Life Continues On

Hi there!

I’m alive!!! Today, I got to take part in The Inaugural Move Your Paws for the Polar Bear Cause at the Toronto Zoo.

February 22 Run: 21:59 (mm:ss), 3.24 km, 6’46″/km (GPS)

This was a 3k run/walk or 1 km walk event. I haven’t seen much details online about the results as it’s not timed but the turn out seemed great and I hope we really did raise some money for the Polar Bears. I event got to see the little cub, who is super adorable! We all got super adorable medals and free admission to the zoo for the day.

Runrchatts kept me going today as I found it difficult to breathe. I forgot to take my inhaler or pop a piece of gum for race time (both which at in my bag). I have not gone for a run in two weeks so I really felt it, my chest HURT! The rest of my body could move but my heart felt like it was ready to explode and my lungs would not ease up. I was also running as hard as I could even with all the hills! So, I’m guessing I had an ugly run face on as always but I had a blast and got to see some animals, I really enjoyed my day – even if it meant getting up at 5 am for the long drive.

I will be updating this post later on with some pictures once I get some loaded, not too many good ones, I have not learned to master selfies or really taking any photos.

Thank You! I’d like to send the Canada Running Series and all of the volunteers for everything today! The event was great!!! The only request I have is to have at least one building open for the runners to stay warm in before race time. I couldn’t feel my toes by the time we were lining up to start. The volunteers were fantastic and so was the atmosphere. Everyone was having fun 🙂

Okay, so where have I been the last two weeks? In addition to trying to cope since my last post, I’ve also been in a very tricky situation at work. The company I have been with for 9.5 years was just sold. This is not new to me, I’ve been with the company since we were independently owned, went public, went corporate, was sold and acquired so I can handle change. There has just been a lot more change that was not foreseeable or required more attention from me. Some changes include some major life decisions for myself as well. These changes would and will be affecting my personal life quite drastically. In all truth, I should have laced up and gone for a run, I’m sure it would have made the last two weeks easier to clear my thoughts but I got suckered in and settled for having bad food and watching mindless tv to not think about things. Adding sleepless nights thinking and having my mind racing over the thoughts and dreaming about work when I did sleep, did not help the situation. Please, I am very excited about this change, it’s not a horrible thing, there were just decisions to be made that were under short timelines. Anyways, I’m sort of back but I’m not 100% here. I want to get back to me, especially with vacation in less than two weeks, all my hard January work has been lost… I need to get fit again and work on that beach body! … Or at the least, tighten up some jiggles.

So, we live, learn and grow. We accept what we cannot change but change what we can to what is acceptable to our needs/wants. Try and fail, but don’t fail to try!

Well, I’m off to get some rest to cheer on Canada in the morning Olympic gold medal game. Go Canada Go!!!!

rundmach

Caving In & Running for a Cure

Hi there,

I hope you all had a successful weekend! I have two updates to post for this weekend a few other notes to share.

October 5 Run: 27:04 (mm:ss), 3:31 km, 8’11″/km

October 6 CIBC Run for the Cure: 38:00 (mm:ss), 5.41 km, 7’01″/km

Saturday. Let’s cover Saturday’s run first. I CAVED and had to get out for a run. My last run was Tuesday and by Saturday I was dying to run again and just couldn’t wait until Sunday so I let myself outside and said I’d do 3 KMs and at a very very slow pace. I accomplished this and felt better than ever. I was sooo happy I gave myself this run. After a run early in the morning and a late night getting in from my first ever NHL Hockey game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto to watch the Leafs’ home opener vs the Ottawa Senators, I called it a night at about 1 AM. I don’t stay up late so this made me worry a little bit about having to run the next morning.

Top right is pre run and bottom left is post run.

Sunday Morning. Not a problem! Let’s wake up and shower (yes my pre-race routine includes a shower). Off we go. Running for a Cure, my friend and I did the run to raise money for a better future for all of our breasts. Our team raised $680!!  This makes me very happy!! I hope one day we  can find a cure for cancer (and breast cancer). The atmosphere, energy, and support of everyone at this venue was incredible. I loved all the kids and the spirit that was there!! This is definitely a run I want to continue to do every year for as long as I am alive. I am happy that I am running and continue to run for a cause.

The Run. This is my second time doing this run. My first was my first ever race last September – this was a Big Day for me. It was last year and it is again this year. It marks my progress over the last year. I finished the 5k run almost 2 minutes faster! Although I luckily wasn’t sick this year and gained a bit of momentum from that, I did learn a lot about myself and being a runner in the last year. The Route had changed due to construction and instead of 5k it was 5.4km! What a bummer.. By the time I realized this, I was 150m away from 5k so I gave it my all to try to hit my 35 minute goal… The finish line was actually much further away so I didn’t realize I had to empty the tank earlier than where the finish line actually was.  I was unsuccessful at this and finished 5K in 35:19. Although I finished with a group of Warriors around age 9 – 11, it’s not too shabby. I’m getting better!!  I did run nonstop and tried to pace my friend but she drifted off after about 1.5km in; I did get to finish, walk back and run through the finish line with her again; that felt great being able to see her push through and destroy her 5k time! Can’t wait to see her progress in a year when we run this again next year. 🙂

More Happiness. Today’s 5k also marked my 500 km recorded on Nike +! That’s pretty awesome that I’ve run over 500 km as of today. I cannot wait to destroy this and get to 1000 km in even less time and less number of runs. This is definitely a huge milestone for me and I’d like to give a shout out to runrchatts for beating his first 500 km on Nike+ too! He also wore a pink ribbon today while he did his run for his half-marathon training. Thanks for the support 🙂

Other Notes. This will be my last fundraising efforts for 2013. I thank everyone who had supported me/the cause I have been raising awareness for. I know I have exhausted all of you, my friends, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving what you can. In the next two months I am looking forward to volunteering and getting hands on with helping before I start to look at fundraising again in the new year. I do also have two other runs I plan on signing up for but those are both fun (non chipped timed) runs that I’ll be doing more for myself. I love to run and I think adding in some runs just for the experience and joy will be great to add to the list of my race history. I feel that over this weekend I have had so many thoughts I wanted to blog about but as I’ve run out of time and left blogging to Sunday night before bed, I am scrambling with those thoughts… I will update you with any further notes I may have throughout the week as I continue to run.  Thank you for reading, following, liking, commenting, and supporting me. Thank you for being you and awesome!

Happy Running!

rundmach

So Happy, I Forgot a Title

Hi World!!!

The Terry Fox run was this morning and I couldn’t be happier.

September 15 Run: 1:16:48 (hh:mm:ss), 10 K, 7’40″/km

What’s that?! 10K non-stop, that’s right!! I didn’t stop, I may have slowed down to an 8 km per hour pace at one point but I didn’t stop and I even ran an extra 200 metres pass the finish to hit the full 10k!!

HUGE HUGE HUGE Thank you goes out to runrchatts, CJ, and CF for coming out and running with me!!! My pace is pretty slow but it’s good training for them 😉 . They never left my side and just kept running with me. This made a HUGE difference. For CF this is her first 5K of straight running, awesome!! Those new shoes paid off!! (Don’t worry readers, she wore them in before the first run today, 🙂 ). To achieve this 10K means a lot and having these guys and gals next to me is just so amazing! Big shout out to Nick @ Striding Towards Life  for dedicating 10K today to Terry Fox and really running for all the children and all the people affected by cancer. We also had another team member run at a location closer to his home, he did his first 6km run, ever! He also did it in 25 minutes; amazing!!! Thanks MD for joining in on the team! 🙂

This was my ultimate goal I set out last year from not running to being able to run this particular 10k straight for charity, I did it. This feels incredible!!! Our team raised $335 for The Terry Fox Foundation!!! Cancer better watch out because there’s going to be a cure and it’s going to get it’s butt kicked out of this world!

If you’ve never heard of Terry Fox, check out The Terry Fox Story – this original movie from 1983 is great. You could also see the newer Terry film from 2005 for a bit of a different more recent retelling of his story and journey. Both are very inspirational movies I’d recommend you watch.

There were moments I wanted to stop and walk, moments where I said to myself it was okay to walk, but in the end, those thoughts were pushed out with, it’s not okay, Terry did a marathon a day with one leg and he didn’t do it for himself! I did it!!! I just kept running and running. Now to keep running and maybe get to a half marathon one day? Slow and steady!! It is no shock any more how slow my pace is compared to most other runners, but especially today, this is not a race. This is all about me and if I do a half marathon (21.1 k / 13.1 m) in 2 1/2 hours or even 3 hours, I will be soooo stoked for finishing.

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start”- J. Bingham

I am definitely left speechless with how supportive everyone has been on this journey and how incredible I feel. It’s beyond a runner’s high, it’s happiness and bliss. I am loving life and everything it has to offer.

” I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try; dreams are made possible if you try.” – Terry Fox

Can’t wait for more wonderful journeys to share with you and a healthier, happier life 🙂 .

Happy Running

rundmach

Bundles of Happiness

Hey There!

Tonight I have a few other thoughts to share with you, so the running bit will be short.

September 12 Run: 39:56 minutes, 5.03 km, 7’56″/km

A little slower than the last run but it was still challenging and felt amazing! It’s down to 16°C (61°F)!!!! It’s not 40°C any more!! Yay!!! With that being said, the run felt soooooooo good. I thought I was steady and quick; apparently my time says otherwise, but I loved tonight’s run. I am happy with it and glad I have done it.  3 days to 10K!

Yesterday, I started a 30 day challenge. Similar to all the ones you may find on-line, I’ve drafted my own 30 day challenge to include: push-ups, squats, sit-ups, hip raises, leg raises (single and double), and planks. The biggest challenges here will be starting day 1 at  50 squats & 10 push ups and ending day 30 with 250 squats and 75 push-ups. I’m really excited as day 2 is over and I already feel more confident in doing the push-ups, planks, and squats. I’m stoked to get to the end of the 30 days and be able to do 250 squats!!! It’s getting late here and I want to cover another topic before I end this post so I will post the 30 day challenge as soon as I find time to type it up.

THE TERRY FOX FOUNDATION
I am so happy to share with you that so far we have raised $285 for The Terry Fox Foundation, with another $50 on its way from left over payments from the Silent Auction Fundraiser. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You to everyone who has supported this cause and my team with your words or encouragement and donations. To the anonymous donors to those joining me in this journey to some how complete 10K on Sunday, Thank you!

“I want to set an example that will never be forgotten” – Terry Fox

I am absolutely touched by the bloggers and followers and friends who support me day in and day out. I look forward to your stories for encouragement and for strength when I feel like I have nothing left to draw inspiration from and want to give up. You give me hope that there is still a lot of good in the world.

To every reader out there, I wish you all the happiness in the world that your heart can manage.

Happy Running, Much love,

rundmach

This is MY Race

Happy Sunday,

Happy Mother’s Day to all you readers! You’re all very special and cherished. I had the privilege to take my mom out for a lovely lunch today after my 10K race. Although exhausted from being awake at 4:30 am, I made it rough, inhaled some awesome vermicelli, and spent some time with my momma. Great day!

Now that I’m home and a bit more rested, I can tell you all about the big race!

May 12 Sporting Life 10k Race: 1:11:11, 10.30 km, 6’54″/km

This day started extremely early with needing to wake up and shower (yes, shower before a race to wake me up), eat, digest, and get myself to the race. Thankfully I went to bed early and got a decent amount of rest. Weather was horrible, somewhere around 6°C but felt more like 2°C… I didn’t mind until about an hour into the wait and my toes were going numb. I met up with two fellow teammates before the run, wished them luck and lined up in our respective corrals. We missed the other three members; it’s tough finding three people in a sea of over 27,000! One of our runners is injured so he didn’t run today. I did get to see everyone from the team who ran at the end. I came last in my team but I am super stoked with my personal best! Huge shout outs to runrchatts on the team who also achieved his personal best today too! You’re awesome, thank you for all of your help training me!

The event was a bit confusing… I lined up just because I read online and have been to a race before but there wasn’t any real announcement I could hear, maybe I was too far back? We had no clue if the elites had started or not. Half an hour later we started moving towards the start. Off I went. I avoided the first water station… Originally to be at the 3k, it appeared at the 4k… It was a disaster! No water on the first five tables, just a mess.. The last two had a few poor kids trying to pour and hand water as fast as they can. I relied on my Nike fuel belt. At 6 and 8 k i had a couple gummies – Honey Stingers from one of my coworkers/running mates who had given me earlier in the week. Not sure if they helped but they didn’t slow me down. I did pick up water for a few sips at 7 k as I was running low on my belt. I ran on… On and on and on… Actually, it didn’t feel all that long! I was hoping to have had a pace bunny to follow but there were none… I ran all on my own today, no partner, just my watch and iPod to keep me focused and on track.

Crazy enough, this was an amazing run for me! I had this insane kick at the end for the last 400 meters where I ran up to 4’47″/km! I am disappointed as I could have started my kick much earlier! I had so much fuel left… Oh well. I’ll know better next time. Yes, I will definitely do another 10K! Besides, this one was all downhill, and it was an extra 300 m. I also ran without the ugly run face. Satisfied with my challenging yet comfortable pace I was running. I felt happy and confident.

I felt great this run! I was content and just floated on. I coast by the run… Maybe that’s a hint that I was not fast enough for myself, but I did keep checking my watch to make sure I wasn’t going too fast, to tire myself out, or too slow, to finish at my 1 hour 14 minute goal. I beat that goal and I finished the race without walking!

There was a LOT of self talk this run but a lot of good talks… Well.. Chants… Each time I got a little bit discouraged by losing the runner I was following pace with (or seeing that I was running at the same speeds walk/runners were), I had to keep telling myself, THIS IS MY RUN! and THIS IS MY RACE! And I did just that, I ran for me and raced myself. Everyone around was just an obstacle on the street and a distraction to look at, not a competitor.

Woohoo! More collectables for my shoe box!

I got my medal, water, bananas, and met up with the team. Took a few photos and tried to get myself warmed up ASAP! Of course I warmed up from the running but standing around down by Lake Ontario gets cold quick when wind gusts are huge and a storm is rolling in. Hail started hitting shortly in the day, luckily I had found my way to my mom’s already.

Most importantly, our team raised money for Camp Ooch. As a team we have raised $1163!!!! A little shy of sending a child to camp for an entire week, but we did hit over 5 days! I hope some kid(s) really enjoys their time! 🙂
Thank you to everyone who has helped support this cause, support me, and volunteer at the event!!!

I am super excited to start my next fundraising initiative and sign up for more races!!

rundmach

Icing 12:1

Good Evening Readers,

I have a lot to blog about tonight and I don’t quite know where to begin so I apologize if I am all over the place tonight. I’ll start off with the easy part, my run.

April 19 Run: 77 min, 5.87 miles (9.86 km, 9.67 km on Nike+) – Treadmill

Unfortunately, tonight was a treadmill run and a 10K Plan run. I’m finding a lot more enjoyment running outside and loving running a whole lot more when I do it outside. If I’m on a treadmill and I want to run faster so I can finish faster, I have to think too much (what speed am I increasing by, how much time do I knock off of the time set on the treadmill, etc.). The run itself was fairly tough. 5 minute walk followed by three 21 minutes and 36 second run intervals with a 1 minute walk in between and a 5 minute cool down. The first interval was okay and I thought the following two would be just as challenging but manageable; I was wrong. The second one was extremely tough! By the third interval, my ARMS were tired of running. That’s no typo, my arms were actually really tired and didn’t want me to go on anymore. In the end, I finished it and I’m happy I did even though it was hard. I have tried to run the last two nights and ended up going to bed sad I didn’t; but it’s okay now, I ran! 🙂

Advice: NEVER EVER have a spoonful of icing before running… Yes, Betty Crocker icing is one of my many guilty pleasures and I decided to have a spoonful before my run today. Darn my silly sweet tooth! Anyways, the taste of that coming up while running, not so good.

In other great news, I’ve found a new home!!! I’ll be moving in June 1st!!! I don’t know the area very well but it’s a convenient location with many amenities close by. The neighbourhood seems safe to run in, which was key to looking for a new place! I’m very excited to be moving here as it will feel like a real home. It’s a townhouse with a back yard and front yard. No more apartment! Wohoo! 🙂

In addition to that great news, I have even more exciting news: I’ve made my goal of raising $250 for Camp Oochigeas! Thank you to two lovely ladies at work! I am still fundraising so if you’d like to donate a couple bucks, please do so by clicking here or read more here.

This weekend may end up being a rest weekend since I’ll be out of the city and in Toronto to cheer some runners on at the Yonge Street 10k. I’ll be cheering on random strangers but also Runrchatts, I Hate/Love Running, and Eric Y. at the finish line!! I’m super stoked to be in the crowd. I’m definitely jealous that these guys are all getting a medal as I can’t wait to get mine in May! I’ve made a few signs, I’ll only show two for now. Good luck everyone running a race this weekend!!!

Only 3 more weeks until my 10k run!! Wohoo!!! I’m not sure if I’ll be sticking to the plan so much anymore as time is getting too close and I don’t want to over-run. I may start slowing down my runs after another week. Who knows. I’ll just listen to my body and run. 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend and don’t forget to run!

rundmach

Treasure Chest 11:1

Hi there!

I must warn you in advance this will be a long post. I haven’t blogged since mid last week so I’ve got a lot to cover and I’m sure there’s a lot you’ll want to hear about as well!

Hills, Personal Best, Celebrations, and Fundraising. I’ll start with the easier bit, today’s run.

April 9 Run: 74 minutes, 5.87 miltes (9.45 km on Nike+)

WOHOOO! My Nike+ actually showed the correct distance I ran today!!! I actually ran indoors on my treadmill since it’s raining pretty hard out. Today’s intervals went as such: 5 minute warm up, and 3 intervals of 20 minutes 24 seconds run with a 1 minute walk in between each interval and ending with a 5 minute walk. Today’s run was supposed to be easy with two rest days since my 5K run on Saturday (more to come in the next paragraphs). The first two intervals weren’t too bad but the last one was challenging: not only was I starting to get the sense that maybe I’m getting bored (because it’s a treadmill and not the beauty of nature), I also felt my toes and my left hamstring starting to tense up and become too tired/sore. I pushed through it and just kept moving on to keep me on pace to doing the 10k in May. Now I may be taking another 2 rest days before doing this run again as I have to do this run another 2 more times before advancing. Let’s see how my legs feel in two days time.

New items added to my running memorabilia shoe box. My Treasure Chest. Can’t wait to collect more goodies from more races! 😀

5k Harry Rosen Run: First off, I’d like to send huge thanks to runrchatts for coming out, pacing me, and supporting me for the run! Without you, I wouldn’t have done as well as I did, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Second, this is my Personal Best 5K during a race (I’ve only done two but this is my first chipped race). I did 5KM in 35:04:04…. Yes, 4:04 seconds short of my goal!! I am definitely disappointed with this as I lost about 40 seconds in the last half km due to the race finishing on a hill. They warned us there was a hill… after the 4th KM I thought I hit the hill and mentally got myself up this “hill” for about 500 metres. When we hit the a flat for 100 I was excited the hill was over and I could speed up for the end. Unfortunately, the last 300m was the real hill! I think I got up about 2/3 of the way (but it was probably half) before my legs froze. Honestly, I didn’t think I hit a wall. I thought I had this and fought every part of my body to keep going but somehow my legs just stopped moving. Even walking up the hill seemed impossible at the time. Is this the Wall? Well, I made it. I ran the entire race up to that point (about 31 minutes straight). How did my legs freeze and feel like I was stoned from the waist down? Is this really what the wall is or is this just due to lack of hill training? Anyways, who cares, I hit a personal best which I will surely be beating later this year! Third, after all of that, I would like to assure you that I indeed am proud of myself for running this 5k and completing the race. Forth, I’d like to give a shout out to I Hate/Love Running who also ran this run! We’ve never met and I recently started following his run blog and stumbled across his post about running this same race (but the 8km one)! Congrats on your awesome time. Lastly, who runs when they are cold?! I couldn’t feel my toes for the 1.5 km at least. This was the weirdest feeling! Let’s make note to always stay warm before a run starts!

 It may be hard to see, but I’m actually not touching the ground in the photo to the left! This is a photo captured by the event and wants $60 for the actual photo so all I have is a blurry thumbnail to share. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS PHOTO! I’m almost like the silhouette of the runner in the header of my blog who’s running in thin air over water.  If I didn’t have such a miserable face, I may have considered buying this photo. Also, as you can see, runrchatts was always pushing me and cheering me on: even at the end he pushed me to sprint to the finish line to beat him in the last however many feet. Thanks 🙂

Things I’ve learned from this run:
1. I did not know I was the ugly runner! When we first got to the run, the 8k race was just starting so we cheered all the runners on. We watched and hollered for these athletes running their hearts out as I knew I would need that cheering in an hour. We were picking out the runners who made it look too easy and the ones who just looked like they were dying and struggling. Those runners who looked like they hated their lives (I gave them an extra cheer). Turns out, I’m one of those runners! The pictures posted for the results show me as that struggling, angry runner. It looks like I’m tormenting myself. Who knew?
2. When you’re “racing” in a 5k and in the 2nd last coral, you’re not really racing. You’re racing yourself. So my question, why do people find the need to be jerks? I had a girl in her teens elbow by me at around the 3km mark, rchatts had a couple strollers whizz right by him, and I had a few ladies blocking me in. So, the question is why???? We ended up passing the strollers and the ladies with our steady pace and to top it all off, during each of these occurrences, there was a ton of space around us for passing. Anyways, that’s my little rant for the race etiquettes that some people clearly do not care for.
3. In line with the previous note, I am not running these races to compete with the elites. I am competing against myself. This is a sport to me where the goal is to beat myself and be better than I was the day before. Yes, it’d be great to be amazing and #1, but that’s not my goal and that’s not where I plan on heading. This race solidified that thought and just proved that I do want to keep challenging myself to be a better me, not be better than someone else.
4. I want to run more 5k races!! It’s a good time (not too long) and a good challenge! I think the 10k will be tough for me and I’ll still do the 10 K in May and the 10 K Terry Fox Run in September but I definitely want to do many more 5K races!! Despite having the horrible face while I run, I actually do enjoy running! I can’t wait to finish the Sporting Life 10 K race in May and start signing up for more 5K races. I’ve already been looking a bunch up and might even travel to be able to do some.
5. This was a very well organized run! There was a lot of water, food, great energy and just an awesome place to be for runners, supporters, and volunteers. I had a blast just watching all the 8k runners start and finish! I had a blast completing my run. Thank you to everyone involved for putting this together.

I had a pretty exciting and long weekend. Run Saturday Morning, friend’s dinner Saturday night, and celebratory Blue Jays game Sunday. I surprised rchatts with Jays tickets for all of his help with my running and being a great and supportive friend. There wasn’t much celebrating for the Jays since they lost horribly but it was still fun getting out to my first Jays game of the season! I was so tired yesterday I went to work and barely made it through the day but all in all I had a great weekend!

In other news, I’d like to share some awesome information with regards to my efforts to raise money for Camp Oochigeas. Myself and my running team have been working hard to raise money for this charity (if you’d like a refresher, read more about the charity and my goals from my previous post Running for Fun). So, the Penny has been put to rest in Canada. In respect, I had started a Penny Drive around my office for the month of March. I had also mentioned I would match whatever we raised in the office and donate it to one of the fellow members of our team. We raised $43.27 in the office! I have matched that and donated $50 to one of our other runners. Thank you everyone for chipping in and searching for those lost coins or just emptying out your pockets for a day to support this cause! My personal goal is to raise $250 to send a sick child to camp for a day, I am currently at $243.27!!! Only $7 away. I hope our team can muster up enough support and raise enough money to send a child to camp for a week ($1750). THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED AND SUPPORTED!!  If you’d like to donate some change, you can do so here (the site is secure and does not charge you any transaction fees). Every little bit helps! 😀

I’m a bit behind on my blog readings and I apologize for this but I will be spending tomorrow night catching up on your blog!

 That’s all for tonight folks! Thank you for reading and supporting!
Good Night,

rundmach

5K Liebster Award – 8:3 Success!

Hello World!!

Tonight I blog in extreme excitement!! I have much to say so this may get a little long – be warned. 🙂

March 20 Run: 46 minutes, 3.70 miles (6.41 km on Nike+)

First off, WOHOO!! I ran 5 KM straight on the treadmill in 36 minutes and 20 seconds!! Second, I’ve blogged about Nike+ quite a bit and it’s obvious, something is wrong with it, 3.70 miles is really 5.95 km. This is almost half a full km off. That’s a pretty big difference when training for a 10 k! Third, back to the good, I ran 36:20 with the last minute upping from 5 mph to 5.2 and the last 30 seconds going up to 5.5 mph! 5 minutes warm up then a 5 minute cool down. Forth, I still had energy to keep going!! Fifth, I have been insanely ill today. I have a tooth infection and have been on meds for two days now. My head has been killing me (jaw/ear/mouth/temple) to the point I was smashing my head into my desk today when a co-worker walked by and thought I was just overwhelmed with work. Lastly, I didn’t even think I was going to run! After work I went for a half hour walk thinking that would be it since I felt soo sick (by 6 pm I had already taken 6 T2’s today). I came back from the walk with insane energy, head felt good, stomach a bit off still, but all in all, I had this determination to succeed tonight. Boy did I ever rise to the occassion! WOOOOHOOO!

Although Nike+ is wrong in terms of distance, it’s still a good relative comparison over time as it is what I’m using to run on my iPod nano. Today, all of my running KMs averaged BELOW 7 minutes per km!!!! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen those numbers and I’m so excited to be reuinted with these results. COME ON NICE WEATHER!! I can’t wait to run the 5 KM route around my block….TWICE! 😀

Thank you runat49 for nominating me!!! It’s a huge honour to be nominated for this! I love my blog and I love reading everyone else’s blogs that keep inspiring me to blog and run.

What is the Liebster award? Find out at strivebalance – Karen does a pretty great job at keeping it short and sweet.

This is a bit tougher for me as all I seem to blog about is running so let me give this a go and give you 11 random facts about me that I haven’t shared yet.

1. I have been working for the same company for almost 9 years now (since August 2004).
2. I just bought a complete new set of Golf clubs – I’ve never golfed in my life but I will start this summer!
3. My mom made my dad go through the Burger King drive through when she went into labour with me – this must be why I love fast food! (runat49, I thought you’d like this)
4. I am a hopeless romantic; I am not married but can’t wait to be.
5. I have earned honours in my Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in Operations with a minor in Human Resource studies.
6. I earned the President’s National Scholarship, at the University I earned that degree, for all 4 years. Only 5 students earn this award each year.
7. I set extremely high expectations for myself and beat myself down too hard too often.
8. As a kid I hated running but loved all other sports (I saw nothing great in running – boy was I wrong!)
9. I have a tattoo on my right wrist that says LIVE ♢ LEARN ♢ GROW
10. I find it easier to do nice things for others and treat others than to do the same for myself.
11. I am super happy for Danni who recently won The Biggest Loser season 13. I have been cheering for her the entire time.

Now, the other part of this is to answer 11 questions that I have been asked.

1. Who most influenced your life and why?
   My mom – she’s a warrior with insane stength: divorced, raised my brothers and me on her own without child support, had the strength to walk away, … I could go on but I think that paints a good picture. She has taught me to be strong, determined, and to never settle.
2. Why did you start blogging?
   To raise awareness for the charities I am running for, and keep myself dedicated and accountable to running.
3. What do you like most about blogging?
   Receiving Likes, followers, and visitors – this stuff means a lot to me. Also, I am able to be completely honest with my feelings, track my progress, and hold myself accountable for not doing it (because if I don’t blog, that means I didn’t run).
4. What is your favorite movie and why?
   FIGHT CLUB – great plot, the movie was extremely well done (better than the book in my opinion) and we all have another side to us that we just don’t know about.
5. What is your favorite book and why?
   The Outsiders – this book taught me a lot as a child…
6. What was your favorite subject in school?
   No, it wasn’t gym… It was Math! I still love problem solving to this day. It’s kind of my job now. 🙂
7. What is your biggest goal for 2013?
   To complete two 10k races and raise money for good charities!
8. Who do you admire most?
   I admire Terry Fox. A man who ran across Canada after losing a leg to cancer to build awareness deserves admiration from the world. I couldn’t be happier to run for the Terry Fox Foundation in September.
9. What do you consider your best quality?
   I’ve been told I am too kind, I wear my heart out on my sleeve and always go above and beyond for others. I think these are pretty awesome qualities to have.
10. Where would you move if you could move anywhere in the world?
    Jasper (the Rocky Mountains) if I didn’t have to work. I’d snowboard all winter long, and run through the mountains and forests all summer.
11. What makes you happy?
    This one’s easy, RUNNING! But also family, food, snowboarding, and sleep also make me happy. 🙂 .

FInally, I nominate these bloggers that have inspired me, check them out:

runrchatts
diannegrey
runat49 (I know you’ve already been nominated but I wanted people to check your story out too)
lesleycarter
running26point2
fitforayear
thestripedstrawberry
run5kaday

That’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a bit better.

Thanks for reading and constantly supporting me 🙂

rundmach

P.S. I forgot to mention, today, it happened!!! I felt my breathe get steadier as I was running! Still tough holding a conversation but I wasn’t panting! Woooohoooo!

Pushing Hard at 7:1

Hi there,

Thanks for stopping by! I’d like to take a quick minute to let you know, I’m grateful for your “likes” and comments, and even just visiting my blog. The fact that you came here to read this post means a lot to me. It is what fuels me to keep going and gives me a reason why I cannot stop. I am ultimately running for charity and to improve my health, but I couldn’t do it without your support. Without being accountable to the viewers and followers of this blog, I wouldn’t be able to keep pushing myself sometimes.

~Thank You~

February 27 Run: 40 minutes, 3.1 miles (5.13 km Nike +)

Tonight’s run was great! Extremely CHALLENGING!! I could barely make it to the 1st full mile running but somehow I just pulled through and did the 2.5 miles straight in 30 minutes! Wohoo! It was definitely hard. Near the end of the run, before the cool down, I could feel my entire stomach tightening up and telling me to stop but I kept going. 5 mph with 0 incline.

The worst thing right now is that my knee kills me OFF of the treadmill. It hasn’t gotten any better for the last few weeks when I get up to walk. I am still stretching and walking every day but my knee still gives out when I stand after sitting for a while. Not sure what to do here, my doctor’s in another city… it’s such a dull pinching pain, but it’s not life threatening…

The best thing right now is that I completed 5 km today with 10 minutes of walking. You know what that means? I can get to 5 km running in probably 35 minutes!! Can’t wait to get there in 5 more runs (according to the 10k for Pink plan)!!!! The plan does want me to run 5 k in 30 minutes but I am set on finishing the 10k in May, not setting a record, haha.
I’m also super excited because run 7:2 and 7:3 are the same as today. This means I get more time to practice and run better at this pace.

Anyways, times to fuel up and rest up.

Good night,

rundmach

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Dear Readers,

Tonight marks a milestone in my history of running! I ran outside in the winter! I’d like to thank my coworkers who have joined the 10k run with Sporting Life to support me. Tonight CJ, JJ, and TF took me out for a run at 5 pm right after work! They are truly in much better shape and I cant wait to be that fit! This group was awesome support!! They got me to run 10 walk 1!

February 13 Run: 31 minutes, roughly 4.4 km from gmap (4.2 km on Nike+)

My knee is still messed up but the run wasn’t painful; it’s sitting, stretching, and walking that hurts… The weather was a bit cold at first but definitely tolerable! It was -1 feels like -3 degrees Celsius. Next week, I need gloves!

Although this is off my plan, I will work this into my run schedule to be the 4th extra run and follow the original plan on my personal runs.

The group also wants to increase the run to 5km next week. I think I can do this, it will be hard but doable! I know this is a little off my 10k program I am following but these guys are running for me, I have to join them when they run! Plus, it’s super motivating running together. Intimidating as hell since today I ran with our VP, and director of HR. next week, my director will also be joining us on the run!

I’m very happy and impressed with myself. I fell behind but one of the runners stuck with my slower pace. It was tough for me but I did it! I’m excited to run with the group again.

Until next time,

rundmach

Interval Training

Good Evening Readers,

Before I get into running, I’d like to send out a special THANK YOU!! Three very amazing people have already donated to Camp Ooch in support of my 10k run! THANK YOU!
This year, I won’t be mentioning any names because God knows you’re wonderful people, and I’d like to keep those anonymous just the way they wanted to be seen. Regardless, you know who you are and I couldn’t be more blessed knowing such great individuals.

I’d also like to take this time to refer you over to my dear friend Robert. I have inspired him to join our Make Dreams Happen team in fundraising for Camp Ooch and join me in the 10k run. Please follow his story at Robert’s Blog. A few things here, Robert is the one who shed light on this run and introduced me to the charity. After researching a bit more, I couldn’t back out and recruited him to join in. We may have also recruited our VP of our company to run as well, but that’s yet to be finalized…

Make Dreams Happen is a common slogan at work, not only a motto in our workplace but it is a way of life. In our careers we strive to continue to Make Dreams Happen every day, there is no other name more appropriate for this team.

Today I’m feeling a bit better. Still coughing here and there with a raspy voice and sore throat. Nonetheless, I went to work, had a productive day, came home, sat on the couch….and sat some more… What a waste…

January 9 Interval Training: 30 minutes, 2.13 miles (3.4km)

Last year when I started running, I read all about interval training as a running plan. I couldn’t stick to any of them; I liked just getting outside and running until I couldn’t run anymore. Today, I started with a 3 minute warm up and ran 4 minutes, realized my chest and throat were killing me, walked 1 minute, ran 3 minutes, walked 1 minute, ran 3 minutes, walked 1 minute, ran 3 minutes, walked 1 minute, ran 3 minutes, walked 1 minute, ran 4 minutes, and walked 2 minutes.

It worked pretty well in helping me focus on trying to regulate my breathing and get some water in.
This will surely be a challenge to work myself up to even running 5k straight but I know it will happen… It has to!

10k, I’m coming for you!

In the meantime, please don’t forgot to support and donate here.

Thank you for reading!

Until the next run, have yourself a phenomenal night.

rundmach

The Big Day

Wooohoooooo!!

$505 raised!! Thank you Christine Flynn and Tiffany Madden for your last minute donations!!! It means so much to me, every donation, like, and support in any way! I love you all, readers, fellow runners, supporters, everybody!

In sickness I have ran the distance!! Not quite the way I wanted to. It was tough. I’ve never ran where my throat was dry and sore, my chest hurt, and during day light, I wanted to lay down and die. It was hot!! I do have to admit I did stop quite a few times to walk, it hurt so bad physically and emotionally. Almost cried e first time my body gave out and said I need to breathe and stop. No tears though, just excitement, I did finish the run. Sadly in 37 minutes… 7 minutes over 😦

Thank you to my special guy for doing the run with me today!! No way I could have done it without you!! Your amazing words of encouragement and constantly slowing down to keep my pace made me tread on. Thank you!!

What’s next? Stay tuned! I plan on doing a 10k and will continue training and blogging!

Thank you again!! I love you all!!
Sincerely,
Diana Mach

So Close, Yet So Far!

Hi Readers!

How I’ve missed you and blogging. There’s no excuse for my lack of posts, I am sorry. I am not sorry that there’s only 20 days left until the run!! With less than 3 weeks to go, you have helped me raise $445 for CIBC’s Run for the Cure, hoping to find a cure for breast cancer and helping support those affected directly and indirectly. I’d like to say a very special thanks to all those who have donated over the past month I have not blogged:
To my wonderful family, Mom and Steve, thank you for your generosity.
To my amazing friend, Linz, thank you for your support.
To my inspiration, CJ, thank you for being a drive and source of inspiration.

I am now aiming to raise an additional $55 in 20 days before my run! So if you can spare $5 please donate here.

The run is just so close but I feel so far away from my goal. I am confident now that I can run the 5k but to hit the time I want may not be achievable. No this is not me being pessimistic, just being realistic with my workload and some other life priorities right now. This doesn’t mean I don’t plan on hitting 5k in 25 minutes, it’s just very unlikely this will be happening on September 30. Not to worry, I will hit this goal.

So I was just wondering, what do all the other runners out there do during this time of year? Please, share with me your running routine if you’d like. I have been accustomed to running in the evening time. Started at 9 then moved to 8 and now even 8 pm gets too dark to feel completely safe with the trails I run. I’m not sure there are other routes I enjoy running; does this mean I need to become a morning runner? I can’t go back to being a morning running nor can I run any earlier. Getting home at around 6 and settling down, having dinner, digesting, 8 is about as early as I can go. Unless I do 6, then I risk running hungry…? Just a small hiccup with running alone. What do you do?

Anyways, I am loving life, I am loving running and I hope you continue to support me on this journey. There’s only 20 days!! I can’t believe it!! I can’t wait!

Thank you for visiting and reading!! I appreciate your support ♥

Sincerely,
– Diana Mach

P.S. if you can, please donate.

Amazed

Hello world,

I almost cannot believe I poured my heart out in my last post but that is really who I am.
Who I am is also someone who cannot let others down. Tonight, I had the privilege to see someone very dear to me who could never let me down. He showed up at my door and demanded we go for a run before we eat, hang out, talk, etc. He stuck to his guns and at first I rejected the proposal. In the end, I did not want to disappoint and we ran!

This is the first time I’ve ran with anyone since my very first run almost 3 months ago. It was amazing. He is patient, supportive, and just awesome! Thank you soooooo much for just coming over and pushing me to do what I needed most. You mean the world to me. ❣

The run was disappointing in terms of speed but I guess with a week break, I wouldn’t have expected any less. It was a shorter run as well but nonetheless, it was a sweaty workout and I am thankful I did it. I did upload the run onto my Nike+ page for those of you interested…

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I don’t think I can say it enough to my running partner, you and all of my friends who have been here for me.

So, I know how bipolar this can seem but really, my last post was apologizing for realizing how down I was over the last week and this post is to let you know that even though there are struggles in my life, I can do it. With the support of those who love me, I can do it.

Thank you.

I will run again this week, I promise.

Thank you Ian! ❤

Love,
Diana

Thank You!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY WORLD!

Today’s blog was going to be about how hard it was getting up this morning, how my stomach hurt, and how I only ran 3.5 km this morning. But after I got home this morning, I checked my email and found some great news I want to share with you.

Left speechless this morning, I am just amazed.

A huge shout out must go out to Mr. Eric Yip this morning for donating. It’s been a while since I’ve received any donations but last night you sponsored me and your continued support through those little things you do are truly appreciated. Thank You!

This marks another great milestone today. I’ve hit the $300 goal I had set to raise for Run for the Cure!! Thank you for supporting me, but most of all, Thank you to all for opening up your hearts and wallets to find a cure for breast cancer.

Everyone’s kind words, encouragements, and subtle little gestures all help drive me to succeed.

I truly am dumbfounded. I never would have imagined I’d sign up for a charity run, train, and raise money. Today, I am so close to running the distance, We have raised what I set as a goal, I have put my mind to this and will not stop, and most importantly, We are making a difference.

I am just overwhelmed with joy. I want to jump around and dance!

Please know that I am so grateful for all of your time reading my blog, support, encouragement, and donations. Thank You!

Have a wonderful day readers!

Sincerely,
– Diana Mach

P.S. I am still continuing to raise money to see how far I can really go, so if you haven’t yet, please make a donation; $5 can go a very long way. 🙂

1 1/2 Hours Later

Hello World,

Let me start off with my deepest thanks to Mark Beldman tonight. Thank you for always making me laugh, pushing me to have that pear over chips, and supporting me. Tonight I ran because of you. Thank you.

Despite falling asleep (multiple times) on the bus ride home today from work, I mustered up the power to go for a run tonight. It took me almost an hour to battle with myself to get off the couch and another 45 minutes to change and put my shoes on. In the end I got up and did it. What else? I jogged, although slower than yesterday’s pace, I jogged an entire 3 km before walking. Or what my iPod Nano would like to tell me is 3km…

Please, if you run with the new iPod Nano, help me out? I’ve been running the same route and it’s roughly 3.3km. Yesterday I calibrated my run to be about 3.4 (which included my warm up). Today, I started the distance tracker AFTER my warm up and somehow I completed 3.7 km? How did extra distance get added today? I feel today’s results can’t be right; I use to use www.gmap-pedometer.com to track my distance and 3.4 is fairly close to 3.3 but 3.7 is almost 4 km… No way the route I did today, same as any other, is 3.7. I ran slower, in a shorter time, but ran further than I did yesterday? I’m confused… Anyways, if you’re an Apple guru, please comment or send me a message and help me out?

So, back to the point, I got out there and did it! Even though I was ready to fall asleep, I am wide awake now!!! Woohoo!

We are almost at the point of hitting $300 raised to help fund breast cancer research. Please send your support to me or the CIBC Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Regardless of where you donate, just making a donation is all that matters.

If you make a donation on my behalf, I promise you, I will not let you down. If only 10 readers were to donate right now, you only have to send in $3. It’s easy and secure with your credit card. So please, sponsor me and support me. You $3 may mean coffee and a muffin in the morning, but to me, it is the biggest motivation beyond what I thought $3 could ever do for me.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great night!
– D Mach

P.S. I’ve added a new page, Nike+ (up on the top right), so you can track my running progress with me. Looks like I’ve slowed down from yesterday 😦

Great Vacation

Hi Readers!

I am back from vacation and I couldn’t ask for a better gift while I was away.

First off, huge shout out goes to a man for getting me the iPod Nano I’ve been talking about. I apologize to you all as it is not the PRODUCT(RED) as promised but this was his way of surprising me for my birthday and supporting me on this run. For those of you who do not know me, my Birthday was on Sunday. I now have the iPod Nano in graphite and cannot wait to upload running tunes and test out the Nike app! Thank you babe!!

Secondly, thank you to Jo and Brandon for your donation and support! I know I will hear more encouragement from you both as the time gets nearer! 🙂

Also, another major shout out to my supportive man for going to the gym with me while on vacation in Cuba! We spent half an hour at the gym and I ran for 25 minutes at speeds from 7-9km!

I am very happy that I have not let you readers, supporters, and donators down. I went for the one run I planned on during my week off thanks to your encouragement! I knew I could not let you all down as I made a promise that I would run just once. In total it was only 2.5km but in the middle of the week after basking in sun all day, it was a hard run in the hot weather and on a treadmill (a new running environment) oh and it was in Spanish…

So I had a great time in Cuba but I did really miss my home and routine: eating well and running at night. I look forward to getting back on my route this Monday and hopefully add a little more distance by Friday.

I’d also just like to say, I am sooooo touched by everyone. I did not think I would get this close to my goal with raising money for Run for the Cure so quickly. I am now only $50 away, Thank you all!

If you haven’t already, please Make a Donation. If 50 of you each donated $1, my goal would be reached and you would be helping fund research towards a cure for breast cancer.

Thanks for reading, supporting, donating, and just being you!
– Diana Mach

Special Thanks

Hi Everyone,

Every donation means a lot to me, so please, if you’re reading, donate a $1. You know that man lingering outside of the beer store that you would throw a buck or two at so he can splurge on booze, well, if you throw a buck or two this way, it’s going to help fight breast cancer. You can be a hero! So please, donate to me or the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Even if you’re American, we Canadians are friendly; if we find a cure, I’m sure we’d share it!

I am off first thing tomorrow flying off to hopefully sunny skies! I had to come back on to write a little Thank You message to a special friend who has donated.

Thank you Lori! I won’t let you down!

I AM RUNNING FOR ALL OF YOU! 🙂

I am actually kind of sad that I won’t be outdoors running next week. It will have to be a treadmill. Hopefully the hotel has treadmill or I will be very upset. I’m on a good streak here and want to keep it up. So keep supporting me because I am feeding off of you.

Thanks for reading my blog!

See you all in 9-10 days!

– D Mach

 

Vacation

Good evening readers,

I just got home from another straight 3km jog. I know today was definitely a jog as I felt slower and much more tired today than yesterday. Today I really pushed myself. I did not feel like running but knew that I made a promise to run 3 times this week so I had to. Getting outside, I initially thought I’d jog a bit and walk and jog and walk and so on. Instead every mark I hit I just kept telling myself, I must keep going, I did the 3 k yesterday, I can do it again today, even if it’s not as fast, I can do it. Woohoo!!! I did it. All thanks to Jodi M. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me. Tonight’s run was for you. On my runs I often drift off into thoughts that help me. I thought about our fun times back in 375 and I just kept running. I also know that I will slack next week as I am on vacation so I had to make this run really worth it.

Tonight may also be my last blog for a while. I will be heading off to Cuba first thing Saturday morning and will not be back until the following Sunday. However, I promise all of you reading, I will get on the treadmill at the gym at least once while I am on vacation. No matter how hard I party, I will make half an hour to run!

Please do not stop supporting me; your likes to my blog helps me get through this. I believe I am doing this for a well deserving foundation, a good cause, and for my health. Your support helps me stay focused, thank you!

Please Donate.

Yours truly,
Diana Mach

Serious

If you are just joining my blog, please donate to help find a cure for breast cancer and sponsor me to Run for the Cure.

Today I would like to share with you the joy in my heart that I have reached my halfway point to raising my target amount for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. I would not have been able to hit this goal without all of you and your support. My dear friends, thank you. No matter what your donation, every sponsor that I have received I am grateful for. And for that, after coming home from work and seeing this achievement, I had to dedicate a run to those individuals who have sponsored me to help me reach this target. So, I got home, changed, and even though it was already spitting rain outside, I got out there and ran. This run in the rain was for you!

With a vacation coming up this Saturday, I must hit my goal and run three times before Friday.
Had I not received those donations, I may not have gone for a run with the weather being gloomy and rainy, the fact that it’s a Monday, and I would have kept making up excuses without any accountability. Now that I have a sense of duty to you, I will not let you down.

Thank you for supporting me and pushing me. I look forward to keeping my promise to you all and running this 5k non stop.

Thank You L.D.C. & E.M

Dear World,

I apologize for not blogging the past day. Work has engulfed me! It is now the weekend and I look forward to persuading my dear man to go for a run with me.

Today, I have nothing but gratitude for the kind individuals who have provided words of support and sent in a donation on my behalf. For that, I am truly thankful.

I don’t have too much to say right now other than this has really helped me feel that I need to get back on track and keep running, I can NOT give up! I will run for this cause and Run for the Cure!

Thank you!

– Diana Mach

Thank You J.M.

Thank you big brother for your generous donation and support!