First time for Everything - Part Deux

Hello again!

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the second installment of this blog entry, wait no longer...It has arrived and in full technicolour!

So, lets pick up where we left off. My month of many firsts.

3rd First

Certainly the event that reigned supreme this past month way my trip to Vancouver to run my first event with my dad. For those of you whom I have had the pleasure of running with over the years, you will know there is no greater joy for me than sharing a run with someone.  I have logged countless miles with old friends,  new friends and total strangers, but rarely have I had the opportunity to run with family.

My dad is much more likely to dance his way through the streets than jog (click here for proof), but this was not the case last Saturday when we tackled the St. Patrick's Day 5K around Vancouver's picturesque Stanley Park.  We soaked in the late start and enjoyed a relaxing morning drinking our smoothies, planning our attire and pining on our race numbers; then headed down to the event with a good friend of dad's who was also running with us. The race sold out at 1500 entrants and of those, probably 1350 were in costume! 

The sun was shining and the only thing bigger than my smile was my sunglasses. I loved every minute of it. Turns out, not only was this dads first 5K, but mine too. I rarely run this length - because it feels more like a 20 minute sprint. We had a great time and I think dad surprised himself with his pace. We crossed the finish line together (although I should mention that dad's official time was faster than mine) arms raised!

Getting ready for our first 5K

After our run, the three of us enjoyed a wonderful brunch at Sharmaina's house; then the two of them drove me to the ferry...on my way towards another first. 

Don't be fooled by the costumes.This is serious business!

Post race picture

 

4th First 

My final first of this installment was my first double event weekend and in two separate cities at that!  It was also, my first time running the Comox Half Marathon and my first road trip with my training partner, Jani!  I am starting to realize that most days are filled with a first 'something' we just have to choose to look at it this way.  

Pictured below is the terminal at Horseshoe Bay. The ferry to Nanaimo is so spectacular - I fall in love every time I am on it.

Jani met me in Nanaimo and we headed up to Nanoose Bay for a sleep-over with my aunt and uncle. We were were treated to a wonderful dinner, 'Top Secret' dessert and even foamy coffee in the morning. 

We hit the road and arrived in sunny Comox at 9am. Jani had a wonderful race and honestly, barely looked like she broke a sweat.  I on the other hand, had a bit of an 'off' day...Rarely do I struggle to find enjoyment in a half marathon, but Sunday was not my day. I came up with a thousand reasons why (which poor Jani had to listen to on our drive home), but the gist of it is...it just wasn't my day, and in running, the sooner you accept that these days are inevitable (once in a while) the easier this love affair will be. 

The long rural roads that stretched out for miles made the run feel more like a marathon. The minute you find yourself counting down the kilometer markers you know you are in for a long haul and on Sunday I started counting down at the 6K mark...yeah it was a long haul!

Nonetheless, I still finished a respectable 3rd in my age category and Jani beat her goal time!  We were treated to a wonderful feast and to top it off I won a new Timex watch. wootwoot. 

There you have it, a wild month filled with an abundance of firsts! 
Thanks for reading. Happy Trails. :-)

Crossing the finish line...thank Gawd!

Jani and I relaxing at the wrap up

CLICK HERE TO DONATE to LaceUp4 Lupus TODAY!

First time for Everything - Part 1

This seemed like an appropriate title for this entry, since the past two weeks has been filled with lots of firsts for me.

But before we go down this road, I have to take a minute to pass on the most exciting news of all (click here for drum roll please...) 

LaceUp4Lupus has met and exceeded our fundraising goal!

As of today we have raised over $4700. I have been hesitant to post this as I was worried that the support would slow so, I decided to do what any athlete would do when they reach a goal...I set a new one! $5000, here we come.

If you haven't donated yet, now is your chance to help push us over another
big milestone.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW!

My 1st First

Tuesday nights are usually my 'club' runs.  I have been training with the Prairie Inn Harriers for the past two years and have really felt like I have found a club that fits me perfectly. Generally speaking, these guys and gals are NUTZ, which suits me just fine because the more I hang out with them the saner I feel. I have made some great friends here and have felt totally supported on this running/fundraising journey; which is why it came as no surprise that they allowed me to speak about LU4L at their club meeting two weeks ago.

I was pretty nervous about this...I speak in front of groups quite often, but rarely about myself, and certainly never about Lupus. So this was a big step -my 'coming-out' if you will. I put in a lot of hours on my presentation. I wanted it to be engaging, informative and of course needed it to motivate people to donate. Well, I think I accomplished all of the above. My intimate presentation was well received and I managed to walk out of there feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was nervous about flashing up huge pictures of myself with my rash and swollen hands and feet (I don't like to look at these pictures myself) but felt it was necessary to 'show' what the disease looks like and in the end it was all worth it b/c the donations came rollin' in that night.

I am happy to share this presentation with you. If you would like to view it simply follow the link below and press the "Play" button to scroll through each slide.

LaceUp4Lupus Prezi

My 2nd First

Hot on the tails of my presentation night was another first for me. My first full magazine article! Which once again, put me and Lupus right out there for the world to see.  The article was written by a close friend of mine which made it even more meaningful.

My mom and dad are my biggest supporters and have literally stashed away piles of the issue! Reminds me of Jr. High a little, when your sports team got featured in the local paper. Mom and dad would have it cut out and on the fridge in lightning speed. love it. xo

You can read the full article here, or pick up a copy of IMPACT at most local running stores.

I have lots more 'firsts' to cover but wanted to give you a taste of what has been keeping me busy these days. 

Training has been going pretty well...feels a little little like the dog days lately though. I am going to channel Florence and the Machine in the coming weeks and hopefully they pass soon. More on training to come in Part 2.

Pleasant St.

Last week was a high mileage week which I was really happy with, but I would be lying if I said running never feels like a chore. It doesn’t feel like that often, but as soon as my training becomes more prescriptive, I become a little more resistant.  What I love most about running is that for the most part I do it, when I want, where I want and for how long I want.

However, the prescriptive part is somewhat necessary in order to meet a specific goal, like qualifying for Boston. So I embrace it...

This acknowledgment does not imply that sometimes I don't have to trick myself with little mind games just to get out the door!

CASE in POINT

Perfect street crossing on my run home

Wednesdays are scheduled as my easy run days. I have struggled to get this run in consistently. I am conflicted - My body is saying “you just had a workout last night and you’re gonna have another one tomorrow…easy runs can just as easily be replaced by no run!”  My mind on the other hand knows that any run is worthwhile and sometimes the ones on tired legs can often be some of the best for marathon training.  With this Battle Royale going on between my body and mind I compromised and decided to strap on my pack and cruise home. 

I run home pretty regularly - it is a quick little jaunt that gets me from downtown to my doorstep in 22 minutes.  Not this day, as I decided to tuck my watch away and take out my smart phone to capture some of the sights I blindly cruise by so often.

There is beauty in the most ordinary things and sometimes all it takes is a different perspective to appreciate it. I found a new organic café and deli, a rugged graffiti wall and a picture perfect trestle all while being treated to the crisp, sweet smell of dusk. 

I stopped whenever I wanted to look back upon the path I had just traveled. I am still amazed at the distance we can cover by foot. Looking back provided plenty of opportunity for reflection. And as I climbed up over the Gorge Waterway and turned to head home I stopped one last time, took out my camera and was ready to snap a photo of a gorgeous runner heading out for her own adventure when I realized it was one of my dearest running partners, Jani!   What a perfect way to end my run…had I not taken the time to slow down and look back I would have missed her completely. We chatted for a minute, she posed for a picture and then we headed off into the setting sun.

Running will feed your soul for life if you let it.  

FUNDRAISING UPDATE 

TO DATE: $3524.00

WEEKS TO GO: 8

CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR OUR TEAM AND HELP US REACH OUR GOAL

Long may you Run!!

For a song that has such a cool title, the actual song (which can be listed to here) isn't all that inspiring as far as motivational running songs, but it seemed like a fitting title as I take you on a recap of how marathon training (and fundraising) has been progressing as I hit the 7 week mark.

Long run goodies

I have covered over over 350 kilometers, and consumed dozens of Gels, GUs and Stingers along the way - I have been humbled by the generosity of family and friends and am getting to know my running partners better than ever.

If I had to rate my compliance with my training program to date I think I would be around an 8 out of 10.  I certainly have missed some sessions, and have had a couple stinkers in their too, but overall I am happy with how things are progressing. 

I often get asked what a typical training week for a marathon looks like, so I thought I would give you a little snapshot of my program. For the first time in all my years of running I have actually hired a coach to help customize a plan for me, and it looks something like this...

Sunday: Long Run (anywhere between 90mins to 3hrs +)

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: Group work-out (approx 9-10km)

Wednesday: Gym + Easy 30-45min run

Thursday: Hills/Tempo (approx 13-15km)

Friday: Gym

Saturday: Trail Run (approx 8-12km)

Average weekly mileage: 50-65km

The dark days of winter certainly aren't the most inspiring to train in. And on the south end of Vancouver Island wind has been the flavour of this season.  My running partner, Jani and I took on a wild wind storm two weeks ago, where we were literally 'smacked around' for 25km. We had rocks in our eyes, leaves in our hair and were ducking under fallen power lines.  I can honestly say that was a first. Jani was a super trooper and together we managed to keep each other from being blown into traffic.  

Amazingly, I caught some live footage of the storm on my phone which you can watch below (you'll notice we weren't the only ones out running that day!!)

My training highlight to date, without question was my long run last week. Jani, Kat and I ran from Victoria to Sydney for my longest run in 7 years!  After 2 hours and 47 minutes we arrived at the Roost for breakfast and between the three of us has piled on 96km!! It was one of those runs that just felt...GOOD! The odd little nagging knee pain - but overall I was super happy with the result. Eggs Benny followed by an Epsom salt bath were all this chick had planned for the remainder of the day.  Oh...also of note is the purchase of my new compression socks!!  Loved every step in them. :-)

 

On the fundraising front, things have been steadily increasing, along with the size of my 'pack'. Together we have raised over $3000 and are now a team of 8.  I am blown away by their dedication and commitment to their own goals. I will write more about these fabulous ladies soon, but my goal for the coming month is to get out and run with each of them. They all have varying running aspirations...all impressive and all meaningful.

We made it!! Eggs Benny tasted soooo good. 

There you have it...an update in a nutshell. Planning has begun for my main fundraiser, which I think will be an 'urban scavenger' hunt in April, so get your game face on and plan to be there! Entries will be limited, so stay tuned for details.

Long may you run!!

xo

H

If you haven't had a chance to sponsor the LaceUp4Lupus  team yet and would like to do so, please follow this link to our team page and donate today.

Hot to Trot...NOT

I felt that after a couple ‘seriously deep’ posts it was time to lighten it up a bit with an inside peak into some of the dirty little secrets of long distance running!  I have been pondering this post for a while, wondering how much I am comfortable divulging…But in the end this blog is about getting to know me a bit better and the somewhat kooky world I live in.  So here goes.

Distance running is NOT, I repeat is NOT a glamorous sport. Last week I was watching the Australian Open and on numerous occasions I thought to myself…”Self, these are some damn fine lookin’ ladies!”  And I am certain that I have never looked like this or this at any point in time during a run.  How come?!”  I still haven’t arrived at an answer, and I am pretty sure I never will - Just an observation really.

This was reinforced on Sunday as I arrived home from my long run.  My girlfriend, Kat and I headed out for a tough 25km on Sunday morning and as we cruised back to my place I headed to the bathroom for a quick splash of water and caught a fleeting glance of myself in the mirror…OMG…is that what I look like?  DOH…Poor Kat has had to run beside this glowing salt lick for the past two hours.  People must have thought I had lost a bet or something, or that I was on some crazy reality TV show where they punish you with wild physical challenges.  If only they knew...

Now that you have a visual of what I look like at the end of a run (add tangled and matted hair to that glowing salt lick and top it all off with some neon pink sunglasses), lets chat a bit about the prep for a long run because it is a pretty funny thing too.  I always have to laugh when I am ‘gearing’ up for a long run.

-       Gooey sticky gel stuff that I will be consuming periodically – CHECK

-       Electrolyte replacement fluid (because apparently I am loosing all my sodium through my sweat) - CHECK

-       Good layer of ‘Body Glide’ to prevent chaffing in the most uncomfortable of places

     CHECK! This one is worth a double check!!

With all my necessities checked off I am ready to hit the road.  I am so grateful that my dear running partners tolerate my ridiculous style and sweaty self. Thanks girls!  Can't wait for our 3 hour adventure this weekend.

Happy trails to all!

I recently saw a hilarious Youtube video that summarized this all perfectly...

 

"First you feel like dying. 

Then you feel reborn." 

Asics

FUNDRAISING UPDATE:

LU4L is the top fundraising team in the country!

Raised over $2500 to date

'Pack' is 8 members strong...and growing

CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR THE TEAM TODAY

Goals aren't measured in miles

This might sounds like an odd thing to say coming from someone who is gearing up for a big goal, one that is indeed measured in miles (42 to be exact), so let me explain...Often when I talk to people about my plan to get back to marathon distance they immediately shy away from sharing their own goals, feeling that because their distance isn't as great their goal by extension isn't as great.  What I have come to learn is that no matter how long the race, what matters most is that it matters to you!

Goals coming in all shapes and sizes (from 150km ultra marathons through Death Valley to local 5km races).  I was asked last week who inspires me to run - who inspires me to run in the rain, wind and snow? Through the dark days of winter when all I want to do is stay in my warm bed wrapped in puppy love. I was caught off guard that I didn't instantly pop off some amazing world record holder, or famous Canadian hero (and we all know we have plenty...think Terry Fox or Rick Hansen. Nope, what inspires me hands down is the simple, amazing accomplishments that everyday people do everyday.  

Let me give you an example. 

My dad has just started running - At 64 years of age and after admitting to me it has been close to 50 years since the last time he 'pounded the pavement'.  We chatted a bit about this over the holidays and got him all set up with a great beginners clinic that will ensure he makes it to his goal injury free. His goal is a St. Patrick's Day 5km, which I wouldn't miss for the world. There are so many things about this that inspire me.

Hanging with dad in sunny Victoria

1) At a point in time when most people are just content doing what they've always done, dad has decided to take on something new and challenging.

2) Not only is he taking part in the clinic, he now informs me he is actually leading his group most nights!

3) One of my fondest memories of starting to run is remembering a time when every long run was my longest. Watching and hearing my dad experience this, selfishly reminds me of what it felt like to meet a goal every single week.

On Sunday we got to share our first run together. There are few things I love more than time spent with those closest to me on a run. It was early and wet...but there we were, sharing in the quiet pounding of pavement underfoot. I have warned him..."Be careful dad. This running thing has the ability to grab hold of you and never let go!"

I can't say it enough, no matter what your goal, be proud that you are doing something that matters to you. You never know who's inspiration your may be, so hold your head high friends!

P.S. Speaking of goals, this past week our Laceup4Lupus team reached 30% of our fundraising goal. If you would like to sponsor us just follow the link below.

DONATE NOW 

And....Action!

I had an email from a close friend the other day that caught me totally off guard. The title of the email was simply..."Inspirational Runner Story". I found a couple minutes in my busy afternoon to open what I thought was gonna be one of those amazing stories or videos of people who have committed their lived to do amazing things.  What I found instead was a short note asking simply if I would be interested in being featured in a Running Magazing for the LaceUp4Lupus project!

  

The string of emails back and forth went something like this...

Me: "Are you sure you meant to send this email to me, friend?"

Friend: "Ah yeah...pretty sure."

Me: "But, I haven't done anything yet...Aren't these stories usually reserved for folks who have already raised millions of dollars or pushed their disabled child across the finish line of Iron Man or something along those lines?"

Friend: "This is a great opportunity to showcase what you are about to do! I have faith in you that you will do something great."

Me: ...speechless

 

So, we headed off into the snow drifts for a quick photo shoot!  It is somewhat unnerving having someone point a giant 'mother' of a lens right at you, but in the end it was all fun and all for a good cause. Running in the snow (even just for show) is one of my most favourite things!  I feel like a kid who can't wipe the smile of their face (see proof above!)

I am hopeful the article will come out in the Spring and will give the Project a good boost!