Dreams Really Do Come True

Where to begin? I guess I could start off by apologizing for not blogging since September! Sorry, I know it's no excuse but life really got a little crazy there for a while. So tonight I sit here ready to blog my final blog. I will admit I'm not really going to miss blogging, it has honestly been one of the more difficult parts of my training. Unlike my cohort Julie, I'm not a great writer! I struggle to blog about my true feelings without sounding like I'm whining. What I will miss is the feeling I get when my community or Friends come together to support such a great cause!I can't thank you all enough for your support over the past 23 weeks!

As I sit here tonight, the night before we fly out, I remember back to 3 years ago this Fall when I enrolled in ELM's Boot camp program on Vancouver Island. I joined the program 40lbs overweight. I was running still at the time but not as much as I needed to be. During the program we spent some one on one time with Sarah. She did all the NASTY measurements and then spoke about the importance of setting short term, long term and dream goals. She made me spend some time with her writing down my goal. I want to share with you what I wrote:

Short Term:
Add 2 short 30-45min. runs into my weekly routine.
Eat smaller portions of carbs and larger portions of veggies.
Drink 1-2 litres of water each day.

Long Term:
Loose and min. of 10lbs in the next 6 months
Compete in a 10km race for the first time in 3 yrs.

Dream Goal:
To run a Marathon. (which at first was a half marathon, but i was told that was too easy.)

I'm happy to say today, 3 years later, I am 40lbs lighter, completed four 5km races, two 10km races, 2 official half marathons, 1 unofficial half marathon, numerous sessions of boot camps, healthy eating (most of the time) and now in 2 days time my dream goal... the Nike Women's Marathon!!! Now don't get me wrong I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, I want to point out how valuable goal setting truly is! It has been 3 years in the making but I will officially complete MY DREAM GOAL!!!!! Holy crap, is all I can say! I never thought I would see this day. When I set that goal I wasn't even close to believing I could run a marathon, but there it sat on paper and in my head. With every race I competed in and every training run I endured the more determined I got to accomplishing that goal. Baby steps, that's all it took. There was no deadline to accomplish it, just motivation to challenge myself and push myself that much farther.

I need to acknowledge a few key people who have helped make this dream a reality. First, Sarah Seads of Equilibrium Lifestyle Management. Without your encouragement to set the bar high I would have never of had this dream. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! To my dearest running partner and friend Julie Patterson, oh gawd, where do I begin! Thank you for every long and many times even longer early morning runs, thank you for putting up with my smelly self even when I couldn't even stand the smell of myself! hehehe. Thank you for encouraging, motivating, challenging and setting me straight when my head got a little too carried away! Together we will CONQUER THE MIND! LOL. You are a true friend and I am so lucky to have you in my life! To my friends and my community of Clearwater, YOU ROCK! I know how difficult theses times can be and you have proven how supportive, strong and vibrant our community truly is! Many of you have taken it upon yourselves to organize fundraisers to help us reach our goal. Thank you! Together we have raised $11,279!!! My words can't thank you enough! To Cory, thank you for being an inspiration, for fighting as hard as you fought. Heaven has gained and we have lost, but I know on Sunday you will be looking down and cheering us on.

Last, I need to thank my family! Thanks for being my support, for cheering me on to push myself farther and believing I can do it! Jamie thank you for picking me up when things got rough, for making sure I got the time I needed to run or just zone out, for encouraging, motivating and kicking my butt out of bed when I didn't wanna move. Your love has been unconditional! Kaleb, Emma and Maya I hope I have taught you to chase your dreams and that nothing is impossible it just takes hard work. Mommy promises to"Get Sweaty" and kick butt in San Fransisco!

One of our coaches Romana sent us an e-mail this afternoon wishing us luck on race day as she won't be joining us. Her e-mail ended with a statement that I have adopted as my mantra for those grueling 42.2km...

"Pain is only temporary, finishing is forever!"

Oh Where, Oh Where Did Summer Go!

week 17 of 23

Total KM this week: 50

I've been bad... really, really bad. It's been almost two weeks since my last blog! Can someone tell me where the time went? I can't believe we have only 6 weeks left until the Marathon.

So what has happened in the two weeks that I haven't blogged? Well, we spent a week in Courtenay/Comox for my brother & his wife's wedding reception. They got married a year ago in the Philippians and then went back to work on the cruise ships. No one was able to celebrate their marriage so now that they both were able to come to Canada (hopefully for good) we decided to have a party!! It was soooo great to be back along the ocean. There is something about the ocean that calms me. (and no Devon, it's not the smell of rotting sea life!) I find that I can go and sit beside the ocean and breathe in the air, listen to to waves and the birds and come home feeling like I have been in a week long meditation retreat! I LOVE the ocean!

While we were there I had a long run to do by myself, 32km to be exact. I was terrified and excited all at the same time. I set out at around 6am and kept as close to the ocean as I possibly could for most of the run. I was pleasantly surprised at how many other runners there were out that early in the morning. I must have passed a min. of 12 different runners before 7:30am. It was very motivating! Jamie & the kids met me at my 20km mark to fill up my water bottle. Thank god they did as it was just before the steepest hill I have ever ran. They drove to the top and waited to give me encouragement for making it up, then off they went for breakfast at my parents. Ummmm breakfast I kept thinking! An hour later with about 2kms to go I looked ahead and saw Jamie on a bike riding towards me. He yells out "Hey I've been looking for you!". Instantly I was in tears. As much as I tried to hold back, I couldn't. My chest started heaving, as if it wasn't already and the combination felt like I was going to hyperventilate. He biked along side of me the rest of they way. When I got there Mom, Dad, my sister and the kids all came out to make sure I was still alive. It was a great way to be welcomed after 3 and a half hours of solitude.

We've been back from the island for a week now and let's just say I saved you all by not blogging last week. My emotions have been OUT OF CONTROL since that long run! One day I'm balling my eyes out and then the next screaming my head off at anything and everything. Julie has talked about all the different emotions she has gone through since training began and I must admit, mine were not as bad until now!! I just pray to god it doesn't last until the marathon. I don't want to cross the finish line with all those yummy fire fighters dressed in tuxedos and here I am blubbering like a baby! The again who am I kidding, after 23 weeks of training with a total of 930km ran I know once I cross that line I will be no matter what!

My feet are still pretty bad during my long runs and to be honest the right one is now starting to get worse. I did see the specialist and he wanted to put me into an orthotic. After much thought and speaking with my online coach I have decided not to get orthotics. It is way to close to the marathon date and it takes a long time to get used to and orthotic in your shoe. I did however go out and purchase metatarsal pads to put under the sole of my running shoes. I did try them out yesterday and they were horrible. I don't know if it is because the nerve is already so inflamed that it adds to the pressure or maybe they were just in the wrong spot. I have a feeling I will be playing around with them for a while.

In just over a week Jamie and I are heading to Vegas with a group of friends for some much needed time away from kids! Somehow, I'm going to need to squeeze in 2 runs in the 3 days we are there. The bonus is that the treadmills at the hotel are located in the spa...ooooolalalala! I just might have to try and sneak in some spa treatments and tell everyone my runs took a little bit longer!

Upcoming Fundraisers...

• E-Bay Charity Auction for a 4 day/3 night trip to Paddle in the Realm of the Orcas : Auction begins Sept. 3, - Sept. 17, 2010


• Balding for Charity: Jessica Gunn is shaving her head to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Sponsor Jess now!


• Charity Women's Hockey Game in Clearwater: October, 2, 2010. Contact Darcie Sunderman for info.

Determination or Just Plain Stubborn

Week 15 of 24
Total Km this Week = 54

Last week the family headed down to Kamloops for a week of camp. The girls were off to gymnastics camp and Kaleb got to go to the Kamloops Blazers Hockey Camp. One might think that there was lots of relaxing while the kids were away but it wasn't quite that! We were up at 6am every morning to get the kids fed, dressed and in the truck to have Kaleb at the rink for 7:15am. We spent an hour watching him then off to drop the girls at gymnastics camp for 8:30. After that it was either back to the campsite to tidy up and shower or off for a run. Then we headed off to run errands, have lunch and back to pick up the girls for 12:30. Immediately after picking up the girls we were back to the rink to watch Kaleb's afternoon ice session until 2:30. The rest of the afternoon consisted of swimming, biking or the water park before coming home to cook dinner, prepare lunches and get the kids to bed early enough that they weren't monsters when the alarm went off at 6am the next morning. We all had a great time but holy cow were we all really tired when Friday night came!

Saturday morning came with the realization that we had our bootcamp fundraiser! So my tired self and I headed to the park to take a beating from Sabrina. Thankfully she went a bit easy on Julie and I as we had our 29km run on Sunday morning to complete.

Sunday came way too early with the alarm going off at 4:30am and my butt and hips screaming YOU IDIOT WE'RE WAY TO SORE TO RUN! What were Julie & I thinking! One should never bootcamp the day before a long run!! However, I sucked it up and away we went. Just over three hours later my butt, hips, quads and knees refused to move. I prayed for two tall dark and handsome men to come and carry me away to a hot tub full of Epsom salts. However, as i got into the driveway I was pleasantly greeted by my three kids and handsome husband cheering hip, hip hooray, hip, hip, hooray!! My heart melted. Who could ask for anything more!

As proud as I was at completing my long run I was also very frustrated with an issue I have been having with my feet. Right now the thought of even going onto the balls of my feet and toes would be like having electric shock therapy . No really, I would be having electric shocks pulsating through my feet. I finally decided today to go to the doctors and get me feet looked at. For the past few weeks I have had burning, numbness, tingling and pain in both my feet. My left is worse than the right. The Doc told me that I have a condition in my feet called Morton's Neuroma. The nerves between the 2ND and 3rd toes in the balls of my feet have thickened. This has been creating the feeling that a rock is inside my shoe or that my sock is bunched up into a knot under the ball of my foot. Now try running on it for 29km!! Nerve pain is NOT fun. So what can I do about it? Icing and ibuprofen for now until I see the foot specialist on Monday. Hopefully there will be some relief soon. As many friends and family know I am not one to give up and I am incredibly stubborn. My training will continue as usual with just a little more meds along the way. Happy Running!

Dancing in my New Shoes

Week 13 of 24
Total km's this week: 50

What a great weekend! For many of you this past weekend was a long weekend, 3 days off for living it up. Well for our family it was a bit different. We were business as usual. Jamie was working and I was home with the kids. So what made the weekend so great you ask??? Well on Friday night I headed in to Kamloops to buy my third pair of running shoes, yes that's right my third pair. My feet decided to throw tantrums with the first two pair. Apparently in their old age they are becoming very particular about what goes on them. So with great caution I bought another pair. On Saturday morning I decided to take my shoes for a little test drive (i wish it was as easy as just driving them around). My test drive consisted of pounding the DREADMILL (yes that is spelled right) for one hour(10km) to see if my feet would choose to accept this pair or not. SUCCESS!!! I got through the run without incident.

I spent the remainder of the day focusing on hydrating myself for the 26km run that Julie and I were doing the next day. I will not lie, I am probably the most dehydrated person you will ever meet. Most days my my fluid consumption includes 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning and a glass of milk for dinner. I know it's really bad! The thought of drinking 8 glasses of water a day, leaving the house and the possibility of using a public toilet almost throws me into convulsions. If you haven't guessed, I have a HUGE phobia of public toilets. BLAH!!! However, I know the need to hydrate before a long run is the most important thing I can do. Forget the 8 glasses of water a day, I'm needing about 16 glasses with the distances we are running these days. So bottle after bottle of water I drank. I think I was hitting the washroom every 5 minutes towards the end of the day. THANK GOD I DIDN'T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE!

Sunday morning came bright and early as Julie, my new shoes & I headed out for our long run. Our run took us down the highway towards Little Fort with a loop around the North Thompson Campground. There were some very long straight stretches that seemed to go on forever. 5km outside of Little Fort is where we finished. I will admit it was highly anti-climatic to finish in the middle of the highway with nothing around. However, Julie and I rocked the run and finished faster than last weeks long run. Yeah for improvement!!! Overall we felt great and I was so proud that I managed to drink a bottle and a half of water during the run. Those that know me know that I usually can't eat or drink anything before or during any runs, so that was a huge accomplishment in my quest to stay hydrated.

Thank goodness Julie has an amazing husband who came to pick us up. Home I went feeling no aggression from my feet, completely hydrated and happy. When I got home Jamie and the kids raced down stairs to give me a hip, hip hooray(god I love them). After some quick high fives off to the washroom I danced in my new shoes.

http://tinyurl.com/Christines-Run-of-All-Runs

Paving My Path Into New Territory

Week 12 of 24

Total KM's this Week: 46.5

I am so excited to be heading down this new path!!! On Monday morning Julie & I got up at the crack of dawn to conquer 23km. This is a distance we have never before run. I was very excited but also a little scared...what if I can't do it, what if I injure myself, will my body hold up???? Valid questions for sure, but I haven't done all this training for nothing. My body has been trained to be pushed a little harder each and every week, and I WILL DO SO for another 12 weeks! I will admit about 5 min. into the run I had some knee pain and was starting to panic. My knee had a tracking issue that was easily corrected and we continued on.

23km was long, but I loved every minute of it! I must admit my favorite part of the training is the long runs. I really do look forward to them every week. Who could not love the beautiful scenery, minus the dead roadkill on the side of the highway and the peacefulness of an early morning, minus the fast paced running tunes pounding in my ears! Those long runs seem to allow me the opportunity to do my best thinking.

Julie might not have loved the run as much as I did but she was right there with me at the end. She insisted before we ran that morning that we needed to take a before and after picture to prove we made it. We did make it, a little stiff and sore but are looking forward to taking on the next long run.

One thing I have learned over the past few months is the need to start listening to my body. Every week for the past month and a half I have been seeing a couple of massage therapists to help me get through some of the aches and pains. I have to laugh, cause I go in to see them so they can fix me back up so I can head out and do it all over again. I feel a bit like Humpty Dumpty! However, I won't be able to run this marathon if I don't continue to see them and I'm sure they appreciate the business. Now if I can only get Julie to do the same we could have a team support staff.

As we continue this journey there will be great moments to celebrate and I look forward to paving my path into new territory!

Chillaxing in Quesnel

Week 10 of 24
Total KM's this week: 38.5

We're here, we're here! We are on our first big camping trip in the trailer. We headed up Hwy. 97 to Quesnel to visit with some great friends and spend some time relaxing! I must admit I am loving the life of running and hanging out...I think I can get used to this! The weather was a bit cold and rainy when we got here but today was smoking hot!! The weather I LOVE!

Even though I am on holidays the training doesn't stop. Got up at a decent hour this morning and headed out for my hill run...Ugh, not something I am motivated to do on my own. Away I went not knowing where the heck I was going but managed to find a decent looking hill to train on. I have found this great app for my iphone that uses gps to trace my runs. Once I was back from my run I checked it and it turned out to be the exact amount I needed to complete. Yeehaw!!

Got to spend the rest of the day soaking up the rays while the kids played in the water park. Ahhhh the life! Back at it again tomorrow morning then off to take the kids to the fair for Billy Barker Days.

I think I may have a hard time leaving this place!

Winding up to Wind down

Week 9 of 36 Total Km this week: 36

What a crazy couple of weeks! This is the first time I have been able to get on and blog. Well that's not totally true, I did make an attempt earlier this week but wasn't in a the most positive frame of mind. I figured I'd spare you all from my whining. To be honest over the past couple of weeks I have struggled with my runs, first with shins slpints that turned out to really be Compartment Syndrome and then with my motivation.

Last week we started with our hill training. That means that every week one run will be running up and down a hill over and over and over! Who does that??? Not my favorite run but I value the importance of training hills especially when I will be running a Marathon in San Francisco. I will admit my competitive side came out when I saw Julie grinning ear to ear running up the steepest hill in Clearwater like it was the easiest thing she has ever done! She has to be completely insane to LOVE running hill repeats as much as she does, but it's getting me up those hill so THANKS Jules! We have done Candle Creek hill repeats twice so far and I will admit they are getting better.

On Canada Day Julie, the Walker family and I held a fundraiser at the celebrations on Dutch Lake. Julie and I sold cold drinks while the Walker family sold deliciously decorated cupcakes. I think the only reason why we sold so many drinks was because everyone could help but buy a cupcake they looked so good. I can't thank the Walker family enough for all their hard work and support!

My twins had their 6th birthday party on Monday after Julie and I finished our long run for last week. My parents came up the following day. It was nice to have them up but I feel bas as I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked. I was run off my feet with organizing the 2nd Annual Strawberry Fest 5km Fun Run/Walk that took place today. The run was a success although many of the previous runners were unavailable this year.

On July 8th a couple of close friend Sarah and Amber organized a charity hockey game held in Maple Ridge in honor of my run with all proceeds going to LLSC. 22 players participated in the event and everyone had a great time. When Sarah phoned me the next morning and told me how much they raised she had me in tears! I cannot thank them enough for all their hard work and amazing support they have given me. I only wish I could have been able to make it down to play in the game and thank everyone personally!

So now what...the craziness is almost over for the time being. Now it's packing up the trailer to head to Quesnel for a week of sun, fun and relaxation.

NEXT UP:

"Pub Crawl" ...Why walk when you can crawl?!

Sat. July 17th

Bus depart at 2:30pm from CSS (we'll be crawling for approx 4-5hrs.)

Tickets: $25/each includes transportation and a couple of prizes along the way.

First come first serve as space is limited. Let Julie or I know if you want tickets
Of course all proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada.