Friday, August 9, 2013

Recommitment Day

Today is recommitment day for Team in Training - the day where participants decide if they are going to turn over their credit card number and agree to personally contribute the remainder of their fundraising dollars or if they are going to bow out and not complete their planned event. It's a tough decision. No one likes to be a quitter. Yet, agreeing to fork over a couple of grand if you can't meet your fundraising minimum is sort of a big deal.

I was fortunate enough to not have to make this tough decision when I participated with TNT in the past.  Since I was doing a local event, my fundraising minimum was much lower and I was able to reach my fundraising goal before recommitment day with no problem.

This time things are a little different.  After asking everyone I know to support my fundraising efforts for TNT and LLS I have raised $820 of the $3200 I am required to raise, leaving $2380.  In order to come up with the rest I'm going to have to hold about a zillion bake sales or pay the balance myself. Honestly, my intent was just to pay the rest myself, but that was back when I was thinking that I was going to be able to raise about the same amount as I did the first time (which was $2450).  Stupidly, I never really stopped to think about where a lot of those past donations came from (an incredibly generous ex-boyfriend and his incredibly generous friends and family) and to realize that a majority of those individuals are no longer in my life.

The amount I'd have to make up is a bit out of my budget and I just don't have the time or energy to hold a ton of bake sales and car washes.  If I had connected with the team, or even someone else participating in TNT, maybe I would feel differently, but the whole experience has been a huge disappointment from the very start for me. So, I've decided not to recommit and I won't be running the Nike Women's Marathon come October.  I do feel awful about quitting, but the money I've raised will help The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society whether I run a race or not.  And I have raised a grand total of $3270 over the years, which is a great accomplishment.

Even though I am opting not to recommit to TNT and run an event with them, I do plan on continuing to run!  As soon as I regroup a little, I am going to start searching for a spring race to sign up for and begin training.  So stay tuned!