Motivation and Accountability

The reason most people fail with exercise or diets is the lack of motivation and accountability. With my running I have no problem with motivation. I'm completing my half marathon for my mother in law. I'm running and raising funds to help cure blood cancers, something my mother in law has been battling for the past ten years. I run with a purpose which always helps keep me on track.

As for accountability I really lucked out finding two wonderful ladies who are also training for races. We tweet each other after we work out to make sure we've done the work outs we set out to complete that week. It's motivation and accountability. I love getting their tweets to know what they've been up to, and I love sending them back good job tweets!

I have found to be successful with fitness I need motivation and accountability. What works for you?

I want to leave you with a video of a real hero. This is why I run, children shouldn't have to battle cancers, they should enjoy being kids! It doesn't let me add the video here, but please click the link below!

Little girl wages a big fight against childhood cancer - CityNews

As always thanks for your support!

Stephanie

This Week!

Wowza, I didn't realize it's been a week since I blogged, I'll try to be more on the ball, but fair warning I'm moving next week.

This past week has been great. I went to the gym Tuesday night after work. Jumped on the treadmill did a 5km run, and then did some weights. Wednesday I pulled myself out of laziness and went for a 7km run after dinner. Thursday was wonderful, yoga at work, and then my killer (and I mean killer) boot camp class. Saturday I was able to make it to my second group run session with team in training. I think it is insane to get up at 6:30am to run, the people make all the difference. It was a wonderful 10km run along the belt line, which I've always wanted to run. Afterwards there was a brunch, the food was blah, but the company was great. We shared fundraising tips so hopefully I can keep on moving towards my goal. Sunday morning my cousin and aunt joined my run club as they were in town and we did an easy 6km. I think it's safe to say I earned eating out for dinner Friday and Saturday night!

Sunday after my run I checked my e-mail and had a new donation. I love all my donations they make me smile and put me in a great mood. This was however was special. It was $211. Maybe you have to be a runner to get it, but I was sponsored $10/km. How meaningful! Now when I don't want to continue anymore on race day I can remember this donation and the $10 that was given to help cure blood cancers for each kilometer I run.

I'm currently at $1631, but still have a long way to go. I'm still doing personal training sessions, and work out plans for fundraising. Also tomorrow's karma Tuesday and keeping in line with my Sunday donation, I'm hoping to raise $21 in dollar donations.

Thank you for your support, it helps me to keep on going!

Stephanie

Personal Training

I wanted to share some more details about my personal training fundraiser. I'm a certified personal trainer with Can Fit Pro and have Red Cross CPR level C and first aid. I started on my journey to healthy living almost two years ago. I have lost and kept off over 25 pounds, built muscle and become a runner. My journey has made me passionate about helping others live healthier lives.

Right before my practical exam for my certification, the examiner asked what my plans were and I proudly told her I was going to use my certification to help end blood cancers! I will be doing personal training sessions and creating workout plans until I raise $1000.

Here's the details:

I will travel in Toronto (must be ttc accessible) to your location, park,ect.
You can come to my condo gym (located in the St.Lawrence market area)
Minimum donation of $50 for a one hour personal training session.
Minimum donation of $75 for a custom workout plan plus a personal training session to go through the work out plan.

Contact me if you have any questions! Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested!

Thanks Everyone!

Personal Training

I hope everyone's doing well. I have some exciting news! I am now a certified personal trainer!! I'm extremely happy. In September 2009 I decided to get healthy, I never pictured myself almost two years later down 25 pounds and passionate about fitness.

I've run twice this week so far. 6.55km on Sunday with the "run club" I've created and again tonight just under 5km (it was soo humid!) I'm heading to the gym tomorrow after work and have boot camp on Thursday evening, so I'm in very good shape.

My fundraising is slowly coming along. The problem with my generation is we want everything this second. We're not patient people. I'm currently at $1120 which is 32% of my goal. I really want to be raising at least $300 a week. Slowly, but surly it will come.

My next fundraising event is personal training for a cause. Now that I'm certified I will be offering personal training sessions with 100% of the fee going towards my fundraising goal for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you're not able to meet up for a session I will also be designing work out plans. I would love to kick your butt and help end blood cancers! I'm going to try and earn $1000 with this fundraiser. Please contact me if you're interested!

Thanks again for all your support.

Stephanie

Why I Run

Virtual Running Program

Do you want to be a runner but just don't have the time? Stuck late at work and can't get out for a long run? Well there's no need to feel guilty anymore! You can have someone clean your house, cook dinner, why not run for you? Well now you can! That's right! I will complete your runs for you!

It's simple for a $10 donation per kilometer I will go out and complete your run. All proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and can be made by clicking on the link at the left hand side of this site. It's easier than using a slap chop!

So what's in it for you? Besides helping to end blood cancers you will get a post similar to this one. It will include a picture of me post run, a map of the run I completed for you and a summary of the run.

Please note in the event of large generous donations I reserve the right to split up into small runs, each run will then get it's own post!

So let me do the running for you, but don't worry you'll get all the credit for the run! I run to raise funds to end blood cancers!

Saturday Update

I just wanted to update everyone on my running and fundraising progress. Saturday mornings are team in training group runs. They are at 7:30am. I am not a morning person, in fact I wake up at 7:23am to be at work for 8:30am. Getting sleep is more important then looking great for work. Well this morning got the better of me and I missed the group run, which is okay because I'm really not that pleasant in the morning. I knew I still had to go out for a run so I dragged my sister out and did a 7km run in 42 minutes. It felt great! I really love running. I also went for a 5.5km walk, so needless to say I'm exhausted!

My fundraising is coming along but I feel like I've hit a wall. I'm at $895, only $105 away from hitting $1000. I'm really hoping to hit that milestone by the end of the weekend. Of course I need your help! If you haven't already donated please consider a donation. Any amount is wonderful from one dollar to $500. If you've already donated thank you! I can't believe the kindness of people I've never met. It means a lot to me and my family. An artist from London England offered art to do an art show fundraiser. To bad it wasn't a local artist and being so far away it'd just be a logistical nightmare. As always if you have any fundraising ideas or tips please let me know!

Thanks for everything!!

Stephanie

It's Tuesday, Tuesday, Karma Tuesday!

Well it's that day of the week again, good karma Tuesday!! It's where I ask for one dollar donations to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's mission to end Blood cancers.

Last Tuesday, my first Karma Tuesday I raised $125. I didn't receive any dollar donations, my donors went above and beyond! The whole point of Karma Tuesday if that together donating something as small as one dollar is will add up and we can kick cancer to the curb!

My goal for today is to raise $20 in dollar donations. I'm really eager to get to 25% of my fundraising goal, which would be $55 more dollars, but I think with your support $20 is very attainable.

As always your support means the world to me and I'm really hoping today's karma Tuesday will be a huge success!

Sunday Run

I love Sunday morning runs. It's a wonderful way to start the day. There wasn't a group training session with team in training this week because of the long weekend, which was fine it was nice to sleep in on Saturday morning. I'm not going to be able to make a bunch of training sessions because of work, so I've started a Sunday morning training session. Right now it's me, my sister and our friend Jenn. I hope they will still be on board when the distances get bigger!

Today I decided I wanted to run 8km. Everyone has a base distance they like to run, and 8km is my base distance. It was warm but overcast, perfect for a run, and I felt great the whole time. At about 2km, I was into it having a great run. I could have probably run further, but I like having people to run with and my sister only wanted to run 5km.

Plans for this week include, Karma Tuesday, dollar donations for good karma! I also have a virtual running fundraiser and online garage/moving sale prepared so watch this space!

Thanks again for all your support!

Good Karma Tuesday's

So I've decided to try something. Every Tuesday I've decided to host what I call "Good Karma Tuesday's" I will ask for $1 donations towards my fundraising goal, in return you get to fill up your karma bank. I want to do this every Tuesday until I run my first half marathon on October 16th, 2011. My goal is $20/week which would be almost $500 by the time I run. See how one dollar can add up?

This Tuesday May 17th, was my first Karma Tuesday. I didn't know what to expect and it didn't go as I planned. I didn't receive any dollar donations, but did receive $125 in donations. That literally blew me away! With in one week I'm up to $770 in donations and at 22% of my goal. I still have a long way to go, but wowza it's starting to seem doable!

I'm hoping next week's Karma Tuesday will be a success and count on you to help me get the word out!

Well time to run, thanks for your support!

Group Training Session with Team in Training

Here I am after running 5km with the team in training crew. I've been running for over a year and a half now, so the 5km run wasn't a problem. However I'm not a morning person and waking up at 7am was challenging. When my alarm went off, I almost turned it off and went back to bed. But I'll admit it was nice to get in a run while most of the city was still in bed. I won't be able to make all the Saturday sessions because of work, so it was nice to make it out to the first one!

Here's the route we ran:

What is Team in Training?

Stephanie Runs!!

As many of you know, my mother-in-law, Lynne Xamin, has been battling lymphoma (a type of blood cancer) for the past 10 years. This is extremely hard on her and our entire family, yet she handles it with grace.

Inspired by her struggle, I have joined Team In Training and committed to training for (and running!) the Nike Women's half Marathon in San Francisco this fall in her honour. Team in Training is a fantastic organization that helps runners like me train to reach our goals and in the process raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I plan on using this blog to keep you updated on my training and my fundraising efforts. If you've already sponsored me thank you! If not tthere's still time!!