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

Learning to Pace

Hi there,

Tonight’s run was a time to pace my friend who has decided to join me again in running. If you recall My First Post, my friend was unable to continue running as she got shin splints, ouch! Well, I’m happy to welcome her back into running. She joined our team for the Terry Fox run and her and I are a team for the CIBC Run for the Cure run as well.

October 1 Run: 22: 22:58 (mm:ss), 3.06 km, 7’30″/km

Just on pace!! It was very hard trying to pace at this speed. I found myself going too fast or too slow a lot, but eventually thought I found a happy medium. After plugging in my watch it looks like I was still fluctuating all over the place but kept an average at exactly where we wanted. I did feel super comfortable running with her and focussing on her running over mine. I could actually get out sentences without sounding like I’m going to die. So, is this because I’ve switched my focus or because the last few runs have been spent focussing on increasing my pace?
It doesn’t really matter, I’m just happy with tonight’s run!

It was a long long long day at work and pretty overwhelming doing a lot of requests and not getting to my own work. I think she had the same kind of day as we sit right next to each other at work. The run, the perfect therapy! Not to mention the veggie sushi rolls we had pre run. Yum!

My question for all of you, how do you keep a steady pace? I use a watch and still can’t maintain very well.

Whether you’re running alone, with a friend, or in a group, I hope you’re running happy! 🙂

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

Working on It

Hi,

Earlier I set out that this week I had to do a 10K…

August 21 Run/Walk: 1:09:15 hour, 8.14 km, 8’30″/km

I did not achieve the 10k distance today but the week isn’t over. It was a struggle to even get to 5. I broke my run up between the first five kilometers and the last three. Thought I was going to throw up a couple of times, luckily I didn’t. The success of tonight’s run is I tried a route I go by every day and think about those other runners I see, “Boy, I’m glad I don’t run this was, that hill up and down looks killer, and I’d have to do that once to pass it and another to get back home!” Well, as challenging as today’s run has been, I succeeded in running straight through the hill both times!! No walking! Woohoo! Oh and it’s the first time in a very long while since I’ve broken the 5k mark. A lot of work to get up to 10k again before September 15!

Anyways, keeping it short and sweet tonight, I hope you’ve been staying more active than I.

Remember, if you haven’t checked it out yet, please take a look at my Fundraiser or spread the word for me!

Happy Running,

rundmach

Silent Auction Fundraiser!

Hi there,

I NEED YOUR HELP!!! I’m finding it very difficult to get interest in my SILENT AUCTION FUNDRAISER.

ALL WINNING BIDS WILL GO TO THE TERRY FOX FOUNDATION – PLATINUM STARS!!!

I’ve got brand new DC Shoes and they are new to this season!! Signature series DC Nyjah’s (size 10.5), Mike Mo’s (size 11), and Chris Cole (size 12) Shoes! All Brand new, with the box, and I’m taking bids! Or maybe a night out at the movies for two with two drinks and a popcorn to share?

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS:
SILENT AUCTION FUNDRAISER

I am accepting bids starting at $1 CAD!!! (Regardless of the retail value)
Please email or message me your bid and Item #.

At the end of the bidding, I will notify the winner who can pay in Cash, Cheques, e-Transfers, or direct donation (credit card or secured through PayPal) to the Platinum Stars will be accepted. All Shipping will be covered by me if I can’t get the product to you locally.

Please help me Spread the word!!

If you are not interested but may have some friends who could be, please send this to them, pin it or post it to your Instagram, Pintrist, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I need your help to raise money!! I’m not just asking for money but will ship you product for it and it’s all for a good cause.

I know I am grasping at straws here as I haven’t received much interest in my community but the blogging, running, and online community has never cease to amaze me. Please help spread the word! Maybe your kids or your friends would be interested? You never know what pinning this or sharing this Auction could do.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Diana Mach

Experimenting

Hi There,

I know I’m blogging twice today but I just finished a run and I couldn’t NOT blog.

August 15 Run: 40:14 minutes, 5.31 km, 7’34″/km

A bit of experimentation going on today. Tried a different route in the neighbourhood with less elevation. Run felt MUCH better than the previous and I did it non-stop.

The real reason I am writing is that today I posted my new charity up and have already received great response (The Terry Fox Foundation – “Running” for a Cause). I am lost for words with some of the amazing donations I have received in product for my SILENT AUCTION, monetary, and emotional support. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Auction, please do. Even if you bid 10% of the value, you could win and I’d be ecstatic to have some more funds go towards the cause. Note a typo on the Auction form: If you win, you can pay in credit card – not just Visa. I will also cover all shipping costs. 

Short and sweet as I hope you get to spend time reading my earlier post from the day.

Much Love,

rundmach

“Running” for a Cause

Hey There!

I wrote about this event over a year ago to be my goal to achieve. It’s now official, I’m signed up and fully in fundraising mode!

On September 15, 2013, I will be taking part in the Terry Fox Run in its ongoing work to fund innovative and progressive cancer research programs. I very much hope you will consider joining the team (if you’re in Canada) or making a donation in support of my effort, confident in the knowledge that your kindness will impact the lives of so many people living with cancer.

This is a Walk, Run, or Wheel event with various distances (depending on the location). I encourage you to join our team, Platinum Stars and walk, run, or wheel to a better future. Distances range from 1k to +10k. A 5K walk takes on average less than an hour and less than 12 minutes to walk 1K. There are so many locations available across Canada: Burlington, Niagara on the Lake, St. Catherine’s, Hamilton x 3, Oakville, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, and many more. You can sign up for an event in your local community but be part of the Platinum Stars!!  There is no entry fee or minimum donation required. This is not a timed event. This is simply to raise money, awareness, and come together for a greater cause.

Whatever your ability, do this not only for yourself but for those in need. Spare 12 minutes or an hour of your time for a healthier future for you and those around you. If you’d prefer not to participate, please click here and make a donation to support the team.

In the words of Terry, “If you’ve given a dollar, you are part of the Marathon of Hope .”

Terry Fox ran across Canada – ask any Canadian, he did it! Although the evidence suggest that he may not have completed his personal race, his spirit and determination has been ingrained into Canada and I believe Terry Fox completed his Marathon a day across Canada. A true Canadian Icon, Terry Fox has an amazing story; If you’d like to learn more about Terry Fox or The foundation please visit the LEARN MORE page. He was who I wrote my grade 3 Canadian Hero report on and I couldn’t be happier that each of you do support me on each of my journeys to help others. I am also ecstatic that I have made it this far in a year with your support and encouragement from not running at all to running 10K to support The Terry Fox Foundation.

I hope you will be part of this journey and donate to the team or sign up and raise funds for this organization.

For any donors or participants, I will be doing a raffle for prizes to everyone who’s contributing!!

Brand new items up for grabs in my new Silent Auction in efforts to raise funds includes:  a West 49 Gift Card, Movie Passes, Nixon TPS Speaker,  Red Star Deck,  DC Shoes, a few Long Boards, etc. Check Out the SILENT AUCTION PART 1 HERE!! More items to come shortly!! PLEASE START BIDDING OR DONATING!! 🙂

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and continue to support me by following my blog, liking my posts, encouraging me to run, donating to the auction, donating to the charities I am raising awareness for, and believing in me!!

“It took cancer to realize that being self-centered is not the way to live. The answer is to try and help others.” – Terry Fox

Sincerely,

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

It’s About Timing

Hello World!!

Tonight marks a breakthrough in treadmill running for me. Lately, I’ve been struggling with slowing the treadmill down whenever I felt like I couldn’t go on or felt a pain. The treadmill I got only does preset workouts built-in or a manual time and one speed (in which you change the speeds manually as you run). I choose the manual one, but what I really want to do is be able to create my program to set it to specific miles per hour for specific lengths of time… So this is how I end up running 8 minutes walking 1 or 2… running 5 minutes walking 1 or 2… and so on..

I overcame that problem a bit tonight by telling myself, that it is OKAY to run/jog below 5 miles per hour… for whatever reason, since I’ve started running on the treadmill, it’s been 6, 5.5, or 5 mph and walking at 3.5 or 4 mph.

January 17 Run/Jog: 45 minutes, 3.32 miles (5.3 km…5.6 km on Nike +)

2 minute walk, 20 minute jog/run at 4.7-5 mph, 2 minute walk, 8 minute run, 1 minute walk, 6 minute run, 1 minute walk, 2 minute’s emptying the tank – 5.5 km up to 6 km, 1 minute walk, 1 minute jog (4.7 km), and 2 minute cool down walk.

I had to add-on 5 minutes in another session on the treadmill because it doesn’t let you add time to a workout in process… a little silly… Seriously, if anyone owns a Livestrong treadmill, please help me out!

The entire run, I was feeling pain in spots that didn’t even exist before, flubber bouncing around, rolls cramping up, … etc.. By 33 minutes, my ankle was hurting in a way it’s never hurt before. I kept telling myself that I said I’d run another 3 minutes before I could stop, but it hurt so bad… I kept telling myself, I can do this, and the pain past… But about 10 seconds later my opposite foot was hurting in the arch and in my toes! I’m not saying all of this complaining but just explaining how much it did hurt to run but I just pushed through the pain today. Today was about getting to the time and if it meant running a little slower, under 5 mph, then that’s what I had to do to run for a longer period of time; 20 minutes straight, 45 minutes total! 🙂

Today I had to force myself to think positively; to think that “I’ve done this before, I can do this now, I want this for me, I want this for my future”. I thought about how I want to feel healthy and sexy again. I want to be comfortable laying on my couch without feeling rolls getting in the way when I’m trying to curl up…

~JUST THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS~

I am very excited that I did 45 minutes of exercise today!! Nike+ says I ran at an average pace of 8 minutes and 9 seconds per km while my first 5 km’s were all below 7’44″/km. That’s really exciting! It’s the last 0.6 km that I had walked to slow down that slowed down my average pace.

This means all I have to do is double my current run time and I can do the 10 km! I have not set any time goals as many others do for races… Currently, I would just like to finish the race and get to that 10 km mark.

Off to the finish line!!… in another 114 days… 16 weeks to go! …

Please don’t forgot to donate to the children I am also running for. I know I may be running for my health but I’m also fundraising for sick children with cancer to go to summer camps!!! Please donate here, or read more about my journey for this charity and the charity here.

Thank you for taking your time to read my blog!

Cheers,

run.d.mach

Running for Fun

Hi World,

This is my Running for a Cause – Part II – Running for Fun

Did you ever go to camp as a kid? Do your kids go to camp now? Or do you just like the idea camp?

My mom didn’t have the money to send me to camp as a child… So when I was 16, I got my first part time job. I saved some of the money I earned so I could go to Muskoka Woods for a leadership camp with my school. It was awesome!

I can imagine how tough it must be to not be able to afford camp… I can’t imagine how much tougher it must be to be so ill that camp seems out of question.

Please take a moment in your day to watch this video about Camp Oochigeas before you read on:

Camp Ooch, a place where sick children get to be children and not worry about being sick; A place where parents know their kids are in good hands and are having the time of their lives. Camp Ooch also goes to the children at SickKids hospital to provide in house camps as well.

Last year, thanks to you, I raised $505 to help find a cure for breast cancer and ran 5k. I thank you all for supporting me. I also promised I would raise money to do the 10k Terry Fox Run in September this year.

This year, I am being very ambitious… I have not been running for a while and let myself go… But… I will be running a 10k race on May 12, 2013 to raise money for kids to go to camp Ooch.

I encourage anyone who is interested to join me in this experience as I’m looking to create a team. Please, reach out to me if you’re even playing with the idea of joining or donate to support by clicking here.

We have four months, about 18 weeks, to train and raise money. I am hoping we can raise enough money to send a child to camp for one week, that’s a $1750 goal.

More About Camp Oochigeas

Camp Oochigeas is a privately funded, volunteer based organization that provides kids with cancer and kids affected by childhood cancer with a unique opportunity for growth through challenging, fun, enriching and magical experiences. Ooch allows kids with cancer to just be kids.

Camp Ooch does not receive government funding, and relies on the generosity of volunteers and donors like you, in order to make the magic of camp happen!

To find out more about the camp, visit www.ooch.org.

Whether you donate $1 or join me for the race, I will forever be grateful of your support. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Diana Mach