I have been walking every day and continuing to eat better than I did when I was involved in racing. I'm told I have lost over 100 pounds. I couldn't tell you for sure as I don't own a scale and did not want to weigh myself when I started down this path. It was about feeling better physically and mentally, not how many pounds I lost.
I could write a whole blog post, but nobody would probably care about that. This is a racing blog after all. So why this post? I want to put my walking to good use and raise some money. AIDS effects all of us in one way or another, and I want to attempt to raise money for the cause.
I Have Officially Signed Up For AIDS Walk
I just signed up for AIDS Walk. I do enough walking every day that I feel like putting it to good and positive use for others. There are other events I am looking at, but I'm starting with this. It's a little over 6 miles, and I pretty much do that every day anyway.
Too many people have died because of this disease. We are making strides, but we have a long way to go. I signed up for the ambitious Star Walker program, which means I hope to raise $1,000. I don't know that I will get that, but I'll try. I like the term "star walker" even though I've never considered myself a star.
We've lost so many lives to AIDS and yet people are living longer now because of funds that have been raised for research. Yes, people are making a difference, and I want to be one of the people who makes a difference. It was on my sister's birthday of all days that Freddie Mercury died of AIDS. I miss Freddie and the music and just the smile he always brought to my face as one of the greatest singers of all time.
I dedicate my first AIDS walk to my sister Jackie and also to a young lady who continues to inspire me, Gwen Araujo. If anybody is interested in supporting my effort, my fund rasing page can be found here and you can donate onine:
http://aidswalksanfrancisco2008.kintera.org/remembergwen
This is the text the website gives us for spam e-mails, and I find it relevent enough to put here:
I am writing to let you know that I have registered for AIDS Walk San Francisco and am very excited about the event. This is a very important issue to me so I have set an ambitious fundraising goal. I want to do as much as I can to make a difference in the lives of men, women, and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Even though there has been a lot of publicity about drug treatments which are prolonging some people's lives, they don't work for everyone and there is still no cure in sight. Moreover, young people are still getting infected at alarmingly high rates.
I want your help. Will you please sponsor me for the AIDS Walk? Just click on the website address below to enter my personalized web page and charge your donation. Thank you, in advance, for supporting this important cause and for showing that you join me in wanting to end this epidemic.
http://aidswalksanfrancisco2008.kintera.org/remembergwen
