A PR and a pink bat

Why can't every day be Mother's Day? It was an incredible day, again indicative of my Marathon Season.

In the morning, I set a PR for time and pace in the New York Junior League Mother's Day Race, a 4M event at Central Park to help erase domestic violence. My time was 36:54 and my pace was 9:13. In my previous 4M race with New York Road Runners, it was 43:05/10:46. So that's a huge drop, and I will be in the 8 Minute Pace group soon. The first mile included a sprint up Cat Hill, our long and gradual incline near the Metropolitan Museum of Art on East Drive, and that caught up with me in the third mile when I had to break a couple of times to walk a short distance. Soon I also will be able to do these with no walking at all, save for the fuel station. I am getting there. Friends have told me I am definitely getting faster, and the results are very noticeable after having just celebrated my five-month anniversary as a non-smoker on May 1. I still need more work on the core and to lose more weight...it's all coming together. Next weekend, I will run my ninth NYRR qualifier of 2007, meaning on that day I will officially become a guaranteed entry in the 2008 ING New York City Marathon. And keeping my fingers crossed that in early June I will find out that I made it out of the lottery for this year's even on Nov. 4. I'm planning on it.

Pinkbats

The rest of the day was all about the pink bat as we at Major League Baseball try to help the Susan G. Komen for the Cure with a goal of raising $1 million in funding. My story is here on the MLB.com homepage now, and I hope you will please read it. Part of that target funding will come from our MLB.com Auction listing of many of those game-used pink bats that millions of fans are seeing all over the place today. If you want one guaranteed instead of bidding (lots of people are asking!), you can just order here and $10 of the sale goes to Komen. But it's not just about raising money. It's about raising awareness. It's about harshly reminding people that the number of new diagnoses of breast cancer in U.S. women this year is an estimated 178,480, and the number of women who will die of the disease this year is over 40,460. There is no known cure and we don't know how to prevent it. The Komen foundation is recognizing its 25th anniversary of founder Nancy Brinker's initiative to try to keep her promise to her late sister Suzy, a victim of breast cancer. That is way too many years already. But it was taboo to mention "breast cancer" when Komen began. The five-year survival rate is WAY up to 98 percent. Still, it is all about eradicating breast cancer. And cancer as a whole. We are trying to do something about it -- people inside the game and all the fans. Being aware of it, talking about it, all has the positive effect of more action and more women who will be screened earlier.

And in between the race and the pink bats work, I called my Mom back home in Evansville, Indiana, and told her that I ran the race for her this morning and what purpose it served. It was fun to do something meaningful, however small it may seem. That is one thing I love about running. You always seem to be helping someone, even if your only real wish is to just go out and run and sweat and improve yourself. It's an awesome way to make a difference in life. I also wanted to pass on what I read on the leaflet I received in my race packet, provided by the NYC Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence, which had a booth at the event:

Know Your Rights

1. I have the right to be treated with respect.
2. I have the right to make mistakes.
3. I have the right to express my feelings.
4. I have the right to say NO.
5. I have the right to protest unfair treatment or criticism.
6. I have the right to change my mind.
7. I have the right to be free of fear.
8. I have the right to decide whether or not to have sex.
9. I have the right to a life free of violence.

Ping me if you know of anyone who is having those rights violated. That leaflet had a lot more info on it.

OK, next up: the Healthy Kidney 10K on May 19 at Central Park, benefiting the National Kidney Foundation. And a pass directly to the NYC Marathon! One cool thing about that race: I get to be in the same field as "Buster" -- Craig Mottram, the Australian running sensation and early Olympic favorite. I'll report here after that one, and will drop some fresh pics as Brightroom.com was shooting the Mother's Day 4M event. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!