The Little Things

I have a feeling that there will be other posts with very similar titles in the next year. This crazy idea of mine is really starting to take off and sometimes I think to myself,
"What the crap are you doing?!"
Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to pull it off. These are usually my thought processes after I've spent an afternoon emailing potential sponsors or corporations to see if anyone could assist me and no one replies. I've talked from the beginning about this whole thing  not being  about me, but rather, it being about Guide Dogs and how it will take  a whole host of people to pull off. The silence is hard to swallow sometimes, but when someone brushes this challenge off as "something that we deal with every day," my faith in the chance of this being a success begins to wane. (I had one running shop tell me that! So, blind people run from one country to another every day? If so, can I speak to them so they can give me some tips)? Despite these reactions, all it takes is  one person who  surprises you with their kindness and support and it all seems possible again.
The last couple of days I was having a little doubt party. I had talked to a few different people about my challenge and I was greeted with indifference and suggestions of starting smaller. I've run into these attitudes before, but they were usually intermingled with votes of confidence and someone willing to lend a hand. The latter had been missing and I was getting a bit worried, but my bad attitude was beaten back this afternoon.
This afternoon Mr. K and I wandered over to our gym which has a Sweatshop-running clothing store-in its foyer. I am in desperate need of a few more running outfits and you can never have too many pairs of running socks. We also had the intentions of looking at some shoes for me as well. The guy behind the counter has been there before when we've gone in and he was incredibly friendly and helpful.
Mr. K and I meandered through the store, finding a purple and grey running t-shirt on the sale rack in the correct size and then settling for a pair of black and white running pants-trousers-that weren't so much on the sale rack. Once we had the clothes in hand, Mr. K suggested I check out the shoes. I wasn't going to initially. I figured I had a few good months out of the shoes I had now, but he convinced me by aptly pointing out that the pair I have are of a cheaper quality and really do need replacing.
The salesman spent a good part of an hour going through various brands and styles with me. Mr. K explained to him exactly what I was doing and that I'd need a shoe that was meant for a lot of miles. Originally I had tried on a pair of Nike shoes, but he had me try on a couple of more brands just to make sure I was getting what was comfortable.  I'm glad he did because I walked out with a completely different pair, even though it was a close toss up between the ones I got and the Nikes.
Upon check out he seemed slightly preoccupied and then surprised us by taking ten percent off of the whole purchase which included running shoes, pants, t-shirt and two pairs of socks. He then gave me a voucher for an online 16 week training plan and then tossed in half a dozen or so power bars just for good measure. He also suggested that I contact the Sweatshop and speak to them about any assistance they could provide. He even pulled up the website and described to us where to go to contact the right people. It was so generous of him.
It was with this act of kindness my faith in my crazy idea was restored. He'll probably never know how much of an impact his gesture had.
It's going to be the little things that get me through this adventure. :)

Mrs. Money Bags!

...well, at least that would help. ;)
Since officially announcing my crazy idea and switching it from "crazy idea" status to "having to do this" status, I've been doing a bit more research/thinking/calculating and dude! I have a lot to work towards.
I set myself the lofty goal of raising 5,000 pounds for Guide Dogs because raising/training a fully qualified guide dog costs close to 40,000 pounds. So, my little-or not so little-fundraising goal doesn't even cover one dog. If I could raise more than that, that would be fantastic, but I think 5,000 is going to be enough of a challenge; on top of training to run the 600 plus miles.
Upon calculating a whole year divided by my hoped for fundraised funds, I came to realise that I need to be making around 96.23 pounds a week.
Yikes!
There are two things that make this goal possible though.
1. I have a whole year. I know the time will go by quickly and so that is why I am starting now. If I stay vigilant I think I can make the 5 grand and hopefully more.
2. The 96.23 a week was applied only to my online "giving"
page.2 I didn't factor in any funds that could be potentially raised from other fundraising activities/events. I didn't count those because I'm not sure how much I can actually count on, but I will be working on extra small events or activities to ensure I can reach my goal.
Since Friday I've raised a total of *drum roll please*
...10 pounds!
Look at me go!
Actually, to be honest, I was shocked that I received a donation already and I am so grateful to the person who gave me that little push I needed. She will forever be remembered as the person who got me started. :)
So, that means I have a wapping 4,900 pounds to go!
Bring it on!

High Tech Running

Today Laura and I headed out on a short run. It was a cool evening, but layers and a good steady pace took care of the chilliness. Since it is nearly winter here it gets dark quite early now, which makes us both a bit nervous to run on the cycling paths. You never know what lights are actually working and even though it was only 6:30 the paths were actually quite empty. Tis the season for hibernation.

With that in mind, we took along a new addition to our running duo. Roscoe, Mr. K's Black Lab-guide dog-was more than happy to accompany us through the fallen leaves and for the whole 2.68 miles that we ran. A big, Black dog no matter his temperament is a sure way to feel safer.

Since Roscoe is black and therefore blends into the dark areas of the trails, I rigged his collar up with a very loud bell. That way Laura could focus on guiding me and not have to worry about looking around for Roscoe. It worked, but to be honest, running outdoors is often enjoyable because of its peace and tranquility. There is nothing tranquil about a loudly clanging bear bell.  I think we may switch out Roscoe's equipment for a high visibility collar and one of those blinking lights that dogs wear when out in dense forest or the dark. Not that high vis collars or blinking lights are some amazing technological advancement, but having this however simple, equipment available to us is very helpful. It means we can still run on the wider cycling trails and feel safe as opposed to the more cramped city sidewalks that are not conducive to guide runner/guided runner teams.

Our other new addition was of the technological variety. I mentioned previously that Iphones are one of the most accessible cell phones on the market for totally blind individuals. With the Iphone comes the Nike run App and with that comes the possibility for me to keep track of distances, speeds, times and so much more. This evening's run was the first time I got to use the App and as far as I can tell it is accessible. I was even able to post my results to Facebook for my friends to see. They can even view the route from start to finish that we took. There is also a feature that saves your previous results so you can compare runs later. I was so excited when I discovered I could actually use this program on my own.

Heart rate monitors and fancy sport watches have always been equipment that has been lost on me. It's bothered me that I can't keep track of my own stats, but the Nike Run App has changed that for me. Oh, and Iphone too of course. I can even use the App while running on a treadmill, which is another bonus. Quite often, I end up running on the treadmill with no idea of how fast I'm going or how far I've gone. Again, this will no longer be the case. At every mile an announcement is spoken telling you what mile you are at and your average speed. I could probably check it while running as well, but even this little bit of information is very useful for me.

No more running for five miles without knowing how much longer I must suffer through the sweat and oxygen deprivation.

Okay, perhaps it's not that bad, but sometimes it's motivating to know that you're at mile three instead of at mile two. I haven't been able to try this out on a treadmill yet, but if it performs as well for me inside as it did outside, I will be one happy woman.

So, what have I learned today?

That although I hate technology, it actually will make this training thing a more feasible thing and probably more enjoyable in the end. It will allow me to analyse my own runs as well, which will be an incredibly valuable tool that can be utilized when training for my crazy idea. (Still can't say what it is yet).

Do you know what's even better?

The App is free. How can you complain about that?

Thank you technology for making training as a blind athlete accessible.

*Note: all of the opinions expressed here are strictly my own. I did not receive anything from Nike or Apple for the opinions expressed, nor was I approached to test these products out*.

On the Mends

It's been about two and a half weeks since I got that weird stomach flu/intestinal thingy. It would appear that it's gone now, which means I have been able to eat solid foods for just under a week. This makes me very happy. Not only does it mean I feel better, but that I can also get back to training.
Since Thursday I have started slowly increasing the amount of exercise I do. At first just short walks made me feel weak and gross, but as I've been able to eat more, I've felt a lot better and have been able to increase the distances I have been walking. Just on Sunday I went for a two hour walk and another hour and a half yesterday. All of which felt good. tonight is another walk and tomorrow I will try running for a half hour.
It was amazing to me how quickly I lost strength and fitness. Being sedentary obviously contributed to this loss, but I think the lack of eating is what did me in. At first just carrying groceries home made my arm muscles hurt; and they were not heavy groceries. However, no matter how quickly I lost it, it will come back. Perhaps it won't be as quickly, but it shouldn't take long before I'm back to running five K easily.
I just have to remind myself not to over do it or I'll be back at square one.