Although the amount I raised was 10% of what I had raised compared to last year, I am still VERY happy and satisfied with the results as well as my performances for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon as well as the Toronto Half Marathon in September and October respectively.  I feel I have planted the seeds for something much greater by the time the Transformers 2 movie hits theatres next year.

After some careful reflection on what made me follow through with my intention to run two half marathons, I found these to be the main reasons for picking up momentum that helped me build a solid foundation to reach my fitness goals:

Having Compelling Reasons:

Reasons come first, answers come second. My own reasons for doing this were to transform my Transforming for SickKids Initiative from a one-off phenomenon that was tied to the 2007 Transformers movie to something that was yearly in order to raise funds for my cause – the Hospital for SickKids.

In addition to that, I wanted to do it for my health and get rid of the beer gut I accumulated over the years as well. I wanted to prove to myself that I could follow through on my word, because to me – if you’re not a person of your word, you’re not a person of integrity – one of the virtues that I swore to live by at the beginning of 2008. Simply put, when you have enough reasons to want to do something, you’re more likely to follow through.

Signing up for a Running Room Clinic (or any other running clinic):

Since I first started to seriously pursue amateur running back in December 2007, I simply picked up an old pair of running shoes and some winter running gear and started running outside. Sounds simple and it worked – for a while.

Long story short, I ran to the point where I had chronic shin splints and started complaining to my friend who was training with the Team In Training (for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and suggested I sign up for a clinic because she could clearly see what I was doing wrong compared to what she was learning in her clinic. I took her advice into consideration and after a 2 month hiatus from running, I signed up for a Running Room clinic back in June 2008.

The clinic cost about $70 Canadian, but was worth every penny in terms of what they teach, the in person support they give as well as online. I had made new friends and colleagues, all of whom I highly respect for committing their time and energy to improve their health as well kicking ass while terrorizing the residents and motorists alike in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto

When you have a solid support network, one that won’t let you off the hook if you “skip” a running session, you’re bound to get all the encouragement and support in order to help you reach your fitness goals.

MapMyRun.com

I found MapMyRun.com to invaluable in helping me map out my runs and pretty much keep track of everything when it came to how many kilometers I ran per session, how many kilometers I put on my shoes, as well as having a great forum for runners from every corner of the world giving you the ability to connect with people who are experiencing the same problems you may encounter during running.

It’s great to have everything easily accessible on the web, as well as having their Training Log displaying all the runs you’ve put in during the month in a format that shows you how much progress you’ve made month-to-month.

The best thing about it is that it’s FREE!

Financial commitment

It’s human nature to value something which we’ve personally invested in otherwise we consciously or subconsciously perceive it as “low-value” or “low priority”. Let’s say you plunk down a wad of cash ($100 give or take), you’ll be more committed to following through and getting value for your money. On the other hand, if you get something for free or close to it, you’ll be less committed to it because it was something that was pretty much given to you.

With this basic understanding of human nature, I put my money where my mouth is and plunked down the cold hard cash to buy my running gear, bought a place in my Running Room Clinic as well as registering for two half marathons, that added up to a hefty amount of cash. All of which I was more than happy to pay for because I knew it would help lead me to accomplishing what I had set out to achieve.

Public accountability

Here, I took a page from Leo Babauta’s advice about making a statement on your blog (or in my case via Facebook as well) making your goals public to harness the power of positive public pressure. I did this for a few things (failed but learned a lot) as well as training for a half marathon to run it on behalf of the Hospital for SickKids – something that was very close to my heart where I would not back down on my words.

This did wonders with my weekly updates on Facebook (plus Twitter). I received a lot of positive feedback and encouragement from loved ones, friends and colleague in helping me follow through.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. Four months in the making that helped me build a solid foundation for my fitness. I ran a respectable 1 hr 59 min 3 secs for my first half marathon on Sept 28, 2008 where I eclipsed my original goal of 2 hrs 15 mins and ran 1 hr 52 min 28 secs for the Toronto Half Marathon – the race that I had been training for all along and fell short of my goal of running it under 1 hr 50 min due to a mid-race washroom break.

Although my legs are sore as hell after running the race against the time I set for myself as well as for a cause beyond myself, I don’t regret the abuse I took on my legs and feet took.

These past few months I’ve spent in terms of running towards my fitness goals were nothing short of empowering. I’d like to thank my instructors Dave Emilio as well as Julie Petten in running a fantastic Half Marathon Clinic out of the Running Room by the Beaches. The lessons I’ve learned will definitely flow to other areas of my life as well as helping me raise the bar higher for my next set of fitness goals … my first Marathon as well as six-pack abs by next year’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon

It’s been a while since my last fitness update. So long story short:

• I signed up for a running clinic with The Running Room over by the beaches in Toronto.
• I’ve been training for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon where I was originally supposed to run for the Mississauga Marathon back in May this year.
• Change of diet has played a huge role in shedding weight and gaining energy and endurance to make it through a day without a nap
• My shin splints haven’t been as chronic as before due to my proper training with my clinic
• I’ve lost at least 5 pounds since training for two months now (I haven’t properly weighed myself yet
• I ran 12 kilometres and 14 kilometres respectively a few weeks ago, breaking a mental barrier of 10K right around when I last got injured.  It was my previous high back in my Fitness update #4 

I’ve never felt healthier in my life. I’m able to run for over an hour and a half straight and swim for at least 30 mins (just hopped out of the pool straight.

Finally, I recently decided try out the famed P90X home workout program again after dabbling in it a few months ago.  There have been a lot of inspiring videos floating around on YouTube with people tracking their progress as they follow the program with some amazing results. I’ll be doing the same after I’m done my classes for the summer in order to begin a challenge that I’m calling “Project Core Values”, which I’ll dedicate an entire post to later on when I have the time. In any case, as per Fitness Update tradition.. a route of my most recent long run!

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. – George Bernard Shaw

Last year, I had undertook a one month challenge to raise $5000 for the SickKids Foundation in conjunction with the release of the movie “Transformers” – a childhood passion of mine – on what was supposed to be released on my birthday, but released on July 3^rd instead. The end result was $4230 raised for SickKids as opposed to the original $5000, and an unforgettable and truly empowering experience.I had created the TRANSFORMING for SickKids Initiative as a challenge to myself and as an act of gratitude to the wonderful people and world-class pediatric care bestowed upon me during my time at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario back in May-June 1993. If it wasn’t for their care, I probably wouldn’t be here today.

Now that I think of it, the purpose of the Initiative could be encapsulated in the following: “Promoting research in pediatric care through rediscovering and igniting childhood passions in ourselves and connecting people together for a common cause in the care and health of children – the SickKids Foundation.”

Had it not been for the help I received from the of the over 20 sponsors with their donations-in-kind in crafting the prize packages, my friends (Bonnie, Franz, Mike S, Paulina, Patricia, Franz, Chi Lam, Mike K, Jennifer, Katherine and Gokul) and loved ones (especially Loretta). Furthermore, to the countless people who saw and believed in the vision to the point where they bought raffle tickets, with the proceeds ultimately put towards research in pediatric care used in protecting and caring for humanity’s most precious resource – the children of today and our future. If it wasn’t for all those people, the Initiative wouldn’t have been possible.

This year, in the spirit of “Transforming”, because there isn’t a Transformers 2 movie to continue what was built last year the Initiative itself is Transforming into something drastically different. Instead of solely selling raffle tickets at a prominent and high traffic location aligned with the release of a Transformers movie, the Initiative is moving towards raising funds through running and Transforming ourselves. For the past few months, I’ve been training for a half-marathon and have been gearing up for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon as a primer, and use the Toronto Marathon as the launching pad for the Transforming for SickKids Initiative’s new vision.

By Transforming ourselves from the inside and outwards while training for a marathon, we can inspire and empower others to actualize our goals and dreams through fitness. It is only when we put something before ourselves that forces us to push ourselves outside of comfort zone and expand our capacity – to contribute and give whatever gift we have to the world, we can truly grow. Rallying behind a purpose that is meaningful, beyond ourselves that moves us is what will power the TRANSFORMING for SickKids Initiative.

This is my purpose for now. What’s yours?

I’m back in business and with the help of my new Mizuno Wave Nirvana 2′s, I was able to run 10K within 1 hour and 3 minutes, shin splint free!

My run went a little something like this: My heart was pounding, eardrums were thumping to the beat of Justice’s “Phantom Pt. II”. My feet felt so alive, with the rhythm of my breath matched with the cadence of my stride. My lungs filled to capacity and exhaled fully in the crisp -1 degree celsius evening air. I was totally present, “in state” and in the zone. I felt powerful with every stride during my cool down.

With respect to my cross training, I’m up to swimming 24 lengths consecutively, which is a major jump since the 8 laps I started with during my first semester. Swimming is my other fitness vice, where I can become totally present and get into state, focusing on being efficient as possible with every stroke as I glide through the water. And I’m using some elements of the P90X workout program to increase my core body strength, while I save up for the PowerBlock weight system and a pull-up bar for use at home.

Anyway, here’s the route that I took, which was supposed to be done two weeks ago, had I not developed shin splints.

- Will

For every runner, the lowest common denominator and most important piece of equipment is a decent pair of technical running shoes. They take brunt and abuse of our running endeavours, so it would only make sense to check out whether your shoes have seen its days. I figure I had about two more months in them for running, but boy was I ever wrong. I had to get shin splints in order to numb the pain and decided to retire my Mizuno Wave Inspires. They’ve served me well, but I digress…

For all runners out there, dropping by a stores that focuses solely on running such as The Running Room is a great way to check out your options of what shoe is perfect for you. You can get a proper fitting of a decent pair of technical runners, to see what type of shoes were best for your foot type.

I eventually picked up a pair of Asics GT-2130′s, which are supposedly the most popular running shoe in North America, but their cost was a bit of a turn off and since I’m on a budget, I’ll be returning them to get an older model of an equally better if not superior running shoe. I found the Mizuno Wave Nirvana 2, their 2005 model on eBay for $55 USD, which is substantially cheaper, the only setback is the wait time, so I’ll be doing some cross training to maintain my fitness level.

Keeping in check your running shoes or whatever fitness equipment that is crucial to your success should be taken into account as we often take them for granted and don’t consider the consequences should they fail on us.

For now, it’s back to the gym for me, while I’m patiently waiting for my shoes to arrive…

- Will

Here’s the route I was supposed to take. I made it half way and had to take a streetcar for the trip back home. Next week, I’ll be back at it, but until then.. cross training

I have to say that I have a lot of respect for people who run for longer distances in sub -10 degree Celsius weather WITH windchill added! I am so glad that my friend Beverly, who is also training for a marathon had given me the tip of putting Vaseline on my face when I’m running in particularly frigid weather.

I finally got to test the limits of my midweight running tights that I picked up from Mountain Equipment Co-op (mec.ca)… probably -7 degrees Celsius is the limit to which it can sustain any reasonable amount of warmth for my thighs. By the time I got back to the Ryerson gym and had taken off my tights, my thighs were red as lobsters. Note to self – pick up a pair of heavyweight tights for these crazier days.

Below is the course I took with the use of the handy-dandy runners companion, MapMyRun.com

Below is a run that I completed earlier this afternoon to see how much further I could push myself. Here I chose my school, the Ted Rogers School of Management right beside Eaton Centre as the destination, where I’d swing around down along Bay St. and back east along Queen St East back home.

I’m excited to measure my marathon training progress here. I think I’ll bump up my distance up to 10 km for next Sunday (weather pending). See you on the street or on the trails!

- Will