- Being able to run when so many others can't.
- The many caring and generous family, friends and colleagues who have offered financial and emotional support over the past 9 weeks.
- My fabulous husband who offers daily love and encouragement, and ensures that I am always properly fed and watered.
- Beautiful recreational pathways and trails on which to run.
- The unseasonably cool, damp weather which has made marathon training during an Ottawa summer so much easier than I expected.
- New TNT friends and colleagues who share my passion for running and for wanting to make a difference.
- Kirsi and Jon for inspiring me to take on this challenge.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Gratitude
My long run today was a bit tough so I had to work harder than usual at feeling good about it. Half way through, when I was starting to feel sorry for myself, I decided I'd better make a list of the things I was grateful for instead of dwelling on the things that hurt. Here's what I came up with (in no particular order):
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Running Lessons
On my long run last Sunday, I got thinking about all the things running has taught me.
Hard work, determination, and a positive attitude can take you a long way.
I may not have the natural talent and grace of a gazelle, but with practice, good coaching and a positive attitude, I've learned techniques and developed abilities that help me cover the ground more quickly and feel good doing it.
Small problems can become big ones if you don’t deal with them when you should.
I’m constantly amazed at how much trouble a tiny pebble in my shoe or laces that are too tight can cause. If – out of stubbornness or stupidity – I don’t stop to fix the problem quickly enough, I invariably end up with more serious pain or injury somewhere else in my body as it tries to compensate for the changes in my gait.
You’re stronger than you know.
Even after I’d been running for more than a year, I really believed 5km was as far as I’d ever run. Certainly, I never thought I'd be running full and half marathons but, six years later, here I am preparing for my 4th full marathon in Chicago. On days when I feel really strong, I even daydream about running an ultramarathon one day! So it turns out I'm stronger than I knew – a helpful thing to keep in mind when life throws me curves I’m not sure I can handle.
It’s important to be attentive to your body and your thoughts.
I enjoy running with others, but I also like running on my own when it’s easier to tune into what my body and my thoughts are doing. When my mind is repeating negative or discouraging messages, it can be tough to finish a run, so I focus on thinking positive, encouraging thoughts – about my running, my training and my life. I also keep a close eye on what my body’s doing. In the past, I’ve sometimes ignored what it was telling me, and pushed myself to the point of injury or exhaustion. But with time, and experience I’ve come to accept that sometimes what I most need is to stop, rest, reflect and breathe deeply.
There’s beauty around you when you remember to look for it.
On a long run, I can be so busy checking my pace, calculating my distance, keeping an eye on traffic, and dealing with whatever bit of my body is uncomfortable at that moment that I forget to notice the beauty around me – the trees, birds and flowers, the laughter of children, the colour of the sky, the smell of the ocean. It’s the same for the rest of my life. I've gone through whole days not paying attention to anything except my own thoughts and worries. To really see, hear, smell, feel and savour the beauty of the world around me, I have to get out of my head and work at being fully present in my life.
Hard work, determination, and a positive attitude can take you a long way.
I may not have the natural talent and grace of a gazelle, but with practice, good coaching and a positive attitude, I've learned techniques and developed abilities that help me cover the ground more quickly and feel good doing it.
Small problems can become big ones if you don’t deal with them when you should.
I’m constantly amazed at how much trouble a tiny pebble in my shoe or laces that are too tight can cause. If – out of stubbornness or stupidity – I don’t stop to fix the problem quickly enough, I invariably end up with more serious pain or injury somewhere else in my body as it tries to compensate for the changes in my gait.
You’re stronger than you know.
Even after I’d been running for more than a year, I really believed 5km was as far as I’d ever run. Certainly, I never thought I'd be running full and half marathons but, six years later, here I am preparing for my 4th full marathon in Chicago. On days when I feel really strong, I even daydream about running an ultramarathon one day! So it turns out I'm stronger than I knew – a helpful thing to keep in mind when life throws me curves I’m not sure I can handle.
It’s important to be attentive to your body and your thoughts.
I enjoy running with others, but I also like running on my own when it’s easier to tune into what my body and my thoughts are doing. When my mind is repeating negative or discouraging messages, it can be tough to finish a run, so I focus on thinking positive, encouraging thoughts – about my running, my training and my life. I also keep a close eye on what my body’s doing. In the past, I’ve sometimes ignored what it was telling me, and pushed myself to the point of injury or exhaustion. But with time, and experience I’ve come to accept that sometimes what I most need is to stop, rest, reflect and breathe deeply.
There’s beauty around you when you remember to look for it.
On a long run, I can be so busy checking my pace, calculating my distance, keeping an eye on traffic, and dealing with whatever bit of my body is uncomfortable at that moment that I forget to notice the beauty around me – the trees, birds and flowers, the laughter of children, the colour of the sky, the smell of the ocean. It’s the same for the rest of my life. I've gone through whole days not paying attention to anything except my own thoughts and worries. To really see, hear, smell, feel and savour the beauty of the world around me, I have to get out of my head and work at being fully present in my life.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Expectations
This week, I’ve been pondering expectations – my own and others'. I have two main goals for Chicago – to raise a lot of money for cancer research and to run the marathon in a personal best time of 4:45.
It seems I may be on the way to meeting the first goal with contributions from family, friends and colleagues (made and promised) topping $3,000 to date. If all continues to go well, I hope to have raised $6,000 or more before I get on the plane to Chicago in October.
The second goal is the one I’ve been struggling with. A colleague told me recently he wasn’t impressed that I aspired to run Chicago in 4:45 – even though it would be a personal best time for me. He thought I should be aiming for a Boston qualifying time of 4:00. I told him he was dreaming in Technicolor (which he was), but the fact is I would like to run it in 4:30 – almost 24 minutes faster than I’ve ever run a marathon before. In theory, it should be possible since I’ve previously completed half marathons in 2:06 and 2:10. But I set the more modest goal because I was worried about raising unrealistic expectations and disappointing the people who had supported me. After all, as wise man once told me, it’s usually better to “under-promise and over-deliver”.
I now think it’s probably a good thing to come clean about my true aspirations for the race so that people know I am making a serious effort in exchange for their support. But I also want to be sure I don’t lose sight of what’s really important here:
To raise money and awareness.
To honour and celebrate my friends.
To remember all the people I’ve met or heard about who have been touched by blood cancers.
It would be nice to run a personal best, and I’ll be training harder than I ever have in an effort to do that. But in the end, this race really is about more than just running – and I don’t want my own expectations – or those of anyone else – to keep me from focusing on what really matters.
It seems I may be on the way to meeting the first goal with contributions from family, friends and colleagues (made and promised) topping $3,000 to date. If all continues to go well, I hope to have raised $6,000 or more before I get on the plane to Chicago in October.
The second goal is the one I’ve been struggling with. A colleague told me recently he wasn’t impressed that I aspired to run Chicago in 4:45 – even though it would be a personal best time for me. He thought I should be aiming for a Boston qualifying time of 4:00. I told him he was dreaming in Technicolor (which he was), but the fact is I would like to run it in 4:30 – almost 24 minutes faster than I’ve ever run a marathon before. In theory, it should be possible since I’ve previously completed half marathons in 2:06 and 2:10. But I set the more modest goal because I was worried about raising unrealistic expectations and disappointing the people who had supported me. After all, as wise man once told me, it’s usually better to “under-promise and over-deliver”.
I now think it’s probably a good thing to come clean about my true aspirations for the race so that people know I am making a serious effort in exchange for their support. But I also want to be sure I don’t lose sight of what’s really important here:
To raise money and awareness.
To honour and celebrate my friends.
To remember all the people I’ve met or heard about who have been touched by blood cancers.
It would be nice to run a personal best, and I’ll be training harder than I ever have in an effort to do that. But in the end, this race really is about more than just running – and I don’t want my own expectations – or those of anyone else – to keep me from focusing on what really matters.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
My inspiration band
I was thinking about inspiration today as I headed out for my long run. In the past, inspiration for my running has tended to be things like the size of my waistline, the data on my heart rate monitor, or the latest issue of Runner’s World. My training for Chicago is inspired by something completely different – a desire to pay tribute to those whose lives have been touched by blood cancers and to contribute to finding cures for all forms of the disease.
Many marathoners wear a pace band on their wrists when they race. The band sets out the time it will take them to reach every mile marker if they are running at their goal pace. I’m going to wear a different kind of band – an inspiration band – one that lists the names of people I know, or know of, who have been victims of leukemia or lymphoma. My plan is to put 26 names on it – one to provide inspiration for each mile of the race. So far, I’ve collected 9.
Of course, top of the list are Jon and Kirsi. Then comes my TNT teammate, Gill, who is herself a survivor and will be running with me in Chicago. (You can check out her story here.)
This week I learned that one of my work colleagues – a beautiful bright young program analyst – is also a survivor of childhood leukemia. Another colleague confided that his father died of leukemia. So, suddenly, I am running for them as well.
Next, there’s Michael, the young nephew of good friends, who faced death with more grace and courage than most adults; our family friend, Dawn, who died of pneumonia while undergoing leukemia treatments last year; my old friend Leah’s grandfather, who died of leukemia many years ago; and beautiful Maeve, the daughter of a law school classmate, who died of the disease 10 years ago.
No matter how tough the next few months of training or the marathon itself turns out to be, I know my inspiration band will help me get through it. If there are names you’d like to add to my band, please email me or leave a comment here.
Many marathoners wear a pace band on their wrists when they race. The band sets out the time it will take them to reach every mile marker if they are running at their goal pace. I’m going to wear a different kind of band – an inspiration band – one that lists the names of people I know, or know of, who have been victims of leukemia or lymphoma. My plan is to put 26 names on it – one to provide inspiration for each mile of the race. So far, I’ve collected 9.
Of course, top of the list are Jon and Kirsi. Then comes my TNT teammate, Gill, who is herself a survivor and will be running with me in Chicago. (You can check out her story here.)
This week I learned that one of my work colleagues – a beautiful bright young program analyst – is also a survivor of childhood leukemia. Another colleague confided that his father died of leukemia. So, suddenly, I am running for them as well.
Next, there’s Michael, the young nephew of good friends, who faced death with more grace and courage than most adults; our family friend, Dawn, who died of pneumonia while undergoing leukemia treatments last year; my old friend Leah’s grandfather, who died of leukemia many years ago; and beautiful Maeve, the daughter of a law school classmate, who died of the disease 10 years ago.
No matter how tough the next few months of training or the marathon itself turns out to be, I know my inspiration band will help me get through it. If there are names you’d like to add to my band, please email me or leave a comment here.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Running in Celebration
This week we got the wonderful news that Kirsi’s doctors have given her a clean bill of health. After a year of treatments, hair loss and worry, they found no sign of cancer.Of course, Kirsi’s good news also makes me want to train harder than I ever have in an effort to run a personal best in Chicago – to honour her courage and determination, and to express my great gratitude to all who have contributed to her recovery. To that end, I’ve kept to my training schedule faithfully -- even tackling tempo runs by myself. I found them hard, but – as I keep telling myself – not as hard as fighting cancer.
The news also brought home to me just how necessary organizations like LLSC are. It would be wonderful if every patient and their family received the good news Kirsi got this week. With that in mind, I will be working hard to raise as much money as I can in the coming months. So far, so good. On-line pledges have topped $1,800 with more in the mail, so it seems I am well on my way to reaching my goal of $6,000.
This was also a special week because I met a few of my TNT teammates in person for the first time. Five of us who live here in Ottawa met on Monday evening to get acquainted and talk about possible group fundraising activities. I’ll look forward to getting to know each of them better in the coming months.
The last notable thing about the week was the weather. Summer has finally arrived. On Sunday, when I ran a 14 km long run, it was 26 degrees in the morning. Remarkably, my body didn’t object to the sudden heat – perhaps because it was still relatively cool when I headed out, and I kept properly hydrated throughout. The highpoint of the run was a very brief pause at the Experimental Farm to admire the iris, peony, and columbine beds. I took the photos here with the camera built into my cell phone. Gotta love technology!
Unfortunately, looking at all those beautiful flowers inspired me to head out to the garden to build my new vegetable bed when I got home. I was glad to get my veggies in the ground, but my legs and back let me know I’d overdone it when I crawled out of bed on Monday morning. Lesson learned. Obviously, from now on I need to get my gardening done before I head out on my long runs.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Believing in the run
I read a great Nike ad this week:
Training for races has always been about me -- about making me feel happier, stronger and healthier -- but this time it is also about providing financial support for research and patient services for those who are fighting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. And knowing that is more motivating than I ever imagined.
My fundraising efforts have started well. Friends and family are responding to my initial appeal with great generosity -- almost $1300 raised to date -- and I appreciate their support more than I can say. It helps so much to know that so they are behind me. The messages they have left on my TNT fundraising page have also been wonderful and very moving!
I ran a terrific 12km long slow run yesterday. It was overcast and cool so I mostly had the trails to myself – except, of course, for the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and groundhogs. With less traffic than usual, I was able to let my mind wander a good part of the time. When it’s going well, a long run truly is a meditation in motion.
I ran a couple of faster runs this week too. At moments, they felt hard. But whenever I felt tempted to quit or slow down, I reminded myself of my reasons for doing this, and just how lucky I am to be able to run.
That’s another gift running gives me -- a tremendous sense of gratitude – for good health, friends and family, the beautiful world in which we live, and the chance to make a difference.
I’m beginning to suspect that this run – the Chicago marathon – will demonstrate that for me in a way no other race has.“Running never takes more than it gives back. Believe in the
run”.
Training for races has always been about me -- about making me feel happier, stronger and healthier -- but this time it is also about providing financial support for research and patient services for those who are fighting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. And knowing that is more motivating than I ever imagined.
My fundraising efforts have started well. Friends and family are responding to my initial appeal with great generosity -- almost $1300 raised to date -- and I appreciate their support more than I can say. It helps so much to know that so they are behind me. The messages they have left on my TNT fundraising page have also been wonderful and very moving!
I ran a terrific 12km long slow run yesterday. It was overcast and cool so I mostly had the trails to myself – except, of course, for the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and groundhogs. With less traffic than usual, I was able to let my mind wander a good part of the time. When it’s going well, a long run truly is a meditation in motion.
I ran a couple of faster runs this week too. At moments, they felt hard. But whenever I felt tempted to quit or slow down, I reminded myself of my reasons for doing this, and just how lucky I am to be able to run.
That’s another gift running gives me -- a tremendous sense of gratitude – for good health, friends and family, the beautiful world in which we live, and the chance to make a difference.
Monday, June 1, 2009
A good week
Training went well this past week. The weather was cool and I stuck to my program. No really long runs yet, but I did a total of 32km, including a couple of good tempo runs, a relaxed run home from work one evening, and a decent long run of 11km yesterday. Legs seem to be up to the challenge, which is great.
My plan is to run just 4 days a week, but try to make every workout count. I also plan to bike to work (21km round trip) 2-3 days per week. My middle aged waistline is telling me some core work is in order so I'll try to find time for yoga and strength training too. Hoping to run with the Running Room group on Wednesday nights so I'll be inspired to pick up the pace a bit. It turns out only hardcore (read "fast") runners have signed up for the RR marathon clinic this session -- meaning I"ll be doing all my long runs alone. Ah, well. It won't be the first time. The good thing about it is that I'll be able to head out as early as I want to avoid the heat. (I am such a morning person --NOT!!)
Time to get some sleep. Sleep is very high on my list of "must dos" in the coming months, and I'm definitely feeling ready to tuck in.
Go team!!
My plan is to run just 4 days a week, but try to make every workout count. I also plan to bike to work (21km round trip) 2-3 days per week. My middle aged waistline is telling me some core work is in order so I'll try to find time for yoga and strength training too. Hoping to run with the Running Room group on Wednesday nights so I'll be inspired to pick up the pace a bit. It turns out only hardcore (read "fast") runners have signed up for the RR marathon clinic this session -- meaning I"ll be doing all my long runs alone. Ah, well. It won't be the first time. The good thing about it is that I'll be able to head out as early as I want to avoid the heat. (I am such a morning person --NOT!!)
Time to get some sleep. Sleep is very high on my list of "must dos" in the coming months, and I'm definitely feeling ready to tuck in.
Go team!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
