The Running Room's Survivor Clinic's for CIBC Run for the Cure

This week, I signed up for a local Running Room clinic.  I'm in training for the CIBC Run for the Cure in October and while I'm okay training on my own, the Running Room gave me an offer I just couldn't refuse.

The Running Room = the Godfather.  Sure.  Why not.

Anyway, for breast cancer survivors, they're offering a free running clinic to prepare for the CIBC Run for the Cure.

Yup.  Free for breast cancer survivors.  Seems like  good idea.

Are you running the race?  Are you a survivor?  Have you signed up for a local Survivors Clinic?

8 Things I Wish I'd Known as a New Runner

1. Speed Doesn't Matter!

When I first started, I hated that I was so slow.  When I was doing the C25K program, I hated that in the first week, my workouts barely took me 1.5 miles.  Here's what I've learned since - all runners appear to believe that they are slow.  At least all recreational runners.  The reality is that whatever your pace, you're still running and you'll likely get faster.  I did.  And when I did, it felt amazing!  PS.  I'm slower than a 12 minute mile.  :)

2. C25K Programs Aren't Accurate

In fact, they're liars if they're based on timed intervals rather than distance.  In the program I completed, the last workout was a half hour run.  At that point, my 5K time was closer to an hour than a half hour.  I felt like a failure and even now, a half hour 5K probably isn't in the cards until probably next year due to the break I had to take and the lingering effects of chemotherapy.

3. Never again is also a lie.

My first race ever was a half marathon.  I can't include what a bad idea that was in this list because I knew that going in, but it was one of those things.  A bucket list thing, even if I didn't call it that at the time.  I'm pretty sure I was still running the race when I started to say those words - "Never again."  Other words were said as well, things like, "OMG, what was I thinking!" and "I HATE RUNNING!"  and "Hey, the girls doing a shot a mile probably had the right idea."  That medal up there is the first I ever earned.  I crossed the finish line as they were dismantling it.  They were out of medals.  I hurt.  My husband had spent time finding the closest entrance to the hotel, and I think I spent my entire limp there cursing and swearing and telling him he'd found the furthest possible entrance.  I got to the hotel room and I said "Never. Again.  I don't think I'll ever run again.  I'm definitely not doing another half marathon.  What a stupid sport.  Holy crap, this ice water is cold!"

My friend's husband actually gave me his medal that night so I'd feel better until my medal arrived in the mail shortly after so I did eventually get a medal.

The next morning, I was looking up 5Ks for the next year.

4. Medals are fun

Calgary Marathon 10K

The only event where I had to wait for my medal, is the first race I ran.  Every other event, I've been able to get my medal as I crossed the finish line.

Millarville Cinnamon Bun Run

I love seeing the different medals for races and I'm a little guilty of choosing races by their medals a time or two.  It's also why I tend to run longer distances.  They're more likely to have a medal than a 5K.  

5. Hills suck, but they're good for you

Look, we're already out there sweating and red-faced.  The last thing we want to do is make this running thing harder to do.  And then they say to do hill training.  I avoided it as a beginning runner.  Mainly because I was already painfully slow and I felt that any hill I would attempt would result in me walking up a hill.

Sometimes when I'm running hills, I feel like my dog in this picture - like I've bitten off way more than I can chew.  I live in a neighborhood where hills are kind of required.  My average run has an elevation gain of 150-200 ft, depending on the route I choose.  Yes, it makes me slower on THAT run.  But hills build strength and endurance and on the flat, it seems easier to run and I get faster running where it's flat.  Running faster makes me feel better.

6. Rest is important

Rest days always make me feel a little lazy

But the reality is that we get stronger as our body repairs and rebuilds.  I probably could have avoided much of the swearing during my first half marathon had I rested when things hurt instead of trying to run through the pain and racing injured.

7. Massage is your friend.

This includes paying someone to make you want to scream in pain while they jam an elbow into that knotted muscle as well as learning to use foam rollers and various other methods of torture.  While they're painful at the time, they can do wonders for helping you stay injury free and relaxed.

8. I'd get up early to run.

Mornings are not my favorite.

But they can be absolutely peaceful and beautiful.

Calgary Marathon start line

Or full of other runners waiting to start a race on a beautiful spring day.

I find it much easier to get up and run in the morning - especially in the summer when the days get really hot.  I have more energy after I'm done and I feel like I accomplished something.

And then I can go and sit on my front porch and have a coffee on a Saturday morning and not feel like I've wasted my day.

Happy Canada Day!

We didn't do much for Canada Day.  A bit of housecleaning, a bit of reading, a bit of cutting a quilt out. And a bit of discussion about what we eat and how we can fix that.

So we set some goals for July.  We've been doing a great job of eating at home rather than out and we've been particularly staying away from fast food.  But we have been eating a LOT of junk food.  I don't know why, but chips, pretzels and candy have been finding their way into our house (and my desk drawer!) way more often than they should.

So, for the month of July, we're aiming to eliminate crap from our diet. If I'm going to run a half marathon next year, I've got to get better focused on what I eat.

And I need to get running again.  A combination of the heat and a lack of energy at 4:30 has meant I haven't run in the last week and a half.  I have great intentions, but when that alarm goes off after a night where I've struggled to sleep due to the heat, it's way to easy to reset the alarm and get another bit of sleep.

In June, I ran 13.1 miles.  In July, I'd like to see that number go up to at least 20 miles.

Plus sized running clothes

Today I had my port removed.  This is a great thing (woo hoo, no more chemo!), but at the same time it means I'm not able to run for a few days, or the rest of the week.  Whatever.  Also, the freezing is coming out of my incision and I'm hanging out with a bag of ice on my chest.  It's a fantastic evening watching Schitt$ Creek.

I decided to console myself with a bit of online shopping.  Originally I was looking for clothes for work, but I stumbled across an amazing sale on Addition Elle.  I picked up two long sleeved running shirts for $15.00 each.  Yup.  $15.

There wasn't a lot of selection of color and sizes, but I'm not all that worried - I run at 4:30am.  No one cares what I'm wearing, I just want to be warm!

There were other options - like some great tanks, but I'm just not a tank top person.  And early in the morning it can be freaking cold out there!  I only bought the two above, but this one also looked great.

It is so great to find nice looking running clothes in plus sizes!  I also found a nice selection of plus sizes on Nordstrom, but they were a little pricier.  Also, Zulily has had some plus sized sports boutiques in the past few weeks - another great option for finding running gear.

CIBC Run for the Cure

Hey, look, I'm talking about the Run for the Cure again.  It's somewhat awkward asking people for donations for the run.  Especially since I actively avoided telling many people in my life that I actually HAD cancer.  And then I did this which is forcing me to talk about it and share way more than I ever planned to.

To donate without reading further, please click here

But hey, in my first week, I surpassed my original goal for fundraising.

The first week.

I really should have celebrated with pie.  What was I thinking?

I set my goal at $500 because I thought I'd get $20 donations from most people.  I expected $20 donations from most people, IF they chose to donate, but my friends, coworkers and family surpassed that by leaps and bounds and I soon discovered I'd could increase my goal from $500 to $1000.

So, today I want to talk about why I chose to fund raise.  After all, there's the option for me to just pay my $40, run the race and go on my merry way.  I started out by looking at where the money from the run goes - this is actually pretty important and you can find ratings on many charities through various websites.  I found this which made me feel good about my choice.  And then I found this which gives you more information on investigating charities although some of the links found in that article are broken.

How about a recent financial statement?

But what does that mean and how does that benefit people with breast cancer?

I started at the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's webpage.  That link will take you directly to the information that impacted me the most - what they do in the prairies and Yukon/NWT.

Things that matter to me?  They provide a grant to the Canadian Cancer Society.  When diagnosed with Cancer, much of the information provided to me was published by the Canadian Cancer Society.  Pamphlets on what to expect with Chemotherapy, information on managing side effects, diet, activity and what happens after treatment.  Any information you could want while going through treatment and beyond was available.

I still have several of their booklets in my bedside drawer, even if I read them less and less.

How about research?  It seems to be a commonly held belief that the money being raised for Cancer charities is just being wasted.  With the amount of money and time spent, we should have a cure already.  Therefore, the cure exists and continuing to fund it is pointless.

Yes.  I've seen this argument.

It makes me want to kick puppies.  And I love puppies.  There is nothing I would like more than to lie down in a room full of the furry, wiggly little buggers and let them crawl all over me.  Ok, there are some things that I'd like more, but come on A ROOM FULL OF PUPPIES!

I digress.

Sometimes I have to refrain from saying things like, "Shut the hell up unless you're actually a cancer researcher."  Then again, everyone is an armchair expert and will always tell other people how to do jobs they have no intention (or skill/knowledge) to do themselves. Myself included.

Just ask my husband. (Hi honey!)  This week, I attempted to tell him how to unclog a sink drain.  Because that's totally my skillset.

BUT, when we look at research, it goes beyond looking for a cure - regardless of the name of the event in this case.  For example, there is much research in the areas of early detection.  Someone out there discovered the breast cancer gene which many would argue is a HUGE step in prevention and treatment of cancer.  If you go to the page here, you'll also see that they fund research into other very important things like how to support people at the time of diagnosis, or examining how the disease affects people's lives and helping them better deal with that.

But let's talk treatment.  If you're uneducated about cancer treatment (like I was and I still am overall), you probably think that because there is no "cure" there is no advancements.  First of all, I was amazed by the sheer number of chemotherapy drugs that exist for treating all cancers.  I received a drug that is apparently used in breast cancer as well as lymphomas and leukemias.  In all, I received three different chemotherapy drugs, but many with breast cancer don't get chemotherapy at all.  I'm also continuing to be treated with an ongoing, non-chemotherapy drug.

And finally, there are a number of drugs designed to make chemotherapy bearable.  These drugs are invaluable.  We've all heard the stories of mouth sores and nausea.  I've watched people go through it in the past and I dreaded that.  DREADED it.

I had mouth sores for a total of 10 days.  They were a nightmare, but 10 days out of about 7 months total treatment is amazing.  Add to that the anti-nausea drugs.  Whoever developed those deserves a medal.  I never once suffered from nausea.

This is not to say that I went without side-effects altogether, but the worst of the most common ones were limited.

Seriously, find it early and  your treatment could be as easy as surgery and a bit of radiation. Which is why so much money is poured into awareness and education.  It's why you see screening programs and information everywhere about the importance of self exams, mammograms, etc.

Originally, pre-surgery, that was the plan for me - surgery and a few radiation treatments just to make sure.  Then the tumor was large and agressive.  I still had the option of skipping chemotherapy, but it seemed like a bad idea to skip it and risk things like metastasic cancer (where it spreads to other parts of the body.  Aka Stage IV.  Aka terminal)

Interested in what kind of research they're funding?  Go here.  Keep in mind, that is JUST the money that has been granted to research in the prairies (AB, SK, MB) and the territories (YK, NWT).

So, this is why I've decided to be a fundraiser in the CIBC Run for a Cure event.  If you've made it this far and want to support me in my efforts, please click here to donate.  I appreciate any and all support.

Farmer's Market Season is here!

I'm lucky, I live a few minutes from a pretty fantastic Farmer's Market.

This was our trunk when we left the market.  It was full of fresh fruits, veggies and a box of frozen fish.

 I love cherries so much.  These are probably my favorite, but they weren't as good as I'd hoped.  Definitely not as good as the Ranier cherries we had last week.

Fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from Broxburn in Lethbridge.

 Some fresh strawberries.  I don't know how they make them so flavorless in the grocery stores.

I'm not normally a fan of tomatoes. I am trying to be a bigger grown-up about the whole vegetable thing overall though so I'm willing to have toasted tomato sandwiches now and again.  These ones did make an especially flavorful sandwich so maybe this growing up thing is working for me.

Overall, we're trying to eat more produce and more fish.  They say we should be eating fish once a week.  We both like fish, it's just not something we cook a lot of.  So tonight we had steamed salmon with rice and a nice salad for dinner.  It's a start at eating a healthier anyway.

Normally, we cook our salmon on a cedar plank on the BBQ.  Next time, I'll get some pictures and maybe even post a recipe.

I hate mornings

There was a time when I would sleep in as long as I could.  Even now, I set my alarm as late as I possibly can, giving myself little to no room for error if I want to actually catch my bus.  Some mornings, if I'm moving a little slower, I have to skip breakfast at home and grab something on the way or hope I have some fruit and yogurt stashed in the fridge at work.

So it's a bit crazy that as our summer heats up, I've started running in the morning again.  This morning, I was up at 5am to run before I went to work.  I drove to work so I had a bit of leeway and actually hit snooze before dragging myself out of bed.  And I was painfully slow.  Monday, I was at least 2 minutes per mile faster than I was this morning.  But, I still went and did it.  My legs felt like lead.  I might as well have just walked it - my average pace was a relatively slow walk.

And I think that's really just all I can do as I start running again.  Running until I'm tired, walking until I'm recovered then running again is ridiculously simple, but it also allows for mornings like this morning to happen without me feeling like I huge failure.

Don't get me wrong, I still feel like a failure.  But I don't feel too overly bad because  I still got out there and ran.

 This weekend, I found two magnets that are perfect for me.  First, the one above.  Yay! Running!  It's how I feel now that I can run again.  And then there was this magnet.

Mmmmm, pie.