Congrats to all of the Joints in Motion participants today - We did it!!!

Hello from the Caymans! Today was marathon day and the good news is that every member of the Team Canada Joints in Motion team finished their events. Congrats to all of you - you truly are an inspiration to us all! There were 6 of us that did the full marathon and the rest of the team respectfully finished the half. Did I mention that a lot of those that participated today through the Joints in Motion program are actually living with some form of Arthritis. What an extraordinary accomplishment for you all to make!

My marathon was a mixed bag of highs and lows with the second loop (it was a 2 lap course) being the hardest 21.1kms I've ever run. We started in the pitch black at 5am - thank goodness for the blinking red lights they gave us to wear or I think there would have been a lot more collisions than what I saw. My first lap I felt really strong and kept a good pace finishing the first 21.1kms in 2:04 and feeling good. It was shortly after that at 23kms that my hamstrings and quads started to seize. This course is flat, flat, flat! Some of you may be thinking "isn't that a good thing?" No, it's not a good thing. A flat course means your muscles are repeating the exact same motion over and over again for the duration of the race. When a course has some hills in it, your muscles get a bit of variation and stretch out a bit on the hills. So at 23kms my legs were screaming "enough already!" Keeping in mind the paragraph above and the knowledge that those who live with arthritis don't get to quit life because they're in pain I persevered. I struggled through the second lap with both the seizing legs and a wonderful case of "runner's bum" that had me making 2 emergency potty stops. My official chip time was 4:30.52 - but my potty stop adjusted time (I stopped my timer while in the loo) was 4:26:14 which is a personal best for me.

I am currently sitting in bed with my legs up getting ready for nap time once I'm finished this post. After nap time I will be hitting up the hot tub and trying to massage away the lactic acid build-up in my legs that seems to be causing quite a bit of discomfort at this point. The awkward part of having so much pain in my legs is that I really can't complain. I will only have to endure this pain for the next 24-48 hours. Many of the people I'm here with have to endure this amount of pain every day of their lives.

I am so proud to have been able to accomplish this goal and raise funds for such an incredibly worthy cause. These are some of the most genuine people I have ever met and I am absolutely humbled by their candor in sharing their stories with me and their ability to endure the countless surgeries and pain that they live with everyday. Thank you to everyone who supported me through this - the real people who deserve your support are the many Arthritis Heros who are here with me today.

One week left to Race Day!

Well that was a bit of a gong show of a training week. Tuesday's run was done inside on a treadmill for fear of freezing. Wednesday's run was forfeited for a birthday dinner for my brother in law and their newly grown family. Thursday was a ridiculous snow day and I decided to save my ankles for race day and not to run in the snow. Which brings me to my cold, wet run today. Though it wasn't snowing, it sure felt like it could have... brr! Bring on the warm weather!

I will be boarding the plane for the Caymans in 3 days!!! I can't believe it's almost here. The master plan is to take my laptop with me and update my blog when I get there, probably the night before the marathon and then of course after the marathon to let you all know how it went. Keep your computers locked to this channel and it might seem like you're right there with me :)

Many of you have wished me luck and sent emails of encouragement, and I thank you. You've made this experience one that I will remember for the rest of my life and though it was both physically and mentally challenging I wouldn't change any part of the journey. You've all been so great and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support.

Baby it's cold outside...

Here we are, 8 days from boarding a plane to the Caymans to run a marathon and I'm out running in -6 degree weather! What the heck? I knew there was a chance that I would have to run in the cold before I left but I had no idea it would be this cold. Hopefully the weather warms up a bit so I can thaw out before heading down to the 30 degree weather. Something tells me that this is going to be an interesting experience...

I had to abandon my run on Thursday due to frozen fingers so I went straight home to start the hunt for my running gloves. Unfortunately it seems the weather is too cold for them too as they are still in "hiding". Sunday's run was a cold one and am I ever glad that I went out and bought a new pair of running gloves to replace the ones that are missing in action - they kept my hands toasty warm. Unfortunately the new gloves did nothing to help keep my butt warm and after 23kms I found myself sitting in a bathtub of warm water for 20 minutes to try to get the feeling back to some sensitive areas!

This week's 16km long run is going to be done at my race pace and I'm hoping that it warms up a bit so it won't be in the biting cold. I will probably be running from Rocky Point Park at about 8am and heading along Guildford into Port Coquitlam. Anyone looking to run 16kms or any part of it at a 5:45 - 6:00/km pace is more than welcome to join me!

The fundraising is all done as you can see from my previous posts but I had a little something else to keep me busy this week. My sister Breanne, her husband Jim and their daughter Ella welcomed another baby girl - Samantha - into the world on Friday. Congratulations to the Fenyedi/Corrick family, she is absolutely beautiful and has already stolen her Auntie Lisa's heart just like her big sister did!

Thanks to everyone for their support again this week - even though my fundraising is finished my web page is still available for any donations you may still wish to give to the Arthritis Society. Together we can make a difference in the lives of others!

Fundraising is D-O-N-E!!! Bring on the marathon!

It's true! I reached my $5,900 fundraising goal this past week and what a HUGE relief that was. I might have shed a tear (or two) when I realized that I had reached my goal. I knew I was stressed about it, but I had no idea how stressed I actually was until the muscles in my neck started to relax and this state of calm washed over me. Whew!

It was a busy week - not only did I finish my fundraising but I also did my last long run before marathon day. Now some of you are looking at the side of my blog thinking, "is she crazy? She has 23kms to run this week!" This is true, so I'll rephrase - the taper has begun! Over the next couple of weeks my training focus switches from long steady runs to shorter faster runs to work on my speed while letting my legs recoup before a very warm run day.

I just happened to check the weather today in the Caymans and was slightly shocked to read the 27 degree weather at 6am this morning. The most shocking part was the "feels like 36 degrees" written down the side. Oh my, this will be an experience indeed! I can honestly say that I have never run in that kind of heat and am fairly certain that it will be a shock to the system. The master plan is to lay on the beach for the 2 days that I have in the Caymans leading up to run day and try my best to acclimatize my body to the heat before taxing it by running a marathon. This whole thing sounded a lot more enjoyable before I really started to think about the chafing and possible heat stroke that might come into play. I am currently accepting applications for water boys and will bring extra luggage to smuggle you down there!

This week will be another interesting one for the Fenyedi/Corrick clan as my sister should be giving birth to baby #2 any day now. One could say that my sister is prepping to run a marathon of her own this week. Good luck Briggy, you're a fabulous mom to one and you're going to be just as great with two! I can't wait to meet my new niece/nephew. Come on out little one :)

A million thank yous to those of you who donated and gave me your support over this past year. I couldn't have done this without you! I didn't realize going into this year how humbling an experience raising that amount of money can be. Those that fundraise on a regular basis are in a class all on their own and they deserve the highest amount of respect society has to give. Thank you for your support!

Pub Night Saturday Nov. 13th - See you there!

Well here we are, the first week of November has come and gone and I've been lucky enough to have my long run day fall on a dry day yet again. Yeehaw! I did my 31kms this past week on Saturday morning so I could balance living life (yes I attended and thoroughly enjoyed a wine tasting on Saturday night) with my marathon training schedule. It wasn't sunny like it was on Sunday morning, but it was dry and it felt great. I bought my new shoes this week and took them out for their first spin on Saturday - it felt like I had pillows around my feet! It was fantastic! This week's long run will be 34km and it's the last long run before the taper starts. Woo hoo! I'll probably be running it on Saturday again this week so I can get it done before the pub night. As I've said before - I'd be more than happy to have you join me for all or part of it.

My last fundraising "event" is this Saturday, Nov. 13th. I am holding a pub night at the Point Pub in Port Moody and you can find full details on the left side of this page. I do still have tickets to sell so please contact me ASAP and let me know if you will be joining us. If I don't have your name and the number of tickets you would like, I can't ensure that you will get one. The burger and beer/highball deal is only applicable if you have a ticket and you need to order your food before 8:30pm. It's going to be a fun night and it finishes off the fundraising I've been doing for the past year so come on out and help me celebrate!

I'm not too sure if anyone has noticed, but the thermometer on my fundraising page made a HUGE jump in the past couple of days to 98%! I can't tell you how happy this makes me!!! As I said above, my pub night will now be more of a celebration with fun and games than a stressful event to raise x-dollars so please do come out and be part of the celebration. With your generosity and support, we've done it! I am absolutely humbled and amazed at the support you've all shown me to accomplish this goal for the Katherine's, Tony's Sue's, Christine's and the many other Canadians, young and old who are living with Arthritis. Thank you!

I'm leaving on a jet plane one month from today!

Is it just me or have the past two months flown by? It seems like just yesterday that I was starting my marathon training and now here I am, one month away from leaving for the Caymans and my distance is already up to 31kms and counting! That went by really fast and I'm sure the next 5 weeks will also fly by.

The next couple of weeks will be very busy. The pub night is coming up on November 13th and I still have lots of tickets left so please contact me if you are planning on coming. Keep in mind there are no ticket sales at the door as I have to get my numbers in to the pub this Saturday so they are ready for the group of us. Tell your friends and family, get tickets for all of them and come on out for a fun night to help out a great cause!

This week's long run will be between 31-34kms and I'll be running it on Saturday morning. If any of you are thinking of going for a run on Saturday morning, come on out for all or part of it, I'd love to have you! I haven't finalized my route yet so I can be flexible to pick you up along my way.

The thermometer on my fundraising page is at 90% though there is more money that will be posted in a couple of days. Yesss! I do still have a couple of the Epicure dip sets left for sale that I would love to have go to a good home so let me know if you're interested. Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this, your faces kept popping into my mind while I was out for my run on Saturday and you got me through another 31km run!

Sometimes it's best if you just listen to your body

There are ups and downs when one is training for a marathon and this week was just one of those weeks where my body was not happy running. Today's run was supposed to be 34kms and I knew going in that it was going to be a tough one so I decided to take today as my rest day, do 23kms and let my body recoup. Running these distances requires proper rest and fuel and unfortunately I suffered from a lack of sleep and poor eating habits this week. It definitely caught up to me today and to avoid the risk of injuring myself by pushing through the fatigue, I actually made the smart choice of listening to my body for once!

Today marks 6 weeks to race day and I'm happy to report that even though I had a rough week, I'm feeling stronger than ever and am looking forward to race day! The chill in the air makes keeping hydrated easier, but I am still packing around as much water and gels as I can fit so I will be used to carrying them and ready for the very hot race conditions. I have never trained for a marathon in cool weather only to run the race in warm weather so if anyone has any tips, please send them my way. I already have my anti-chafing Body Glide packed in my bag and ready to go! Trust me, the name sounds much more risque than it really is.

My fundraising thermometer jumped this week to 90% of my goal raised and counting!!! The pub fundraiser is the last item on my list and there are still plenty of tickets left. Please do get in contact with me if you plan to attend so I can get you tickets and give the pub a proper head count of how many to expect. It's going to be a fun night so bring your family and friends and come on out! See the left hand side of my blog for more details. Thank you to everyone for their support again this week, I wouldn't have made it this far without you!

A huge thanks to Caroline & Erin for joining me today!

First order of business is thanking Erin & Caroline for joining me for the last 12 kms of my 31km run this morning. You ladies had me running a negative split for the last 12 kms, woohoo! It was a fantastic day for a run - though it was a tad chilly out when I started at 8am. I ran the out a back along the Barnett Highway for my first 19kms and then met the ladies at 10am at Rocky Point Park for the last 12kms. It was so great to have them with me for the end to listen to them chat and keep my mind of the soreness that I really struggled with the last 3kms of my 29km run on Thanksgiving. After today I'm feeling WAY better about the distance and a quick parking lot consultation with Coach Caz has me deciding to run 34kms this coming Sunday as opposed to the scheduled 32.

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but the thermometer on by fundraising page took a rather large jump this past week - I'm up to 88% of my goal and closing in!!! The goal is to have my fundraising wrapped up by mid-November after the pub night (details are on the left hand side of this page) so make sure to get your tickets from me. I also have 5 of the Epicure Dip Sets left to sell - 3 of the Savoury dips and 2 of the Sweet dips so if you didn't get a chance to order any or if you bought some and have realized that you want more, let me know!

Race day is closing in with only 7 weeks left and I can not thank you all enough for the support that you've shown me through this journey. I am have been overwhelmed by your generosity and and constantly surprised by those who have shown me their support however that has been. Thanks to each and every one of you - we're almost there!

Lastly, I would like to congratulate my old friend Chris for running his first marathon on Thanksgiving long weekend. Welcome to the club Chris! I hope you stick around for more - I look forward to running one with you in the future!

Apologies from a Delinquent Blogger

Over the past couple of weeks it has been brought to my attention by many of you that I haven't updated my blog in awhile. I am absolutely flattered and impressed with the number of you that are following my blog! Please accept my apologies for being a delinquent blogger. I was down for the count with the stomach flu for a couple of days and then I was waiting to finalize the details for my pub night. The disappearing act won't happen again, I promise!

Speaking of my pub night, check out the left side of my blog for the details. This will be my last event prior to buckling down for the last 2 weeks of training before I head off to the Caymans to run this marathon. Woo hoo! I filled out the registration form for the marathon today and the flights and travel arrangements were all booked this week too. Eek! There's no turning back now...

The training has been going well and there are no new incidents to report. I have "gracefully" managed to keep on my feet and avoid attacking sticks. Hills are still my nemesis and I will never call them easy but I do seem to be handling them better than I was 3 weeks ago! This Sunday will be 29kms and it will be after Thanksgiving dinner the night before. I haven't planned out my route yet but if any of you are up for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner long run please let me know  - I would love the company regardless of how long you join me for.

I am looking for silent auction donations for the pub night. If any of you work somewhere that does merchandise donations, please let me know. I plan to have a donation letter prepared in the next week on the Arthritis Society letterhead that I could give you to approach your company with. A happy Thanksgiving to all and to those of you heading off to Kelowna or Victoria this weekend for the marathons - good luck and have fun!

I can't believe I actually fell running!

Well it was another busy week! I don't remember pushing myself this hard training for a marathon before so here's hoping that it will bring me to the Caymans ready to go. I also received my samples of the Epicure Triple Dip Sets this week - thanks Kelly! - so I had them out for tasting which went quite well.

This week for the first week I decided to try running before bootcamp on Tuesday to see if I could handle them both. Tuesday went OK though I was definitely feeling the lead weight of my legs near the end of bootcamp! Wednesday was my first hill training for this marathon and silly Lisa decided to go all out - and why not, it's not like I hadn't recovered from the night before... I need to apologize for anyone who had to witness me tossing my cookies at the top of Heritage on Wednesday night. In retrospect perhaps I should have taken it a tad easier then I did. Thursday was another repeat of Tuesday with a run before bootcamp and boy did I feel it on Thursday night!

Which brings me to today's run.... 23kms today and I actually tripped over a curb and bailed 17kms into it for the first time in my 6 year running "career". So embarrassing! Not only did I trip and fall, I did it at the busy corner of Johnston and Guildford in Coquitlam. AND it was one of those slow motion bails where the arms were flying trying to get my balance before hitting the very hard pavement with my hands, right knee and shoulder before rolling through it. I'm fairly certain that if you look hard enough you might actually be able to find it on YouTube later. I would also like to thank the two "gentlemen" who were there (one was walking across the street behind me and the other one was standing at the bus stop watching me) neither of whom moved to help me up OR ask if I was OK... How chivalrous!

On to the fundraising... I am still selling the Epicure Triple Dip sets so email me with your orders. Over the next month I'll also be handing out donation request letters to businesses for merchandise that I can sell at a pub night/silent auction that I will be holding in October (stay tuned for the date and further details). If any of you work for a company that does merchandise donations, please let me know and I will give you a letter for them. I would be grateful for your assistance with this! Thank you to all of you who donated and bought Epicure Dip Sets this week, we're now up to 80% of the $5,900 goal. Let's keep this going and fight arthritis together!

Well that was definitely wet!

I don't know how many of you were out excercising in the rain today but if you were I'm sure you were drenched! The master plan for my 19km today was to run it up on the Sunshine Coast for a change of scenery but as is the case in life, plans change and you learn to roll with it. Soooo... If anyone was driving the Barnett Highway today and saw a crazy person in a pink jacket and white hat running down the side of the road, that was me! Being the first rainy run of my training I wasn't exactly looking forward to it but I must say that I was very peasantly surprised. Even with the bump up in milage the run felt great!

As you may have noticed in my training schedule, hills training starts this week, woo hoo! Hills training has never been my favorite, but with the strength I've been building doing bootcamp I'm actually looking forward to it. Sick, I know... Chances are you will see me plugging along up Heritage Mountain on Wednesday night so come on out and join me if you're up to it! Sunday's long run will be 23kms, I don't have a route planned out just yet but if you're interested in joining me send me an email as I'd love to have you out.

It was another great week on the fundraising front, with all of the donations coming in we've made the jump from 73% - 79% of the $5,900 goal! We are still selling the Epicure Dip sets and I have some in for sampling so let me know if you'd like to try them out, they sure are tasty! Thank you to everyone who donated this week, keep them coming - let's do this!

Rough week.... and there was blood!

What a week! This week brought a roller coaster of emotions from the runners highs to the low of learning that I will be heading to the Caymans without Katherine.

I received the unfortunate news this week that my friend Katherine will no longer be joining me in the Caymans in December. Sadly her Rheumatoid Arthritis is flaring up from the stress of fundraising (among other things) and so the decision was made that I will go solo. The main reason why I decided to start this journey was to help Katherine and others who are living with the pain of arthritis and thus I am dedicated to raising this money now more than ever and training my butt off so I can cross that finish line with my head held high.

Not only am I training for a marathon, I'm also doing some cross training by doing bootcamp (booty as it's affectionately called) twice a week to get stronger and hopefully run this marathon under my 4:30 personal best. Booty started again this past Thursday and after a month off I definitely felt it. Let's just say that sitting was a bit of an issue on Friday and Saturday, but who doesn't love the two-day hurt! My long run this past week was 16km and I did the tri-cities route from Port Moody, through Coquitlam into Port Coquitlam and back. It was walking back to my house from the long run that I drew blood. I don't know many people that can take a gouge out of their shin by stepping on a seemingly flat stick on the side of the road but that is exactly what happened... It basically jumped up a bit me. Evil stick.

This week will be another busy one; we are still selling the Epicure Dip Sets so email me with your orders! Training kicks it up a notch with two bootcamp sessions and 19km is my long run this week. I will be running my long run up on the Sunshine Coast this week so if you'll be up there come join me along the Gibsons to Sechelt portion of the highway.

Lastly and most importantly - thank you to everyone who donated this past week either by ordering an Epicure Triple Dip Set or by donating on our website. You've brought us up to 73% of the $5,900 goal!

You don't want to miss this.... It's gonna go viral!

I will be running a marathon with Joints in Motion on December 5, 2010 in the Cayman Islands to raise money for the Arthritis Society. What better way to keep you all up to date on my fundraising shenanigans and training woes than to start a weekly blog. I can't guarantee that any of it will be grammatically correct, but I will be honest with my fundraising goals and struggles and share the gory details that go into training for a marathon – chafing and all! There may be blood (one never knows what a run may hold - or fundraising for that matter), there will definitely be sweat, there has already been tears, but most importantly there will be that oh-so-vital element in my life – LAUGHTER! Send the link to this blog to your friends, family and co-workers (especially if they are living with Arthritis) and join me on this journey to raise money for the Arthritis Society and the 4.5 million Canadians that are living with Arthritis.

On that note, please allow me to give you a mini tour of my blog...

Down the left side you will see a picture - that's me for those of you who don't know me, I will probably update this picture on a fairly regular basis so you don't get bored. In the middle section I will keep you up to date with the current and upcoming fundraisers and my weekly training schedule. Please contact me at any time should you have any questions, if you're looking for more details on the fundraising events, if you're interested in joining me for a run or even a portion of my Sunday long run, the company would be appreciated!

Down the right side you will find the link to my Joints in Motion fundraising page - clicking on this link will bring you to my donation page where you can make an online donation, track my fundraising progress by watching the thermometer and you will also find the story on what prompted me to do what I can to make a difference in the lives of others.

As some of you know, I just made a major technological step last week when my 2004 celly finally bit the dust and I was forced to "upgrade" to a BlackBerry - OK, it was free but I still have no idea how to use 75% of the features. Point being, be gentle with me as I learn about this whole blogging business - it's quite advanced for a girl who's feeling lost without her flip phone.

Though the fundraising started last December - the true journey begins now that the training has started. Let's do this!