This One's in the Bag!

I've got it figured out!

I ran an easy few kilometers this morning and tested out my gear. Leaving the house at 10:00am (to match start time tomorrow) I ran with one top layer, one jacket, light gloves and my firewall pants. 5 minutes later jacket was open at the neck. 10 more minutes and I unzipped and removed the sleeves of the jacket and took off the gloves. Last few hundred meters and the sleeves of my shirt were rolled up.

The conclusion: race kit set at one red Running Free long sleeved tech shirt, one pair Sugoi running capris, peaked running cap, Lifa gloves and running vest.

I have so got this one in the bag!

Pre-Race Jitters

The Chilly Half Marathon is this Sunday March 7th in Burlington, Ontario. The gun goes off at 10:05am (dreadfully civilized, don't you think?) and 3,000 of us will pound our way along the lake shore route in what has been forecast to be a glorious sun shine filled morning, with temperatures hovering around +6 degrees Celsius!

And there in lies the problem! (A brief word of explanation here before we go on ... I need something to obsess about; something to latch on to before a race so that I have something to solve, conquer or get the better of prior to the actual race...it keeps me calm you see...)

Anyhow, back to the weather issue. You are probably wondering why I would be worried about running in what will probably be the very best conditions I have experienced in Ontario in the past 5 months. Well that is the nut right there. I and many, many other Canadian runners begin in the autumn months slowly adding on more and more layers of clothing as the weather deteriorates through the late fall, into the winter and on through those dark, dark mornings of January and February. We have finally got it down to a fine art! It has taken months (because somehow we have forgotten all we learned last year!) but now all we need to know is the wind chill factor and we know exactly how many layers of clothing we need. We know when we need the spikes for the ice underfoot. We know when we need the Vaseline on the cheeks to ward off frostbite. We know how long we can go before our water bottles turn into slushies.

But now it's going to be nice! So do we risk capris? Peaked cap or light toque? Jacket or vest? Gloves? Definitely gloves instead of mittens, but which ones? Lifa or windproof technical?

ARRRGGGHHHH! I'm not ready for this!!!

Take a Deep Breath

After reading a recent article from a posting on Arthritis Today, I read the following comment from another reader. Sharon's words drove home to me the courage that arthritis sufferers demonstrate each and every day as they work through the daily challenges that we so easily take for granted. Many of her ideas are life lessons and I especially appreciated the suggestion to "take a deep breath", listen to your body, recognize the fear and find a way to let your body move on.

I feel pretty proud that I am even remotely involved with such positive people through the Arthritis Society, and that my fund raising efforts will help to take another step forward in supporting their day-to-day efforts.

So, I encourage you to read on and then to become part of the team by making a donation to the Arthritis Society. (You'll find a link to my donation page in the right hand margin of the blog!)

Sharon West (12 Sept, 2009, 01:34)

"Hello to all my fellow RA sufferers,

I was reading all your recent quotes, and just had to share some stuff I have learned over the past couple years. I got diagnosed with RA in 2003, and it was pretty severe by that point...barely able to walk, go upstairs, even use the bathroom (you know how that goes...)..but eventually the methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine (plaquenil) and the assorted steroids for 6 months started to take effect and the massive flare I was experiencing, got under control. But I had read about warm water exercise arthritis classes as being real good for RA so I started going to those later in 2003...they have really helped, and I continue to go 3 times a week. And believe me I know what it's like to be in so much pain that moving is the last thing you want to do...but strangely the warm water (and hot tub and steam room) really help, so if you have access to anything like that, I strongly recommend it.

Also, a couple years ago I started taking Tai Chi...and what I have learned from that class is not only how to move to stimulate the lymph glands and build back up muscle, but the secret I have really learned is about breathing...breathing into your muscles through this...deep breathing...it really relaxes the body and lets your muscles and joints get some much needed oxygen and blood flow. I have realized how shallow my breathing is throughout most of the day, and especially in the midst of a flare(which I still get, but now I better manage them). The thing is that I can get so "fearful" of the pain, which is so real and tiring, that I start to breathe shallow again and get into a state of fear and almost hopelessness sometimes...but I have found the deep breathing and simple movements of Tai Chi to be very liberating...I can't explain how it all works, but I definitely have less pain and can sleep much better.

I am a music composer so my hands and fingers degrading can be most frustrating at times, but I have found not fighting it sometimes and then not being afraid of the pain and giving myself a break and just saying it will be better by the afternoon, really helps.

I hope this has helped some of you...I can't recommend the warm water exercise and Tai Chi enough...and just wanted to say I really know what you are going through...it's not easy, but you are never alone.

Sharon".

Virtual Bottle Drive is Launched!

The Bottle Drive went well, although not quite as well as I had expected based on previous efforts. Feeling slightly discouraged I chatted with a few neighbours and discovered that the local elementary school as well as a local ringette team had also held bottle drives over the holidays ... so all things taken into consideration, it was a success. I am especially grateful for the regular contributors who keep saving their bottles for me every time. Thank you very much!

I was speaking with my sister just the other day and she told me how she and her husband had decided to support my bottle drives even though they lived several hours drive away. Fearing that they would ask me to drive to their home to pick up the empties I said, "Wow, that's great. Thanks very much, I could get out there next weekend?" (please read with trepidation and reluctance in your voice!) ... My sister laughed and explained that they had set aside an empty jar that they were going to use to collect the coins that they received for returning empties in their own town, and when they had accumulated a fair bit, they would send me the money as their contribution to the Arthritis Society. Now that sounds even better!

So that conversation got me thinking and in the spirit of this cyber world we live in I have decided to launch a "Virtual Bottle Drive". I am asking you, where ever you may live to set aside the money you receive for bottle returns and then donate it to The Arthritis Society through the Joints in Motion Training Team Everest Trek. If you send me an email at hilary.everest2010@gmail.com I will even send you a collection jar!

Donations can be made through my personal fund raising web page at http://arthritis.akaraisin.com/p/HilarySadler.aspx or by contacting me via email and I will send you out a donation form through the good ole Canada Post.

And if that's not incentive enough for you ... all donations of $10.00 or more will receive a tax receipt.

Now that's a win, win, win situation if I've ever seen one! You enjoy a beverage with family and friends (win!), you return the bottle to be recycled (win!), you receive a refund (win!), you save the refund money and then donate it to the Arthritis Society (win!), which generates a tax receipt (win, again!) and the Arthritis Society has additional support for its many research and patient education programs (extra big win!!).

So come on everyone! Ask your family and friends to join in and let's see what we can do together!

New Year Bottle Drive

This blog is supposed to be about my training and fund raising adventures and so it's probably about time that I get you all caught up on things!

Fund raising is clicking along, albeit a little slower than I had hoped. Personal events of the past few months have thrown me off my game, but there's nothing like a new year approaching like a freight train to get you re-focused!

I have my third Bottle Drive scheduled for the 5th of January and this has been a fun way to fund raise and train at the same time. I deliver a flier to the mailbox of about 500 homes in the little pocket of Markham that I live in, announcing the date of the bottle drive. On the day of the drive, I go door to door and pick up boxes of empty wine, liquor and beer bottles that are then sorted and returned to the local Beer Store for refund. I follow up the Bottle Drive with a second flier that gives me a chance to thank my neighbours for their contributions and to bring them up to date on my fund raising campaign. This flier also gives me the opportunity to spread the word about arthritis and the work being done by the Arthritis Society.

Delivering the fliers takes about 6 hours of steady walking which falls nicely into my training plans. I now have an amazing appreciation for Canada Post mail men/women and many new ideas for redesigning my front garden! There are some very beautifully designed gardens and front walkways in my neighbourhood.

These bottle drives have also given me a wonderful opportunity to meet many of my neighbours that I wouldn't have had the chance to in the past. We are all probably quite familiar with the people who live next door to us or within a few doors of us, but thanks to our busy lives that is just about as far as the circle goes. Thanks to walking door to door in good weather and bad, I have met a wonderful group of people who have come to know me as "that lady that's walking to Everest", or "that Bottle Lady". Several of them even joke that they are "drinking for Arthritis"! All of their comments, words of encouragement, (along with their contributions of course!) make the whole effort seem to be more of a team effort. I now feel like I am training and fund raising with the support of a great group of people that have become in a way my Everest training team.

So I'm sending out a great big "Happy New Year!" to everyone and a special thank you to all who put aside their empties in support of the Arthritis Society's Joints in Motion Training Team Everest 2010 Trek!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and best wishes to you all for the New Year and beyond!

In memory of my Mother and as a little gift to everyone I would like to share her Christmas cake recipe. Now, I know that in the world of Christmas fruit cakes there are basically 2 camps; those that love them and those that hate them. So even if you absolutely hate them you may have a friend who loves them and you can bake this up as a gift for them next Christmas.

A word about Christmas cake traditions ... my Mother, Mary was Welsh and it was her tradition to bake this cake in early November. We would all take a turn stirring the batter and making a wish as we stirred. The cake was then slowly baked and the warm aromatic scent of Christmas slowly filled the house. When the cake was done it was anointed with liberal doses of sherry or port and then lovingly wrapped in cheese cloth, waxed paper and then finally put in a tin and placed in the linen cupboard to await Christmas. In later years when we were scattered across Canada with our own families, Mom would bake 7 of these cakes and mail one to each of us, keeping one for my Father, herself and any lucky visitor.

So here is the recipe ... enjoy!

Cacen Nadolig (Christmas Cake)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sultanas
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup currants
• 1/2 cup glazed cherries (or dried cherries if you hate those nasty little green and red things!)
• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp milk
• brandy, port, sherry, rum or whatever your preference.

1. Soak fruit in alcohol of choice for 24 hours.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Beat eggs and add slowly, beating after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, sift all dry ingredients together and add grated lemon rind.
5. Add flour mixture to soaked fruit.
6. Fold the flour and fruit mixture into the creamed mixture.
7. Add milk a tablespoon at a time until the batter falls easily from the spoon.
8. Grease a 9" spring form cake tin and line the bottom and sides with greaseproof (parchment) paper so that the paper comes about 3" above the sides of the tin. Regrease the paper.
9. Turn the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spread evenly and make a slight dip in the middle.
10. Bake on the bottom shelf of a cool oven (300 deg. F) for about 3 1/2 hours, until the cake is a rich brown and firm to the touch.
11. Allow to cool in the tin and then turn out.
12. Prick the cake all over and pour the alcohol over the cake.
13. Store in cheese cloth or greaseproof paper and then in an airtight tin.
    

Heading to Edmonton

My mother passed away on Monday morning from pneumonia; a common complication of late-stage Alzheimer's disease. I will be joining the rest of my family in Edmonton this weekend to celebrate my mother's life and to honour her memory.

To be quite frank, her death has left me feeling disoriented and empty hearted. She was the stabilizing force in my life and even though we lived thousands of miles apart for the past 18 years she was always there; just beyond my fears and doubts, cheering me on when I needed the support and calmly reminding me that no matter what was thrown my way, I could handle it. She had an elegance and personal strength that gently shone on anyone fortunate enough to know her. A gentle sense of humour, coupled with the patience of a saint and a blindingly bright intelligence.

I miss her and honour her with every breath I take.

I love you Mom.