Shipping Off

Monday morning was my shot at redemption. I set my alarm for 5:10, knowing that the sun would be showing itself right at 5:50. After hitting snooze twice and slowly flowing into consciousness I finally gathered my wits at 5:20 realizing that I was in a race against the sun.

Day Of Rest

Of our five scheduled days in Arizona, Sunday was the one day that we had not arranged to do any volunteering - primarily because I think everyone, including the PTF, was using Sunday to catch their breath.  You might remember a brief post from me Sunday morning, explaining an attempt to catch the sunrise. Well I missed out on the sun, but found a pretty good alternative.

Race Day: Pat's Run

We got up around 4am and were moving a little slow, but still made our way down to SDS (the stadium) by about 4:45.  We arrived in Lot 59 to see volunteers already hard at work, putting the finishing touches on the Finish Line Expo. Also, in a humbling moment, I watched as security swept the parking lot, with over a dozen dogs sniffing every car in sight. Shortly after arriving, we met up with Judy (race committee) who put us to work, helping prep the VIP tent. We set tables, stocked refreshments, and because Judy was trying to diversify my course offerings to include HomeEc, she had myself and Taylor arrange pastry platters.

Checking In

Race Day was incredible, and I'll have a full day's update a little bit later - right now, I'm heading to the mountain next to ASU to try to catch the sunrise!

Pat's Run Eve

Wow, what a day. I just got back a few minutes ago from picking up the final member of my student group, Taylor, from the airport in Phoenix. After suffering an injury during soccer practice last week, we weren't sure if she was going to make it out here, but we were able to make it work, and now our team is complete. After an awesome day of meeting new people, hearing great stories, and making the final preps before the big race, we've got plenty to bring her up to speed on - and I guess I've got quite a few updates for you as well...

Time Travelers

I'm sure that at some point we've all wished that there were extra hours in a day.  Well today, our group traveled back in time, gaining an extra three hours, and I can assure you that it was exhausting, but worth it.  We left Norfolk, VA at 5:15am EST, and after catching a connecting flight in Charlotte, we landed in Phoenix shortly after the East Coast hit noon...but in our new time zone, the day was just getting started at 9:10am.

Coming Full Circle

In 2004 Patrick Daniel Tillman was killed by friendly fire in the mountains of Afghanistan while serving his country as an Army Ranger. Due to his previous profession as an NFL linebacker, the media blew it up as a big story, and the government loved it, considering they had reported that he died in action, at the hands of foreign enemies. Over time, the truth would come out, the public interest would fade, and Pat Tillman became "that football player who died in Iraq," to most people, and that was about it.  Well first of all, he didn't die in Iraq, and secondly, he was much more than a football player - a truth that I look forward to learning more about as I head out to the Pat Tillman Foundation in Arizona today.