Peanut Project: Update #1 - Spring Break

Welcome to the final day of March in 2021! Where did the last 3 months go?! Feels like we just left 2020, doesn't it!? You don't want to read about the time going, you are here to read about the Peanut Project....let's get to it.

(If you are lost at what the "Peanut Project" is, you can read my last post HERE.)

Mileage Update

This week Jocelynn is on Spring Break at school, so her miles don't count right now.  However, as of our last count she had amassed enough laps to have 17 miles in 8 days!!!  Look at this girl go! And that is with some rain days. We won't get the official count from the school until they are 3 weeks into the program. So, since it is on hiatus for Spring Break my attempt to keep track will have to do. I would say that even if I am a mile under/over it is still AMAZING that my little 9 year old (yes, she is actually little for her age as well as being only 9) to have accomplished. This on top of being a flyer in All-Star cheerleading. I forgot to mention that in my last post. You can see some pictures of her in action doing a back handspring above and a few more below.

Motivational Update

We would like to thank EVERYONE that has sent letters and packages from around the country and the World! You read that right, THE WORLD!!! As of this weekend Jocelynn received a letter from a running coach in Israel thanks to Irit, an Orange Mud Dirt Unit member in New York. She told her friend about Jocelynn and he wanted to send her a letter too.  So, Amir from Israel sent Jocelynn a letter to help motivate her. In his letter he tells her about his group of runners that are now rooting for the Peanut from their part of the world! The other kids were shocked that she got something from another country even. I know that people from Canada, the UK, and Australia have already put something in the post for her.

I do intend on sharing some video of Jocelynn reading from the letters she has received soon so you call can see how excited she is to hear your messages.

To help Jocelynn visualize where she is getting all of the letters, postcards, and packages from mom bought Jocelynn a scratchable map. Each time she gets a letter from somewhere she gets to scratch off the state/province/territory/country that it came from. Obviously some countries are quite small, so it uses the flags to represent those countries. Thanks to Amir, Jocelynn scratched off her 1st flag this past weekend. At this point, she has received letters from 11 states and 1 other country. I know that we are all excited to see how many states and countries she can get scratched off by the time she hits that 100 mile mark!

You can see the lone white flag scratched of Israel, plus the green states.

Additional Secret Project

All I am going to share about this is a teaser that is courtesy of some motivation that was sent by Annika Iltis & Timothy Kane.

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Peanut Project: The Challenge - 100m vs 1,000k

You know those moments in life where you see something that just makes you cry. (I'm a man, I don't cry....but, I've heard from others.)  I had a moment like that this past week. Let me explain the set up, then I will explain the challenge posed to me by my 9 year old, youngest daughter.

My Peanut, Caden, and I post shakeout run. (2021/03/20)

My Peanut (AKA Jocelynn) is the 3rd grade and is now old enough to participate in a program that they have at her elementary school for 3rd-6th graders called the "Century Club".  The objective of the club is to get to 100 miles in the allotted time period.  They have 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after school in order to run each school day starting this past Wednesday March 17th and ending May 18th.  They do have a week off for Spring break in there, so she will get a "rest week". On the surface, this sounds like plenty of time. However, I did the math on it and there is not as much time as it sounds. They have to run 5 of the 1/4 mile laps each time just to complete it on time.  That's 1.25 miles before and 1.25 miles after school every day just to hit mileage.  And this doesn't factor in the chance that they may miss for illness, doctor appointments, or something else. Then they also don't run when it is raining...although I am now told there is a contingency for this. (It is supposed to rain 1-2 days this coming week.) All of this in mind my little Peanut is persevering ahead and is determined to hit the goal. She ran 11 laps the 1st day, 9 laps the 2nd, and 9 laps the 3rd. That puts her 1 lap behind, but she is ready for the challenge....and ready to challenge her dad and others.

Photo of Jocelynn during Century Club
with an inspirational message from a fellow Dirt Unit member.

Last year I participated in the GVRAT or Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. It was described as a 1,000 km run to simulate the distance from the Southwest corner of Tennessee to the Northeast corner of Tennessee. It was brought to us by Lazarus Lake during the beginning of the COVID quarantines as a way to virtually be able to participate in a race as all in person races were being cancelled left and right. The run was actually 1,024 km, but what does that matter?  Well, that extra 24 km does make it that much more of a challenge; and several people didn't finish because they stopped at 1,000 km even after repeated attempts to tell them they still had a little further to go.  When I participated in this I had not been running with any regular sense except I had just finished a team challenge with some awesome Orange Mud Dirt Unit members. (GO OM RATS Team 1!!!!) You have to run an average of ~5.14 miles per day everyday from May 1st to August 31st in order to complete it on time.  That nets you the title of RAT. Then there is a BAT & CAT....and buzzards, the gingerbread man and other terms you "learn" as part of it.  I was on track to finish early as I was running an average of 6+ miles a day until I lost my job in June and had to refocus all capacity to finding a new job. I WILL finish it this year.  If you want to join me you can at https://gvrat.racing/.

2021 GVRAT Race bib design.

Other than the fact that these are both running challenges that we are both taking part in what is this "challenge" that I speak of!?  So, Jocelynn made a deal with me and challenged both her and I to complete our events.  She said that if she gets 100 miles that I have to buy her a new outfit and if I finish my 1,000+ km that she will clean my car for me. Well, as Wayne and Garth put it....

Now comes the "Peanut Project".  I have reached out to some fellow Dirt Unit members and Squirrel's Nut Butter Ambassadors to try to help motivate her after getting a message from my friend Kristina. She wanted to send her a note with some "girl power" inspiration.  I thought to myself, this would be a GREAT IDEA to help keep her going.  So far there have been members from 11+ states (some states representing multiple times) and 3 countries that are going to send her encouraging letters and postcards.  I want to see if she can get something from as many of the United States as possible and as many countries as possible. She already received the first of said letters/packages from my friends Ron and Bobbie. They sent her a great letter, an Orange Mud Insulated water bottle, and an Orange Mud buff.  I will share more about the letters (and packages) that she receives as time goes. I do want to thank my friend Kristina for giving me the idea and all of the others who have sent/will be sending her encouragement from around the globe.

Peanut opening her first package from Ron and Bobbie.

And thanks to Jocelynn I have another project that I am baking in my brain that she inspired.  She will get to take park in that one as well.  The only hint I will give you is "BM". I will reveal more details in due time.

Until next time, keep those beats coming!