Inspirational Runners - Kim Slater Edition

On July 8th, Kim Slater began her trek to run the equivalent of 29 marathons over 45 days; personally, I think she's insane! To raise awareness about the controversial expansion of the Alberta oil sands and society's dependence on fossil fuels, Slater is running the proposed route for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline which is set to start near Jasper, Alberta and finish near Kitimat, British Columbia. That's 1,170 kilometres. Uh...I thought 21K was a lot! 


As she goes along, Slater plans to stop and talk to the people living in the communities located along the proposed pipeline route. She hopes to raise questions in addition to awareness and get educated on all aspects of the issue. The pipeline would carry an average of 525,000 barrels of petroleum per day through the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. In the long run (pun intended), Slater is hoping to pressure Canadian federal leaders to create a national energy strategy. 


Slater has raised $15,000 to cover the costs of her endeavour - a support vehicle, waste vegetable oil for fuel, and food. So, I thought $5000 and 21km was pretty impressive, but I have nothing on the Marathon Slayer. 


You can follow her incredible journey on Band Together BC: Hold Hands Not Tar Sands. 


Like Kim, I am running for social change - advocating for a cause very near and dear to my heart. Education WILL change the world - one student at a time and I will tell people how important their support is - one kilometer at a time! Wise words from Kim Slater: "Running is the simplest way forward..."

21 Weeks to 21K

In 21 short weeks, I'll be in Las Vegas, Nevada running 21km. It's going to be great - maybe - and maybe I won't die. I've been reading The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training by Dawn Dias. In fact, I'm following her training guide because she had never run a day in her life (well maybe as a child) before she decided to run a marathon (a full one I might add). It's slow and steady, but not easy by any means. The basic structure is Sunday: short run, Monday: rest, Tuesday: short run, Wednesday: a bit longer run, Thursday: 45mins - 1hour Cross Training (which means something that is low-impact like biking, weights, core - pretty much anything that does not require incessantly pounding the pavement and having my shins scream out in protest), Friday: rest, Saturday: long run (a.k.a. Hell Day). That is repeated every week until week 19 at which point I do short runs Monday and Tuesday and rest every day after that until the marathon on Sunday.  

So that's the running part...

...now for the fundraising part.

A few days ago I needed $150 to hit the $1000 mark. I promised that I would post an embarrassing photo of myself post-workout once I reached that landmark. I launched my second fundraising idea - Pennies for Progress - and asked people to help me collect enough pennies to cover each kilometer of Africa's continental border. That's 30,557 pennies! When you ask for pennies, you're pretty much guaranteed to get other coins as well. A friend of mine pulled this jar of coins from the back of her closet and delivered it to my desk. There was over $200 in that jar which put me over the $1000 mark. With online and personal donations in addition to honey sales and coins collected so far I've raised $1080 dollars! You can see the financial breakdown associated with each aspect of my fundraising efforts here. You can also add to my fundraising efforts there. 

Alright, I am done digressing. Here is the pre- vs post-workout photo. Hopefully you get some idea of the sweat and stink emanating from me in the second photo! 

Inspirational Runners - Kathrine Switzer Edition

I've decided to start some "Special Edition" posts in 21K for Change and Inspirational Runners is one of them. This first post is dedicated to Kathrine Switzer. My friend, Barbara, posted that photo on my facebook wall and this idea to showcase phenomenal runners stemmed from there. 


Kathrine Switzer is the first woman to run the previously male-only Boston Marathon. In 1967, as she run down the marathon course, Switzer was physically attacked by the race director for wearing official bib numbers in the race. In 1972, after 5 years of advocating by women to be eligible to run the race along side the men, the Boston Athletic Association officially allowed women to enter the race. Jock Semple, the man who had attacked Switzer just 5 years earlier, was allowing women to run the Boston Marathon, but only if they could meet the men's qualifying time of 3 hours 30 minutes. Seven women ran the Boston Marathon in 1972 and the rest is history. In 2012, more than 10,000 women ran the Boston Marathon. 


Switzer was the women's winner of the New York Marathon in 1974 and achieved her personal best time of 2:51:37 in the Boston Marathon of 1975. (Seriously?! A full marathon - 42K in 2:51:37?! I hope to finish 21K in that amount of time!) 


At the age of 63, after a three-decade rest from long distance running, Switzer ran the Motatapu Icebreaker, an off-road marathon in New Zealand in 2010. 

Switzer works as a television broadcaster and has covered all of the major marathons in North America as well as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. She won her first of several Emmy awards in 1997. Switzer is also a best-selling author and renowned public speaker. Her memoir, Marathon Woman won the 2008 Billie Award for journalism. 


I'm going to leave you lovely readers with words of wisdom from Katherine Switzer, words that I plan to add to my list of things to remember while running when I feel like I am going to die: "It's about women who can endure the distance with belief and bravery, and every day are empowered by their efforts."

Why I Run

A few quick updates before I get to the point of this blog:
1. I can now run 10K slowly, but surely. 5K is old news. My goal is 10K in one hour; right now, I do it in about an hour and fifteen minutes.
2. Plyometrics no longer makes it nearly impossible for me to move from a sitting to a standing position and vice versa. Buns and thighs of steel, baby - that's all I'm sayin'.
3. I have raised a total of $840 for the SRP! If you add the $0.10 per $1.00 that I said I would donate to myself, I actually have $924.

Ok, now to the real reason for this post...almost:
I've never met Marie Landry, but I count her as a cherished friend none-the-less. We share a love for reading and writing and that's how we came to cross each other's path. Marie blogs here: Ramblings of a Daydreamer and she just published Blue Sky Days. In a beautiful effort to help me out, Marie just included a post - Supporting the Student Refugee Program - on  her blog. In honour of her efforts to help me acquire some much needed funding for the SRP, I thought now would be the perfect time to share the sponsored student stories that I have been meaning to blog about for some time know.

Here goes - the real reason (finally) for this post:
In 2006, the student we brought to Brandon University had to flee Ethiopia because he was advocating for his rights as a university student. Imagine facing death at the hands of your government simply for standing up for your fundamental human rights! After spending a number of years in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, he was accepted into the WUSC (World University Service of Canada) Student Refugee Program. He recently became a Canadian citizen and he'll finish his final year of an Education Degree in June of 2013!

In 2007, our student came from Kakuma Refugee Camp after fleeing life-threatening conditions in Ethiopia. He hasn't seen his mother in over five years! If you saw a photograph of him when he arrived in Canada compared with one of him now, you wouldn't guess the photos were of the same person. He's happy and healthy and hopes to make it home for a visit next summer!

In 2008, we had the pleasure of welcoming a student from one of the Dadaab Refugee Camps in Kenya. After fleeing the atrocities that were occurring in Somalia and spending the majority of his life in the camp, he was welcomed with open arms to Canada. His personality is larger than life and he just recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science. He will write the MCAT this summer!

In 2009, we welcomed another student from one of the Dadaab Camps in Kenya. Again from Somalia and again after having spent the majority of his life in the camp, we welcomed him with pleasure. He'd win the award for best dressed at any function and is currently working on finishing up his undergraduate degree.

In 2010, the student we brought came to us from Kakuma again. If you are at all familiar with the Lost Boys then you know a little inkling about our 2010 student. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of an incoming raid. Everyone in the village fled for their lives not knowing where their families were. For months he walked, caught the occasional ride, and feared humans more than the African wildlife. Upon coming to Canada, he was finally able to reconnect with some of his family members after nearly a decade of not knowing whether any of them were still alive. He is the kindest person I have met in my life thus far; I honestly cannot express the brightness he was brought to my life. He'll be finishing his third year of studies in Biology and Chemistry this year and getting ready to write the MCAT in the near future!

In 2011, we had another student from Dadaab. On his way from Somalia to Kenya, he saw his baby brother die from starvation and dehydration. He, himself, was only a child. He spent nearly two decades in the camp before making it to Canada through the WUSC Student Refugee Program. I have never seen someone as thin as he was when he came by my office on his first day here. I held the tears in until he left, but as soon as he was out of sight, I let them out...in streams. In just two short months, it will be a year since he arrived on Canadian soil. I had lunch with him today and it donned on me how healthy he looks now. He is thriving and it warms my heart!


In 2012, we will bring 2 students, each from a different camp in Dadaab. Brandon University has been bringing one student a year to study from a refugee camp for over three decades. After a lot of hard work, the dream that I've had since 2008, when I really started getting involved with WUSC, to provide two students with the opportunity to change their lives, is coming true. At this point, our committee will be able to bring two students on an alternating basis - one student, two students, one student, two students. The next step of my dream is to continually bring two students EVERY year.

• These students have faced atrocities that I could never fathom.
• Despite those atrocities, every one of them is an epitome of all that is good in this world.
• So much dedication has gone in to achieving a two-student sponsorship.
• In order to maintain a dual sponsorship, we need to raise more funds.

THAT - friends - is WHY I RUN!

It Hurts to Pee

I dread the twinge in my bladder that tells me I need to go pee, but not for any of the reasons that are likely going through your mind right now. The actual act of urination isn't painful at all. Before copping a proper squat, I have to physically brace myself so that I can lower my body down to the sitting position o-so-gently. When I've finished my business, I, once again, have to brace myself in order to return to a standing position.

PLYOMETRICS - that is why!

I described plyo a bit better a few posts back. It's one of the best workouts I've ever done. By the time I'm finished, I'm dripping sweat from every orifice of my being and can barely stand because my legs are so shaky. Strength training, baby so that 21K in 172 days doesn't stand a chance. Did I mention I can jog for 9K straight now?! My next long jaunt goal is 15K - 10K of which will be jogging. Sunday's the day!

As for fundraising...my lovely friends and family have contributed $285 (5% of my goal) so far! My honey fundraiser, I sold 140 jars at $2 profit a jar for a total of ... who's got mad math skilz? ... $280! That means, overall, I have $565 for the SRP!

5K MoFos

At the 4.5K mark, when I was almost ready to die (I was actually jogging this time, not walking), this song came on my iPod.  I made it to 5K and clearly did not die or you wouldn't be reading this blog post. If you think 5K jogging outside doesn't sound like a big deal, go try it...right now. (If you're a runner and you're reading this, you don't count - although, you also likely appreciate and understand my excitement.)


I JOGGED 5K - in a row - without stopping. Can I get a "whoop whoop"? How about a donation?


Technically, I jogged 6K, but the last kilometer was after I had walked for about 3. Just another 10K Sunday, folks. Next up, 7.5K - in a row - without stopping.

Yoga's NOT for Sissies and Elliptical Intervals are EASY

The next time someone laughs at you for counting yoga as a workout; you look at them right in the eye with a straight face and tell them, "Yoga is NOT for sissies!" The P90X yoga workout is an hour and a half long and I promise you that if you can even semi keep up with the people on the disk, you will be dripping sweat. Your entire body will be sore (a good kind of sore) after the workout, legs, arms, abs; you name it, it'll be sore.

After yoga, like I said, I was sore...everywhere. I decided to do an "easy" workout so instead of strapping on my Vibrams and taking to the outdoors, I decided to do intervals on my elliptical. Intervals used to be my most difficult workout, the fact that I now view it as my least intense workout, says something about how difficult jogging outside really is. Don't get me wrong, by the third round of intervals, I was dripping sweat (the whole dripping sweat thing seems to be a pattern), but using the elliptical causes the least amount of impact on my muscles.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Student Refugee Program. (Re: The Death of my Fat)