Hello!! I am back with my fitness updates! What with Iceland, and then Iceland recaps, I somehow missed FOUR weeks? I am not sure of that math, but there we are! So where am I, weight wise? In a pretty good place! When I left for Iceland my weight was about 147/148 and when I came back I weighed in at 150, but it soon settled back into the 140s. I thought for sure all that junk food on the road would go straight to my hips, but thankfully I seem to be only up a pound or two.
Once I got back I was super busy with various engagements and really didn't get back into my workouts right away. However this past week I have done really well going for runs and starting to work out again (eating is a whole other issue, but I'm working on it)! And this past weekend I ran my last official 10k of the season- the Terry Fox Run!
My friend Sarah and I have signed up as Team Amazing for the past 6 years and collectively in that time we have raised $5,850 in that time!! We were stoked to be back again as it is one of our favourite events of the year.
Sarah picked me up at my place and we drove over to our run site, Wilket Creek, in the east end of Toronto and met my parents there (this was their 2nd year doing the run). It is a great site because:
1. You get to run on shady trails, not roads
2. There is a ridiculous amount of free food
Thankfully for the past 6 years we have had decent weather, but this year was actually quite cold so we were bundled up! But hey- as long as it's not raining I'm happy!
The run always has opening speeches which are generally a local celebrity or politician (this year was Premier Kathleen Wynne), a local young person who has been through cancer, and Isadore Sharp, is the founder of the Four Seasons hotels and was one of Terry's earliest supporters on his run across Canada.
There was also a surprise guest this year- Terry Fox's dad!! He gave a short speech and got a huge applause after. Such a sweet man.
After the speeches we commenced with our warm up, which is always hilarious because we have no room to move around in the small field. Then it was time to get the show on the road!
My stepdad Lee and I were running the first 3.5km together so we went to the front of the pack for the run. Mom and Sarah were planning on walking 5km and Lee was going to loop back after his 3.5km run and meet up with them. I was doing the full 10km!
I actually really enjoyed this run. The first few kilometres were tough, but then I just felt like I was flying and only took a 30 second walking break when I looped around the 5km mark to head back. It is so nice to run on trails vs roads, and while I sometimes got behind a back log of walkers, I usually was able to maneuver easily around them. Sometimes on narrow bridges I had to be a little more patient.
About 200 metres or so from the finish line, I came across 3 familiar backs- my parents and Sarah! I had actually managed to PASS them on their 5km walk, so I made fun of them as I ran by, but then walked back after I finished the run to joined them for the last few metres. The Terry Fox Run isn't officially timed or anything, but according to my running app I finished in 58:25, which is pretty good considering I sometimes got slowed down by other people!
Once I completed my run I went straight for my victory corn.
There is nothing quite like barbecued corn after a workout!! I also ate a hot dog and a Reeses ice cream sandwich thingy (yum). Good thing I had burned all those calories!
While we were taking advantage of all the free food, Sarah and I noticed that Terry Fox's dad, Rolly Fox, was standing nearby so we went over to shake his hand. He is a really nice, humble man! It must be pretty mind-blowing to know your son started a movement that has raised over $650 MILLION in dollars for cancer research. I hope I am still a part of the run when we reach $1 Trillion (or, hopefully we find a cure and never have to get there!)
It was such a great day and I just want to thank everyone who donated to my team as we raised $1000 this year! I think charity events like this one are great because they are fun for the whole family and there is no minimum donation or anything- they are really just about bringing communities together to raise money for a good cause. I know that Terry Fox Runs are held all over the world so there may be one near you! If not, there are many other ways to raise money. My cousin just shaved her head as part of the I Will for Cancer campaign in Australia!
You can still donate to my run by going to this link:
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=2535933&langPref=en-CA
Let's make sure we can add more names to the survivors board, instead of the "in memory of" board!
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| Lee, survivor of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma & my Mom, survivor of cervical cancer and currently kicking breast cancer's ass! |
I did the Terry Fox run for the first time since I was a kid this weekend, my work did it in Markham. We had a great experience, I'll definitely do it again next year. I'm also now doing the CIBC one in October - apparently that's my new thing - charity 5Ks :) We lucked out that the weather wasn't terrible for us, I was actually getting hot during it! Hopefully October will be good too.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are still doing so awesome with your working out! I'm impressed. I haven't run since my 5k on the 6th and I'm so ashamed. It's just getting harder and harder to get out of bed in the mornings. But I plan on getting back out there on Friday and finishing off this stupid C25K program.
ReplyDeleteI love that you have been participating in the Terry Fox run for the last 6 years, maybe I'll do it next year!