One week till the Terry Fox Run! A couple months ago, I *could* have run a 10k...slowly. Very slowly. And I don't want to run too slowly next Sunday. The sooner I finish the race, the sooner my boyfriend will be able to buy me waffles at our local greasy spoon.
So on account of my desire to eat waffles sooner rather than later, I've been taking this 10 km training pretty seriously. My first step was to choose a training program. To do this, I used the highly scientific method of googling "training for a 10km run" and choosing the program I liked best. To be honest, the training programs all look pretty much the same - some hill and sprint training, some slow jogs, some cross-training, and the occasional day off. I think the program I chose came from Runner's World, but don't quote me on that.
I realize that following an online training program without any personal interaction isn't for everyone, but for me it's worked like a charm. Years ago, when I had more money, I worked with a personal trainer - I loved the structure of it, and working with someone who knew how hard to push me. The online training program is the next best thing. I am highly motivated, and I respond well to structure, so obeying instructions on a printed-out training program isn't that difficult.
Because I only decided to do the Terry Fox Run in mid-August, and I was already in pretty good shape, I condensed a 6-week training program down to 4 weeks. My weekly schedule looks something like this:
-long slow run
- hill intervals
- yoga
- race pace run
- sprint intervals
- day off
- race pace run
I also do two weight training sessions a week - not because I'm a great person, but because my hip flexors tend to hurt if I don't incorporate quad and hamstring exercises into my routine.
I'm 3/4 of the way through my program, and I'm really happy with my progress. My weakness has always been speed, but I've noticed a remarkable increase in the speeds I'm able to reach during my sprint intervals. Hopefully this will translate into a faster race time, and faster waffle gratification.
As far as weight loss goes...well, that hasn't been my goal. I have an athletic build, and I know my legs are stronger and more toned than they were a month ago. I'll never be a super-svelte, wispy reed of a woman, and I wasn't expecting this training to change that. However, I'm pretty sure that my legs are strong enough to snap Taylor Swift in half if I was ever given the chance. This is enough for me.
But of course, the goal of this race isn't to inflict suffering on Taylor Swift - it is to raise money for cancer research! As always, if you want to make a contribution to the Terry Fox Foundation, here is a link to my pledge page:
Krista's Terry Fox Run Page
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
9 more days!
We are 9 days away from the Terry Fox Run, and I'm happy to say I've nearly reached my fundraising goal. If you'd still like to make a donation, please visit my pledge site. Thanks for your support!
Krista's Terry Fox Run pledge page
Krista's Terry Fox Run pledge page
I am not cynical about Shinerama
I had entirely forgotten about Shinerama until a group of friendly but fast-talking freshmen approached me on the corner of Bank and Sunnyside. While I'm not about to succumb to the ravages of old age, I'm also too old to be approached by hordes of 18 year old boys; I knew something was up! Then they started to talk about cystic fibrosis, and I noticed their matching shirts (far less gaudy and conspicuous than when I was in undergrad). I felt the fall breeze on my skin and remembered - it's Shinerama season!
Nostalgia and misty-eyes ensued. "Ohhhh, I remember Shinerama. I did that when I was YOUR age!" The young men were polite about my brief lapse into condescension, and waited for me to fish some loose change out of my laptop bag.
For the uninitiated, Shinerama is the largest charitable fundraising campaign in Canada's university system. Since 1961, Shinerama has raised over 20 million dollars for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. As someone who did her undergrad at Laurier, I can safely say that I am among the initiated. Shinerama started at Laurier, and there is a great amount of fervour surrounding the event. As incoming frosh, we were expected to have an enthusiasm for Shinerama that bordered on cult-like. The zealous atmosphere surrounding Shinerama, and it's pairing with the "rah rah" frosh rallies that littered the campus all week, led some of my cohort to be cynical about the whole affair.
Shinerama has had more serious problems than eye-rolling undergrads in the last years. In 2008, Carleton University decided to ditch Shinerama on account of the cause. Cystic fibrosis, the student council argued, is primarily a disease affecting Caucasian males - the council wanted to support a cause that was more, shall we say, "diverse". This decision was later reversed, but not before a whack of media coverage briefly thrust Shinerama (and Carleton itself) into the spotlight.
I am not cynical about Shinerama, and here are some reasons why.
1. Regarding the Carleton fiasco - the story of cystic fibrosis is more complicated than Carleton's student council initially presented it. This has been well documented, and I don't wish to dredge up old controversies. The primary point to make here is that "Caucasian" and "white" aren't synonymous. I love Carleton's critical edge and concern with issues of diversity, but this wasn't the school's most effective demonstration of these qualities.
2. As far as the social pressure put on students to participate...by the time kids hit university, they have undergone greater social pressure to engage in lesser activities.
3. For students who do want to participate, it's a positive and effective way of meeting other people. You get to spend time out in what might be a new city, being giddy, making new friends, flirting, people-watching, and (hopefully) giving community members a positive impression of "young people today".
4. Speaking of "positive impression", Shinerama volunteers are generally well-trained. They are polite and thank donors profusely. They are sometimes annoyingly chipper or flighty or obsequious, but they are also young adults going through an extremely socially stressful life transition. So some slack is required. Plus, their unbridled giddiness can be fun to watch. Today I saw a herd of young women dancing to Aqua's "Barbie Girl" - in the Glebe. Ridiculous, but also kind of adorable.(Again with the condescension!)
5. The best thing about about Shinerama - They give donors a "I contributed to Shinerama" sticker so that you're not inundated with requests for money all day long. They may not offer them, but they should. I always ask, and I complain if they don't have any.
Of course, in all the excitement of fundraising and adding each other on Facebook, Shinerama volunteers can easily forget the "reason for the season", as they say. I was impressed today when the guys who approached me started by talking about cystic fibrosis - asking me open-ended questions about what I know rather than immediately asking me for change. This doesn't happen often, though. I find that most students know some basic facts about the disease, but few can tell you WHERE your donation is going, exactly. ("For cystic fibrosis!" is not a useful answer.) They should give students a blurb about the research that Cystic Fibrosis Canada does, or a breakdown of how donations are spent, or something beyond the "fast facts" that they usually throw at you.
That criticism aside, I believe Shinerama is a worthy fundraising event that ultimately benefits people living with CF, as well as the student volunteers and the communities in which they're situated. If you run across Shinerama volunteers this weekend, give some change their way! And try not to bore them with misty-eyed stories of your undergrad days like I did.
Nostalgia and misty-eyes ensued. "Ohhhh, I remember Shinerama. I did that when I was YOUR age!" The young men were polite about my brief lapse into condescension, and waited for me to fish some loose change out of my laptop bag.
For the uninitiated, Shinerama is the largest charitable fundraising campaign in Canada's university system. Since 1961, Shinerama has raised over 20 million dollars for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. As someone who did her undergrad at Laurier, I can safely say that I am among the initiated. Shinerama started at Laurier, and there is a great amount of fervour surrounding the event. As incoming frosh, we were expected to have an enthusiasm for Shinerama that bordered on cult-like. The zealous atmosphere surrounding Shinerama, and it's pairing with the "rah rah" frosh rallies that littered the campus all week, led some of my cohort to be cynical about the whole affair.
Shinerama has had more serious problems than eye-rolling undergrads in the last years. In 2008, Carleton University decided to ditch Shinerama on account of the cause. Cystic fibrosis, the student council argued, is primarily a disease affecting Caucasian males - the council wanted to support a cause that was more, shall we say, "diverse". This decision was later reversed, but not before a whack of media coverage briefly thrust Shinerama (and Carleton itself) into the spotlight.
I am not cynical about Shinerama, and here are some reasons why.
1. Regarding the Carleton fiasco - the story of cystic fibrosis is more complicated than Carleton's student council initially presented it. This has been well documented, and I don't wish to dredge up old controversies. The primary point to make here is that "Caucasian" and "white" aren't synonymous. I love Carleton's critical edge and concern with issues of diversity, but this wasn't the school's most effective demonstration of these qualities.
2. As far as the social pressure put on students to participate...by the time kids hit university, they have undergone greater social pressure to engage in lesser activities.
3. For students who do want to participate, it's a positive and effective way of meeting other people. You get to spend time out in what might be a new city, being giddy, making new friends, flirting, people-watching, and (hopefully) giving community members a positive impression of "young people today".
4. Speaking of "positive impression", Shinerama volunteers are generally well-trained. They are polite and thank donors profusely. They are sometimes annoyingly chipper or flighty or obsequious, but they are also young adults going through an extremely socially stressful life transition. So some slack is required. Plus, their unbridled giddiness can be fun to watch. Today I saw a herd of young women dancing to Aqua's "Barbie Girl" - in the Glebe. Ridiculous, but also kind of adorable.(Again with the condescension!)
5. The best thing about about Shinerama - They give donors a "I contributed to Shinerama" sticker so that you're not inundated with requests for money all day long. They may not offer them, but they should. I always ask, and I complain if they don't have any.
Of course, in all the excitement of fundraising and adding each other on Facebook, Shinerama volunteers can easily forget the "reason for the season", as they say. I was impressed today when the guys who approached me started by talking about cystic fibrosis - asking me open-ended questions about what I know rather than immediately asking me for change. This doesn't happen often, though. I find that most students know some basic facts about the disease, but few can tell you WHERE your donation is going, exactly. ("For cystic fibrosis!" is not a useful answer.) They should give students a blurb about the research that Cystic Fibrosis Canada does, or a breakdown of how donations are spent, or something beyond the "fast facts" that they usually throw at you.
That criticism aside, I believe Shinerama is a worthy fundraising event that ultimately benefits people living with CF, as well as the student volunteers and the communities in which they're situated. If you run across Shinerama volunteers this weekend, give some change their way! And try not to bore them with misty-eyed stories of your undergrad days like I did.
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