No Treadmill in Sauna Required....solution discovered...

So yesterday I began my 'hill training'......cough cough splutter splutter...I tell no lies...

Now when I signed up to the race, there were a few areas of concern, the biggest were the weather change from here to there and concern about how my body would cope, and then the whole hilly aspect of running down in the mountainous Cape, versus running here in gorgeous flat Oulu :)

I've pondered solutions so far these are them:

The weather one first....My very generous baby brother provided that particular solution :)  I leave in a few days for a visit to South Carolina where he lives, so I get to run in the warmer weather over there, CANT WAIT..I feel like a kid waiting for the arrival of Father Christmas!!!  My parents are also there at the moment so I get to see them too, all very last minute but sometimes life provides opportunities you just cant say no too!

We are there for roughly 3 weeks and I've sussed out a 15K race in the area...so I'm hoping that while I'm there I can get in at least 3 longer runs.  I know its a bit early on in the training, as after that there nearly 2 months until the race itself, and usually you fit the longer runs in closer to the race day.  But i'm working with what i've got and my assumption is the colder Februaury / March in Finland will mean I cant get longer runs like that in then.  However, if I can even just make 2 longer runs I will be thrilled (I always tend to be over enthusiastic in my attempts, if you have not gathered, and then the reality seems to set me straight...so 3 or 2 I will aim for...hehe)....but then again I am hoping that the warmer weather will give my body a hint or two of what it is going to experience in the near future preparing it for the shock in March.......AND if I do pass out from the sheer inability to run in warmer climates, my pops will be there riding his bike next to me as my support team and he can kick me and do some damage control to ensure I keep going ;) I decided last night I may need to pack my camelpack so I have loads of liquid while running there...if you remember, i'm a sweaty peeps in this place, so imagine the response when I run in a place that is actually hot :) Sheesh to think I used to run in the bloody desert and now most of my running takes place in temps below 10 degrees C!! How life changes and throws you along paths you never anticipated....O well O well

Gees I can ramble...forgive, but I have all this stuff rolling around in my head (my mom says I move at 100 miles an hour....) my mind seems to move at 200 miles an hour ;)

So anyways onto the topic of the day....the hills part...bear with bear with....(If you have ever watched the British TV show Miranda, you will get the joke there.....NOTE If you have not watched it, look it up on youtube, I find that I have a lot in common with Miranda)...so hills folks hills...

Well I seem to have recovered from my bout of the man flu (or too much sugar, the jury is still out ;) and I have decided that there seems no ways I can find anyone who is willing to lend us a treadmill, and anyways there is no space in our Sauna for me to squeeze the treadmill in!  All the hills in the forests I could have run on are now ski paths.  So I have come up with the next best solution that I can think of.....running up and down the underpaths on my regular routes...Some of them are sort of 'hill like'....

I have to admit, its a poopy solution, but its a start, and its better than nothing...I hope.......

So yesterday in my non-man-flu state, I set forth to conquer the hill issue...Here is how my run looked......sad to say you really have to look HARD to see where I sneaked in the 'hill' parts, but if you look closely there are all sorts of little jagged bits sticking out of the main route...Those are the up and down bits I ran...




I have to admit feeling like a total twit, but I made sure that if I did pass anyone in my little weird runs up and down the path to the bus stops or up and down the road under the bridge, I smiled and waved.....and I did a lot of giggling too.....as honestly the elevation is pathetic, but my heart was right......This is all I can think of bar the sauna and treadmill at this stage of training...and as I say, that is not a solution....So yip...here are some pics of the efforts I made...no laughing please!!!!!!

I PROMISE there is some elevation involved.....

A nice section in the forest where the sun was rising and if you look really
closely you can see some golden light through
 the trees...You may need a magnifying glass though... 

Proud to say this other lonesome runner was PASSED, yes you read right,
PASSED by this particular machine of a runner...(i'm talking about me!!),
It does not happen a lot, so when it does I tend to feel a little excited!!

Blurry, but I attempted to catch the sunrise......AND this was the prize downhill of the run too ;)

So yea, for now I feel the two main issues are addressed and I think due to my brillaint solutions you should feel it in your heart to sponsor those lovely little kids in SA who will benefit if you do....its  a win win if you think about it!!

Click here there are apparently only 85 days left to do so..EEK!

A serious case of 'Man Flu'..

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Well it appears im recovering from my 'man flu'!  My run on Christmas day really did me in, I think I should have listened to my body on the day and done as it demanded ... rest......Alas my fear of not keeping it up really does worry me terribly...to give up and give in to this bad weather is just so tempting....so I went for the run....and well it has led me to realise, my husband and son are not the only man flu sufferers in our house..... hehe

Now that I feel much better I can look back and laugh at myself, but whilst being in the midst of it.....I just feel like its all soooooooooooooooo horribly bad and I may not make it to the next hour without breaking....This particular video has always made me giggle....and sadly I realise I am as bad as this bloke!!

Needless to say yesterday I woke and felt human again, it was a great feeling! I have however decided that I will resist the urge to run till at least tomorrow as its gotten really cold again and possibly I need to just chill a bit and not put myself under such pressure....as we well know, man flu is a bad bad thing and I do not want it to linger any longer then necessary!!!!!!  So i'm hoping to get in a run or a swim either tomorrow or the Thursday....

However on a really exciting, healthy note I am nearly half way to my goal :)  Another wonderful friend donated to my little mission!!!!!!!!!!!!  I really have brilliant friends and for their support I am most grateful......I hope I can get closer to the goal soon, or at least make more than I was hoping too, that would be awesome and I recon it would help me run even faster ...(This particular line is what is called emotional manipulation and im hoping YOU too will denote because of it..... ;)

Christmas Day grey.........

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So I have gotten some more sponsorship and its all so exciting...The last deposit was after my 'im so miserable' post...and it spurred me on to get out the next day and stop being a poopy pants....I have to confess the weather really is not being nice at the moment and it sucks you of the desire to want to do anything but lie in bed and be miserable...its warmer (between 0 and 4 degrees) and the roads are atrocious...so running is very slow and slippery....but I have managed two runs since the 'poor little old me' moment... I went, I did it and I suppose that means its miles in the bank?!  I suppose its not all going to be fun and games...especially at this time of the year..

Here are some pics so you can get an idea of just how tough it is at the moment, every step placed with caution....so I ache in bizzare places and the fact that I ache from smallish runs is testament to the strained running.....This run below was before Christmas Eve.....I enjoyed it a lot more than today's really short run at least :) The post run feeling definately made this particular run worth it!!

The frozen, but fast melting sea...A lovely old lighthouse., grey and brooding skies

A few days ago I posted a pic and this was all white with snow...

Very monotone landscape at this time of the year..only the colorful boats make a mark....

And then it was Christmas eve...In Finland one of the things I LOVE is that I get a personal visit (ok so its really for my son) from Joulupukki (Santa Claus) on Christmas Eve and we get to open our present earlier than what I grew up with....Its fun...

The celebrations in Finland are different to my traditional Christmas celebration, the foods served are radically different and its done a day earlier than what I used to celebrate as Christmas....Its also actually winter....I am used to celebrating Christmas in the pool....

However, I am used to it now and the only tough part is that Christmas day is quiet and its when I really realise just how different my life is and I miss my family back home so terribly much!! Today I felt the blues quite distinctly as the weather was very very grey and wet, and no chance of going out to get fresh air...so around 2pm I knew I needed to get out, even for a small trot...So I did.  The exit from our yard greeted me with the worst slush so far....

Ice, slush, water and gravel....

Some parts of the paths were ok, but a large amount of them were just as the image below shows...NO fun whatsoever, I had actually thought all the pavement ice would have melted as its been raining, but alas only in sections....However I persevered, I ran really slow and I managed 5k and well..i'm still walking :) No biking helmet needed.

Just very ugly snow/ice....

Here is to hoping that with the predicted cold weather coming up we get some nice snow to cover this....and some good thrilling runs in again!!!

Merry Christmas to you all whichever way you celebrate...its often a tough time of year for all sorts of people, to all of you, good or bad....may this little blog remind you just how special you are and how important you are too!!

A case of the downers.....

Maybe I shouldn't write, but I figure, this is a blog about how the training for the 2 oceans is going and today I just feel overwhelmed with a feeling of I just cant see how I am going to do it.  Its Tuesday, and here in Finland our main xmas celebration is on Thursday as opposed to xmas day...but regardless, so far, its been a lot of eating bad food (way too much sugar and cheese stuff, I have been avoiding these the past few months, but my gawd they are good)...the weather is well and truly crap.  The temp rose above 0 and the snow has melted on pavements etc and its a slippery horrendous mess, running is so not possible....Its dark too, yesterday was the half way mark, the winter solistice and from now on we technically get more light....but yea its takes a long time to notice the change in reality, end of January if we are lucky. So feeling overwhelmed with all sorts of 'I cant do this, its just not fecking possible, who was I kidding?!!!' feelings. I need to run and I just feel im not getting enough runs in at the moment, even a 5K feels like a mission to the bloody moon....and its just 5Ks.

Maybe once I start eating less sugar and back to the 100% healthy food again, it will help....Or maybe if my son stops giving me such a hard time....every December this happens, but yea I forget how hard it is and each year I enter December blissfully and am quickly reminded how difficult at this time of the year he gets, I suspect the darkness does not help!!!  But I don't know....I am trying to keep up the exercise, as in I went swimming yesterday and today...but its not like running like one needs to do to train for a marathon/half marathon. I cant just swim for the next few months in training for something like a half marathon, it wont help me...I do not know where I can go to do a treadmill...and honestly the gym treadmills are full and to use one for an hour or so...man I cant think of anything more soul destroying.....I run as its outside, I get to breath while im out there...a treadmill??!!!

To do this run in SA, I need to really be on top form, as in to finish it I need to be able to adjust to the changed temperature pretty fast, have some extra vavoom due to the difference in climate, terrain the works...Apparently its quite a hilly run too....we do not have hills here in oulu...The few we do are now covered in snow....The long run the other day left me hurting in all sorts of unusual places, its from the running with caution.......fear of slipping for 12kms...I suppose you pay a price somewhere :/   I know skiing is good exercise too, but the ski paths are ruined coz of the bloody weather and to be hoenst skiing is WAY WAY hard for me, I worry I will break an ankle..I fall over and twist my ankles and then cant get up!!!!!!! So yea, im not sure whats up, its not PMS, as that has been...possibly dietary..being a mother...winter blues.....but as of this exact moment I just feel like I am not going to be able to do this...I wont stop trying, but its not easy gearing myself up to go out and face these elements....If you live somewhere that the weather is more 'running hospitable', please make sure you enjoy it, appreciate what you have coz I would give both breasts to be able to go run comfortably right now!....In the summer its awesome to run here....in the winter...i'm finding its taking its toll...and its not even bloody cold really!

So yea, today i've got the blues..I will watch my crap intake, after I down my last crunchy for the day...I really hope its all that stands between me and my excited motivated self returning....I will keep you posted...but today its simply not a very motivated Bales who writes this particular blog....

So maybe I was wrong....

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I loudly proclaimed that winter was here...alas, the temps have risen to above zero today and we are back to a nice smushy slippery surface!!  I was meant to do a long one yesterday, but I had a super exciting, non normal day and well I just didn't want to go...Yesterday I achieved a life long wish/desire and it was just so very very exciting for me.  I have always wanted to do a masters in mathematics, but I just did not feel I had the ability to do it, or even risk giving it a shot....But its been a desire. When I first came to Finland I studied, but it was in Education, doing a masters in math...well one has to be realistic....and I though I was being realistic....it was out of my reach.

Anyways, as I have explained I am unemployed, and I figured I may as well study if I was allowed to by the unemployment office here. The idea being to study so that I could teach up past Grade 9 mathematics.  In Finland the requirements to be able to teach right through to high school requires a subject masters. So I thought ok, I can try do that.  Its not a full on masters in that sense, half the credits are studies in education...which I had already.......so I applied and I got in....I was granted a position and well...went forth.....

After a bit of back and forwarding, I had to drop my idea of doing the 'easier' masters and go for the full on masters...which required a drastic change in the course I was doing...much harder, much much more scarier...It was why I had not dared to even consider it....but there was really no option, so I went and just sucked it up and gave it my best bloody shot......I had nothing to lose....It was that or simply be unemployed and do nothing....Im not a good 'do nothing person'....I get depressed, navel gaze and well....its boring to waste time doing nothing.....Well in the end I managed it!  It was in no way easy, it was as I always feared, TERRIFYING....I have never felt more stupid than I have this past year....wow, nothing like smashing your fragile ego to smithereens....But to cut a long tale short, I kept at it...I got it...I actually in the end did it....

So in  sense, life somehow set me on a path I DID NOT like, it made me feel things I did not like, it made me scared and insecure, I did not like that either...failure is a HUGE issue for me....I dont mind failing, but im not someone who gives up....I just could not give it up.....but I was scared that this was not honestly doable...when do you admit defeat?  When do you hang up your gloves and say ok...It followed me around for a long time....Then at some point I realised OMG, I think I can do this..I AM DOING this...gees, what a thrill!!

So now I am the owner of something I never thought I could have.....I still dont feel like I should have it, I don't feel in anyways different, but I got to admit I am thrilled I did not hang up the gloves...even though I wanted to many times!!!!!!!!!

So needless to say, yesterday I was full of nervous energy.....I couldn't sleep on Thursday night...I woke and think I was sweating from the time I woke...my big fear was they would turn around and say SORRY but you not getting this, we made a mistake...Its irrational, but well, it was going through my mind the whole time....till I saw my name on the overhead and well....Lets say I realise now...I have SISU (a very good Finnish word, it means grit...determination...staying power..tough...there is no real english word for it...but it combines all those things...), and if I did this, imagine what else I can do....

So Onwards and Upwards...

But yes, after all the energy loss, the thought of trying 13K, which was the scheduled run for yesterday was NOT HAPPENING.....Anyways, I just went with it...I really am doing what I can and when I can.....but I also know that to do the half, I need to put the 'time on my feet' and i'm worried I wont get the enough longer runs in when I need to in Februaury because of the weather....so today I woke....I had a sugar hangover...I had eaten really badly yesterday, no real decent meal besides breakfast....and to do longer runs in this weather...one needs to be suitably 'nutritioned up', shall we say ....However my son was being SUPER difficult...so I thought screw this, i'm going out...I need to breath and just decided I would rather face the elements than a temperamental 6 year old...SO I got set up for a small run, I didn't think I would manage much after yesterday...plus it was much warmer, so was worried about paths etc...

I started to run, slowly, very slowly, BUT I had my little creepy MP3 player and this song came blaring out.....Lets just say I LOVE THIS SONG....I got me a big butt and well...this song makes me want to dance........

So I ended up doing a 12K, very slowly, on some bad bad sections, stopping to take photos, as it was particularly gorgeous today...misty and eery...It was not so cold, so I was not worried about freezing up into a blob when I was taking the pics either ;)  So sorry for all the photos...but it was lovely....

The run was around my favorite area...the harbor...sea and river...I'm glad I went, I enjoyed it, it was NOT easy, but I did it...the weather was mild, so it was a good one to sneak in.....and well I came home and my son was still being a little monster...So I got a good break from that too....I had a good section of music on my player that kept me going....so all in all, waiting for today to run was worth it....

Here are some of the pics....

I put a pic of this in a previous blog...as you can see, the water is frozen over now, a lot more snow and eery mist!!

The local 'beach' that I spend all summer at if allowed to....hard to believe.

Someone was creative....I got wet shoes trying to capture it...but glad I did!!

A bridge we ride over all summer, as you can see the sea is freezing over....During the summer there are always boats, fishermen, people Kayaking, stand up boarding....Its gorgeous...now its just cold!!

Porno selfi..

This is what happens when the temps keep dropping and rising...lovely massive chunks of ice...I am fascinated by them!

I think these doodes are a little lost

Winter has arrived

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So the past few days have been good and cold...meaning no more crappy ice and lots of gorgeous scenery around :)  I am a happy gal!!

I've been working for the past week and a bit, substituting a biology teacher, I clearly have gotten used to the whole 'no work schedule', so its been rather busy in my life again....however its just confirmed how much I love working with kids, and really its not subject related. just the joy of being with them, getting them to be enthusiastic about learning and well getting a good old Bales show off as often as I can into the lesson time  :).  So needless to say i've been exhausted, but a good exhausted....but now its finished, the weather has settled and I am back on schedule....I hope!

So tonight we got home, I got my little peeps settled and I began to get ready for the evening run. The temp was hovering around -5 most of the day, so I was thrilled, no wind, it was warmer than the weather channel had predicted (I am obsessed wit my mobile phones weather app), so happy me!! I don't mind running if its warmer than -10, but colder its torture!

Anyways, I started to get ready,....I put on my warm tights, leg warmers, stretched (as everywhere i've read says stretching is very important for ensuring you don't get injuries when running in the cold, and being the person who ALWAYS follows the directions I am stretching ;)......back to the clothes...woolen undergarment....fleece top....wind breaker...reflector stuff......got my very modern little MP3 player ready...then a bottle of water, set up my sweat rag and keys etc etc in all the various pockets....now onto the porno cheap nylon gloves from H&M (4 euros for 2 pairs!!), covered with my groovy 'winter' running gloves (which were made for the winter in the desert)...my 2 beanies ..I got out the door......

......then I have to set my watches to go (I have 2 watches, i'm not a big one on technical gadgets, but I have 2 fancy watches, both presents and I cant figure out which I like most....so I always use both watches, both give different kinds of information too... so this too takes a bit of time picking up the GPS positioning...always running the same route, does make me wonder sometimes WHY I bother!!)...So now i'm out the front door, in the parking lot, staring at my exposed freezing wrists, waiting for the 'you can go signals'.....all my warm up and warmed muscles seeping away as I stand waiting for the freaking watches to tell me they are ready.......Needless to say by the time I got to actually get running the temp had dropped drastically, my body was cold and the temp was -10 .. (I am clearly a faffer and its possibly due to the fact that i'm desperately trying to avoid getting out...DUH....I'm so aware of what i'm doing, but well....this is me...I faff and make silly jokes and take ages to get going, in the end my son is irritated and telling me to JUST GO MOMMY....and then due to the massive faffing I suffer more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  When will I learn????)

Anyways, running in that temperature is quite an experience....I decided I was only going to do 5K as well..its pretty bloody traumatic and i'm terrified I am going to end up half way out, having had a good start to my run like I did tonight, and then having as far to get back and loosing a limb due to frost bloody bite as I have had to slow down and cold set in!!!!! So I played it safe, I decided I would just enjoy myself and try go faster....(I am a slow runner, do not let me fool you!)

The thing is, going faster requires deeper more rapid breathing..and when its that cold, the air is dry and bloody cold...so you end up feeling like an asthmatic!! Anyways, I did it, I ran like a cheetah, or possibly Ussain Bolt (I would settle for the speed of either really). I did not slip and I am ignoring the fact that beneath the layer of snow is the sheet of ice  that stopped me running last week. Until I slip, i'm going to go forth pretending I am invincible....when nature proves otherwise, I will simply wear my cycling helmet.....I recon it will work??!

So yea, I got home....frozen eyelashes and wet frozen face.... frozen lungs....but I got home without loosing a limb.....No slipping....reflectors are working well as i've also not been hit by any vehicles ....yet.....You would swear I had just run a half marathon...and this was just 5 bloody kilometers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I did notice that my water bottle which was in my pocket had however frozen in the short space my run had taken.... How am I going to manage the longer runs if a piddly 5K is this much of a mission??!!   O well, part of the fun of giving it stick I suppose.

I got home and straight into the Sauna.....yes, we have a Sauna in out flat...we live in a tiny flat, its 70 square meters, the bathroom is tiny, but we have a sauna ;)  I have to say, its the winter when I am very very grateful for it .... rest of the year, I would rather have a bath!!!!! So now I sit in front of the tv, warm and toasty and very glad I got myself out... Tomorrow I will go again...The cold is set in for a few days, but midday should be the warmest part of the day, so I should be able to get out.....for now -10 will be my limit, but i'm hoping as my body/lungs adjust I will be able to train in the colder temps....

Here are some pics from my run last Friday along my favorite route....It was cold, but still a 'decent cold'...

No wind, so it was truly stunning!!

A dodgy running week!!

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Well due to a number of factors, this week has not involved much running!  The weather has well and truly sucked, its been an icy slippery mess until today...I got some substitute work and after not being in a classroom for a while, I have been pretty exhausted, bad weather does not help with the desire to get outside.  However no complaints, its been a good week, and I am simply taking it as a rest week.

I've been on track up till now and it looks like the weather is going to get colder....hence the snow will stay on the ground and no ice!  YAY...I can run again, rested legs and all.  So the idea is from tomorrow I get back on track with my training plan.

The snow fell again last night and now its like living in a picture book, magnificent....which beats the black / grey ice of Monday - Thursday.  I have to confess that I could have gotten in a good run tonight, but I decided staying outside with my son to shovel snow and spend a good few hours building a 'lumi linna' (snow castle) was well spent and all that shoveling has to count for some form of exercise??!!

Here are some photos from the 'non-running' week....

An afternoon at the local park, sledging.  Around 3 in the afternoon....

The view as we exited our building this morning...
A GOOD view...WHITE, soft and fluffy!!

The trees turn from leafless ugly grey to stunning white...
like picture book magic.....(not so much the roads)

The garden of our building just before we ruined its tranquility to create our snow castle.

Growing up in this climate does have some advantages...

Kids have to play...even if its in the dark..
its not very late, so we do not let the darkness ruin our fun!!

Some pics from my runs..

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Ok, well when I run, and I feel that thrill, I always want to share it...That feeling that life is awesome and the world is beautiful, that all will be ok....and I think how lucky am I to live in such a gorgeous little city (Or the completely the opposite, its so shite that really I want to share my misery and life sucks....) Its 50/50...now in the past, when I was younger and possibly faster....there were no such things as phones with cameras in, NEVER mind whatsapp  :)  So I simply enjoyed the thrill and experiences running / cycling etc provided me with. However, now I take pics on my runs and usually post them to people who possibly couldn't give a rats poop about my gorgeous/harsh environment....but I just can help it (Ok real reason, I need a rest most of the time!!)...I'm all about sharing experiences..

I'm not sure if I have gotten this bad since I live so far from those who mean so much to me or its just coz im an old fart now and think that modern technology is brilliant!!!!!!!! Anyways, if you studied the photoboxes of my family and friends you would find a lot of these pics.....I feel no guilt!

So anyways, here are some of the good / bad / sad pics from a few of my runs this autumn....

A gorgeous Autumn day.....

A not so gorgeous Autumn day...most are like this at this time of year!

My best route is down to the river and along the path there... (I think its a river...possibly its just sea but with islands and no waves?? Finland seems to not have a coastline as I grew up knowing a coastline to be...never mind no waves, to me it all looks like a huge big pond...anyways...) I can't do it often at the moment as if there is a wind, its just too cold and its one of the longer runs....so its a special run for me.  When I get to do it, I just feel amazing and appreciative of where I live....Along the path there are fishing boats and you can often see the fishermen spotted out in the water, loads of people walking up and down the path and well...its just plain lovely, I find water calms my soul...So most of the pics are from along there....

Possibly my best view on the route...

Drizzly, grey and miserable!!!!!!

One thing I have also learnt to truly love is the forests here...My earliest experiences of running (apart from seconding my pops) are the school cross country runs we had yearly in Eshowe, where I grew up...We HAD to do it and I was always last!!  So up till recently forest running/cross country running has not been top of my list of things to do..plus I have to say running on the forest tracks is harder on the legs....this is from the forests behind where we live, in winter they convert into ski paths and I give skiing a go.....Lets just say I run faster than I ski and the old Finnish people rush past me rather a lot! So now that there is a bit of snow on the ground no more forest runs till next summer again...

Finally, now the temperatures seem to be doing the hovering around zero, we have the snow/slush etc that I have explained about...here are some examples of what it looks like...At the moment its a bit of a combination of ice skating and running...even with the stones on the ground!!  Kinda a good challenge and I find myself giggling alot, so for the moment its ok....

Snow Falling....

           

Slushy path :(

See my point??  Wet feet....

I do believe the video below is a better way of utilizing the icy conditions  :) Exhausting, but shed loads of fun...

Gravel to ease the slip..

Frozen footprints...

Now onto the running....

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Well this is my first 'running' post and its already December 6th!!  I have to say setting up a blog SUX...I have no patience and I am not sure what to say in it......But I do want to raise money so I am hoping through this I can generate awareness of the Anna Foundation and my crazy attempt as  person born in a warm country attempting to run in conditions that are less than warm ;)

Anyways, the snow has arrived, the temps are currently hovering around zero...some days just above some days just below.  This is NOT a good thing ;)  Let me explain why for those of you non-cold places peeps....

When the temp is below zero, the snow stays as snow, its gorgeous, and we are all happy people up here in the north.  I am able to run...the paths are cleared and usually have gravel on them...as you can see here.  It is not so slippery....


Now the thing is, as soon as the temps hover at zero or above, the snow turns to sleep, the snow on the ground turns into a slush, it gets very wet and well.....its just not nearly as nice....as soon as the night comes/ or the temperature drops again, this ice/slush turns to rock solid ice and its SUPER slippery and dangerous...

So sadly after last nights temps rising to about 1 degree, we now have an outside of slush and ice....The paths are wet with slushy ice and well....i'm not sure I can run...We will go outside later and I will inspect.  Its not necessarily slippery....but its the wetness that affects running in these conditions.  Imagine running in deep slushy! Your shoes get wet....and your feet go numb....

I really hope I can get to run today as I need too....

A few fun facts that you need to know....its not so cold yet, but when I run, its usually in the dark....When I first came to Finland we were told about the use of reflectors and their importance.  I remember thinking....Only twits use reflectors, they truly look like idiots!!! I mean who walks around with little gadgets that shine hanging off them??!!  Not me....On top of that I was very rude about how the Finns in general tend to wear mainly back....its sooo depressing and in the dark months one really needs colour.....well its 8 years down the line, not only do I wear reflectors and see the ABSOLUTE importance of them, most of my outer clothing is black......I also wear beanies and gloves and layers of clothing!!!!!!  

I possibly tend to overdo the reflectors...but I DO NOT want to be hit by a car because I am hidden from sight as I am in all black...hehe

I am visible!!

This is my current running look...what you cant see are the layers underneath my top...I end up wearing a black beanie OVER my yellow shiny one and well.....I have got on a pair of leg warmers....on top of my warm lined tights :)  I sure am a sight...if there is a slight breeze the hoody from my wind breaker goes up!  

Whoever designed the groovy pink gloves ive recently purchased, reputable Asics gloves for winter, CLEARLY did not consider winter in the sense I experience winter...I will need to wear a set of inner warm gloves as my fingers were frozen after my 10K on Thursday night!!

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Who I am raising money for....

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While perusing through the possible charities of who I could approach to ask about running for, I was impressed by all the educational ones, but when I got to the end of the page, I saw 'The Anna Foundation' ...they still had places left....so I thought well WHAT IS THIS charity????  

Once I opened the page projects page and read about their three R's...Reading, Running and Right-ing, I was sold!! Not only do they support reading, but they believe in the power of movement and activity for kids....I immediately shot off a long winded type of email  to Carolyn at the foundation, pretty much begging to run for them.  Suddenly the race became more than simply me wanting to keep my fitness and good mental state throughout the winter....now I could see a way that I could fulfill some of my own personal dreams of helping kids back home!!!!!!!!!

The Mission of the foundation is:

The mission of the organisation is to assist disadvantaged schools and communities by providing academic, social and environmental support and equipping children with skills for life long learning. We recognise each child as unique and special and aim to support the holistic development of the child.

More on the foundation its values and how it came about can be found here.

Me and why i'm doing this..

Hi, this blog is my first attempt at a blog as well as to raise funds.  So please be patient :) I am a South African born lady (though some may beg to differ on the lady part…) who now finds her life following a path that she never dreamed of while growing up.

While growing up I was so certain where my life was going to end up, I had plans for my future, where I was going and what I was going to do. For me the two surest things were that I was going to work in rural Africa with the children and that I was going to teach, my dolls/teddy bears will attest to that fact.

Anyways, as I have learnt along the road, life had different plans for me.  I am a teacher, but at present I am not teaching, for me this is hard.  Teaching keeps me alive, it makes me happy and its LOADS of fun. Seeing the students enjoy classes while learning, is for me a HUGE thrill.  It is satisfying.  I live in northern Finland, where the one thing I can do well, teach, is out of my reach at present.  We’re working on changing it, but for the immediate future, I do not teach.  It will happen again, i’m sure, but for now I am working on accepting the path life is leading me along. I am currently working on ‘The Hayley : Dream Amendment Act’, that is, I realize I am not able to work in Africa, but rather than sit around feeling sorry for myself, I need to change my dreams, adjust them. Living without a dream is not a good thing.  I believe in having dreams and goals….It makes life exciting and is a great way to keep pushing yourself to do things that make you a better person!

Be warned I ramble a bit….

Anyways, I have always loved running, I grew up with a father who was always running.  He ran the comrades marathon every year whilst growing up…he has always been my biggest hero. I am not a natural athlete, in fact I usually am the last in any race I take part in.  I love pushing myself and seeing how far my body can take me, testing my endurance is awesome :)

Very recently a cousin my age died from cancer, I was in a really low point of my life, it just seemed like I was walking through life but not really living. Lindy dying, and her struggle against it, her strength of character and just positive approach to life made me really sit up and take stock.  If she fought something so awful and cruel, what am I doing?  My problems are all in my head, I can change this surely?  It really woke me up…..I looked around and decided nope, this is crazy, I need to live, i’ve got a healthy strong body, I have a magnificent family and a most gorgeous son. I really started to reassess life around that time.   As many people say, my problems are simply first world problems, I am essentially VERY LUCKY …

Lindy and I

I was depressed beyond anything I had experienced for many years, I was in a dark place, but Lindy and her strength made me suck it up.  I needed to sort myself out, I sought out help from a doctor, I registered for a half marathon and I went on diet.  To cut a long and boring  personal story short, I started to run again.  I hated every step, IT SUCKED. Moving yourself while you are depressed, well if you have ever been there, you know, its not easy, you are told it helps, but when you feel like that well, its not easy. The bed is just safer and easier.  Any kind of action, even just thinking about it...well it exhausts you more......

I tried to find information about how one can get a depressed person to exercise, I don’t know, I was looking for something that may help me not hate every step, not dread it. It was not getting more enjoyable as one would expect, I was still depressed and well, I didn’t want this anymore!!  I felt like a selfish fruit bat really!  However, I knew this was a struggle I was going to win, I just needed to keep going if I wanted to complete the half marathon in honour of my brave cousin. So I did, each and every hard mile leading up to that half marathon. I have a very powerful build, and I figured damn this, I want to do this one for Lindy, for me too.

Well race day arrived, I had really not trained as one should for a half. I had covered the long distances and a few short ones, but I was nowhere ready like I used to be.  WELL I started and about half way through I kinda hit my groove….I felt exhilarated, I REMEMBERED that feeling of being alive, that love for running and how it makes me feel.  It was magnificent….I motored forward!  I do believe that was the day I started to heal and well started to really get with the program of life again.

My second half marathon..

I have since run a second half marathon and really do not want to stop running.  I’m scared of slipping downhill again, winter here in Finland is HARD.  Where I live, way up north in a city called Oulu, during the months October – February, our daylight hours are very limited, there are days where its just a dull grey, we have some crazy figure like we see the sky about 5 times during the November/December months….I cant remember the exact facts.  But its tough. When deep winter arrives here in Finland, running is difficult...in fact going outdoors is not necessarily fun in temperatures below -10 degrees!!!  I am a sun person, I am an outdoors person, winter here is not for those kind of people.  

So I started to think how can I keep myself running? Or exercising so I stay healthy and fit and well happy? I'm not an indoor gym kinda gal....I like being outside... After searching South African running races, I somehow ended up at the two oceans website.  I have cycled the Argus tour, years ago, it was magnificent.  The two oceans race is renown for being a beautiful run, it has an ultra marathon section to.  I want to do an ultra marathon and I figure ok im doing this one!  Anyways, sense set in.  No ways can I realistically train for an ultra marathon in 3 months, I’m nowhere near fit enough and well no ways can I guarantee that I will get the time on my feet to train for that kind of distance, especially during out winter.  I have gained a certain sense of sensibility with age, a sense of what is truly realistic....its a new thing for me.  I then spotted that you can run the half marathon and run for a charity.

In winter the sea freezes over, its remarkable...and very cold!

I then started to really think…well I know I can do half marathons with little training….AND after browsing throug some of the charities I saw the Anna Foundation, and I knew I WANTED TO DO THIS!  I can run, I can get to SA, to my country, AND I can raise some money for a charity that supports a dream of mine……working with kids in rural South Africa, supporting their education and growth into healthy citizens!!

So this is why I now have a blog…..dangerous as I have a lot to say and usually its long and rambly, and why I am raising money for a charity! Two things I never imagined myself doing…funny how life leads you down paths you can not forsee…i’m trying to be open to it and go with the flow…Here begins my process…I promise this is the last of the long posts and in future I will just update my running blog, how i’m coping and feeling w.r.t the being ready for the race, and pictures of my routes...As hard as winter is here, it can also be truly beautiful....so along with the hard comes the beautiful too :)

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