Sunday Update and GTS

First of all I want to say Saturday I ran 17km, it's the furthest I've ever run!!! What an accomplishment! I went to the group training session with team in training. I thought I'd be super late because the subway wasn't working, but the ttc was super organized and the transfer from the subway to shuttle bus was seamless! The run was a great route through the belt line, a park and even the cemetery. The great part is having people to run with who haven't ever run 17km and completing it together. Let me tell you that was an amazing feeling! I rewarded myself with a freshly squeezed juice, it was awesome!

Now onto the part that terrifies me... the fundraising. I have committed to raising at least $3500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If I don't hit $3500 by end of day September 8th, then the remainder will be charged to my Visa. I'm not going to lie this is terrifying to me. My hours are being cut again at work, conveniently on September 12th so I don't have the extra money to pay off that visa bill, so I need to get serious and really buckle down and call the people who said they will sponsor me.

This brings me to my next challenge I need to raise $40 a day for the next 25 days to bring me up to my fundraising minimum. Please help me with this. If you were thinking of sponsoring but haven't yet please do! Please also share this with family, friends, co-workers, strangers on the street.. EVERYONE!!

Thanks as always for your support!

Stephanie

Saturday Group Training Session

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a morning person. I hate the mornings and am usually pretty grumpy in the mornings. I don't really snap out of mornings until around 11am, or a couple of coffees! So joining team in training morning run sessions is not an easy thing for me. They start at 7:30am... on a Saturday... I don't even wake up that early for work. Now I had been working the past several Saturdays but now that I don't work Saturdays I have to drag my butt out of bed and go.

This morning I set my alarm to go off at 6:25am, when it went off I set it to snooze until 6:35. Then I got out of bed and said if it's raining I'm staying home, but the sun was shining. I got ready ate breakfast and left. I got outside and had forgotten my coffee so I went back to get it. Then I headed out to wait for the streetcar.

Now I was wearing my team in training shirt, my fuel belt and an amazingly stylish hat. A guy came up to me on the streetcar to ask if I was running with the group today. So we walked down to the park together and then got flagged down by another girl looking for where the group was meeting. You're never alone when you're in your team in training shirt!

The run was nice, an area of the city I've never been to. Not a lot to see, but flat and no lights. A nice easy early morning 11km run!

Here's a photo I took during the run

Maybe when I'm done training I'll become a runtographer. Just go for runs around the city taking pictures, much like runners at the Toronto Zoo run!

After coming home from the group training session I grabbed some food, changed my socks and headed to the gym. I did upper body weights and then a yoga class. I do feel sorry for people at the gym, I'm pretty sure I smelled. Oh well that's the smell of kicking cancer!

What a morning! Now on to fill out my recommitment papers for my race!

Thanks as always for your support!

Stephanie

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: