They tried to make me go to rehab -

(I said ok, I'll go)

*Physical rehabilitation. So far, my only addictions are endurance-related activities.

On Friday, 5 February 2016, I was told that my running options would be seriously curtailed (read: None) for the next six months. I had two occlusive clots in surface veins in my right leg, and I had to start anticoagulant drugs immediately. 

I was pretty bummed. Thinking about the future made it hard to be unemotional and so I stayed in the present just as much as I could.

After finding a really fantastic vascular surgeon (who helped get me back on track for running), I finally got the first leg treated surgically on Tuesday.

The semi-incapacitated state that I now find myself in reminds me of two things: 

1. We are really lucky to have our health when we do; and,

2. Chocolate no sugar added froyo = 👍

Seriously, though, hearing about the sterling work done by the Central Oregon Veteran's Ranch has been a reminder that healing is always possible, and that healing with grace can be inspirational to others.

Not only does the Ranch provide veterans with a place to be and prosper, it facilitates

graceful healing through community and the opportunity for a graceful end to life as well, with palliative care assistance for veterans.

Check out their website here:

http://www.centraloregonveteransranch.org/

Fundraising link:

https://www.crowdrise.com/pikes-peak-ascent--marathon-central-oregon-veterans-ranch

Please consider donating anything you can!

Warmly,

Natasha de Lange

The California Triple Crown, 2012

Benefitting The University of Southern California's Gould School of Law's OUTlaw Scholarship Endowment.

As the only LGBTQ law student organization at the law school, OUTlaw is also the first student group to establish a scholarship endowment at USC law.  The scholarship will be guaranteed for all three years that the recipient attends USC, unlike scholarships at peer schools, which are often conditional.  
The scholarship aims to further LGBTQ advocacy and to ratify USC law's identity as the most diverse top-20 law school in the United States.

To do this, we need to raise $100,000.  Last year we raised $27,000.  
We are asking you for your help.

This year, I've decided to complete the California Triple Crown.  This requires completing 3 200mile bike rides that are recognized by the California Triple Crown Committee.  I decided to do this in August, and so this left very few calendar-able races.

The first was White Mountain.  Whew.  On September 15th, I rode 200mi through the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest in Northern California, into Nevada, and back to Bishop, CA.  It took just over 13 hours, involved a single 10,000ft climb (and several smaller ones, all at high altitude).  I survived, and my dogs liked the road trip.

The second is this weekend, September 29th, and sure enough, we are heading to Northern California again to complete the Knoxville double century.

The third isn't until October 13th.  This is the Solvang Autumn double, which the organizers were kind enough to point out is, "Significantly more challenging than the Solvang Spring double."  
I'm not sure what this translates to, but it's another 10,000 feet of climbing.  C'est la vie.

What do I need from you?  I want to raise $3000 for the scholarship endowment by completing this challenge.  I made sure to hold off on advertising the fundraising push until I was sure that I could complete a double, and since I did, here is the plea.  Fundraising link is forthcoming.

Comrades marathon 2012

A cynical old man approaches a young girl as she tosses beached starfish back into the ocean. Glancing up and down at the endless starfish upon the beach, his incredulity is evident, "You'll never make a difference for all these starfish."
She smiles wryly and says, "But to that one, I made all the difference."

... And as US Attorney General Robert Kennedy said, “Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

OK, but what does this have to do with you? Let me help. I have chosen to support The Starfish Greatheart Foundation, a nonprofit organization in South Africa, by running Comrades in their honor. The Starfish Greatheart Foundation supports community based organizations that provide direct and timely support for rural communities that exist in the shadow of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. I am asking you for your support in this fundraising effort.

I'm running 90 kilometers from my home town, Pietermaritzburg, to Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I'm asking you to donate what you can afford to help me meet my fundraising goal of R5,000, a little over $600.

The Comrades Marathon is the oldest and largest ultramarathon in the world. Growing up, I volunteered for the aid stations along the route a dozen times. It gives me the chills thinking that I'll be lining up to do it in less than 3 months.

Please, take a moment to donate what you can afford. I'll love you for it, and no donation is too small:

http://tinyurl.com/ComradesMarathon

More information on The Starfish Foundation (from their website):

Sethani, based in a semi-rural tribal community in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, in KwaZulu Natal is an example of a typical Starfish supported CBO. Below briefly details the care that Sethani provides to the orphaned and vulnerable children in the community:

Physical needs: school uniforms, shoes, stationery, food parcels and toiletries. Children receive for example, their uniforms at the Centre where their family circumstances are known and records on each child are kept. Home visits are made and referrals done for grants. Food parcels are delivered directly to the homes of the families and needs are assessed at this time. Other needs such as blankets, clothing, housing repairs, visits to hospitals/clinics and sports gear are also met when the necessary funding/donations are available

Emotional needs: many children are struggling at school, neglected in their homes, hungry and uncared for, misplaced and grieving. A counselor is available to meet with these children and to refer them to the necessary agencies for professional services. The children are encouraged to come to the library, given opportunities to learn computer skills and are taken on fun outings. They also participate in Kidz Club, based at the Sethani Centre where they receive life skills, ministry and play sports. These children are known and recorded on the organisation?s database

Sports: Life skills are delivered around sports events - boys in particular are being kept active and away from getting into trouble through being active. A cricket team has been developed as well as a soccer team and even a „learn to swim? programme

Gardening: Grannies and child-headed households are encouraged to establish their own gardens and seeds are provided to those who need them. A water pipe has also been sponsored to enable some families to access water for their gardens

Peer Education: Sethani has partnered with Gold (Generation of Leaders Discovered) and has great faith in the fact that the future generation of youth will be making more responsible decisions as a result of behavioural change. This peer education programme is specifically designed to create an AIDS-free generation and to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Library/Resource Centre: Funded by the Oaktree Foundation in conjunction with Starfish, the Centre provides the only resource centre/library and computer training in the area.

Ryan Guiboa

AIDS / Lifecycle
http://tinyurl.com/ryanguiboa

From June 5-11, 2011, I'm bicycling in AIDS/LifeCycle. It is a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to make a world of difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. The event this year is sold out with nearly 3,000 riders - each required to raise a minimum of $3,000 to become eligible to participate in the event. All donations I receive will benefit the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and are tax deductible. For additional information about this amazing non-profit, please visit: www.sfaf.org.

This will be my first time back on a bike since my undergrad days on the Stanford triathlon team over five years ago. But if the amazing stories I am hearing from past participants are grounded in any truth, it's the perfect opportunity to start pedaling once again.

In early January, I diverted my student loans from buying textbooks at the USC bookstore and towards Helen's Cycles in Santa Monica, where I purchased a Cannondale bike and numerous accessories to begin the training process. That same day, I rode down PCH on a beautiful sunny afternoon with fellow law students and AIDS/LifeCycle participants Natasha de Lange and Clifford Chang, knowing full well that we would all be back on this same stretch of highway for the final leg of our 7-day journey in 5 months time. Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention the wonderful company of Becky McCullough. She is a cycling extraordinaire at USC Law who biked to campus for the start of classes this academic year . . . from Washington, D.C. Consequently, Becky does not consider a short SF to LA ride in June to be worth her effort. That, and her summer externship is at the same time.

As my training progresses (and good stories unfold), I will do by best to post regular updates. For now, I have had my first painful experience of waking up before 5 a.m. to get in a 50-mile ride before class. During this adventure, I saw my life flash before my eyes as a car swerved into the bike lane I was occupying. I saw Natasha's life flash before my eyes as she rode into cross traffic. Then again, while swerving into oncoming traffic. And yet a third time, as she played chicken with merging traffic. Aside from being a witness to some maniacal riding, and seriously tempted by Clifford, who, being ever so resourceful, suggested that we find a bus to carry us the rest of the way back to downtown, my destroyed legs and I successfully finished. Ride 1 is complete!

Update: So, as with any training regimen, I have encountered a few bumps in the road. In addition to my cycling routine for the AIDS/LifeCycle ride, I have also been cross-training for the LA Marathon. But some over zealous runs have caused a foot/ankle injury. X-rays have come back negative and my doctors are unable to provide an exact diagnosis. Their sagacious advice is to simply rest. Um, thanks!

Update: After three weeks off my training has once again resumed. I have continued to cross-train (swimming, biking, and running) but as the June trek draws closer, I expect to focus on training rides more and more. A recent bike ride with Becky in the Malibu hills proved to be a much needed wake-up call as my legs were completely destroyed by what she considers an "easy" and "short" route. Competitive juices are now flowing since my complaints about the ride not only fell upon unsympathetic ears, but initiated a slew of fighting words. My upcoming finals schedule will limit my free time but I now have a bicycle trainer set up in my room for bouts of procrastination - aka study breaks.

Please help me support the San Francisco AIDS Foundation by donating what you can. Donations of any size ($5, $10, $15, $17.89) really add up! We will keep riding until AIDS and HIV are a thing of the past.

Dr. Kara Harpham-Barlia

San Francisco Marathon
http://tinyurl.com/karabarlia

Dr. Harpham-Barlia makes emergency veterinary medicine look easy. She's also got a huge heart for humans. This July 31st, she will be running the San Francisco Marathon (again) and is training and competing to raise funds for the Nayeli Faith Foundation, a foundation that raises awareness for congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

The first child of my friends Shane and Elizabeth was diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. This is where the diaphragm does not form correctly and the abdominal organs can travel up into the chest cavity and compress the lungs and impact their development. This defect can occur in 1 in 2500 births and it can cause chronic respiratory problems and even death. Thankfully, Nayeli is doing well. Shane and Elizabeth started the Nayeli Faith Foundation to increase awareness of this problem and to help support families faced with this diagnosis. I was asked to join the team running the San Francisco Marathon on July 31. Yep, running a marathon is difficult, but even more difficult is living with chronic respiratory problems or learning that your child has a serious birth defect. No donation is too small and funds go to a local organization.

Natasha de Lange

AIDS / Lifecycle.
http://tinyurl.com/Natashadelange

Living in a country where HIV has been named a chronic disease, rather than a terminal one, BLOWS MY MIND. My mother worked from home as a pediatrician and treated AIDS orphans as a matter of course. The idea that an entire generation will likely be wiped out by something that is treatable - but only by privilege - is beyond unconscionable.

Vineman (for Continuum).

Nike Women's Marathon (for Leukemia and Lymphoma Assn).

NYC Marathon (for Fred's Team).
http://tinyurl.com/3p4lnka

I moved to the US from South Africa in 2003 when my mother survived an operation that lasted 11 hours, which involved partial resection of her left lung, and the installation of a section of plastic aorta.

She survived for 7 years in Northern California. We supported each other through my international relocation, her abdominal tumor, my scholarship applications, her starting an online cancer resource center, my community college, her brain tumor, my three simultaneous jobs, the removal of her left lung, my Berkeley application, her recurrent cancer, my first half marathon, her second type of cancer, my first marathon, her experimental high dose chemotherapy, me realizing that my dream was to become an advocate, and her will to live.

Hari Phatak

AIDS / Lifecycle
http://tinyurl.com/NARAHARIPHATAK

Although HIV & AIDS are manageable conditions for many, cuts in state and federal services and the on-going tragedy that is our national health insurance debate have left many sick people homeless, vulnerable, and without the meds they need to lead productive, happy lives. We're riding for them, and for the services they still so desparately need.
Please help me support and participate in this amazing ride by giving what you can.