Entries Tagged 'Sweating for, er, money.' ↓

Jordan and I are running farther than we have ever thought possible. But holy crap, it feels like we’re running on sand in a jogging-sized hour glass; we just can’t keep up.

Although we did run 13 km on Sunday.

To the “us” that existed just a few months ago –eating discount-priced boxes of Will o’ Crisps on the couch– 13km would have been a running miracle. To the “us” that exists right now (still eating discount-priced boxes of Will o’ Crisps), this is 8km shy of where we need to be in order to get where we said we’re going. Namely, able to run 42km in 4 and 1/2 months.

We’re signed up to run a half-marathon in 13 days. I don’t think there are enough Will o’ Crisps in the world to keep the pre-race jitters at bay in my mind. Especially seeing that we honestly don’t know if we can run that far. Well, I honestly don’t know if I can run that far. I strongly suspect Jordan and his strong, lithe legs can take him there and back.

Running a 10km race was an exaltation. It was within reach. It was sunny outside. There was music and dancing and people clapped for you at every water station. It essentially was a dream. But this training for 21km has taken a darker turn, a little swerve into the unknown and pits of learning when things feel really hard and it seems like you won’t see the light again. I forgot about this time, crossing the 10km finish line like I was Oprah being serenaded by Dolly Parton, high fiving parents waiting for kids and kids waiting for parents like they were all my extended family.  I forgot about the months of me running 2.5 minutes, walking 1 until I could slink my way up to running 5 minutes, walking 1, until I could manage running 7, walking 1 and so on. I forgot about the frustration and impatience welling up in me like a geyser. I forgot about my insecurities and me trying to control everything as we ran along new streets. I forgot about Jordan encouraging me to run just 3 more minutes with the promise of a back massage and chocolate cake and he’ll do the dishes. Learning to run 10km was a long haul but not to mention worth it.  The surge of confidence that flooded my veins alongside race day adrenalin felt new and amazing. Here I was doing something I never ever imagined I could do. What else could I be wrong about that I had previously thought impossible?

Hopefully my ability to run the 21km. haha.

No, seriously, this is the beginning of something I didn’t bank on when we signed up to fundraise and train for a marathon. I thought I would change my fitness and maybe even my pants size, but not my mind. I think this will be the greatest gift in this whole experience, to learn I can be wrong about everything. And to trade in those old thoughts along with my old running shoes, for a pair with a little lift and a lotta soul. That’s the big-picture. But my daily snapshot feels like like I’ve rested on my 10km laurels a little too long. We don’t have the luxury of the far-away future anymore. We need to be training well and smart and on the ball now to try and up our chances of not getting injured, discouraged or both.

I recently went to a running clinic and we were all asked to introduce ourselves with our name and our goal time to finish a marathon. I said, “Laurie and whatever it takes for me to crawl across that finish line.” I went home later that night and thought about it. Why do I cling to the lowest expectation possible in any given situation? Yah, running a marathon is amazing. But here I am saying I will crawl over the finish line around people of all varying abilities saying they want to qualify for this or make it in under 5 hours or be able to run with their shoulders back and a smile on their face. Have I been aiming too low my whole life? And what is that about, automatically assuming I can’t before I can?

There was a time when running for 3 minutes straight felt impossible. Could there very possibly be a time when running 21km is within reach? And I am I willing to change my mind enough to find out?

Remember that movie with Frankie Avalon and original Mouseketeer Annette Funicello? Beach Party? Frankie got to surf (and was known as) the Big Kahuna. Whether my memory is making a mess out of the 1963 flick or not, I seem to remember the surfers were always on the look out for a huge wave; certain that this wave would be the one to make them a local legend and get their girlfriends’ wandering eyes back to adoring only them. Not to mention make’m kings at the local beach bonfire where everyone wiggles their bikini bottoms.

The Rock Out With Your Socks Out Sock Hop + Art Auction is Jordan and I’s Big Kahuna. We are hoping this soiree will make fundraising legend within our own smaller sized blanket weave of the year We Raised $13 000 for The Arthritis Society.

It is no longer the Year We Will Run a Marathon or the Year We Eloped in a Foreign Country or The Year We Danced to Queen and The Doobie Brothers for Cheap Entertainment. Nope.  It won’t even be The Year We Took a Ferry Ride to Turkey, or The Year we Adopted a Forever-Friend. No, this will be the year We Raised $13 000. It’s a feat. And we’ve been slapping our boards on waves big and small, so far raising a couple of hundred dollars at a time bringing us to 43% of $13 000. (Which is pretty darn-tootin amazing when we look at where we started from -0%!).

But the glitch and there’s always at least one, is we need to raise 75% of our goal by July 1st so we can stay a bit longer overseas after the marathon and take that boat ride to Turkey and make that wedding ceremony on November 4th. If we raise the 75% we don’t get penalized for lengthening our plane ticket (for free!) to squeeze in an extra week or two after the race. That’s $4056 bucks we need to raise in just a few weeks. So this is the time for the miracle worker, the bikini bottom shaking extravaganza, or the Big Kahuna.

And we’re hoping that Rock Out With Your Socks Out will be just the bonfire we’re looking for. (We’re also having a bake sale and bottle drive this month too).

If you’re in Vancouver and want to come the sock hop + art auction, we’d love to have ya! (And if you would just like to donate to the cause, you can do so online here).

And oh gosh, ignoramus confession time: The term ‘Big Kahuna’ is sort of like Coca Cola saying you can open happiness. “Kahuna”  is actually a word meaning “priest, magician, minister, wizard, expert in any field”, (not a huge wave you can surf). Also according to wikipedia pro surfers such as Duke Kahanamoku, have resisted the word’s pop culture lure out of respect for its original meaning. Hmm.

So, in our next big wave of fundraising, Jordan and I are looking for our “humpback“. (According to Wiktionary under Glossary of Surfing this is a big wave that is more like two waves. It’s also called “double-up”. And we sure hope this fundraiser does exactly that. Cowabunga!

Big Wave Surfing

In a surprise turn of fund-raising events, bake sales have been out-cashing bowling parties, community dance troop shenanigans and letters to potential corporate sponsors.

Our latest bake sale at 2025 West Broadway sold out! We raised $188.44 that day. Bumping us up to $5594 for The Arthritis Society so far!

So we’re coming back. With even more goodies. June 23rd at 2025 West Broadway, 8:30am-2pm. Sinful treats alongside ones that’ll make your colon sing.

We’re even thinking of having a jokes-for-free side of the table…maybe all about baked goods.

Hey what did the m&m say to the chocolate chip?

Get yr own cookie….

(I did say the jokes were for free, right?)

Jordan and I were elated to run the 2010 Vancouver Sun Run. Actually, we were elated after we ran the 2010 Vancouver Sun Run. Beforehand our bodies and minds were more like pointy butterfly wings jabbing our insides with excited uncertainty.

We had never run farther than 55 minutes and during our last regular run, I barely coughed up 45 minutes of running. I was begging Jordan to tell me the time on the stop watch he was holding from 35 minutes-on while going up a long, slow hill with a few of my old crampy friends back for business (Namely, ‘The ribber” mixed with ‘The bitch”).  We also weren’t sure what to expect this being our first race ever and our first time running alongside thousands of other people. 51 419 in fact.

So here’s a little photo montage of our day. We didn’t get any pictures of the finish line! We were too exhaus-er-exalted!

Our next race: The Vancouver Half -Marathon on June 27th. You can find out why we’re running here.

Thanks to everyone involved who made The Sun Run possible, from the volunteers to staff to people cheering from the curb!  It was an incredible experience!

Draw by Night is forking over all the sketches and drawings, masterpieces and doodles made on May 12th to us!

Well, not exactly to us, but Jordan and I will be the safe-keepers of them until our next *big* Arthritis Society Fundraiser – Rock Out With Your Socks Out!

(This is my second ever photoshop attempt. I'm more proud than a mom, er, even if you can't read it, I guess the mom equation works well, then).

At this event we will divide all art sales between The Arthritis Society and Draw by Night. Win-win-win, because if you bid $5 or more you may get to take home an original from a Vancouver artist who will rock the white right off of that bare wall of yours.

Anyone can come and draw too! That party puts the pen to the paper on May 12th, 6pm -9pm at the VFS Cafe, 390 W Hastings.

And of course, anyone can come rock out at the sock hop too. Even with your shoes on! You can find ‘Rock Out With Your Socks Out’ dance & auction info here.

And one last thing about tomorrow night, DJ Noble -all the way from Norway- has created a specific ‘Meat Legs’ themed song list.  You won’t know what got into that pen you’re holding until you hear the music!

Owww!

(Can ‘Meat Legs’ howl?)

They sure as heck can!

I was thrilled Jordan and I could join Compassion for Animal’s worldwide project: The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale as a part of our Arthritis Society fundraising.

Now, I’m not going to lie, ok, I’ll lie a little, I didn’t think I’d be able to bake anything that could even remotely be considered delicious without eggs or butter or Betty Crocker. And even if some talented vegan bakers could, I had a niggly vague sense I probably wouldn’t be able to. It’s that sort of underlying mundane terror that can crop up any time in life – ‘what if I can’t figure out how to put the bus ticket into the machine?!!’ Which, when roughly translated means: ‘everyone dies, but I’m still afraid to. Oh, god just let me put the damn ticket into the machine.’ So, when I put on my makeshift hairnet and rallied up some new ingredients, my wooden spoon was shaking. Yeah sure, I was afraid of death, but worse- I was afraid of death from embarrassment… what if I didn’t have the vegan baking gene? What if I sullied the name of the Worldwide Vegan Bakesale and of one of my favourite veggie places to eat in the whole wide city? What if my spoon served to confirm the stereotype carnivore’s everywhere say when vegan baking comes up, “that’s an oxymoron, right?” Or “disgusting, I’d rather eat sawdust sprinkled with brains.”

But I committed to this fundraiser, dang it, and Sejuiced called me back and said they’d love to support both causes and I could set up in front of their store. And here’s nothing but the truth: getting that call from Sejuiced was like someone telling me my first story was getting published, I was elated. I jumped up and down. This was real help from the community. And not to mention from a legit, healthy, feel-good place. I pushed the mundane terror back behind the eggs in the fridge, picked up the tofu instead and got to baking.

These chocolate chips are delicious! I'm still eating them!

We went to a new grocery store called Greens on the corner of West Broadway and Maple - they were super friendly and had the stuff we were looking for.

I used -with some minor adaptations- recipes from three Vegan Cookbooks: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World; The Garden of Vegan and Vegan Vittles. The pages now look like 18th Century treasure maps due to all the oil and flour and maple syrup I accidentally spilled on'em.

The baking started to pile up once I got the hang of it and ps, it's actually pretty easy to bake vegan.

Here’s some cover shots of the cookbooks that proved to not only be useful but late night friends too:

And speaking of friends, it felt like we were hanging out on Sesame Street setting up shop on West 4th avenue. People were so friendly! Our first customer of the day told us we made her day as she bit into one of my-first-time-ever-made-vegan-brownies and said “delicious”. I started breathing again. If it wouldn’t have been weird I would have hugged her for at least three seconds.

I got to thinking, if we could impress these healthy shiny people on West 4th, then maybe we could keep having some bakesales for The Arthritis Society. And heck, maybe even throw in some raw-food desserts sometime. We got to chat with one young woman who makes raw food desserts regularly. I told her I felt like Sly Stallone in Rocky 5 over the brownies, and that I would have no idea what superhero I would feel like over a successful raw food dessert bonanza… John McClane? Yippee-ki-yay…

We got to talk about the Arthritis Society, the upcoming marathon, and the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale to moms, kids, dads, dogs, shoppers, runners, bikers, people on dates, people who work in the area and the fabulous people who work at Sejuiced. We raised $96.50 too!  That pulled us up an entire percentage point towards our goal of nabbing $13 000, we’re resting at 41% of that so far ($5300!)

Jordan and I are running 55 minutes at a time now! (Which in our lifetime I think will be the only meaning behind the phrase “freedom 55″  yeouch economy + no pensions & benefits! We’d better keep running for as long as we can to stay healthy so we can work till we’re 90 and have a great death at 91!)

(This is one of the reasons I love running, if I run long enough, I don’t think thoughts like that so better tie up my shoelaces, but first I’ll finish this blog post…)

We kick off our first race ever -a 10km run- this weekend at the Vancouver Sun Run. I think I might barf because I’m pretty excited. I have never run with thousands of people before. Last year 55 858 runners crossed the finish line. I wonder if it’ll be a transcendent experience? A spiritual whiff of sweat, brawn and spandex? Or if it’ll feel claustrophobic- like trying to compete in the long jump in an elevator. Either way, I’m excited just to experience it. I hope to run with my camera and avoid any accidental elbows to the throat (I’m pretty short). Also two of our Arthritis Society heroes we’re running for are Jordan’s step-mom (and my future mother-in-law) Sherrill Hemsley and Joan Goodmanson, my second mom growing up. So, it’s fitting we’re doing our first race on Mother’s Day!

I never thought I could run in a race. I never thought I could vegan bake either. It’s weird.  How things can change when you stop thinking you can’t and you just do it. (Oh no, now I’m onto Nike. How many more digressional things and parenthesis can I fit into one small post about running? Life insurance, TV commercials, a Nike slogan, in-laws, vegan cupcakes, the Long Jump, elbows to the throat?)

But maybe in some strange way these things can sum up the Vancouver Sun Run.

I don’t know but I’m going to find out.

It’s T-minus 21 hours until our next Arthritis Society fundraiser and this one is even sketchier turn-out-wise. We don’t  have the White Stripes behind us, but we do have Commodore Lanes & Billiards and while it may not be rock n roll, it’s bowling. Which is really a lot like rocknroll but with bigger balls.

——

I have to come clean the above paragraph was a draft of a post written the day before our Chuck the Stapler and pick up a ball fundraiser which was an Office Space & Big Lebowski dress up party (is someone going to catch on that we’re having way too much fun coming up with fundraisers?) And while it was sketchy turn-out wise (about 15 people showed out of 42) the people that came made it one heck of a good time.  A few even dressed up. And all beat their case of the Monday’s with a cold beer and a few 5-pin strikes.

In reality, we raised $3 that day. But we put the whole $300 in. The thing was, people were really stoked and want to help us do the next one and the next one after that, so really that 3 bucks does feel like 300 when you’ve got those kinda dressed-up-awesome people helping you out.

Flare and all.

This was our top prize

Not only was it won, but the person who won it then wore it and bowled a strike, that's the "wild" in wild side!

Thank you!

Three cheers for Sejuiced! Hip-hip-sejuiced! Hip-hip-sejuiced! This veggie-delicious restaurant is letting us set up shop for our next Arthritis Society fundraiser tomorrow.

And between now and then I have a lot of vegan baking to do.

We’ve hitched our little wagon to the tractor that is The 2nd annual Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. As a part of this worldwide 2-week event, we’re whisking up cookies, cupcakes and brownies (oh my! – I never get tired of this joke or The Wizard of Oz, sigh). So, if you’re strolling along beautiful West 4th avenue tomorrow between Noon and Two, stop by Sejuiced (1958 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC) for a little taste of what hopefully will be delicious.

Jordan and I's feet slapping the pavement as I huff and he hangs back a minute to run with me

Jordan and I are at an all-time personal best right now: regularly running 25 minutes, walking 1 minute, running 25 more at least 3x’s a week. Even uphill. Even in the windstorm. Happily in the rain. (Not as happily as when it’s gorgeous and summer outside and we can dog-stare to our heart’s content). (Sorry for the extra parenthesis but when I type “dog-stare”, I really mean it. Looking at dogs lifts our dragging, sweating hearts high- Jordan sometimes goes extra bold and reaches out for a quick pat as we run by, I usually say “look at that little guy, awww” Especially if the dog is big. If anyone is interested in running, do it just to see all the dogs out and about licking things and each other).

But back to the running. We’re doing it. Something consistent is happening and it’s not just arguing who needs to sell tickets and where for our next fundraiser.  We start off worried, discussing errands and what-ifs? What if only people from your office show up and it’s awkward and they hate us? What if those prizes don’t come through? What if people want their money back? What if we can’t actually raise this much money? But then something miraculous happens as we continue to run… we stop talking and the ‘what if’s’ fade into the greenery and bright pink flowers around us. Sometimes we even laugh at our anxiety-ridden scenarios, being so bold as to say, ‘yeah and that guy from Ben’s Folds Five may show up too!’ or ‘hell, Douglas Coupland may stop by, donate a huge green plastic army man and do a poetry session by reading his fantastic tweets!’ Or ‘Van Halen will come in here, bowl a perfect string and give us all the old spandex from one of their world tours, talk about prizes!’ By the end of the run we’re mellow, breathing again, noticing dogs and flowers. Saying hi to people. Secretly trying to high-five the joggers and pat the dogs. Laughing at our precarious job situations, student debts and follies.

And that’s a proud moment. A: “look ma,  no drugs!” moment- one where we can cut through our own tightly wound crap and get mellow on our own! And in our society’s frenzy-forward days, I think mellowing out is something to be proud of… especially for me. I’ve been told if I were a dog I’d be a bordie collie cooped up in a small closet meant for tax files. I’ve been chasing my own tail since I was three.

But it’s amazing what a run can do. It can be really freeing. See you later, closet!

We’re at the point now where running for running’s sake is within view: just off the horizon with some leisure boats and wind surfers.  It’s still a push to get us out the door but it’s becoming more automatic. Less of a negotiation, more of a commitment. I’m starting to trust it, the running, that it can happen on its own as well as with my feet.

So, here’s a few other things we’re noticing: 1) neither of us are losing any weight. Not yet anyway. We find this surprising but could also have to do with the decadent Indian meal we had for Jordan’s mom’s partner Rhoda’s birthday followed by a ship-wreck size of cheesecake. And having the odd twenty beer with friends. But seriously, if this was 10 years earlier, I’d be able to run on a steady diet of Mr. Big bars, tofu and mountain dew and have to buy a belt, so it’s interesting what we hold onto as we age. And how gross a Mr big bar with a side of green pop would be now, but gross in a fantastical way.

2) People are forgiving and kind. We dread the fundraisers and asking for money. Yes, we believe in the cause and yes, we want to change our own lives and are committed to doing so, but asking for money and throwing wacky fundraisers is scary. And then combine the two and it’s even scarier. So, we’re trying to make them fun, what-would-we-like-to-go-do-things, like a party in the living room or kitchen. And we bring as many cupcakes as we can. And everyone so far has been more gracious than we deserve. And we get excited about them too. Especially when they entail costumes.

3) We need to stretch for real. No kinda-stretching while watching the tail end of an episode of The Office we started last night. No, pretending to flex our feet while cooking dinner. We actually need to consciously stop what we’re doing and stretch for about 10 minutes after a warm up walk and then after the run. If we don’t, we’re 80. And we’re an 80 that made a life out of eating Mr. Big Bars, tofu and Mountain Dew in the tax closet with the border collie.

4) Cramps. I have a few that are recurring buddies which show up after about 20 minutes of running. Luckily so far, they rotate so I haven’t had the pleasure of getting them all at once. My new creaky friends: the ribber:  a cramp right under the top tip of my right rib; the blade: a cramp under my right shoulder blade; the bitch: a cramp right smack dab in the centre of my chest, off of my breast bone; and one that turned into five jabbing bolts of pain all around my belly after eating a peanutbutter sandwich too close to running, yuck. This one doesn’t get a name unless of course it’s ’stupid’.

The interesting thing is, I can usually run with the cramps and out run them. I have to accept them, which usually consists of me cursing and hollering out to Jordan up ahead that the “ribber” for instance is back. Then feeling sorry for myself and cursing some more. Then I slow down, try to relax and keep going. And to my amazement, this has worked. I’m only running max about 50 minutes so far, so it’s not like I’m in the 4 hour of continuous running marathon sector or anything where out-running a cramp might be crazy, but my little stints so far have given me such hope. I thought when you got a cramp it meant throwing in your towel and your short shorts too. But so far, it means patience and running/breathing through it.

Jordan doesn’t get cramps. But his right hip will tell him what’s what sometimes and this scares him. Not as much as throwing a fundraiser, but close.

5) That we like ourselves more after a run than before. I’m not sure if it’s all the oxygen or getting to see the ocean or people or dogs or all of that, but we feel more connected to something. To everything. And that makes us feel much better. (Even about the fundraisers).

We’ll post an update as soon as we push up a time slot/get further with fundraising! Thank you so much for reading!