Tag: #loveyourfuture

Feeding Others Fed My Soul

August 30, 2016

I had the opportunity today to do something I have never done before.  I volunteered at a soup kitchen in Hartford.  Why did I do this?  Because the company I work for, Slalom, gives back to the community.  They are very involved with community events such as mentoring high school students to help them prepare for college applications, to stuffing back packs for kids in the city, and helping feed those in need.

I was looking forward to this experience.  Mostly because it was something I never did before and I wanted to make a difference.  My children, husband and I have volunteered at the North Haven Animal Shelter in the past and gave to our local food bank, but I never interfaced one on one to hand someone a warm meal.  It was such a gratifying feeling to do this.

We served 111 people today and I made sure to make eye contact and smile with every person that I served.  Everyone smiled back and always said thank you for their meal, drink and dessert.  It was really hot in the church basement; but those who were there did not complain and they even told the social worker who runs the soup kitchen that the folks at Slalom who volunteered were so friendly and quick in getting the meals out to each person.

As we were assisting with numbering meal tickets for upcoming days, and wrapping utensils, I was thinking to myself that I can’t wait to share the experience with my family tonight.  Since my daughter has softball practice we may not sit down to a full-fledged meal tonight; but I do want to be sure we sit down and talk and I want them to know how my heart was filled by helping others.

I also want to sit down and appreciate the food that we will be eating because there are people in our own town who do not have enough food.  We say it to our kids all the time, but I got to see it firsthand today.  I am grateful for the food in my fridge, the clothes in my closet and the roof over my head; but am I really grateful?  We need to open our eyes to see that not everyone may have it easy.

Rosa from the church told us that there is a great need for men’s clothing so I am going to ask you if you have men’s clothing that you can donate, please reach out to me. You can call or text me at 203-605-4652 or email me at pamela.frost@comcast.net and I would love to arrange to pick up the items to bring to them.  All seasons, and all sizes are welcome of MEN’s clothing especially.

I am blessed and I needed to be there to see that today.

 

CFA Society Hartford Corporate 5K #loveyourfuture

August 7, 2016

I had the opportunity to run my first race as a member of the Slalom running team this past Thursday. I was excited to be a part of this team. Although I am on several running teams for runDisney and Team Chocolate Milk; this team is important to me because it is part of my new work life.

The race took place at Bushnell Park in Hartford and ran along Capitol Avenue and around the park. It was a very warm night and to be honest I wanted to try to race this race. I hadn’t raced a 5K in several years. You would think that with all the running I do, a 5K would be a piece of cake. But to be honest, I am not conditioned for a 5K. I used to be able to run a sub 30-minute 5K but now that I am training for the Marine Corps Marathon and the Dopey Challenge, while using the heart rate training method, my pace is not a sub 30-minute 5K pace.

I tried to push myself since it was a race and I wanted to see how I could do during a race, but it was an extremely hot night.  Even though it wasn’t as humid as past races I did during the HMF River Front Scrambles (blog posts to come for those races), it was still 84 degrees with sun.  I ignored my intervals in the first loop around the park; but then had to begin my 30/30 intervals because I was afraid I would run out of gas too quickly.

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I finished around the 35 minute mark. I stopped for a runner who was having a seizure on the side of the road and asked the girl with him if she needed help; but since I am not a nurse I wasn’t going to be of much assistance to them so I moved along hoping that medical attention was going to show up quickly.  It’s so scary to see things like this happen at races of any distance.  It was a young man who was down, too.  I was feeling the heat of the race.  I couldn’t push myself any harder than I was or else I would have gotten sick.  I had to realize that I am not fast 5K trained right now.  5K races for me are just for fun.  My real important races are my half and full marathons and I will continue to train for them appropriately so that I can finish them in the time frames that I know I can safely handle and will be happy with.

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Maybe one day I will go back to running fast 5K’s; but I think I like the challenge of the longer distances and my multi-day races like the Dopey challenge.  It took me many years to build up for those challenges and succeed at them so I have to be happy with that.

I stayed to watch our General Manager, Jim Goldschlager and the rest of the team finish the race and then we all went back to the office.  My family drove up to meet me after the race and check out my new office.  The kids were very impressed with how different it looked compared to what they remember at Honeywell.  Of course, it is different because it is Slalom.  Everyone on the team had pizza, salad, beer, wine and played some Shuffleboard.  Tim and Mohnish taught us how to play and it was a really fun night!

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I’m very glad to be part of a company that embraces family and also glad to be part of a team that participates in many activities together.  Looking forward to many more races and activities at part of Team Slalom!

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