Doing my Best

I knew going into this that it would be time-consuming. I don't think I truly understood, though.

It's easy to quantify. You look at the training schedules and predict with a fair amount of accuracy how much time a week you'll spend running, stretching, and rolling out the achy parts with a foam roller. You know you'll spend time, most likely after your weekly long run, sitting in an ice bath, reminding yourself through chattering teeth, that this is all worth it. (ice baths are a post for another day. Coles Notes: They suck; They work).

But I don't think you can really prepare yourself for it qualitatively. How suddenly, the simple decision to step up from training for and running half marathons to training for and running a marathon, changes everything.

I used to schedule my runs around my life. Now, I schedule my life around my runs. If, as Denise and I have chosen to do, you decide to raise money for charity, then more time is spent on fundraisers, seeking sponsorship, calling family and friends and asking for support. I wouldn't say that my family is suffering because of it. They are some of my biggest supporters. But the mom guilt! Oooof!

I keep wondering if this was the best time for me to decide to do this. I could have waited until the kids were older. I'm only 38, I hope I've got many more years of running in me! But, what if I don't? It's possible that one day my body will say "Look lady. I've had enough. I've done enough".

So of course I'm doing it now. Every fibre of my being is telling me that I HAVE to. I learned a long time ago that when all signs point to GO, then that's what you must do.

Don't get me wrong...I am loving, cherishing and embracing every moment of this journey. I know I am lucky to be able to do this.

I'm hoping that the time I'm spending away from these two adorable boys, is made up for with the lessons I hope they learn from watching me set goals, and work hard to achieve them.

From watching me raise money for a deserving charity.

From seeing that life isn't about BEING the best, it's about DOING your best.

So, for now, I will just go on doing my best. I know that when I cross the finish line on September 23rd, that I will be proud. I sure hope the kids will be too.

Ready to Run?

Denise's Running Playlist

While on a road trip to Toronto I was listening to a 90's satellite radio station with the hubby when we starting hearing all these awesome songs from the 90's  that we both kept saying "that would be awsome to run to" so here's my 4km tempo run playlist to get your legs movin'.

Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio
Poison - Bel Biv Divo
Let's talk about sex - Salt n' Peppa
Basket Case - Green Day
All-star - Smashmouth
I got the Power -Snap
Come baby Come - K7
Cottoneyed Joe - Rednexx
Be my lover - La Bouche
Grove is in the heart - Deee-Lite

Have a blast!

Denise

What are YOU running to?

Music can be a great motivator when out for a run.  I don't often run with music, unless I am alone and running more than about 8km, but it can be a great way to keep you pumped up, when fatigue sets in.

I really want to mention here that it is VERY important to remember safety when running with music. Keep the music low enough that you can hear it, but still hear your surroundings.  I also only wear one ear bud.  More important than having fabulous tunes, is being able to hear what is going on around you!

Here are a few songs from my iPod playlist.  What songs keep YOU motivated?

Jessica's Playlist

Always on the Run - Lenny Kravitz
Ordinary Day - Great Big Sea
The Dead Can't Testify - Billy Talent
Gold - Boulay
I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
Pass At Me Timbaland feat. Pitbull
I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson
Beat It - Fall Out Boy feat. John Mayer
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Funhouse - P!nk
Up - Great Big Sea
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
Tweeter and the Monkey Man - Headstones
Baba O'Riley - The Who

Happy Running!

JGV

The Big Chase Down Classic Recap

A small but mighty group of runners joined us on Saturday July 7^th for the Big Chase Down Classic 6km race.  It was our first year, and we definitely plan to do it again.

Before starting out, we’d received enough donations to ensure that Denise was “in the pink”, and prepared to run the race in her pink hat, shoelaces, sunglasses, socks, shirt, and tutu. With a well-documented disdain for the colour pink, Denise was a spectacle to behold!

7 runners joined us with the goal of not only chasing us down and surpassing us to the finish line, but also to help us raise $275.00 for Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Jordan Nurmi and Catherine Perrin, each ran a very smart race and surpassed Denise about 2km before the finish. 

Kelly Bowie passed Jessica and her son, 9 year old Zachary just before 3km, and Michael Donnelly passed Jessica just after 3km.

Hot on their heels were Paul Groves, Liz Taillefer, and Summer D’Aoust.

Thanks to those people who weren’t able to participate but gave us a donation, anyway.  It’s not too late!  If you’d like to donate, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Denise or Jessica. Or, our donation links can be found right here on this blog, just over to the right!

A special thanks to our volunteers, Jason and Dylan Clement, Sarah Moore, Zachary Valiquette and Michelle Seguin-Guenard, as well as to Running Room Store manager Gina Conroy. This wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Our next fundraiser will be a lemonade and Mr. Freeze sale at the 20 Minute Challenge on July 18^th.  We sure hope to see you there!

Many Thanks,

Jessica and Denise.

Sometimes it's the little things.........like snails.

There are a great many things one would expect to see on a long run in Vaughn, Ontario.
Folks walking dogs, a couple sipping coffee on the patio at Starbucks and of course traffic but one does not usually expect to find snails on the sidewalk. Yep, that's what I said snails on the sidewalk.
I was about 3km into a 14km LSD on Saturday and as I was marveling to myself how wonderful it is to see the beauty of a river valley juxtaposed on the backdrop of a subdivision when I happened to look down and notice what I thought was a rock only to realize that the round rock I thought I was seeing actually had a tail end and little eyeball attenae at the other!  It literally stopped me dead in my tracks and caused me to laugh out loud.  I couldn't help but grasp the irony of the fact that I was running among something noted for being slow.  In that moment, as I stood there over my shelled speed bump, I realized that even though I was out there to get my milage done-probably too quickly- and had a dozen other things to do that morning, that it was time to get back to why I love running. To breathe, to bid the daily stresses of life good-bye and to take a look around as I run and take in all that the road has to offer me. Of all the things I thought I would be thankful for in running, I never expected it to be a snail.

Here's to slowing down and taking in the little things.


D