That 30 Before 30 Thing

Since I turned, uh, 31 yesterday, I figured it was probably about time to address that "30 Before 30" goal list that I had. 

I started this when I turned 27 on January 27, 2012, and the point was to finish the list by my 30th birthday on January 27, 2015. That obviously didn't quite happen. Some of it was logistics, some of it was lack of prioritizing, some of it was goals changing over the years.

Final tally: 
Completed by age 30: 9
Completed after age 30: 1
Plan to complete soon-ish: 5
Plan to complete eventually: 9
Probably not going to happen: 6

1. Ride Amtrak across the country.

Still something I'd like to do. At this point, perhaps something to hold off on until we have kids and they're old enough to enjoy it. (Could make for a fairly cost efficient family trip!) 

We did do a train ride through Alaska, though, on our honeymoon. I really enjoy trains (of any kind - subways, light rail (MAX in Portland), travel). Especially when built into a city's infrastructure, they just seem like such an efficient mode of transportation. I just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. 

2. Build a computer.

The idea here was to volunteer in one of Free Geek's programs. Still something I'd like to do eventually, but I'm not sure when/how to make it a priority to make it happen. 

3. Drive a stick shift.

Nope, and I haven't had a need to, either. Are there any cars other than big trucks, SUVs, or sports cars that even are stick shift? 

4. Take a flying lesson.

This is something I still really really want to do. Someday. 

5. Shoot a gun.

I still do want to do this, though it's less of a strong desire than it used to be. 

6. Build a ship in a bottle.

I bought a kit for this, and it's been in progress for a couple years. I'll prioritize this after busy season!

7. Run a marathon. 

Done - twice! 10/6/2013 and 10/4/2015

8. Go to an opera. 

5/17/2012 And many more since then, since my husband does a lot of music stuff as a hobby, and my sister-in-law, her boyfriend, and a close family friend of theirs are professional musicians.

9. Perform in a play or concert.

Have not done yet, but will do very soon! Earlier this month I joined a community choir, and I'll have concerts coming up in March and May.

10. Do 50 consecutive push-ups.

Well, I haven't tried lately, but based on what I've done during NROLFW workouts recently, I think I could get to 15, maybe 20 before maxing out. I only have three weeks of NROLFW left, though, so I could prioritize this as my next strength, focus on it for the subsequent month or so. 

11. Make pad see ew that’s as good as Thai Basil’s.

I've, in large part, given up cooking since moving in with Abe. Why do my own mediocre cooking when he does it so well, huh? He makes a pretty good pad see ew. I don't know if it's quite to the standard of Thai Basil, though. (Thai Basil = a restaurant near my work 

12. Change the oil in my car myself.

No, but I did (with the help of my dad) change a flat tire recently, does that count?

13. Visit a country outside of North America.

No, things like getting married and supporting a student-spouse took up a large chunk of my disposal income. Like the Amtrak, perhaps something to do later on with kids.

14. Do NaBloPoMo. 

November 2013 and November 2014. In 2013 I think I was using the "official" NaBloPoMo prompts; in November 2014 mostly just using my own post ideas and trying to get something up every day.

15. Eat raw for a week.

Eh, not something that terribly appeals to me at this point.

16. Spend 24 hours in silence.

Though I think this would be an interesting experience, not something at the top of my list right now.

17. Take a fencing class. 

11/2/2013

18. Donate hair. 

11/23/2013

19. Swim 1,000 yards.

Sort of - I think I meant 1,000 yards straight without stopping, which I'm fairly sure I haven't actually done. I've definitely done more than that total in a workout (I've hit 2,000 yards at least once, and more than 1,500 most of the time now), but I think I've only done 600, or maybe 800, without stopping. Something to work on doing this year.

20. Go rock climbing.

I'm not sure if I meant for real, outdoors, or just on an indoor wall. I have done this on a wall! I'm going to go ahead and count that. It was even before I turned 30! (August 2014) On our honeymoon we did an Alaskan cruise, and one of the on-ship activities was a climbing wall. 

21. Run a 5k in under 30 minutes.

Not before I turned 30, but I have done this, in September 2015! (Race recap)

22. Bowl a game over 200.

Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen.

23. Watch all of the Best Picture winners.

I've watched 43 out of 87. Uh, I got almost halfway, so yay? I'd like to keep this list going and eventually complete it.

24. Read all of the Booker prize winners.

I've read 6 out of 47. Let's not bother figuring out what percentage that is. I also would like to keep this list going, but it'll take a while to complete at the rate I've been reading. 

25. Ride in a hot air balloon.

Not done, even though I did a 5k race at a balloon festival. 

26. Go whale watching.

Sadly no. Not sure where the best place to do this would be that reasonably accessible - maybe a trip to the San Juan Islands is in order?

27. Go spelunking.

Also no, and not sure where/how this would happen exactly. 

28. Get a non-earlobe piercing. 

2/12/2012

29. Donate blood. 

5/24/2013 After the fact, I found out that that first blood donation couldn't be used, due to recent travel in Mexico, but I donated a few times after that one-year travel ban lifted. I then, unfortunately got out of the habit; was going to re-start and then found some mixed information about whether it's prudent to do so while trying to conceive. It's definitely a no no while pregnant, so that might put it off longer, but if not pregnant we'll be taking a break for a few months, so I will be sure to prioritize it again. 

30. Get a manicure and pedicure. 

7/26/14 Kinda worth doing the one time, definitely not something I'm interested in doing again. I have no patience for spending time doing routine beauty maintenance for something like that to keep it looking nice, same reason I never dye my hair. 

Marathon Monday

Congratulations to everyone who finished the Portland Marathon this weekend!

On Saturday Abe and I volunteered at the expo for the Portland Marathon - after running it last year, it was important to us to give back and help make it happen this year. We ended up being assigned as "ambassadors", directing people where to go and being available to answer questions (though most answers were "Go over to the Solutions Table"). 

I was stationed at the front of the first room of the expo where runners came in to pick up their bibs, directing people to look up their bib number on a printed list if needed, then head to the back of the room for pick up. Our volunteer shift was 3 - 7 on Saturday, so the very end of the expo. Most of the handful of people I knew doing the race had already gone, but I did see my friend Beth come through (she was planning on running the half, but ended up not running due to some minor injuries sustained during soccer earlier in the weekend). 

The marathon itself was on Sunday; though I didn't go to spectate I looked forward to checking the results online for people I know. My friend Karey (who set a 39-minute PR in her second marathon!) ended up meeting and chatting with Kristina (who finished her first marathon!) for a while during it! 

Being at the expo and hearing about new accomplishments totally got me excited for doing another full marathon someday. Planning out my race plans for the next twelve months is a bit difficult - a year from now, if all goes well, we plan to be pregnant, so I'm having a bit of FOMO, wanting to fit in as much as possible next summer before having to take a break from intense training and goals. I'd really like to do the Portland Marathon again, but it's just a tad too late in the season for our ideal due date (have to work maternity leave around tax season). It's probably unreasonable to fit in a full marathon, Olympic triathlon, and 200-mile bike ride in one summer, huh? I know I'll still be able to get back to these things after the baby phase is done, but I want to do them now!!!

But - one reasonable goal I really do want to accomplish before getting pregnant is to get my half marathon time down to 2:30. To do that, I need to get back to running halfs! There was a table within eye sight from my volunteering post at the expo for the Seattle Marathon, which includes a half option. It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving (eight weeks away, perfect amount of training time!), and we're already going to be in Tacoma for the holiday earlier in the week, so I'm about 95% sure that this will be my next goal.

Wedding Week

I tried to keep my wedding plans - the actual event, and the planning and lead-up to it - as laid back as possible. I was adamant that there was no need to take any time off work beforehand; I wouldn't take vacation days to prepare for hosting a mere dinner party or game night, would I? That was my bar for many wedding-related things, to make sure things didn't spiral out of control into bridezilladom - how does this compare to how I host a typical event? A wedding is on a much larger scale, of course, even for a small-ish wedding like ours with 90 attendees, which requires some adjustments, but overall, we wanted it to just be an extra-special game night like we always have - in other words, to be consistent with us. 

Now that the event is over, I still maintain that that was a reasonable sentiment (especially as I already have Fridays off from work during the summer, so I had two full days to prepare for the Sunday afternoon wedding) - however, the things I packed into the preceding week made it feel pretty hectic!

The Wednesday before was my first Toastmasters speech. This required some preparation and practice the preceding weekend, as well as meeting up with a friend Monday evening to practice. Wednesday night was dinner with Abe's family, including his uncle who was visiting for the wedding.

Thursday afternoon I had a massage (ok, a pretty typical pre-wedding event), followed that evening by something Abe and I have been talking about doing for months, maybe almost a year - a wine painting class! This is one of those studios where they instruct the class, step-by-step, on a particular painting, while you drink wine or beer. (Note: I somehow got the impression - although now I don't see this actually indicated on the website - that at least one beverage was included in the price of the class; it's not. The drinks are an additional charge. About the same price as you'd pay at a bar, but made the class fee feel like a bit less of a value. The class fee does include all the painting supplies, just not drinks.)

I really don't consider myself talented in this artistic genre, but they make it quite easy to follow along and create a painting that does indeed resemble the image it's based on. For "Broadway Stroll", we first made light outlines, where the black lines end up, then painted each section a solid color. Details were then added in layers, including the detail that I found most ingenious - each time we used a different color, as you reached the end of the paint on your brush, you swiped it lightly across the sidewalk to get the reflections! Seems totally obvious, but nothing I would have thought of and that's why I'm not a painter!

Friday was my chance to fit in most of my usual weekend training - two Hood to Coast runs, a medium-distance bike ride, and a swim.

Saturday included another standard pre-wedding activity - manicures and pedicures with my mom and sister. This actually the first time I've ever done either at a salon! And, pathetic though it might be, crosses something off my 30 Before 30 list! Purple on my toes to match my wedding dress, and a neutral shellac polish on my fingernails. 

I am certainly impressed with how well the shellac stands up! Two weeks later, it was still not chipped, even after clipping my nails. Not so impressed once I did some research and realized I had to basically soak my fingers in pure acetone to get it off. Fortunately, by this past weekend it had weakened up enough to peel it off, leaving only minor scratch marks on my nails (covered up in the meantime with a light glittery polish, since I'm not a fan of bright colors on my fingers, just on my toes).

My family also helped with some last minute prep on Saturday, such as cutting and ironing table runners. We had a "non-rehearsal dinner" with our immediate families, but no rehearsal as the wedding party was just us and our officiant.

Although I had been planning on doing a 5k together the morning of our wedding, I didn't feel ready to PR, nor had I gotten a chance to put together "bride" and "groom" t-shirts or anything in time, so we decided it wasn't really worth paying money just to workout. Instead, we did our currently-typical Sunday morning long bike ride, followed by a quick run for a brick workout. The  couple that trains for triathlons together, stays together, right?

Our wedding was on a Sunday afternoon - here's a peek at our photos! I'm totally impressed at how a professional photographer can make even candids look so pretty. :) We worked with Stephanie Kaloi (found via Offbeat Bride), who I would totally recommend! Affordable, great balance of friendly and professional, and timely in providing deliverables.

Photo by Stephanie Kaloi

Donating Hair to CWHL

After looking into the various organizations that take hair donations, I picked Children with Hair Loss (CWHL). CWHL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that started in 2000 to provide hair replacements at no cost to children who have lost hair due to any medical condition (such cancer, alopecia, and burns). 

1. Grow out hair. My hair started just a little longer than the length I cut it to, and it took about two years (with a couple short trims along the way) to grow out enough to donate and have chin-length hair left. Avoiding hair dye or other chemical processes is preferred by CWHL, and required by some organizations.

2. Go to any hair salon to get your hair cut. Although salons sometimes partner with organizations to provide free or discounted hair cuts for people donating, you can go where you'd like, just read up on the requirements so you can give proper instructions to your hair stylist.

3. Have your stylist start the hair cut by putting your hair into multiple ponytails or braids, placing the rubber bands (my stylist recommended these instead of the hair ties I had brought, so they would stay in place better) just below where you want the cut to be. Using multiple ponytails will maximum the hair available to donate and what's left. Cut a little above the rubber band so it will stay in place. Then continue your hair cut as usual. Be sure to give a good tip to your stylist for the extra step!

4. Making sure the ponytails are completely dry (my stylist waited until after cutting off the ponytails to wet my hair for the real cut), put in a ziploc bag. Mail with the CWHL donation form and, if possible, a monetary donation.

5. Enjoy your new hair style!

I highly recommend donating hair at least once in your life! It's really a super easy way to give to those in need.

Acronym Mashup: NaBloPoMo + WIAW

NaBloPoMo prompt: Name five things inside your refrigerator right now and how you feel about them.

1. Hi-Ball natural energy drinks: This is my morning caffeine source. When I'm trying to be "good" about my diet (for economic, environmental, and health reasons) I drink tea, and when I'm not trying at all I drink pop. But this is the middle ground that I usually do instead of either extreme. Typically this is combined with a Luna bar for breakfast, but today there was a firm meeting first thing in the morning with refreshments, so I had a half a donut and half a bagel, saving the Luna bar for a snack later on in the day.

2. Homemade pad see ew: One of my absolute current favorite foods for the past few years has been Oswego Noodles - a slight variation on pad see ew at a Thai restaurant near my work. Following the firm meeting, my tax team had lunch there today. One of my 30 Before 30 goals is to make a homemade version that's just as good. These leftovers are from the latest attempt by Abe and me on Sunday. Still not there yet, but it was a good dish.

3. Celery: This is a hit-or-miss food for me. At the moment it doesn't sound good, but I've gotten a head of celery in my past two produce boxes and need to use it up. Abe wanted to add it to the pad see ew, but I refused - it would have changed the whole flavor of the dish - for the worst, in my opinion.

4. Carrots: I actually had some with my pizza for dinner tonight! After a long day (stayed late at work to prepare for a presentation I have tomorrow), I really wanted a comfort food, and normally I'm all about giving into those sorts of desires. But, I know I need to work on making more veggies a habit, so adding them as a side dish is a step in the right direction.

5. Bonne Maman jam: I don't know how it's so much better than any other kind, but this brand of jam/preserves is ridiculously good. Planning on some on toast, along with a cuties orange, for a snack before I got to bed.

Fencing

As I started making plans for the remaining items on my 30 Before 30 list, and this happened:

a couple friends let me know that there was a Living Social deal (referral link) currently available for PDX Fencing. Perfect! There are three types of fencing - foil, epee, and saber, which differ in the type of weapon and the portion of the body that is the target. PDX Fencing teaches saber fencing, for which you can use both the tip of the blade and the side of the blade for valid touches, and the target area is the torso, arms, and head.

The deal is for half off the normal price of a month of Saturday beginner classes. Personally, I would have preferred the option to just buy a single class for $15 or something, but this was the nearest fencing studio to me, and with the Living Social deal it wasn't outrageously expensive even if I don't end up going again during the month.

Abe and I went to our first class on Saturday. There was one other guy, Ruben, who was also a first timer, so the three of us worked with one of the coaches, Ned, while some other not-as-beginners did some actual fencing/sparring. (There seemed to be a disproportionate number of lefties in attendance - Ruben and two people in the other group. It made it a bit weird to go back and forth practicing with Abe or Ned versus with Ruben.)

We started by borrowing some basic equipment (the club lets you borrow for the first month) - jacket, gloves, helmet, and saber. The jacket is interesting - it has an adjustable strap that goes under the crotch so you step through that first, then pull on the arms, and it zips in the front side. I noticed that the people that were sparring had wires coming from their jackets (or under their jackets?) that connect to a scoring machine and track touches from their opponent's saber.

The first thing we practiced was how to move; you keep your right foot forward, and your left food back and turned out. You keep your weight in the back foot (even while lunging forward to attack, which was an awkward movement to me). You roll your right foot heel-to-toe as you move forward, and sort of slide it to move backward. 

Next was how to hit and be hit on the helmet. Obviously the helmet prevents you from actually being hurt, but I nonetheless flinched pretty much every time.

Then we learned the three primary parry positions. Third parry is with your hand in by your waist and the blade up, to protect against a hit to your right shoulder. Fourth is with your hand across your waist and the blade up, to protect against a hit to your left shoulder. Fifth is with your hand up to your forehead to protect against a hit to your helmet.

We also talked a little about right of way and priority, which determines which person was the the "attacker" and gets the point if both people get a touch. All I really retained from that discussions is that it's complex.

We did some drills with each of the parries isolated - e.g.: step, step, opponent goes for right shoulder, move hand into third parry to stop, hit opponent on helmet; reset, repeat. It was actually more challenging than I expected - it's kind of like dance choreography, coordinating stepping, lunging forward, stepping back, etc. 

Then we did some fencing (sparring? free form? I don't know what the technical term for it is, but we were just doing whatever, trying to both attack and prevent attack from our opponent). It was pretty difficult once we just supposed to fence. I didn't really know how to attack, much less think quickly enough to see where my opponent was aiming and block it. 

Obviously, from this class I only learned the most basic of the basics of fencing! It was fun, but difficult - it takes a lot of coordination and quick thinking. It kind of feels like chess in a way - I can see that there must be complex, intellectual strategies for winning, but I have no ideas what those strategies are (learning how to play chess is on the draft of my 40 Before 40 list...). But at the same time it's physical - you get pretty sweaty under the jacket and helmet, plus both Abe and I had really tight left calf muscles from it the next day. I don't foresee this being a new hobby to develop myself, but I'd probably encourage future children to give it a try.

Portland Marathon: My First 26.2!

The good: I now know that my Garmin's battery life lasts for at least 6.5 hours of continuous use.

The bad: I missed my time goal by an hour.

The ugly: I have some ridiculous sports bra chafing on my rib cage.

But I'm a marathon finisher!

Corral E about 6:00 am.

My parents were in town for the weekend to support me through my first marathon, and even graciously got up early to drive Abe and me into downtown to be there by 6:00 am.

I got up at 4:30, ate leftover breadsticks from the Olive Garden, a spoonful of peanut butter, and a HiBall for breakfast. We headed out around 5:30, dropped off Abe in Corral D, and then me in Corral E. The official instructions said to be in place by 6:00, but the street didn't really fill up until closer to 6:30.

Waiting to start

Miles 1 - 5: 12:43, 12:14, 12:17, 11:48 (what!), 13:32

(Mile 1 includes about 15 seconds stopped for a Max train to cross. Mile 5 includes about 90 seconds stopped at a porta potty. So these miles are really between 12:00 - 12:30 of running.)

I felt good as we started. The effort that I thought was appropriate was a touch faster pace than I expected. I saw Jessica spectating around mile 4.

Miles 6 - 10: 12:20, 12:20, 12:28, 12:18, 12:14

Still going strong! Saw Abe on an out-and-back when I was about mile 8 and he was about mile 10 - watching for him on the other side of the street kept me distracted for a good mile. Then I saw my friend Karey and her dad when I was about mile 10 and they were about mile 8. I also saw the managing partner of my firm, walking the half marathon with his wife. Although he should have seen which bib I was wearing (the full and half had different colors), when we talked on Monday he asked if I had run the half or full - seeming to assume I ran the half. Guess I don't seem like a marathoner!

Miles 11 - 13: 12:16, 13:56, 12:29

(Mile 12 includes about two minutes stopped at a porta potty - still keeping up a 12:00 - 12:30 pace of actual running.)

Crossed the 13.1 mark at 2:43 - over 5 minutes faster than my current half marathon PR! Although that gives me a great deal of confidence for my next half marathon, that probably wasn't a great thing in terms of pacing myself for this race.

Miles 14 - 16: 13:04, 13:12, 13:24

Started to slow down a little. I realized around this point that the volunteers were gladly refilling people's water bottles, and my handheld - which I'd been planning to use just while eating Shot Bloks, and take cups at the aid stations to stay hydrated - was getting empty, so I started getting it refilled, which was great as the temperature started increasing.

Miles 17 - 21: 15:36, 14:18, 15:03, 18:09, 18:16

So... yeah... obviously slowing down a bit! Mile 17 includes the second of the two real hills, the approach to the St. Johns Bridge. I shuffled up it a bit, but mostly walked, as many people were starting to by that point. Around mile 19 I saw Jessica again, and then ran into my friend Windy on the course. She had started in the corral after me, passed me at some point, and then I guess I had passed her on the bridge. We chatted for a minute before I got a second wind and picked up the pace for a bit - seeing Jessica and Windy definitely gave me a little boost! Windy passed me a little later when I stopped for a porta potty, and she ended up finishing in just over 6 hours!

Almost done

Miles 22 - 26: 22:39, 18:57, 20:06, 19:18, 18:25

At this point, it was all I could to keep moving forward. My feet hurt so much! (No blisters or anything, just from the pounding.) I tried running for short spurts, but after a while just stopped caring.

Abe (having finished in 3:50! For his first marathon!) met me on the course around mile 25, and kept me company until I entered the finishing chute for the last quarter mile or so. I kept thinking, ok I'll run the last mile. Then stopped to walked, ok I'll run the last half mile. Then stopped to walk again.

Mile 26.2: 5:55 time for 0.35 per my Garmin - 17:14 pace

Saw my parents and Abe as I entered the finishing chute. Finally knew I had to run when I crossed the half marathon 13 mile mark - only a tenth of a mile left. I shuffled across the finish line, and it was done!

The finish line

At the finish line you get a medal, finisher's t-shirt, space blanket (though really didn't need it in the 70 degree afternoon), a rose, tree seedling, coin and pendant that are miniatures of the medal, and a ton of food and drinks. 

Nothing really sounded good right after. I took a cup of Ultima, which I hadn't tried before, and it was kind of gross. I tried some string cheese - normally a favorite, but also wasn't good in the moment. Finally a plain bagel tasted pretty good, plus a doughnut. 

I slowly made my way out to meet up with my parents. My mom guided me over to the curb so I could sit down, and I promptly started crying. I knew the tears were on the edge of starting since about mile 20. I was so glad to be done.

Two marathon finishers!

I had given my parents a protein drink and coconut water to have for me at the end. I took some sips of the protein drink; the coconut water, though not really that sweet, was too sweet after six hours of eating Shot Bloks.

I was very impressed with the organization of the race. The start was well done, with the corrals merging towards the start line one at a time. There are 19 aid stations, so about every 1.5 miles. They seemed to be further apart near the end... oh wait, that's just cause I was taking so long in between! Even though the bands were more likely to be on a break, or a few even were packing up as I passed near the end, there were still volunteers out and some degree of crowd support even though it was so many hours into the event.

Best spectator signs that I recall:
Run random adult
Mortuary ahead - look alive
Inspirational statement
I ran once [drawing of Grumpy Cat] It was awful

Marathon Finishers

Where Should I Donate My Hair?

My hair length varies, as I tend to only cut it 2 or 3 times a year, but mostly it goes between a chin-length bob and just above my shoulders. A couple years ago, though, I decided to grow it out (1) just for fun, since I feel like I'm approaching the age where super long hair makes you look older than you are, and (2) to donate to an organization that provides wigs to sick children. I'm planning to chop it off sometime soon after the marathon.

The organization I'd often heard of, for many years, that does that is Locks of Love. There were occasional negative reviews of them, though, and I have to admit that the larger and more well-known a nonprofit is, the more suspicious I am that they might not be the most efficient stewards of resources. More recently I started hearing about Beautiful Lengths as another option for donating hair - but they're a program run by Pantene, which makes me very uncertain about their charitable intentions.

After some searching, it looks like the following five organizations are options for donating hair. I've summarized some information based on the charitable-ness of the organization and the requirements for donating hair. This information is from each respective organization's website, Charity Navigator, and the organizations' Forms 990 available via GuideStar. It is accurate to the best of my knowledge as of September 2013.

Locks of Love

Charitable status: 501(c)(3)
Charity Navigator rating: 57.03 out of 70
Highest paid employee: $62,183 - general manager. All other officers and board members listed are unpaid.

Charitable beneficiaries: Children under 21, with hair loss from any medical condition
Cost of beneficiaries: Free or sliding scale, depending on family's need

Length required to donate: 10 inches
Can you donate:
Gray hair - Yes, but it will be sold to cover expenses, not included in a child's wig
Chemically processed hair - Yes, except for bleached hair
Layered hair - Yes, if some pieces are shorter than the minimum they will be sold to cover expenses

Other notes: 
In their FAQ, they answer the question "Is my hair donation tax deductible?" with "Please check with your tax preparer." While that is normally a suitable answer for any tax-related question, in this case it's stupid, because the correct answer is that DONATING YOUR HAIR IS NEVER TAX DEDUCTIBLE. 

If you have costs incurred only because you donated your hair, those might be (like postage to mail it, and the hair tie that will be sent to them holding your ponytail) (but please, check with your tax preparer), but you don't have any basis in your hair, so it's not going to be tax deductible. The costs related to donating your hair that aren't being incurred solely because of the donation (hair care products, hair cut) are almost certainly personal expenses that are not deductible.

However, they do provide a lot of information on their website about the donation program. Most of the negative reviews I've seen of the organization appear to be due to people not reading information that was readily available.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths

Charitable status: Beautiful Lengths is a partnership between Pantene (a for-profit company), and the American Cancer Society (ACS) which is a 501(c)(3)
Charity Navigator rating (of ACS): 46.75 out of 70
Highest paid employee (of ACS): $831,855 - CEO. 11 other officers/directors are also paid more than $300,000.

Charitable beneficiaries: Women with cancer
Cost to beneficiaries: Unclear. It appears that Pantene invests money in making wigs out of donations, and then donates the wigs to ACS, which then distributes the wigs to those in need. It implies that the ACS wig bank provides them for free, but I couldn't find information to confirm this.

Length required to donate: 8 inches
Can you donate:
Gray hair - No more than 5% gray
Chemically processed hair - No
Layered hair - No, the shortest layers should meet the minimum length

Other notes:
I think their "pony up" campaign is obnoxious.

Although I don't think the 6-figure salaries for the ACS's officers are completely outrageous (they are responsible for running a very large organization, after all), they're a bit higher than I'm quite comfortable donating to.

Wigs for Kids

Charitable status: 501(c)(3)
Charity Navigator rating: n/a - not rated because less than $1 million in revenue
Highest paid employee: $29,077 - executive director. All other officers and board members listed are unpaid.

Charitable beneficiaries: Children age 18 or younger, with hair loss from any medical condition
Cost to beneficiaries: Free

Length required to donate: 12 inches
Can you donate:
Gray hair - Yes
Chemically processed hair - No
Layered hair - Unclear, appears that all pieces must meet minimum length

Children with Hair Loss

Charitable status: 501(c)(3)
Charity Navigator rating: n/a - not rated because less than $1 million in revenue
Highest paid employee: $36,400 - chairman. All other officers and board members listed are unpaid.

Charitable beneficiaries: Children under 21, with hair loss from any medical condition
Cost to beneficiaries: Free

Length required to donate: 8 inches
Can you donate:
Gray hair - Yes
Chemically processed hair - Yes, if in good condition, but not preferred
Layered hair - Unclear, appears that all pieces must meet minimum length

Childhood Leukemia Foundation

Charitable status: 501(c)(3)
Charity Navigator rating: 20.25 out of 70 (eek!)
Highest paid employee: $154,111 - executive director. All other officers and board members listed are unpaid.

Charitable beneficiaries: Children with cancer
Cost to beneficiaries: Unclear

Length required to donate: 10 inches
Can you donate:
Gray hair - Unclear, not addressed
Chemically processed hair - No
Layered hair - Unclear, appears that all pieces must meet minimum length

Other notes:
There isn't very much information available on the organization's website about the hair donation program, how the hair is used, who benefits from it, etc. Granted, this is just a small part of what the organization does (unlike the others who specialize in it), but the single web page about it was just very underwhelming.

In this case I think the low-6-figures salary is fairly reasonable for the primary officer in charge of a large organization.

My choice

I've ruled out Beautiful Lengths because of its for-profit association and annoying marketing campaign, and the Childhood Leukemia Foundation because of its low charity rating and lack of information. My hair isn't long enough for Wigs for Kids 12-inch requirement (I have about 10 inches to cut off and still have my chin-length bob left).

That leaves Locks of Love and Children with Hair Loss, and I'm leaning towards the latter, mostly just based on gut feeling and that it's a smaller organization. 

Update: I ended up donating to CWHL. See post about it here. 

Do you have experience with any of these organizations? Who would you recommend donating to?

How to Taper

This was probably actually a bad idea, as far as marathon preparation goes... but just did a training run that beat my current 5k PR by 2:38 (50 seconds faster per mile)! I really didn't feel like even going on a run tonight; finally decided to do a short, fast run and get it over with. My plan was to do 2.5 miles at a 11:00-ish pace, but after doing the first quarter mile or so by effort and then looking at my pace - I couldn't help by see how far I could keep it up! Only need to shave another 31 seconds off this pace to meet my 30 before 30 goal of a sub-30 5k.

There was a point about a mile in when I heard two guys running on the trail behind me. Usually other runners pass me pretty quickly. Granted, they appeared to be putting in much less effort at a pace just a touch faster than me, but it actually took them a few minutes to catch up and overtake me - a nice change from the usual!

Planning to Take Action

I'm much more of a planner than a doer. Even as a kid, I would plan out elaborate things (like annual Christmas pageants for my stuffed animals), but only occasionally follow through and make an event or project happen. Several years ago I made a "101 things in 1,001 days" list, and only completed about 15 of the items. Maybe it's laziness, but I prefer to just think about how I'm such an awesome planner that that's where I should focus my energy (ok, not really, but I do think I'm good at planning!).

I recently realized that I'm over halfway through the three years for my 30 before 30 list (which I came up with on my 27th birthday; I'm now just three months away from turning 29), and I've only completed 2 1/2 items (the 1/2 is because I did go through the entire process to donate blood, but the Red Cross determined after the fact that my travel within the past twelve months made me ineligible at the time). So I need to make a game plan. 

To do this fall (before next tax season)

• Take a flying lesson. I just reached out to a couple people (a family friend who is an air traffic controller, and a random person on a message board who happened to mention in a thread that she's working on her private pilots license) to figure out what I need to do to make this happen, what certifications a school or instructor should have for it to be safe, etc.
• Shoot a gun. I have a friend who knows how to shoot guns; just need to get in touch with her to arrange a get together. If that somehow falls through, I also have a coworker who competes in shooting (gun and archery) competitions, who I think would also be willing to meet with me for an hour or two at a gun range.
• Build a ship in a bottle. I bought a kit months ago to do this; I think I'll pull it out this weekend to start.
• Run a marathon. This will happen in just over two weeks!
• Take a fencing class. Started some preliminary googling to find places that offer classes.
• Donate hair. I believe my hair is plenty long enough now, but am waiting until after the marathon, since the style I'll be cutting it to (a chin-length bob) will be difficult to pull back out of my face while running.
• Donate blood. Will do this after December 1 when my 12-month deferral (from traveling to an area with malaria risk) is over.

To do next summer

• Ride Amtrak. I'm not exactly sure what I meant by "across the country" - I think I meant at least to the midwest. This might be feasible to work into Abe's plans for next summer's road trip, which is a lot longer than I want to be on a road trip. Could drive out to Wisconsin (where he attended college) with him, and then take Amtrak back to Oregon, perhaps?
• Build a computer. I think I could convince Abe to volunteer with me at Free Geek.
• Perform in something. Summer's definitely the best season for this timewise (the least hours/pressure at work).
• Make good pad see ew. 
• Change the oil in my car myself. 
• Do 50 push-ups. Trying to work more strength training into my workouts already since the peak of marathon training is over, but I think it'll take several months of focus on arms to work up to this.
• Do NaBloPoMo.
• Eat raw for a week.
• Spend 24 hours in silence.
• Swim 1,000 yards. After the marathon I plan to join a gym with a pool and start training to do triathlons next summer.
• Run a 5k in under 30 minutes. Plan on changing my focus to speed after the marathon, but again, I think it'll be several months of work to actually achieve this.
• Bowl a game over 200.
• Ride in a hot air balloon.
• Go whale watching, go spelunking, go rock climbing. I think these will need to be part of next summer's adventure/travel plans.
• Get a manicure and pedicure. Flip flop season is close to its end; might as well put this off until summer so it'll get the most appreciation.

To do next fall

• Drive a stick shift. Mostly putting this off because it should actually be fairly easy to do. If I can't find a friend with a stick shift, it's worth paying $30 or whatever to rent a car that's a manual sometime while my dad's in town to (re)teach me how to drive it.
• Visit a country outside of North America.
• Watch all of the Best Picture winners, and read all of the Booker prize winners. I am working through both of these, but probably won't complete it until close to my 30th birthday.