What an incredible experience the five days we spent in the Bahamas with Joints in Motion were! From Heather and I laying down on the bed post marathon while Rob performed minor foot surgery on our giant blisters to running into Katherine's in laws at the same resort we were staying at in the Bahamas to seeing the majority of the Joints in Motion team still waiting for me to come through the finish line two to three hours after some of them finished their own races, the memories of this trip will stay with me for many, many years to come.
Those snapshots of memory aside, there were a couple of highlights that moved me to tears from others on the Bahamas JIM team that I wanted to share along with my own race report. There were many personal successes and accomplishments that everyone experienced and I assure you that they are all just as special and moving as the couple that are touched on below.
David McDougall is another Joints in Motion participant that I met for the first time in the Caymans when he was a cheer team member. David lives with rheumatoid arthritis, has had his jaw, both hips and one knee replaced, has had the knuckles on both hands operated on and is currently awaiting word on his next joint replacement surgery date for his other knee. Still with everything that David deals with because of his arthritis, he trained for and walked the 5 km race on Saturday. I can't tell you how proud I am of him! Not only did he do this race but he did it on a major lack of sleep after travelling for 3 days to get to the Bahamas from where he lives in BC! Amazing doesn't begin to describe this accomplishment. David, you inspire me to be a better person. Thank you for spending time with us this week!
Patty, another participant who lives with rheumatoid arthritis also amazed and inspired us all when she completed the half marathon. Patty started the trip by rolling her ankle as we were in the Toronto airport on our way to the Bahamas, two short days before the half marathon! Her game plan going into the race was to finish the first two miles and then see how things went and pull herself out of the race when she needed to fully thinking that she would not finish the half marathon distance. Mile two came and went, as did mile three, then four and so on until Patty hit the amazing mile 13.1 marker. Patty finished! She finished a half marathon two short days after rolling her ankle and thinking of pulling herself from the race two miles in. What an accomplishment Patty! You are amazing!
Heather Gauthier is one of my dear friends who lives with rheumatoid arthritis and was also in the Bahamas with the Joints in Motion team to run the half marathon in honour of her mom who lives with rheumatoid arthritis as well. Heather has had a very rough past 6 months to a year trying to manage her disease on the medication she was on to no avail. Three short weeks before we left for the Bahamas, Heather finally got her medication change approved and was switched onto her new meds. Unfortunately with the type of medications that Heather is taking, a switch does not mean immediate relief. There is a waiting period for the new medications to take full effect and Heather ran a half marathon during that waiting period! I knew it was going to be a tough one for her and I wish more than anything that I could have been waiting at that finish line for her as she was for me on Sunday. Heather, your strength and determination inspires me beyond what words can describe. You are one tough cookie and I am so proud of you my friend - you did it!
My own race was by far the toughest and is the most memorable race I've ever finished. Marathon number 5 was a doozy! I chafed in places I didn't think possible, for the first time in 5 full marathons and 11 half marathons my feet blistered, and the hardest part of all of it was trying my best to keep some of the salt and electrolytes in my system that the never ending rivers of sweat were stealing from my body and causing my leg muscles to seize.
We started at 6am in the dark with a crowd of 1700 marathoners and half marathoners. We wound through downtown Nassau and then over the big bridge to Atlantis on Paradise Island and back over the other big bridge from Paradise Island before winding our way back through downtown and then out along the ocean for a lengthy out and back. It was a muggy 26 degrees when we started and by mile two I was drenched in sweat and knew that I had to make the switch from water to gatorade if I was going to have a chance of keeping my body working properly. The first 15 miles went really well. My pace was a bit faster than I had planned but it felt really comfortable so I stuck with it. Just past mile 15 both of my calves cramped up and I stopped to give them a good stretch out before I continued on. I was doing ok until about mile 17 when my quads also started having issues. I quickly went from a 5:50/km pace to running for 3 minutes until my quads were rock hard and then walking for about 2 minutes to stretch them back out again. This went on for about another mile until just past mile 18 when I went to switch back to running, took 3 steps, had my left quad seize up so bad that I couldn't straighten my leg out and came dangerously close to falling flat on my face. I knew then that I was willing to do whatever it took to finish that race so I swallowed my pride and started walking. I knew I had 8 miles left to go and hoped that my legs would make it. Rob met me at mile 19 for my water bottle switch and knew I was in trouble. He gave me a huge hug, told me he was proud of me and to forget about time and just do it. As I rounded to corner to mile 20 there he was again, standing on the side of the course waiting to walk me in. As much as I knew walking the last 10kms was going to hurt him, I was so grateful to have him by my side. The closer I came to the finish, the uglier my walk became but I kept repeating the motto "Never. Give. Up" to myself in my head and knew I would cross that finish line however it took. As I rounded the last corner into the finish, my walk was more of a shuffle/waddle combo. I saw the sea of bright green shirts of the rest of the Joints in Motion participants and my eyes welled up. I was so honoured and grateful that they were there even after finishing their own races hours before! I crossed the finish line 5 hours and 30 minutes after I crossed the start line. A time that is 45 minutes slower than any of the four previous marathons that I have completed but my head was held much higher and my smile was much brighter than it ever has been before. It was a tough day and one that I won't soon forget.
Thank you to everyone who supported me along the way and especially to those of you who sent me your song choices for my marathon play list. They kept me moving and smiling as I had hoped they would. There was even a comment by two other runners on how horrible my singing was! The pain in my legs will subside and the vivid memories will fade a bit but the meaning of this marathon will stay with me forever. My pain is temporary. Katherine's, Andrea's, Heather's, Kim's, and David's is not. They are my heros. Never. Give. Up!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
In Memory of Trish 2
Here we are, officially two sleeps away from boarding a plane to head to the Bahamas to run a marathon to raise money for the Arthritis Society. While today really should have been a day of preparation and packing, it instead became a day of reflection for me as I was reminded of the very reason why I am running this marathon.
Katherine, Heather, Andrea and Kimberly are the reason why I am so passionate about raising funds and awareness for the Arthritis Society. Katherine was the catalyst that started this journey for me when I saw her life changed dramatically because of her arthritis. Through the Cayman Islands marathon which I ran in honour of Katherine in 2010, I met Heather, Andrea and Kim. My life was forever changed in the 5 days that we spent in the Caymans. I spent most of my time listening and wondering if I would be so brave in the face of having my body literally turn on itself and welcome the medications that have some very tragic consequences if I was faced with the same diagnosis. I hope that I would be as brave as these four beautiful women are. Not only are they my heroes but they are also mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters. They carry on with their lives with their heads held high in the face of the unknown. I am forever in awe of their grace.
Those of you who have been reading my blog over the past year might remember a post I did back in May 2012 about a member of Team Bahamas who would not be making the trip. Today we were sent an email about Trish 2 and as sad and upsetting as it is, it lights a fire in me that I will be drawing on while I'm hitting the tough spots in the marathon on Sunday. For those of you who haven't read that post, Trish 2 as she was called, was a member of Team Bahamas. She had lived with arthritis from the age of 8 years old, when she was diagnosed with juvenile onset rheumatoid arthritis until she passed away in May 2012 at the age of 36 from complications from her disease. Trish 2 was supposed to accompany us to the Bahamas as a cheer team member for those of us running or walking to raise money for arthritis. She will be missed by all of us and I will do my best to honour her on the 20th.
Trish 2 had exhausted all available medications on the market to treat her rheumatoid arthritis and was on the newest medication which was released in October 2011 when she passed away in May. As is the reality with those that live with this disease, medications only last so long before they run their course and there are only so many medications on the market that may or may not have an effect on treating someone with this disease. This is why programs like Joints in Motion are so important, to raise funds for much needed research and to raise awareness of how devastating this disease is. Rheumatoid arthritis is not a disease that old people get and it is not just some achy joints. It is truly a devastating disease that wreaks havoc on a person's entire immune system. Where the immune system effectively attacks healthy tissue and joints and eats them away. This is what causes the immense pain and the deformed joints and leads to joint replacements and other surgeries for those that live with the disease.
Today I was reminded of Trish 2, a beautiful, spirited woman that I never had the chance to meet. Whom was in the process of raising $4,900 for arthritis research when she passed away because of her disease. Whose answer to those that would ask her, "how many times do you expect us to donate to arthritis research?" Was a very spirited, "until they find a fucking cure!"
On Sunday January 20th I am running a marathon for Katherine, for Heather, for Andrea, for Kimberly and in memory of Trish 2. As much of a struggle as this trip has been for me I will never stop doing my part to raise funds for research and raising awareness for this disease because I would be utterly heartbroken if I ever lost one of the four beautiful women that I am honoured to call my friends. Thank you all for your support during this journey so far. I truly appreciate the kind words and the encouragement from all of you. I vow to Katherine, to Heather, to Andrea and to Kimberly that I will Never. Give. Up!
Katherine, Heather, Andrea and Kimberly are the reason why I am so passionate about raising funds and awareness for the Arthritis Society. Katherine was the catalyst that started this journey for me when I saw her life changed dramatically because of her arthritis. Through the Cayman Islands marathon which I ran in honour of Katherine in 2010, I met Heather, Andrea and Kim. My life was forever changed in the 5 days that we spent in the Caymans. I spent most of my time listening and wondering if I would be so brave in the face of having my body literally turn on itself and welcome the medications that have some very tragic consequences if I was faced with the same diagnosis. I hope that I would be as brave as these four beautiful women are. Not only are they my heroes but they are also mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters. They carry on with their lives with their heads held high in the face of the unknown. I am forever in awe of their grace.
Those of you who have been reading my blog over the past year might remember a post I did back in May 2012 about a member of Team Bahamas who would not be making the trip. Today we were sent an email about Trish 2 and as sad and upsetting as it is, it lights a fire in me that I will be drawing on while I'm hitting the tough spots in the marathon on Sunday. For those of you who haven't read that post, Trish 2 as she was called, was a member of Team Bahamas. She had lived with arthritis from the age of 8 years old, when she was diagnosed with juvenile onset rheumatoid arthritis until she passed away in May 2012 at the age of 36 from complications from her disease. Trish 2 was supposed to accompany us to the Bahamas as a cheer team member for those of us running or walking to raise money for arthritis. She will be missed by all of us and I will do my best to honour her on the 20th.
Trish 2 had exhausted all available medications on the market to treat her rheumatoid arthritis and was on the newest medication which was released in October 2011 when she passed away in May. As is the reality with those that live with this disease, medications only last so long before they run their course and there are only so many medications on the market that may or may not have an effect on treating someone with this disease. This is why programs like Joints in Motion are so important, to raise funds for much needed research and to raise awareness of how devastating this disease is. Rheumatoid arthritis is not a disease that old people get and it is not just some achy joints. It is truly a devastating disease that wreaks havoc on a person's entire immune system. Where the immune system effectively attacks healthy tissue and joints and eats them away. This is what causes the immense pain and the deformed joints and leads to joint replacements and other surgeries for those that live with the disease.
Today I was reminded of Trish 2, a beautiful, spirited woman that I never had the chance to meet. Whom was in the process of raising $4,900 for arthritis research when she passed away because of her disease. Whose answer to those that would ask her, "how many times do you expect us to donate to arthritis research?" Was a very spirited, "until they find a fucking cure!"
On Sunday January 20th I am running a marathon for Katherine, for Heather, for Andrea, for Kimberly and in memory of Trish 2. As much of a struggle as this trip has been for me I will never stop doing my part to raise funds for research and raising awareness for this disease because I would be utterly heartbroken if I ever lost one of the four beautiful women that I am honoured to call my friends. Thank you all for your support during this journey so far. I truly appreciate the kind words and the encouragement from all of you. I vow to Katherine, to Heather, to Andrea and to Kimberly that I will Never. Give. Up!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Official Bahamas Marathon Playlist!
We'll be leaving on a jet plane in one week and the official Bahamas Marathon playlist is complete! This is by far the most eclectic running playlist out there and I love it! I would never have added a very good number of these songs on my own but I can tell you that they will keep me moving, smiling, laughing, singing, and quite possibly dancing all the way to the finish line on the 20th! Without further ado - the playlist is:
Thunderstruck - AC/DC
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
The Golden Age - The Asteroids Galaxy
Shot You Down - Audio Bullys Feat. Nancy Sinatra
Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) - Big & Rich
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
Pump It - The Black Eyed Peas
Love Generation - Bob Sinclair
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
Rasputin - Boney M.
Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
Gonna Make You Sweat - C + C Music Factory
Feel So Close - Calvin Harris
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson
Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
Brighter Than the Sun - Colbie Caillat
Titanium - David Guetta & Sia
Without You - David Guetta & Usher
On the Dancefloor - David Guetta, will.i.am & apl.de.ap
The Veldt - Deadmau5
Walk of Life - Dire Straits
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Danza Kuduro (feat. Lucenzo) - Don Omar
Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
Shake That Ass For Me (feat. Nate Dogg) - Eminem
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Creepin' - Eric Church
The Final Countdown - Europe
Good Feeling - Flo Rida
Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls
Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte
21 Guns - Green Day
What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani
Tonight Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
Running - Jully Black
Stronger - Kanye West
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Black Horse & The Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Electrolove - Kuba Oms
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO
Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Bodyrock - Moby
Burn It To The Ground - Nickelback
Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback
Super Bass - Nicki Minaj
Wet - Nicole Scherzinger
Come Out and Play - The Offspring
Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) - The Offspring
Hey Ya - Outkast
Picking Up the Pieces - Paloma Faith
Born to Be Alive - Patrick Hernandez
Raise Your Glass - Pink
So What - Pink
Back In Time - Pitbull
Shake Senora - Pitbull Feat. T-Pain & Sean Paul
Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Under Pressure - Queen
Take On Me - Reel Big Fish
Just Say Yes - Snow Patrol
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It - Stars
Believe - Suzie McNeil
Save the World - Swedish House Mafia
Drive By - Train
Raise a Little Hell - Trooper
Beautiful Day - U2
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks - Wintersleep
Rump Shaker - Wreckx-N-Effect
Knee Deep (feat. Jimmy Buffett) - Zac Brown Band
La Grange - ZZ Top
TV Dinners - ZZ Top
I had originally thought of trying to time certain songs from people with different sections of the marathon but I have since changed my mind. As I want this to be a playlist to inspire and motivate me by thinking of you, I have decided not to listen to it until race day and I will be pressing the good old shuffle button when the gun goes off and letting the ipod decide the order of the playlist.
Thank you to everyone who contributed, it means a lot to me to have something from you with me on race day. To those that are still thinking of "the song", I will be loading my ipod with the official playlist on Sunday, January 13th after my last training run so if you get me your song before then I will be sure to add it! This won't be my fastest marathon by far, but it's shaping up to be one of the funnest I've run and I'm getting really excited about it.
Thank you for your support - Never. Give. Up!
Thunderstruck - AC/DC
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
The Golden Age - The Asteroids Galaxy
Shot You Down - Audio Bullys Feat. Nancy Sinatra
Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) - Big & Rich
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
Pump It - The Black Eyed Peas
Love Generation - Bob Sinclair
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
Rasputin - Boney M.
Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
Gonna Make You Sweat - C + C Music Factory
Feel So Close - Calvin Harris
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson
Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
Brighter Than the Sun - Colbie Caillat
Titanium - David Guetta & Sia
Without You - David Guetta & Usher
On the Dancefloor - David Guetta, will.i.am & apl.de.ap
The Veldt - Deadmau5
Walk of Life - Dire Straits
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Danza Kuduro (feat. Lucenzo) - Don Omar
Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
Shake That Ass For Me (feat. Nate Dogg) - Eminem
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Creepin' - Eric Church
The Final Countdown - Europe
Good Feeling - Flo Rida
Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls
Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte
21 Guns - Green Day
What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani
Tonight Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
Running - Jully Black
Stronger - Kanye West
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Black Horse & The Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Electrolove - Kuba Oms
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO
Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Bodyrock - Moby
Burn It To The Ground - Nickelback
Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback
Super Bass - Nicki Minaj
Wet - Nicole Scherzinger
Come Out and Play - The Offspring
Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) - The Offspring
Hey Ya - Outkast
Picking Up the Pieces - Paloma Faith
Born to Be Alive - Patrick Hernandez
Raise Your Glass - Pink
So What - Pink
Back In Time - Pitbull
Shake Senora - Pitbull Feat. T-Pain & Sean Paul
Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Under Pressure - Queen
Take On Me - Reel Big Fish
Just Say Yes - Snow Patrol
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It - Stars
Believe - Suzie McNeil
Save the World - Swedish House Mafia
Drive By - Train
Raise a Little Hell - Trooper
Beautiful Day - U2
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks - Wintersleep
Rump Shaker - Wreckx-N-Effect
Knee Deep (feat. Jimmy Buffett) - Zac Brown Band
La Grange - ZZ Top
TV Dinners - ZZ Top
I had originally thought of trying to time certain songs from people with different sections of the marathon but I have since changed my mind. As I want this to be a playlist to inspire and motivate me by thinking of you, I have decided not to listen to it until race day and I will be pressing the good old shuffle button when the gun goes off and letting the ipod decide the order of the playlist.
Thank you to everyone who contributed, it means a lot to me to have something from you with me on race day. To those that are still thinking of "the song", I will be loading my ipod with the official playlist on Sunday, January 13th after my last training run so if you get me your song before then I will be sure to add it! This won't be my fastest marathon by far, but it's shaping up to be one of the funnest I've run and I'm getting really excited about it.
Thank you for your support - Never. Give. Up!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Confessions of a Disrespectful Marathon Trainer
I'm not sure if you remember me saying this a couple of posts ago but one of the things I've learned while running and training for a marathon is to respect the distance. Well, it seems I've disregarded my own advice and am going into this marathon in 2 1/2 weeks as ill prepared as I have ever been! I am already nauseous with worry about what I know is to come on January 20th, race day, and at this point I can do nothing about it except confess my disrespectful training practices to try and purge the negativity from my mind so I will have a clear and positive head for 42.2 kms.
I am currently supposed to be starting my "taper" to lessen my kms per run and get my legs nice and fresh for race day. Well, this whole 4 months of training (I use the term very loosely) has been one big "taper". Maybe that means I will be more ready than I've ever been? The experienced marathoner in me says not. Usually my marathon training would consist of 4-5 runs per week for 4-plus months with my Sunday run being my long training run, gradually adding distance from 13 - 36kms. Then 3 weeks out I would drop that long run down to 20, then 10kms to give my legs a chance to recover and be race ready. This time I can almost count on one hand, with a 2 finger spill over, how many long runs I have done over the 20km mark with the longest of them being a measly 25kms. In case you're keeping track that is 18kms shy of what I will be running on January 20th. There is no pride in the past 4 months of training and I am the only person to blame. Needless to say, this is really going to hurt!
A couple of months ago I had asked where you draw your motivation from and I shared a couple of my motivators at that time. This time, I'm asking you for something different. This time I'm asking you to help motivate me to give me a little something from you to allow me to think of you and get me through the 42.2kms that I will be running in 2 1/2 short weeks. What I would love to have from each of you is a song to add to my Bahamas marathon playlist. I don't normally run with my ipod but I have decided that I will be on January 20th as I can use all of the distraction I can get! Think of either your favorite song with a good beat or a song that you've used before to get pumped up for a big game or even a big date. Make it something personal to you so that I can remember why I added it to my playlist, remember who suggested it, and that song will be your motivator to me to get through that portion of the marathon.
I have shared my frustrations with myself and my training with only one other person up to now and she is struggling mentally and physically with getting her body across the Bahamas finish line as well. One of the sayings that we have used frequently over the past 6 months is "NEVER. GIVE. UP." I have since adopted this as my new mantra and I will be repeating it over and over to myself when it gets rough out there. With my new mantra and a playlist riddled with songs from those I love, I know I will reach that finish line with my head held high, no matter how long it takes me!
As always, thank you for your support and NEVER. GIVE. UP!
I am currently supposed to be starting my "taper" to lessen my kms per run and get my legs nice and fresh for race day. Well, this whole 4 months of training (I use the term very loosely) has been one big "taper". Maybe that means I will be more ready than I've ever been? The experienced marathoner in me says not. Usually my marathon training would consist of 4-5 runs per week for 4-plus months with my Sunday run being my long training run, gradually adding distance from 13 - 36kms. Then 3 weeks out I would drop that long run down to 20, then 10kms to give my legs a chance to recover and be race ready. This time I can almost count on one hand, with a 2 finger spill over, how many long runs I have done over the 20km mark with the longest of them being a measly 25kms. In case you're keeping track that is 18kms shy of what I will be running on January 20th. There is no pride in the past 4 months of training and I am the only person to blame. Needless to say, this is really going to hurt!
A couple of months ago I had asked where you draw your motivation from and I shared a couple of my motivators at that time. This time, I'm asking you for something different. This time I'm asking you to help motivate me to give me a little something from you to allow me to think of you and get me through the 42.2kms that I will be running in 2 1/2 short weeks. What I would love to have from each of you is a song to add to my Bahamas marathon playlist. I don't normally run with my ipod but I have decided that I will be on January 20th as I can use all of the distraction I can get! Think of either your favorite song with a good beat or a song that you've used before to get pumped up for a big game or even a big date. Make it something personal to you so that I can remember why I added it to my playlist, remember who suggested it, and that song will be your motivator to me to get through that portion of the marathon.
I have shared my frustrations with myself and my training with only one other person up to now and she is struggling mentally and physically with getting her body across the Bahamas finish line as well. One of the sayings that we have used frequently over the past 6 months is "NEVER. GIVE. UP." I have since adopted this as my new mantra and I will be repeating it over and over to myself when it gets rough out there. With my new mantra and a playlist riddled with songs from those I love, I know I will reach that finish line with my head held high, no matter how long it takes me!
As always, thank you for your support and NEVER. GIVE. UP!
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