor, which makes my leadership job a bit more interesting, particularly since I get the copy of the policy at the same time as everyone else and have no more insight into its reasoning or intended application.

Just jotting these down to remind myself of interesting items and dilemnas.  When / if it’s appropriate, I may fill in details for my few readers and figure out how I did versus should have handled these things.

Off to work to see what the day holds!  And reminding myself that there are no surprises to the One who’s allowed me to step into this role.  May my service be useful.

Left the note for my hubby on the table indicating when I left (no one’s up on Saturday when I go) and when I thought I’d be back. 18 mile runs take a very long time for me. Headed to the trail.

Long story short, this was an agonizingly long run. At one point, I even had to stop and sit down - like I said, an agonizing run. However, I did every last mile. No bailing, though I did consider it a few times from about mile 13 on… Was weighing how long it’d take my hubby to get there, after getting kids in the car, and how just miserable I’d feel sitting there waiting for him. So, I always managed to push myself just one more interval. Some of them I ended up walking all of, some of them parts of… at the end, I was promising myself beers if I’d finish an interval completely (5 minutes run, 1 minute walk).

When I got home and went to shower, I discovered chafing in more areas than I’ve EVER had. My sports top left its marks, as did the waistband of my shorts, and the seam on my inner thigh. I did use BodyGlide before hand, but apparently either not enough, or it was just plain hot and sticky enough out that nothing was helping. I’ll pay for that for a few more days, but it should be all healed up before next week’s 20 MILER!

I’m not sure what I’ll do for next weekend: 18 on our tough schedule, or some increment beyond 12. The additional fly in the ointment is I may have to travel on Saturday to visit family, so would need to fit in my long run on the treadmills at work after my meeting on Friday afternoon. The treadmills at work are better than the treadmill at home, but still - a bit mind-numbing.

I’m still well away from my overall goal, but making progress. With each Pampered Chef order, I’m sending along a thank you note along with an invitation to contribute directly. I’ll also be sending out direct fundraising letters in the mail this week. I’ll ALSO be sending follow-up emails to folks who I’ve sent emails to before and not gotten a response. Persistence in fundraising is key!

By the way, if you’re similarly interested in doing a Pampered Chef fundraiser, contact me to get the contact info for my PC consultant. She was great!

This past Friday night, I hosted a Pampered Chef party as a fundraiser for BOMF. The final orders are still rolling in, but we’ve already topped 1K in sales. Given Pampered Chef’s generous donation program, that’s more than a $150 boost to the fundraising coffers. If you’re similarly fundraising for something, or if you just have a hankering to host a PC party, contact me privately to get Kim’s info. She was a great consultant (and separately, is a great friend of mine).

This week I need to buckle down and get ALL of my runs in through both the week and the weekend. I’ve been shorting myself in the week, and I paid for it this weekend. Next weekend is a 16 miler, and I won’t have my friend Mindy around to kick my tail down the last few miles. So I need to make sure I’ve given myself every advantage: run my weekly miles, get more PowerAde powder for my water bottle, and probably get more sleep, as well.

I’m also about to kick into phase 2 of fundraising, in which I pepper all of my friends and acquaintances with letters in the mail letting them know what I’m up to and offering them the chance to contribute. I’ve let my family know that for my upcoming birthday, contributions to BOMF would be well appreciated. Wish me luck!

In running news, tomorrow is a 12 miler. I’m light on mileage this week: after the Terrapin Adventures outing, I was a bit sore and bruised in a few tender spots. Expecting to have to bear down tomorrow. The runs I did do this week included hills, though, so tomorrow’s jaunt shouldn’t be as much of a surprise as last weekend.

I did get a chance to hear a great interview today on WYPR by Dan Rodricks.  He interviewed some of the folks involved in BOMF Baltimore, from the program director to a program participant.  Inspiring session: good way to get the scoop directly.  Check it out via the link on Rodrick’s site.

A few notes I jotted down listening to the session:

• 40 members participate in Baltimore from homeless shelters.
• More than 120 folks show up to run with the “resident” members of BOMF.  They’re at these shelters at 5:30 in the morning!
• 5 members recently completed the Baltimore 10-Miler.
• Kudos to Helping Up Mission, specifically mentioned as doing a great job with the Next Steps program

I did see a great addition to the BOMF site: they’ve specifically broken out what it takes to support a BOMF participant for a year.  They’ve done a great thing, broken it out line by line, and also shown where they get in-kind donations (for shoes, shirts, etc) and where they need cash.  Check it out: very useful info!  That tells me my $5K goal will support 2.75 runners.  As in, your contribution to my $5K goal will support 2.75 runners.