Another way to help: Make a blood donation!

I made a blood donation tonight. It's something I really enjoy doing. The clinic staff always makes me feel so darned special.  Plus, lots of people I care about have needed blood transfusions at one time or another so it seems like the least I can do.

When Jon was in hospital undergoing treatment, people asked what they could do to help. One of the things he suggested was that they donate blood, plasma or platelets - so one lunch hour a group of us who worked with him went to the local blood donor clinic en masse. I remember that we laughed a lot. And talked about Jon. And tried hard to distract and encourage the newbies who were nervous about making their first donations. It was a good day - a day when we were all happy we could do something to help and still felt optimistic that Jon would recover from the leukemia that eventually took his life.

Please consider making a blood donation if you're able to. Less than 4% of eligible Canadians do - and you really could save a life - two or three even. I promise it won't hurt a bit. And did I mention they treat you to cookies and juice after?

For more information on donating blood, click here.

Week 9: 25 kms along my favourite piece of shoreline


Kilometres this week:  48 kms
Total kms in 9 weeks:  300.7 kms

Other training:  yoga, several long beach walks
Funds raised to date: $2260.00 

It's been another great week in terms of fundraising. A masssive thank you to all those who've sponsored me so far. Your support and encouragment mean more than I can say.

It's been a great week in terms of training as well. Tuesday, I ran a mellow 7kms with my friend Sue - which was all I could manage after my chiropractor, Eric Helson, had another go at my right calf Monday night. The treatment hurt like the dickens but seems to have been effective so I'll head back for more of the same later this week. (In all seriousness, if you live in HRM and require chiropractic care, I'd highly recommend Dr. Helson. As well as being a heck of a nice guy, he's a marathoner, an ironman, and an amazing diagnostician.)

Thursday night, I managed six hill repeats; Saturday, I ran an easy 8kms along the river; and - for a special treat - I ran nearly 25kms along my favourite piece of Nova Scotia shoreline yesterday.  I hadn't run the same route since last February on a cold, windy day when the scenery looked quite different. (Click here to read an account of my February run and here to see pictures.)  By contrast, yesterday was glorious - mostly sunny and warm with a cool breeze that made running very comfortable. The photo below was taken by a fellow beachlover near the end of the route, as I made my way back across Crescent Beach. 

Week 8: Savouring how lucky I am

Kilometres this week:  41.5 kms
Total kms in 8 weeks:  242.7 kms
Other training: 2 hours yoga, several long beach walks
Funds raised to date: $1810.00 

What does this photo have to do with TNT?  Well, it's my favourite from amongst those I took at the beach today where I spent the afternoon with a good friend and various members of my family. We walked, talked, listened to the waves and - yes - even swam in the cold north Atlantic.  It was a few hours of well-earned rest and relaxation after a big weekend of training.

Following my first foray into hills on Thursday, I tackled a long slow 21kms yesterday without triggering a major knee issue. In fact, my knee felt so good after running 16kms at a sensibly slow pace that I was able to pick it up considerably for the last 5kms and arrived home feeling strong and energized!

This morning, I hit the road again - this time with my friend Karen who was visiting for the weekend.  I introduced her to my favourite 8km loop along the river, then added a little distance so she could see some of Bridgewater's fine old century homes as well.  Our pace was a leisurely one because I was recovering from my LSR and because, as always when we run together, we talked non-stop. :-)  Back at the house, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of fresh strawberries and cream, toast, That Dutchman's gouda and cafe latte on the back deck, before packing up to head to the beach.

This weekend brought home to me again one of the things I like best about being a member of TNT - being reminded regularly to savour just how lucky I am to be alive and healthy enough to go for long mellow runs, body surf in the ocean, eat wonderful food and spend time with the people I love.

If you haven't sponsored me yet, I hope you'll consider it!

Whohooo!! Hill training!

Last evening. In the pouring rain. I am so "hard core".  :-)

Seriously, it felt great!  I only ran four relatively short hills, but it was a start and my knee held up well.  I was especially pleased that running downhill didn't hurt, which was my biggest concern.  Given that there will be lots of hills in San Francisco, it was a relief to begin incorporating some serious hill work into my training finally. I followed it up with some lovely long yoga stretches when I got home and iced my knee before bed to ward off any stiffness this morning - which seems to have worked.

As a reward for my efforts, I ran along a favourite path through Birch Cove Park en route home.  It was still pouring rain so I had the park to myself and the path was barely passable in places on account of all the overgrown vegetation (the upside of all the rain we've had this summer.) Only a few hundred feet from a busy neighbourhood street, I felt as if I was in the midst of a forest miles from anywhere.  It was magical really. In fact, it was so lovely I stopped in a small clearing for several minutes just to drink in the beauty and silence all around me.

That's what I love about running. If I didn't run, I likely would have been stuck in my apartment feeling grumpy about another evening of cool rainy weather in July. Instead, I was outside enjoying all that beauty and doing some terrific training.  How great is that?!

Week 7: On vacation (sort of) but still running!

Kilometres this week:  35 kms
Total kms in 7 weeks:  201.2 kms
Other training: 2 hours yoga, several long beach walks
Funds raised to date: $1610.00

The big news this week is that I had a lovely note from Kirsi who reported that she was doing well and looking forward to a two week vacation - part of which she hoped to spend sailing with friends.  It makes me very happy to think of her enjoying herself after all she's been through. She also mentioned that she'd read the notes friends had left on "her" page, and on my TNT fundraising page and that it made her happy and proud to know they were thinking of her and willing to sponsor me.  So, if you know Kirsi (and even if you don't!) - please consider becoming a sponsor and/or leaving your own note for her.

Training
I was on vacation these past two weeks - well sort of. I worked every day but stayed at our country place with my husband who was on vacation - officially, at least. The reality is that he spent most of his time working on house repairs, gardening and spoiling me!  And I must say that arriving home to healthy and delicious home-cooked meals every night and having so much time with him and our two beloved cats made it feel like a vacation for me too. The only downside was that I spent nearly three hours a day commuting back and forth to the city every day - though of course it was worth it!

Week 6: Getting back into the groove

Kilometres this week:  26kms
Other training: 2 hours yoga
Funds raised to date: $1410.00

Training
I got back into a more normal training groove this week with three runs - the longest of which was 13kms along the LaHave River and through Peace Park (where this photo was taken).  My right leg felt great during the two shorter runs (on Tuesday and Friday) but I had to call my husband to rescue me when my knee seized up and became very painful at around the 12km mark today - which was disappointing because I had planned to run 20kms.

It's irritating to be dealing with an injury - but at least it's early in enough in my training that I know I have lots of time to figure out what the trouble is before race day. My chiro did some serious (read "painful") work on my right calf and hamstrings last week and taught me two new stretches which seem to be helping so hopefully I'll be back to full strength before long. This week I'll focus on easy running, yoga and ice. Hill training will just have to wait until the knee is up to it.

Fundraising
My fundraising got a boost this week when several former College classmates responded to an appeal I sent late last week with donations and messages of support for Kirsi - for which I'm truly grateful. My plan for the coming week is to reach out to more former classmates, catch up on thank you notes, and investigate a couple of fundraising projects for later this summer.

If you haven't yet sponsored me, please consider visiting my TNT fundraising page soon!  www.tinyurl.com/not-about-the-necklace. My initial goal is to raise $4,000 by August 1st so any amount you are able to contribute will be greatly appreciated!

BTW, click here for more pics from my long run today. I feel so lucky to be able to run in such beautiful places.