Skate4Water: Just Roll With It

2 minute read

It started with the idea to do a relaxed and leisurely adventure with a friend. In-line skating 119-miles across across the Florida Keys from Key Largo to Key West crossing 44 total islands over the span of four days. 31-miles or an ultramarathon a day. New setbacks arise during every endurance challenge, and this one takes the cake — or (key lime) pie.

If you followed the Skate4Water on social media, you would have seen that Day 3 of the four day journey ended with a visit to the ER. The combination of skating fast and being abruptly greeted by a stretch of rocks did not bode well, leaving my knee and wrist in a sad, twisted state. The x-rays showed that no bones were broken, and the journey continued another 31-miles on Day 4 to reach the end, with a “pain as tolerated approach”.

Continuing the journey was hard. If there is one thing harder than finishing a 119-mile skate with a bum knee and sore wrist? NOT doing it. 

My fear of regret is stronger than my fear of facing challenges. While quitting would have been the more reasonable and sensible option, it would have undoubtedly filled me with a sense of regret. Giving up on your goals is tough when you consider the alternative.

🤔 plagued with lingering thoughts of “what if’s” and “if only’s”,

📖 a feeling that a chapter in your life got deleted that belonged, or

💔 a gnawing in your heart + emptiness in your soul from having an unrealized dream.

My hope to you is this: let your fear of regret be greater than your fear of failure.

Every day, we are writing the stories of our life. Wishing you good stories to share, even better memories to keep, and strong wrists and knees to take you on all life’s adventures.

FUNDRAISING UPDATE

We did NOT meet our fundraising goal for the Skate4Water across the Florida Keys with the goal of ensuring access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education for 500 people in Haiti on behalf of H2O for Life. We SURPASSED it!💦

Because of this, we’ve been able to fund one more clean water project in need of funding in Sierra Leone, the Kankalay Islamic School, meaning that another 1,800 students will have clean water and hand-washing stations at their school.

Thank you for empowering the next generation to grow stronger than ever. Supporters like you help make it all possible. Special shout out to Shutterbugs4Charity for your generous contribution to surpass the fundraising target. Learn more about all the water projects we’ve funded at katiespotz.com/impact.

Adventure Grant for H2O

1 minute read

Cycling, running, rowing, swimming, skating, even some yoga and barre. Thousands of miles have been taken by my body on land, river, or sea, mostly solo but never alone. Every journey has been a real team effort. 

The potential for impact is real when combining adventure and endurance challenges for clean water with 41,531 people helped across 13 countries and 93 projects. I’ve asked others to support my dreams and ambitions, and now I’d like to support you on yours!

We're looking for adventure athletes seeking to use their passion as a platform for good. Does this sound like you?

Bold, creative, quirky and passionate world-changers are asked to apply. Nothing is crazy when it comes to raising money for clean water. You are invited to apply for up to $500 in funding to offset project costs for embarking on your own adventure in 2022.

The fact that 1 out of 11 of our fellow human beings would suffer without access to clean water is crazy! But, we can change that. Grant winners are expected to create your own campaign by choosing a fundraising activity, setting up a simple campaign page, and spreading the word. Then, 100% of the funds you raise will support global water projects your campaign helped fund on behalf of H2O for Life.

Submissions due by March 1, 2022 and winner(s) announced on World Water Day on March 22, 2022.

Running Everyday for a Month: Lessons Learned

2 minute read

The #31for31 challenge began exactly one month ago today. 31 athletes committed to run 3.1 miles every day or any day in the month of March in honor of World Water Day, and in effort to raise funds for a clean water project in Ethiopia. I am sharing with you some lessons learned after finishing the month long challenge!

1. The hardest part happens in your head. Really, thinking about it. The best runs I have ever gone on are free of thought and full of awareness. Thinking about things can be hard, sometimes doing them is not as hard as anticipated. 

2. Sharing your goals can help you. There are studies about how important it is to share your goals, other findings about it mattering with whom you share your goals, and then even more research about the power of not sharing goals at all because it gives you a premature, motivation-diminishing praise. Everyone is different, and sharing the goal seemed to help me stay accountable. 

3. You might think taking days off running would give renewed energy, but it made it easier to adjust having it as a daily practice. Running every day makes it easier to….run every day. Doing it every day rather than taking an off day or running every other day, made it easier to run.

4. They say it takes 21 days to create a habit (or 66 depending on who you ask!), and I found it to be true with the #31for31 challenge. How do I know it has become a habit? When the desire to run feels like an urge stronger than the desire not to, it has become the new norm.

5.  Running outside in Maine during the month of March? Not ideal! Having a treadmill as a backup option helped on those days when outside running was especially cold, wet, or both. 

6. Progress matters more than perfection. Setting goals is accepting the risk that you may fail at reaching the goal. However, setting a goal propels you further than you would with no goal at all. I say, sign me up for failure when the other option is a failure to try.

7. Running can serve a much greater purpose than….running in loops around your neighborhood. The month may be over but the impact lives on. As a result of the 31 athletes participating and oh-so-generous donors, more than $2,900 has been raised for a clean water project in Ethiopia. 

Thank you to everyone who joined the #31for31 challenge. A shout-out 📢 goes to one very generous donor who matched every single dollar raised by our runners ($961!) and then one more individual who rose to the matching challenge with another large donation (of $620!). Big thanks also goes to Lock Laces for donating no-tie shoe laces for all our 31 runners.  You are the hope, the light, and the change our world needs!

👟 Special thanks to Newton Running for saving the day! I also learned during this challenge that I desperately needed new running shoes especially after running across Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire in 2020. The Newton Running team made sure my feet were happy during the challenge with some new shoes to cover the miles! 👟