Speaking of running, I'm happy to say that I've stuck with it all Summer. The past two years I had fizzled out by now and given up on the hope of becoming a runner. But not this year! Mind you, I haven't been running as often as I should. The heat this summer has been killer and it makes it so hard to get out and run. There's been a few runs this summer where I've never felt so over-heated in my life! There was actually a week where my runs were so bad, I almost felt like I was having an anxiety attack and had to stop. I've never had anxiety before, but I imagine it's kind of what it would feel like. I felt very hot, panicky and I even had to take my earbuds out and walk it out. It was a very weird feeling, but thankfully it only happened twice.
I have to 5k races planned for the coming weeks. The first one is the Terry Fox Run on September 16th. I'm not sure how known Terry Fox is around the world, but in Canada, he's a hero to most. Every year in almost every town across the country, Canadians set out to walk (or run, bike, blade, etc) 5k in memory of Terry Fox and to raise money and awareness for Cancer research. As someone who has had loved ones lose their battle with cancer, the Terry Fox Foundation is close to my heart. When I was younger we used to raise money at school and participate in the run/walk with classmates and now as an adult, I continue to raise money and awareness and also run the 5k in memory of my Nana and Uncle. Below is a brief description of Terry Fox and what he's done for our country (you can skip this, but it is truly and inspirational story and I encourage everyone to take a minute and read it).
Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canada's west coast. An active teenager involved in many sports, Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimetres (six inches) above the knee in 1977.
While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
He would call his journey the Marathon of Hope.
It was a journey that Canadians never forgot.
After 18 months and running over 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) to prepare, Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 with little fanfare. Although it was difficult to garner attention in the beginning, enthusiasm soon grew, and the money collected along his route began to mount. He ran close to 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day through Canada's Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario. However, on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs. An entire nation was stunned and saddened. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.
The heroic Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning.
To date, over $600 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world. Source
The Terry Fox Run will be nice practice for the following weekend where I'll be participating in my second official 5K race. Me and the ladies from works have signed up for the Oasis Zoo Run at the Toronto Zoo. This one should be a lot of fun - who doesn't want to run with the animals?! ;) The only downside is that the Zoo itself has a lot of hills so I'm not too sure how I'll do. The girls and I are thinking of making Turtle t-shirts for a few of us (because we're so slow) and cheetah t-shirts for the fast girls. It's an ongoing joke that we're the "turtles" of the group :)
I'm praying that the weather cools down a bit for both of these runs. Last night during my run it was pretty warm, but there was a nice breeze which is perfect! I was searching around some running sites last night looking for more runs to sign up for and I came across one called the "Resolution Run". It takes place on December 31st at 5:00pm and it's a 5k race. I think it's such a great idea that people are starting the new year off on the right foot (pun intended) with a 5k race! Each participant gets a really nice running jacket too! The old me would be worried that a 5pm start time would ruin any potential New Years plans, but the me today knows that I can easily work NYE plans around a 30 minute race ;)
I haven't signed up yet, but I'm pretty sure that I will! It will help with my goal of continuing to run throughout the winter.. and who knows, maybe I'll sign up for a 10k after that :o
I'm glad you shared the Terry Fox story with us. Very sad but inspiring. :)
ReplyDeleteThe December 31st 5k sounds like fun! I wish there were was something like that around here!
I'd never heard of Terry Fox, but that is certainly an amazing story. Thank you for sharing it! Good luck in both of your races-- I love the turtle t-shirt idea!!!
ReplyDeleteWe'd never heard of Terry Fox when we first travelled into Canada but, oh my, isn't he just such a Canadian Institution!? Love taking part in the runs as many years as possible - the first one we did back in 2005 was when we were tourists - little did we know back then we'd be living here!! We won't be doing a run next weekend since we're booked at some Mountain Lodge, but I'll definately be clocking up some hiking miles in his memory.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I keep meaning to mention to you. That Apple Butter you sent to me in my Foodie Pen Pal package was incredible! Most of it got eaten straight from the jar with a spoon, but it's also super good over greek yoghurt. You've introduced me to something I probably should never have got started on....so, so good!
Congrats on keeping up with the runs. I too have peetered out in the past but have stuck to it this time. :)
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