HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! + 12 days to go!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and spent it with your loved ones. We were sick with colds and slept a lot, but we also managed to visit with family & friends, and also managed to keep it low keyed. Mike did spoil me this Christmas....he gave me Scuba Diving Lessons! How cool is that! I was super surprised and thrilled. He got his family to give him money for his Christmas gifts this year to help him pay for his lessons. It will be so much fun to do this together. I've wanted to learn to Scuba Dive for quite some time now and I've mentioned it to Mike a few times that it is on my list of things to do in life. I love that he listens and he makes our goals and dreams come true. I've already crossed off completing a marathon (and will be getting ready to do another in 2007 -- maybe even 2 depending on how things go). The other cool gift he gave me was a board game I fell in love with last May at our fundraiser...it's called Ubongo. It's a german game and virtually impossible to get in Canada, but he managed to get one our friendly game store owners to round up a copy for him (thank you Buck!)....we are both having fun playing it and Mike quickly found out why I loved it so much and is now in love with the game too. We've introduced it to some different people recently, and they had a great time with it too. I think it will get played a lot. Our game collection is still growing and we are even registered at Drexoll Games for our wedding...hint hint...if anyone wants to help us add to our game collection, Darcy & Tamara can help you out with some games we'd love to own. We are also registered at the Bay & Home Outfitters. New Year's eve was a good day...Mike got to play some games at Drexoll while I worked on some wedding stuff. We then stopped off at Safeway and picked up some munchies for the evening (cheese, pate, bread, crackers, etc) and came home to settle in for the night. Watched "Da Vinci Code" on pay per view and had a yummy feast and a bottle of wine. Was a nice way to spend the evening saying farewell to 2006.

What a great year 2006 was. I got settled into my new home, with the help of Michael, especially after I broke my wrist....(okay that part -- broken wrist--was not so great). Especially because my curling year got cut short. We signed up for the Marathon and Fundraising as part of Team Diabetes Canada at the end of January. Went to visit my parents in Palm Desert in February and drove to Disneyland and Magic Mountain Six Flags park. That was my first trip to Disneyland....what a blast we had. Also my first time to Magic Mountain and on roller coasters.....I was nervous at first, but I had a blast and quickly got to see why Mike loves roller coasters....in fact I think one of my favourites even freaked him out! :)
When we came home it was time to start training and fundraising. That kept us pretty busy all spring and summer. In May we hosted our first fundraising event ever...it went really well, and we raised about $1500; the same weekend Mike's dad hosted a golf tournament as a fundraiser to help us out and he raised about $1200 -- what a successful weekend raising $2700 towards our $12,000 goal. Mike was keeping busy with his ball teams and training and me with cheering him on and training too. In late June, Mike surprised me and proposed to me at Burnaby Lake...making me one very happy lady!! In July we managed to get out on my parents boat with them for a weekend and had a great time. We also did a 20km hike around Stewart Island. A very pretty spot. That was how we celebrated my birthday. 2 weeks later is was Mike's big 30th birthday and we started the day by doing a 30km workout from our house to his mom's house out in Maple Ridge. After both of us soaking in the tub and getting refreshed, we had a bunch of our friends over to help celebrate. Sue hosted a great barbeque! Our friends, Colin & Lindsay managed to stop by with their son Shameus and their brand new daughter Brielle. We both got to hold her, and she was such a little doll. August had us gearing up for the last 2 weeks of training for our big marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland. Then off we went with Mike's mom & stepdad along for the experience to Iceland. Mike and I both successfully completed our first marathon. What an exhilarating feeling and even more so knowing that our group from Canada which existed of approx 180 people raised over $1,000,000. That added to the emotions of the experience. We as a couple raised just over $19,000. We were very proud of each other and our amazing accomplishments. We stayed in Iceland for a few days after the race and toured around with Mike's mom & stepdad. The four of us had a great time and loved Iceland. It's an amazingly beautiful country and we can't wait to go back again some day and see more of it. Also before we left for Iceland we managed to set our wedding date, book a hall and I found and ordered my dress. September seemed to come and go quite quickly as we recouped from the trip and marathon and started planning our wedding. Mike wound up his ball teams with a few tournaments one of which was at Nat Bailey Stadium. I'm not really sure where Oct, Nov & Dec have gone...but they have. End of September found us back at curling at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. We have a lot of fun at our Friday night league. Mike has also joined the Men's Curling league this year and is having a lot of fun with that. The 2 nights a week that he is out, I'm trying to get some studying done for a course for work. October we had a farewell dinner with my folks and my step-sisters and their husbands, and our folks would leave for Palm Desert for the winter...lucky snow birds. First weekend of November found me at my best friend Rachel's for my bridal shower. My matron of honour and 2 bridesmaids, Rachel, Christy & Donni hosted a great shower. And in spite of the Pitt River Bridge being partially closed due to a horrific accident the turn out was still great. I got thoroughly spoiled at the shower and it was great to spend an afternoon with so many great ladies. Mid November I had my 3 girls over for Thai food and an invitation assembly party. We had a good time and managed to get a lot done and still gab & visit. The invitations went out shortly after and we received a lot of nice feed back on them. They turned out really nice if I do say so myself. It was fun being so creative and was great to have the help making it happen. Late November was my stagette hosted by my 3 awesome ladies. They did a great job and surprised me all day long. Picked me up in the morning for a spa day -- I got to have a pedicure and body massage. Heavenly. The four of us ladies had fun being pampered and then stopped for a bite of lunch afterwards. Was a great way to start off the day. I was then dropped back at home with the promise of being picked up between 5:30 and 6:00 and not to be too attached to the shirt I was wearing....well girls showed up to pick me up and gave me my attire for the evening....a graffiti shirt to wear and some other accessories. Off we headed in Rachel's mini van to dinner....Milestones...Yummy food, good drinks, and great women. Was a fun time. Then half of us had to head off to other commitments but half of us hopped back in Rach's van and off we went to.....The Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. We had a great night and the girls had a great list of "dare to do" stuff for me, and I managed to complete every single one of my tasks...much to I think their surprise and mine. It was a blast and I had a fabulous time. Drank lots, but not too much, if you know what I mean. I even got to dance on a table and then got handcuffed by the same bouncer and had a shooter bought for me. December was about working on some more wedding plans, and watching the reply cards come in. Got ready for Christmas too in there somehow. Over the course of the year we also managed to get together with our friends and family to share good times, and also with our game group fairly regularly -- which is always a good time.

Now here we are it's officially 2007 and only 12 days till we get married. I'm excited and can't wait to marry Michael. He's a great guy and we have so much fun together. Life with him is go-go-go and one big adventure after another. We have a lot we want to accomplish this coming year; we are going to enter our first bonspiel--wish us luck; wedding & honeymoon; scuba diving lessons and hopefully get out for a few dives over the course of the year; I have to finish my course for work by the end of April and I'm also instructing a walking clinic at the Running Room in Port Coquitlam for the Half Marathon and the Full Marathon; we have more fundraising to do as we prepare for our next Marathon in October, in Dublin, Ireland; and we hope to work on starting family. I'm sure there are other things we'll end up doing, just because that seems to be the way it is...but it's all good and I can't wait.

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Michael and Waleah.....

Can't wait for our big day and to share it with our family and friends.

Best Wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to each and everyone of you. And may all your goals and dreams come true.

My favourite quote.... "you miss 100% of the shots you do not take" by Wayne Gretzky.
So if you have a goal or a dream that you are contemplating....go for it!! If you don't, you'll be missing out, and just believe in yourself and you'll make anything you set out to do a reality.

Cheers,
Waleah (& Mike)

Only 39 days till our BIG day!!

Life has been so incredibly busy lately and it just came to my attention that it's been a while since we updated our blog!! Our apologies to those who are so kind to stop by here regularly and check to see what we are up to.

I cannot believe it's only 20 days till Christmas and only 39 till the Wedding. Seems like time is flying by at warp speed. Now the Christmas parties are all starting up. Still have to figure out what to get the people on my list this year for Christmas. And of course continue to deal with Wedding preparations. I will say that things are falling into place nicely though. Mike has already taken the guys to the Tux shop (Debonair Formal Wear) -- so they are set for the big day. (Guys truly have it easy on that front!--show up, get measured and then a few days before the wedding, pick up Tuxes....now how easy is that!!). The bridesmaid dresses are in the works. My fabulous seamstress, Irina (Loma Couture) is hard at work creating 3 lovely dresses to match my 3 lovely ladies. They will be wearing black dresses created with a satin shell and a chiffon overlay. Cocktail length -- skirts will be the same but the tops of the dresses will be tailored to the individual. I like that there will be a flow to the dresses, but they will also be unique....Just like my friends who will be wearing them.

Speaking of dresses....Mine has finally arrived at the Bridal Gallery. Going to try it on this Thursday evening and get shoes and any other accessories I need. Making the trip with Mike's mom....Should be a fun evening!! I'm looking forward to sharing it with her, as my mom is out of town till the wedding.

We've ordered our "cake" (we went with something fun and a little less traditional!)-- Can't wait to see how it turns out....We know it will be yummy!! That's for sure. Already taste tested.

Invitations have been sent out and reply cards are trickling in. Almost half have been returned so far.

Going to apply for our marriage license this week and our liquor license too! We are having fun with the wedding plans. As I said things are falling into place with less than 6 weeks to go.

We will try to update our blog a little more often over the next while.

My girls hosted my stagette on Saturday, November 25th -- It was a great night!! They surprised me and took me to a spa in the morning for a massage & pedicure and then out for lunch to visit. I was then returned home to relax before I was picked up for the evenings festivities. The girls returned to my place just before 6pm to dress me up -- had to wear a graffiti shirt that everyone got to write on later on. Also ended up wearing a dollar store large engagement ring...very cute... also a tiera and a leigh (sp?) and a banner that said "Bride to Be". After a yummy dinner at Milestones and a good visit with some of the ladies...we party girls (only 6) piled into Rachel's mini van and off we drove through the snow to the Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. The bar was lots of fun and the girls had a "Dare to Do" list for me.....I managed to complete each and every task and even a couple of extras too!! Thanks to the bouncer who let me dance on the table and who later handcuffed me and bought me a shot at the bar. He added to the fun of the evening. The girls took great care of me and made sure that I had fun, but didn't make a complete fool of myself. I also didn't get too drunk! Felt great, happy & giddy and crazy enough to do all my dare to do tasks....including removing my bra without leaving the room; and getting a pair of guys boxers....well....actually I managed to get 2 pairs....Thanks Mark & Liam.....Rugby guys are wild & crazy!! Good times had by all. Thank you Rachel, Christy & Donni!! You girls rock.

Well I'm sure I could ramble on about more.....but I'll stop for now. Save something to add later in the week or next week.

Stay tuned for the new year as our fundraising will start up again and we'll start training in the new year for Dublin 2007! I will also be instructing a walking clinic at the Coquitlam Running room for Half/Full Marathon Walkers. Looking forward to the experience and the opportunity.

Take care and wishing you & yours all the best of the holiday season.

Waleah (& Mike)

83 days till the wedding.....

A little under 3 months to go. Life is keeping us busy. Wedding plans are all falling into place. There are still a few key things to take care of over the next little while, but things are going good. Invitations should be going out in the next week or 2 at the most. I am making our wedding invitations and got our stationary from The Paper Poet on Columbia Street in New West. Tanya & Stacey there are awesome. Very helpful and filled with lots of great tips, especially if you are trying to save $ by doing the printing and work yourself. They also do beautiful designs in store if you have the budget for it. www.paperpoet.ca

My bridal shower is taking place on Sunday, Nov 5th and is being hosted by my awesome Matron of Honour, Rachel. She's a trooper as she's hosting the one and only shower for me and it's a large list of women!! Thanks again Rachel. I'm looking forward to the 5th and sharing an afternoon with some great ladies. Thanks to Christy & Donni too, my bridesmaids.

Pretty soon we'll have to start dealing with the bridesmaid dresses--we are having them made. Mike and I also need to figure out where to get our wedding cake from and make time to do an afternoon of tasting. Yummy...I hear this is one of the really fun things to do.

We recently did a bridal registery....we are registered at both The Bay and Home Outfitters. We basically registered for things we would either like to upgrade/update or things we'd love to have, but haven't gotten around to getting for ourselves yet. It was fun registering, even though we feel that we don't really need lots of stuff. This way people will have an option of gift, gift card or cash. Any money we get as gifts we'll put towards our next home.

The fall has been quite busy so far. Not much in the way of running/walking on our parts. I'm back to studying for a course for work. Canadian Insurance Course and the LLQP Exam (Life Licence Qualifying Program). It's self directed, so it takes time and discipline to work on it. Mike and I are curling again on Friday nights and I picked up a fancy pair of new curling shoes this year (got them on sale!--even better) and so far they seem to be helping out a bit. The first few times we went to curling I was really nervous as I had not been on the ice since I broke my wrist last January. But now 3rd week into it and I'm starting to get more comfortable and hopefully a few more weeks in and with some practice I'll be back to where I was last year before my injury and break from curling. Mike is now curling twice a week in addition to our Firday nights. He was recently invited to play in the Men's league and join three guys we now from our Friday nights. I told him to go for it, as this will help give me some time for studying.

I'm hoping to get back to either the gym or swimming in the near future. Need to get back to regular exercise....seems since we got home from the trip that has taken a back seat.

Well we just got home from the BC Lions game tonight. Was a fun evening. We stopped at the Boathouse and had a quick dinner with our friend Donni and some other people -- we helped Donni celebrate her big.....40....I still can't believe she's 40....you'd never believe it if no one told you.....She rocks. Then off to the game. We arrived a bit late, and BC was actually losing to Hamilton.....um hello guys!.....but we came back in the second half and played better and won 23 to 10. Next weekend is BC vs Winnipeg....Should be a great game and we are bringing some friends with us to the game.

Well time to sign off for now.

Only 4 months till our Wedding Day

We just got home from meeting with Rev. Brent Sheppard. He will be officiating our wedding ceremony. What a great guy. We had a good time chatting with him and getting to know a bit about him while letting him get to know us. Our wedding day is going to be a lot fun and very special. I'm glad we've chosen Brent!! He's one of those people you like instantly. He's got the same easy going style and good sense of humour that we do. He's a good fit for us. You can find out a bit more about him at www.heyrev.com

Last night I met with the decorator who will help beautify the firefighters hall. I'm looking forward to working with her. Great lady -- Patricia Rosselli at Sweet Beginnings. www.asweetbeginning.com.

We booked our DJ this week and also a Solo Harpist to play at the ceremony. I've been playing around with wedding invitation ideas and will get working on those shortly. Our wedding plans are coming together one by one. Next on the list is a photographer. We have a meeting for this Friday and we'll see how that goes.

Can't believe it's only 4 months till we get married. We've chosen our vows already and they are fitting to us. Also are in the process of choosing our wedding bands.

Well that's enough wedding babbling....stay tuned for the adventures of Waleah & Mike as we approach the start of curling season (hopefully my bones stay in tact this year!), our wedding and a new year of fundraising and training for Dublin 2007 (our SECOND marathon!). Life is grand and one big adventure. Hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

Hello again!

Lots of stuff to let you all know about.


Well, we've take some time to chill and relax after the long haul of training for the Marathon. We've (ok mostly Waleah) been busy trying to get everything booked for the wedding. We haven't done any running since the marathon (bad us), but I've set my sights on the Fall Classic Half-Marathon in November. Time to start training again! I've looked over the training schedule and compared to the full marathon it seems so much easier, it's a good thing I really didn't think committing to the marathon very thoroughly because I probably would never have done it.

We'll be out at the Poco Rivers and Trail half marathon on September 24th as volunteers and to cheer everyone else on, it seems like a good way to spend a Sunday morning and to get involved in the running community.

There is also this amazing website at http://www.blurb.com . What it allows you to do is download software and put a book together, you upload it back and the will print a copy of the book for you. The quality of the book is pretty amazing, almost like a coffee table book that you would purchase from the store. I ordered a single copy as a gift for Waleah and needless to say she was VERY surprised. Here is the link for our book
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/20288

Our next goal? Well besides finishing wedding plans? We have conquered 42km of Reykjavik and raised a whopping $19,000, but there are 42km of Dublin streets that have not seen our feet, and over a million dollars was raised by the Iceland Team Diabetes, we think that we'll just have to be a part of another million dollars to the Canadian Diabetes Association raised by Team Diabetes. The thermometer is to be reset soon, and again, we thank all who donated. If you are looking for a cause to contribute to on a regular basis, please consider the Canadian Diabetes Association, we'll be training and fundraising hard for this cause that is so important to us.


Cheers!
Mike and Waleah
Team Diabetes Dublin 2007
Team Diabetes Iceland 2006

Pics!!!

Here they are...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=d9k2y76.7ef15y6e&Uy=jt2krz&Ux=0

One Week later.

Wow, here I am Monday afternoon at work (and now monday night at home) reflecting on our trip after being asked a gazillion times how the trip was.

Iceland is amazingly beautiful, Waleah mentioned earlier that we would love to go back someday soon and I cannot wait.
The scenery was so diverse it was unlike anywhere I have ever been. I would highly recommend to anyone to make the trip (as expensive as it is, totally worth it if you love nature.)
Culture night in Reykjavik was a total gong show, it reminded me of seeing the downtown's on TV when Edmonton and Calgary were making their playoff runs in the Stanley Cup, people on the streets drinking and partying until 6:00am. The cops just stood on the sidelines letting it all happen and only moved to break up trouble (which doesn't happen as much as I would expect), walking around our hotels at 2:00am was kinda surreal to be honest.

Natalie from work mentioned to me today she has a friend with a poster that says,

"A Marathon Runner has one less thing to complete in life"


The feeling of just finishing the marathon was amazing, when Waleah and I crossed that line in front of strangers, team-mates and my parents it made these last 8 months of training and fund-raising all worth-while. I was saying before the marathon that I didn't think I would ever do another, but now I'd be surprised if I didn't. The run itself was very tough, even though the first 18km went really well, I started off at a good pace and joined a couple of other Team D runners, Ryan and Paul. At about the 2km mark there was someone cheering us on that had a sign "Race your Pace", it was a great reminder not to get too caught up in the excitement and thank god for my GPS which gives me an instant pace, there were a couple of times we really started to speed up after running past people cheering us on and I was able to slow down. Paul pulled away from us at about the 8km mark and when we crossed the 10km marker at 1:07 I was very happy.

10k in I was feeling strong and ready to conquer. We passed my Mom and Graham at about 11km and got another boost of energy. By this time there was a small group of us and Ryan and I were being drafted since the wind was so strong. It didn't seem to matter which way we were running there always seemed to be a strong headwind, never a tailwind. Everything was going well until the 18km mark. My calves started to cramp something fierce, it happened in a pretty long hill and some doubt started to creep in. From there I started to walk quite a bit more. I was able to keep a good walking pace of about an 8-9 minute km but whenever I started to run the cramps came back after a couple of minutes. I crossed the halfway mark at 2:28 and was quite happy to get in under the 2:30 mark. At this point of the run it became very lonely, there was a guy from Winnipeg and another lady within sight of me but we were running in a park and there were very few people to cheer us on, one particularly fond memory was coming out of an underpass, turning a corner and seeing a wonderful waterfall. This was about the time the quads started to cramp, every water station I was taking a couple of PowerAde's and refilling my water bottle to try to rehydrate my legs so I could run some more. I did this until I caught up with Waleah.

When I saw her I ran about half a km to catch up and when I did slow down I could barely walk. From there Waleah and I walked (and ran for short 1-2 minute intervals) at varying paces fast and slow until the end. Mom and Graham met us at about 30km and told us they would meet us at the finish line, I'm glad that we were able to spend the last part of the race together, not letting the other give up or slow down too much. John (a running room trainer) met us at about 38km to make sure we were ok and didn't need anything, with some words of encouragement he sent us along and proceeded to keep going back to make sure all of us Team D members were accounted for and "brought in". I will mention that John started at 8:00am with the charity start and backtracked who knows how many times to check in on all of us Team D members, in the end I'd guess he did over 50km that day. As hard as the last 4km were there were Team D people there to cheer us on and make it a little more bearable, Steve (another Running Room trainer) met us at 41km and told us what to expect at the finish line, when Waleah told him we were going to run that last bit I think he was surprised. Once we came around the corner and saw the finish line and that 42km cone, we took off and ran that last 200 meters, I honestly did not think I was going to be able to do it since my legs cramped almost immediately, the main thing that kept me going was fear of failure in front of all those people watching and cheering us on. When that medal was put over my head it was a pretty damn good feeling and when Waleah and I were able to stop and say "we just did a marathon together " it was even better.

I am very glad that I took a chance and asked Waleah if she thought we could do this, I wouldn't trade the last 8 months for anything, spending time with Waleah for a great cause, and completing a couple of our life goals has given me that feeling that we can and will do anything. The seeds of a half-marathon have been planted for the end of september and even further down the road Mike and Waleah may be a part of Team Diabetes Dublin 2007. Who knows? We met so many wonderful people online and in Iceland it will be well worth the hard work all over again.

Even though the marathon and Iceland are now in the past, we do still plan to post about our upcoming wedding and future runs and crazy ideas that I have, so all of you Team D members keep checking in and we'll keep an eye on you too, and if you are in Vancouver for a stay, we're more than willing to head out for dinner and a couple of drinks.

Cheers!
Mike

PS: yes, pics will be coming, it takes a while to sort and upload 600+ photos.....

Marathon Finishers!!!

Here's a photo of us on Saturday, August 19, 2006 after we crossed the finish line of our first Full Marathon. We were both still smiling!! It was a tough course with lots (and I mean LOTS) of wind!! There were 40% rolling hills throughout and 60% flat. Even though it took a long time to complete the marathon, we both felt pretty good and very proud of ourselves and eachother for completing the event. The best part was when Mike caught up to me and we finished the race together and even managed to jog across the finsih line holding hands. What a great day and what a great experience.

Thanks to everyone again for their support and encouragement these past few months, and a special thanks to Mom and Graham for accompanying us on the trip and for being such a great cheering section! It was great seeing them at the 10.5 km marker and the 30km marker and again at the finish line cheering us across. It was an emotional day for us all and an exhilerating one. One we won't soon forget.

Cheers,
Waleah & Mike

PS: Pics to come soon!!!

Home.....

Long flights and up for over 24 hours now...we just got home and are getting ready to crawl into our own bed and sleep for many hours (we hope). Iceland is Incredible and we will write about our trip when we are rested and awake and can figure out how to spell all the places we've seen. It's a gorgeous country with amazing landscape and we've already decided we need to go back there! Maybe for our 5th wedding anniversary or something like that. We'd like to back pack around and see more of the country....
until next time.....good night and cheers.

We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The marathon is over and done with. Waleah and I finished together, Waleah´s time was 6:47 and mine was 5:47. Just a quick check in for now. We are having a blast and the country is amazing. Tonight is culture night and the bars are open until 5:00am. Going to be a great night!!!!!

More later on.....

M & W

vilja okkur heppni!!

I hope the translation is right...
Wish us luck, we leave in just a few hours and we're almost packed up and ready to go.
Very excited and cannot wait to get on the plane.
We'll check in when we get back.....


YIPIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary MIke

One year ago today you took me out on our first "real" date. We had a great time and I knew you were someone I wanted to see again. We had already started off with a friendship and I knew you were a warm and outgoing guy. After each date for the first few weeks I kept thinking, this guy is great and I keep wanting to see him! To me this was a big thing, as you know, for the past few years before you, most guys didn't get more than 1 or 2 dates....I thought most guys were dumb and I had some pretty bad dating experiences.

But you changed all of that and helped me believe in true love and romance again. Very early on in our relationship I had this feeling that if things kept going as good as they were, I could see you being "the one" and us getting married eventually. How right I was!!! You are the best guy I know and one of the best people to ever happen to me. I'm so happy that I took a chance and left the note on your car back in July of 2005. Here we are, getting ready for a trip of a lifetime and ready to plan our wedding and spend the rest of our lives together.

I love you with all that I am and all that I have. Thank you for your love and support and encouragement this past year and I look forward to each and every year with you. With out you in my corner I would not be doing my first full marathon at this time and I thank you for helping me realize and reach one of my goals. You are my best friend, my lover, my soul mate and my partner. How truly lucky am I to get to marry you in 5 months.....I can't wait.... :)

love you

Almost there....

Wow....only 4 more sleeps till we leave for Iceland....and 7 more sleeps till the Marathon!!! Can YOU believe it? We sure can't. We signed up for this just over six months ago, and have worked hard trainng and fundraising and now with close to $19,000 raised and ready for our first marathons we can't believe it's just around the corner, finally! :)

The past 6 months alone have been very eventful for us...I was healing my broken wrist when we committed ourselves to this journey, we went on a trip down to Palm Desert to visit my folks and went to Disneyland and Mike somehow managed to get me on roller coasters at Magic Mountain...that was a blast. We had a great trip and travel well together. We started training from the very beginning....Vancouver Sun Run Walk to Run program which has been the best thing for Mike....a guy who was not a runner, and is now READY for his First Full Marathon. I'm so PROUD of him. He's done great and I know his training run this morning gave him the extra confidence boost he needs a week before the big event. We hosted a successful fundraising event in May and spent many months asking people for money for the Canadian Diabetes Association.....We are still amazed and often overwhelmed at people's generosity...it has all added up to staggering amounts and we are so thrilled with how much we have managed to raise. I think we may even still be able to collect a few more donations over the next month. That would be great. In June Mike proposed and we have set our wedding date for January 13, 2007. We've taken care of a couple of the early wedding plan items and will work on the rest when we return from Iceland. I'm truly looking forward to our trip, completing our first marathon and the adventure of seeing a beautiful country like Iceland. We are excited that Sue & Graham are coming with us. Should be a great time travelling around with them.

If we don't get a chance to post any more before we leave, please check back after August 24th.....we promise to post an update after our return and let you all know how we each did in the marathon and how Iceland was. We'll be sending out thank you's and a newsletter with some photos to show people that we really were there and that we really did it.

Thank you all again from the bottom of our hearts for your encouragement and support. Without all of you, we would not have been able to raise all this money. Thank you!

tickets!!!!!

Yesterday I received our airline tickets and package from the trip, we are starting to get very excited. We'll be staying for a few extra days and are planning to rent a 4x4 and travel around Iceland at our own pace and just winging it, no planned tours or even a direction. Waleah picked up a Lonely Planet guide book and we have been flipping through it and I don't think we can go wrong on picking a destination, everything looks cool.

We won't talk about our lack of mid-week training much, Tuesday I had ball and crashed afterwards, Wednesday and last night Waleah went out looking at wedding dresses and I flaked out on the couch after what have been some loooonnnggg days at work. This weekend is a nice easy 23km and one more full week of training and then we leave!!!!

Have a great long weekend,

A eventful weekend!

Wow am I exhausted! A very eventful weekend. Friday night we went and booked the hall for our wedding, the date has been set to January 13th at the Firefighters hall in Burnaby. Wow, hard to believe that Waleah and I haven't even been together a year.
Right after that we headed out to Drexoll games in Poco where they had their annual 24 hour game night. 6:30 Friday until 6ish on Saturday was filled with lots of sleep deprived gaming goodness. Waleah was not feeling great so she dropped me off Friday night and headed home for a nap. She came back (slightly) refreshed around 11:00pm and joined in the all night and day fun. After that it was head right home for a shower, dinner and some sleep. Hit the sack at 8:00pm and woke up around 9:30 to the sound of rain.
The thought of running 32k in the heavy rain wasn't thrilling and I know Waleah's back wasn't feeling great so I came up with the plan. Waleah would drive to Mom's and use the treadmill and I would follow our route from last week. What a run, the rain cleared for me, yay!, but it was a long hard run, I almost made the phone call a couple times to be picked up around the 20-25km mark but I was able to finish the run in just over 4 hours. A couple things happened that made the run easier, first was Mom waiting at the Tim Horton's in Poco for me as I ran past, that was a great and welcome surprise and gave me a good burst of energy for the next 45 minutes or so. Once I hit the last 6km it was really hard, as I hit downtown Maple Ridge I visualized it being the end of the Marathon in Reykjavik and finally being able to complete our goal and was able to find another burst of energy. As I turned down the last kilometer towards Mom's Waleah was coming up to meet me. We turned around and finished the run to Mom's together. Wow, what a weekend and what a long run. I definitely feel that I am ready for the marathon that is just 19 days away. A little bit bagged this morning, thankfully I was able to get Dave to go to Starbucks for me and pick me up a double shot white mocha, I feel a little more alert now, but I think an early bedtime is in store for me again tonight.
Up for the week is trying to fit ball and training in on Tuesday & Wednesday and catching up on sleep.

PS: the sappy pic of Waleah and I is from a BBQ last Saturday night taken by our friend Bill.

30km for 30 years!!

Sunday, July 23rd was Mike's 30th birthday. We started off our day with Mike opening a present & card from me then promptly got ready to hit the road. We left home at 7am! to head from Burnaby (Lougheed Mall area) to Maple Ridge (New Dewdney & 227th). Why you may ask? Well we needed to get in a 29km workout and we thought instead of going around Burnaby Lake 3 times (our usual Sunday morning workout venue) we decided we would do a road trip to get us ready for the big Marathon coming up. It's a different mental preparation for doing laps around a park and for going the distance on a long stretch of road, especially in the HEAT!! Have I mentioned yet that it was smokin hot out yesterday? It took us just over 5 hours to complete the 30.36km it took us door to door. We felt pretty good (tired but good) and we worked hard to stay hydrated along the way and protected from the sun. I also managed to run a bit yesterday (we did about 14 intervals of running 500 metre and walking 500 metres.) -- so out of the 30km I managed to run a total of 7km. I have been walking most of my training so this was a big accomplishment for me. My body is sore today and I do feel the effects of the run portion but it was awesome being able to run, even if only for a bit here and there. I'm hoping to do the same thing the day of the marathon. Walk/run the whole way. After cooling off under the hose in the driveway and having a bath to soak the muscles and a cold shower to cool off we continued to celebrate Mike's birthday with the arrival of many of our freinds and some family. Had a great BBQ at Sue & Graham's place (Mike's mom & stepdad). Sue put on a great spread and was busy at the BBQ -- what a trooper manning the grill in that heat! Especially while the rest of us "kids" were hanging out in the back yard occupying whatever shade we could find. Eventually the shade disappeared as the sun made its way arounnd and those of us left had to head back in doors. It was a GREAT day and a fun way to celebrate Mike's birthday. Great turnout and we thank everyone who came out to celebrate!

Stay tuned....we have only 24 days will we leave for Iceland and we are up just over $18,200 now. I wonder if we'll hit $20,000 before we go?????.....you never know.

$17,921 and 38 more days till marathon!

Time is flying by fast and we are still receiving some donations. Received another $100 in the mail today. So close to $18,000. Not sure how much more we'll get....but this is great. I can't believe how much we exceeded the assigned goal by. How awesome is this. We are looking forward to being finished training. It's been hard juggling Mike's ball season, our social life (we are both very social people and love seeing our family and friends--thankfully they have been very understanding), and just day to day life. It will be great to be able to say we completed the marathon and we successfuly fund raised what we needed and then some. We are looking forward to our post race days in Iceland and exploring. We are very happy that Mike's Mom, Sue and step-dad, Graham are coming with us. Will be great fun to hang out with them and travel around together. When we get back normal life will resume, although with planning a wedding and all the fall activities starting up, I'm not sure if we will be less busy....but maybe just different busy and hopefully more time with friends and family.

Keep checking in....the count down has really begun....we hope to take lots of photos in Iceland and post a bunch when we return. Anyone who still hasn't donated, but would still like to, please do!! you can donate on line at the link to the right; or email us at waleah@gmail.com or mjblais@gmail.com and we'll give you our address to mail in a donation if you prefer. Help us try to reach $20,000.

cheers,
Waleah

5 weeks to go and now at $17,821

Wow!! We came home this evening to a $2000 donation!! We were both so thrilled and surprised to see the amount of the cheque. Only 5 more weeks till we leave for Iceland and we have well exceeded our oringal target of $12,200 (and by over $5000+).

At the onset of signing up for this event, the fundraising task seemed very daunting, not to mention the task of training for a full marathon. It warms our hearts to see how generous so many people have been and truly every dollar does add up. Our largest single donations to date have been $2500, $2000 and 2 x $1000. Lots of donations ranging from $5 to $251 have all added up as well to help us reach our current amazing total collected. A couple of weeks ago when we hit the $15,000+ mark, we were hoping to hit $16,000 before leaving on our trip.....and now that we are almost at $18,000 it would be great if we could hit $18,000 before we leave. We'll see what happens. 5 more weeks and $179 more dollars to raise to hit $18,000.
Our training is going pretty good even though we've had a few interuptions and had to modify a couple of times due to different things. Like this past weekend for my birthday we set out to do 32km on Stuart Island (a washington state park) but the island was so hilly and the elevation was high and the grade of the hills were quite steep so we ended up only doing 20km but with the extra workout involved I'm sure it was close to the equivalent of 32km!! My body sure feels like it was.

This whole process has brought Mike and I even closer together than when we started out. We've managed to plan a weekend long fundraising event without killing eachother or driving eachother too crazy! The event back in May was a great success and proved to me that we should be able to plan a wedding together without too much difficulty. Our ability to work so well together in all that we do has proven to us that we do make a great "team" in every sense of the word and it was after a training session recently that Mike proposed....how perfect that was. When he proposed he even told me that if it wasn't for me cheering him on, he wouldn't be succeeding at the rate he is. :) I think Mike & I do make a great team and I look forward to us being partners in every sense of the word and in being partners in marriage and parenthood. We are looking at getting Married January 2007 and we'll probably start trying to increase the size of our family on our honeymoon....hey, isn't that what honeymoons are for? So now that we know we can raise money for our favorite charity, train for a full marathon and cheer eachother on and successfully plan and execute a fundraising planning our wedding should be a piece of cake....right? :)

Well that's it for today....off to type up our most recent pledge list and send off the funds to CDA.
Thank you again to all of you generous souls out there who have donated your money or given us your support and encouragement. We appreciate it all.

and the winner is....

We held our beer draw this weekend and the winner is Philip Frances from RBC Dominion Securities. Congratulations to him and thank you to all who supported us by buying tickets, the beer draw raised another $200 or so towards our total.

The ball tournament in Armstrong was a lot of fun and HOT! Waleah and I arrived at 11:30 Friday night, set up camp and had a couple drinks and relaxed. I woke up around 7:00 and felt a little restless so I went for a short 30 minute run while Waleah slept in the nice hot tent. It was getting quite hot already but it felt nice to get a workout in. We then went to Kalamaka lake later that afternoon after our last round robin game and spent a whole lot of time in the water, it was very nice indeed. :)

We finished 4th in round robin play (out of 40 teams) but unfortunately lost our first playoff game. 8:00am games on Sundays are a little tough after partying all night long. I was a good boy and took the weekend off from partying since we had a long run that we wanted to do on Monday (29km) but of course the rest of the team didn't since we were there to have fun!

The run started ok but then around the 20km mark my blood sugar started to drop and after a power gel and a fruit bar is was still dropping (went down to 5.0), from there I slowed it down and walked more than I ran, the sugars eventually came back up after drinking a bottle of gatorade that we had stashed at the beginning of the run. So in the end I ended up doing just over 20k at 10& 1 intervals and ended up walking most of the last 9km.

All in all we had a good long weekend with the ball tournament and Monday's long run, I think spending then entire afternoon in the lake was the highlight for sure.

Last night's training was pretty good, since I've missed most the hill training I set out to do what I could, my scheduled training was 9 hill repeats, I cut it at 6 and feel ok this morning, we'll be packing tonight for our weekend away with Waleah's parents on their boat but Saturday (Waleah's Birthday) we'll find an island to do our 32k distance. 32km is the longest training run before the marathon which is coming up fast, amazing how time flies!!! 5 more weeks of long Sunday runs, 32 this week and then 23,29,32,23 and the Sunday before the marathon is only a 6k run. It's nice to finally see the goal in sight and knowing that we'll be able to complete the full 42.2km and accomplish our goal.

Have a great weekend and wish us luck for our 32km run!

Giddy & Sick....

I'm still fighting this nasty summer cold, Waleah seems to have shaken it off (I think the giddiness has been a great immune system booster :) ). Tuesday night we did our training run after my ball game and it went pretty well with the exception of the bugs and our GPS's not being able to pick up a consistent signal. Wednesday & last night's run just did not happen due to not feeling well and packing for our trip this weekend. So that means I have done 1!!! hill training session, not a great thing but I will have to will myself through it. I do have a ball tournament in Armstrong this weekend and my goal will to NOT injure myself so we can do our 29k on Monday morning and then hopefully get back on track with training.

Thank you all for the kind words about our engagement, it's a very exciting time and 2006 is shaping up to be a eventful year for the 2 of us. We're still trying to figure out what kind of wedding we want, and serious planning will have to wait until after the marathon.

Have a Happy,safe and FUN Canada Day (or 4th of July to Janis) weekend.
Cheers!!!

Sunday, June 25th = Happiest Day of My Life

This morning we got up early and headed out of the house in hopes to beat the heat for our workout. We left home just after 8am and headed to our favorite Sunday spot, Burnaby Lake. The sun was shining and it was a picture perfect day, with the exception of the heat. 21 degrees at 7am....apparently we should have gotten up earlier......Oh well. We've both been sick the past week and missed our mid week workouts and I missed last weekends from being sick. We set out with the intention of doing our 29km workout, but realized 7km in that it probably wouldn't happen.....after 10 we decided to cut it short (we did 14km in total). Mike still wasn't feeling well so he joined me halfway around the lake and worked out with me till we called it quits for the day. We jogged and walked together, doing half km running and half km walking. We decided not to push too far and this week we will get in all our mid week workouts and tackle our long one next week with better health and stamina.

So you're probably reading and saying how does this equal the happiest day of her life???

Well at the end of our workout when we got to the dam Mike decided we should hang out for a few minutes -- we were drinking some cold water from the water pump and having fun pouring water over each other to cool each other off and just having fun joking and chatting. We were actually chatting about our future plans to eventually get married and I was telling Mike that I couldn't wait to marry him and I look forward to our future together.....he asked me if I was sure and if I had any doubts or hestitations....I said I was sure and had no doubts. He's who I'm meant to be with.....all of a sudden he stood up in front of me and said "Waleah, Will You Marry Me?"......I was a little stunned and confused....I thought I had just established that yes I wanted to marry him....what I didn't realize till I looked down at his hands instead of up at his handsome face, was that he was holding an engagement ring in his fingers.......*sigh*....I really got confused and actually asked him if I was dreaming......when he assured me no....I was indeed awake and yes he was holding a ring and asking me to marry him, I promptly replied with a YES and a few dozen kisses and some tears!!! The best was when he looked at me with his big beautiful smile and said "I'm so excited--I get to marry you!!". Mike is the best guy I've ever met and he makes me so happy and today he made me even happier than I thought I could be. My ring is beautiful!! It's sparkly and looks great on my hand. And the best part was it came from him with love and from the bottom of his very big heart!! It's been a fun day of calling my girlfriends and sharing our exciting news. Now we just need to figure out what we want to do for our wedding and set a date (and then the real fun begins....all the planning!!). And I'm so excited to be marrying my best friend. I'm looking forward to a lifetime with Mike.

PS....Bless......I'm getting Maaaarrriiieeedd (too)!!! neener neener neener :)

good night all.

Over the Top

Well here we are a little less than 2 months till marathon day and a little less than 1 month till fundraising deadline; and we have far exceeded both the original $12,200 goal set out for us and have now just surpassed the $15,200 goal we set for ourselves!! There are still a few more donations coming in and we still have our beer draw. We have received a cheque for $2500 from an unamed source who agreed to match a percentage of funds I raised personally. This is our single largest donation we have received. The feeling of being able to raise so much money for such a good cause is almost indescribable. Maybe we'll be able to hit $16,000 before we leave (we'll see). We are noticing that our fundraising efforts are tapering off and we are concentrating more on our training right now (okay, well not this week as we are both sick with a nasty cold). Yes, it caught up to Mike too. Hopefully by the weekend we'll be back to our healthy selves and can resume training.

Only 56 more days till we leave for Iceland. Awesome. Thank you to everyone who has donated financially, those who donated prizes or other items for our fundraisers, and those who have been so supportive of us over the past few months. Thank you to those who stop by and read our blog and to those who post words of encouragement too! We appreciate it all very much!!

27km for Waleah & 26km for Mike

This weekend was busy as we had my birth mother Barb in town from Regina. She stayed with us for the weekend and was brave enough to do my training session with me. Mike ran his 26km and had a good workout. Barb walked with me for 22km. I then continued on to do another 5km and Barb and Mike made the walk back home to start brunch and get cleaned up. The afternoon was pretty mellow as we all needed a snooze after our long workout.

It's monday night and we are both feeling exhausted. Had a really nice dinner over at our friends, Paula & Steve 's place and had fun with their little guy Tyson who is 13 months old and a real cutie! Mike's mom and step dad were there tonight too and we had a great time, but now it's off to bed so we can get rested for another long, full and busy day tomorrow. Seems that ever since we signed up for this adventure life has gotten even busier than normal. But we are having fun and enjoying ourselves.

On that note, good night all.....have a good one.....zzzzzzzzz

Today -- 24.7km!! and 4:23hrs!!

Wow....today was a long workout!! We left home and it was raining a bit. Got to Burnaby Lake and it wasn't too bad, actually almost getting muggy as the rain was disappearing. We stretched together for a couple of minutes and Mike headed off on his run and I started out walking -- we were to do 23km today. However Mike was feeling tired and his legs were talking to him, and he listened well and ended up heading back towards me and when we met up, he told me he would be keeping me company today. That was a nice treat for me and in the end I think even for him. We got to walk together today (that usually doesn't happen). I enjoyed having the company and even though we both listened to our ipods on a quieter setting we got to chat along the way. Burnaby Lake is really a pretty place to be doing one's training. Today we saw a baby bunny and a turtle. Not it was not the tortoise and the hare race.....the turtle was out in the water and the bunny was hopping along in front of us. Very sweet seeing mother nature in her truest spring form. We even saw a young geeseling with some older Canada Geese. By the time we did our two laps of the lake and walked home, we had logged just under 25km. Whew....into a hot shower and bath for me to soak my muscles. Mike made us a yummy lunch to restore the fuel we burned up. My GPS said I burned 1500+ calories today!! We spent the rest of the day recouperating, relaxing and reading. Isn't that the way a Sunday should be anyways?
Well this day is over now and its time for bed and get rested to start the week all over again and on with this week's training! Next Sunday is 26km. stay tuned as we continue to count down our Iceland trip. We just ordered the Lonely Planet's guide to Iceland. Should have it in about a week. Want to learn more about where we are going and what else we can do for our extended stay. Cheers!

Thank you Barb!!!

A big thank you goes out to my birth mother, Barb Carriere who lives in Regina (yes, I'm adopted and have 2 mothers). Over the last little while Barb has been asking friends and family for donations for us!! Last night when we came home from our 8km workout in the rain, pouring rain and more rain.....I checked the mail and found an envelope with 15 donations adding up to $675!!!!! Thank you so much Barb for asking so many people and also for your own very generous monetary donation on top of asking so many people and telling them what we are doing. Our Thermometer now reads $12,801. I believe we'll hit our $15,200 Goal. Only $2399 more to raise. In fact I have a suspicion we may even pass that goal before we leave for Iceland. We still have a couple more fundraisers happening and still more people we haven't asked yet.

I too have logged just over 112km for the month of May. Mostly walking on my part as I'm still trying to ease into running. We have only 11 more weeks. Now I know that 11 weeks seems like a long time, but when you have lots of mileage to put in and more money to raise, it does not seem like that long. And time just seems to fly by. Just yesterday I celebrated my 5 year anniversary at work and can't believe that much time has gone by already. I still remember my first day!!

For the month of June we will likely log between 175 and 230 km. Depending on if we hit all our training workouts with all the other time commitment's we have.

Thank you again to everyone who checks our blog and is following our progress. Thank you to those who leave comments and encourage us. Thank you to those who support our endeavors and encourage us and a big thank you to each and everyone of you who has donated so far. We both really appreciate everyone's support. Stay tuned for more as the mileage and the thermometer continue to climb......

wow

I'm not sure about Waleah's totals but I logged over 112km of running and another 15 or so walking in May. Wow! and I'm sure Waleah has logged about the same. Kinda scared to see what June/July will be with those really long sunday runs......

Congratulations to our friends Brent & Bless who got engaged last weekend. If you happen to read their blog, it is only further proof that Waleah and I are not the only insane people around.

Wednesday = Hills

Didn't have a great night running last night. Waleah wasn't feeling well so I set out on my own to conquer the Caribou Road hill. Walked/ran to the hill which is 2.5km from home and then started my hill repeats. The first one was ok, ran the full 600m up and then down the hill, but then it went down from there, ran 400m of the 2nd and 3rd repeats (walked/jogged down the hill)and called it quits after 300m of my last interval. I was disappointed that I didn't finish the full training run, physically I could have, mentally I just wasn't able to push through. I know today I could have finished as I do not feel like I worked out last night at all. I guess I need to start looking at the ongoing training as mental as well as physical preparation for the marathon because I'm sure that there will be a lot more mental "walls" that I will need to push through in the next couple months.

Sunday = Long run day.

Well, we did it, we finished our 19k this morning. I was a little worried starting off this morning, we had some friends over last night to watch the UFC PPV and between having a couple beer and not a lot of sleep last night, the first couple km were tough. Last week was tough mentally, I ran it with the mentality that it was 16km, today's I just looked at it as 2 laps around the lake, which I managed to convince myself wasn't too bad. As I started to feel more comfortable with the run I was able to pick up my pace closer to a 7:00 minute/kilomoter. As I reached my turn around point I was just behind another guy who had just started running. After a few minutes being behind him it was pretty obvious we were running the same pace. I took a scheduled walk break and let him run off, once I started running again I eventually caught up with him again (since he took a walk break also). Once I was running next to him we chatted a bit and decided to run together for a while, this kind of screwed my intervals up and I ended up running a 21 minute interval but the company made it a lot easier than being by myself. Once we got into a 10/1 groove again I realized how much easier it is to run with someone, I ended up being able to keep a quicker pace than I normally would. We even caught up to Waleah and she managed to run an interval with us (which was very nice being able to run with her) Big confidence booster for me being able to run todays 19km at a strong consistent pace. So Hi and Thanks to Duncan and Good Luck in the Scotia Half Marathon in June and hopefully we'll see you again to run with.

This week we start hills (YAY! but ask how I feel wednesday night), we'll take tuesday off for our gaming night (Yay!) and try to manage the rest of the workouts in. Though I don't have hope for Saturdays run (haven't done a saturday run yet...bad us...)

You'll also see the Thermometer has changed. We hit our $12,000 target!!!!!!!!! So now we've set our goal to raise $15,000 for the Canadian Diabetes Association. If you haven't donated yet, why not? Easy to do and you all know it's an important cause to me and our families.

12 Weeks till the Marathon!

Only 12 more weeks to go. Last night we did our on-line travel registration. Pretty soon CDA will be booking our air line tickets and hotel and confirming the itinerary. We are both pretty excited. I still can't believe we are going to Iceland!! Last night we did 8km and it was a good night for it. We actually had to both wear long sleeved shirts as it was on the cool side. Had a good workout down by the Fraser River along the boardwalk. Very nice. Saw 2 different momma ducks with her ducklings. Very cool. One had 2 little ducklings that could have fit in the palm of my hand. They were so adorable.

This weekend our Sunday run/walk will be 19km!! Almost to the halfway point. They say the weather is supposed to be crummy so it could be a challenging workout. We then have a birthday party for one of my girlfriends little girl -- who is turning One!! Where has the past year gone! It's been a good year though. Lots of good things have been happening. :)

Stay tuned for an update after our 19km on Sunday! .....whew....that makes me tired just thinking about it. Have a good weekend.

We survived 16km!

Well it's been a good long weekend and we are now feeling fully recovered from our gaming fundraiser last weekend. This week me managed to get in some of our training runs plus a fun evening out of gaming with our usual group. Was nice to play games and not have to get up every few minutes to take care of hosting duties. :)

Yesterday we did our 16km work out. It was a great day for it. The sun was shining but not too hot and we got in our work out early enough too. Mike ran his, doing 10 min run/1 min walk intervals. I believe he managed to do most of the 16km like that, with the exception of a longer walking break towards the end. I'm so proud of how well he is doing. For a non-runner prior to signing up for this, he's doing awesome!! I walked most of my 16km workout--but I did let the feet move a little faster occassionally this time and broke into a jog a few times! :) I couldn't resist! It's been tough for me a Runner---not being able to run! At about the 8km mark I started to jog for about 2 min and felt pretty good so then walked for about 4 min and then for about 4km after I would walk the first half of a kilometre and then jog the second half. Right now my body needs the longer walking break to recover and today my back is not bothering me, so that is a success. Baby steps.....they can be hard though when your brain says "let's go, let's go, let's go!!" and your body says "hey....what do you think you are doing!!??" It becomes a battle. I figure each week as I get stronger I will try to do a little bit more running or even the same (just a few km with a walk half and jog half) so that I can run more the day of the marathon. The key is taking care of my low back and building up my strength. I have to say that the jogging I managed to do though....felt GREAT!!! Sun shining and great tunes on the Ipod and a scenic lake to jog around...no wonder the feet wanted to move quickly.

This week our goal is to try to fit in all 5 of our workouts and Sunday will be up to 19km!!! Yikes. It's all good. Each week from here on out, we'll be setting new long distances records. (mine will start at 25 km in another couple of weeks).

Tomorrow is a 6km workout and then Mike's ball game in Vancouver. Hopefully it doesn't rain!

The Day After.....

Well it's Monday, and we spent the entire weekend indoors with our fundraiser, but it was so worth it!! We are both feeling quite tired today and we will have to see if we have any energy left over after a long day at work (Mike has to work overtime this week) to fit in our 16km or not. May have to juggle this week's training around. Do not want to burn out!!

Today I received 2 more cheques and now the thermometer reads $11,604. We are so thrilled and excited about how close we are to our goal and still have 2 fundraisers to go and more people to pester :), that we are thinking about setting up another goal to work towards raising another $3000 to bring our total up to $15,000.

Stay tuned for some photos of the weekend's gaming tournament and more progress on training and fundraising. We'll also write up a good entry detailing more about the weekend's success. We had fun hosting the tournament and really enjoyed meeting all who attended. You all are a big part of our success. Thank you!

GREAT SUCCESSES ALL AROUND!!!!!!

well, except for the 16km run/walk we hoped to squeeze in this weekend :)
Apparently we had a crazy notion that after 25 hours of hosting our Gaming Event that we would have enough energy left to fit in our workout....how SILLY!!!

But on to more important things. Just home (9pm) from wrapping up the weekend and a quick dinner with some of the guests (and a pair of sponsors)...and we just had to share our exciting news of the success of BOTH fundraisers this weekend. The Golf Tournament that Mike's dad hosted was a big success with 42 people participating and aprox $1200 raised!! Way to go Marc & Lori. We can't thank you enough for doing this for us. And our weekend long Gaming event was also a big success, exceeding our expecations by far.....Fri nite we hoped/prayed to walk away with $500 after expenses......well.....we walked away with just over $1500 towards our donation!! WOW!! (apparently the most used word in my vocabulary lately) :)
A total of $2700 raised this weekend, topping off our thermometer to a whopping $11,319!!!
YIPPPEEEE......time for bed.....ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz

BIG WEEKEND -- 2 FUNDRAISERS & 16km Run!

Wow....I feel like I keep saying that a lot lately!!
Our total raised just went up to $8,519!! In the past 24 hours we have received over $750 in donations!! Thank you!! Also I would like to extend a special thank you to my friend & colleague, Victoria Murphy (Heart & Art Custom Quilts)--Victoria was very generous and donated a beautiful lap quilt titled "The Front Nine". This quilt is up for auction at the Golf Tournament that Mike's dad, Marc is hosting for us out in Chilliwack this weekend. I hope we get some good bids on it....it's gorgeous and worth $125 for retail purchase. Anyone wanting to order a custom quilt, please email us and I will pass on the contact ph#. Also need to thank our friend and fellow gamer, Dan B for doing up a banner to thank our proud sponsors for this weekends' Gaming Tournament. Can't wait to see it and put it up for all to see. We have a lot of talented and generous people in our lives. You are all wonderful!! Spoke to a couple more people today who said they were happy to help us out with our fundraising goal, so we will keep updating that thermometer as the funds keep coming in. If you are free tomorrow come on out to the Marpole Curling Club at 8730 Heather Street, Vancouver (10am to Midnight; and 10am to 6pm Sunday) and play some games $30 for the weekend, $50 for couples and $15 for the day.
Have a great weekend everyone!!

Wow!! 2/3rds of the Way to our $$ Goal!!!

I am so excited. We have raised $8,083 so far to date. Today, so far I have received 2 more donations from friends. Thank you Christine & Daniela. I have a few more promises of donations to come in over the next few days and of course our two fundraisers this weekend. One of my dearest girlfriends donated $300 today from her & her husband! Thank you Dani....you Rock!!! I'm still in awe and shock this morning at your generosity. And I can't stop smiling as I look over our totals so far. That is so far our largest personal donation. When Mike & I started out on this adventure....we were so awestruck at the total amount we needed to raise. Now I find myself awestruck at peoples endless generosity and support. I received some great prizes from a buddy of mine yesterday for our Golf Tournament that is being hosted by Mike's dad, Marc Blais this weekend. Some fabulous Golf Shirts and Golf Visors. Thank you so much to everyone out there who have been so supportive thus far. We appreciate your encouragement, your donations, whether it's monetary or prize support or whether you've signed up for one of our fundraisers. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

14 1/2 Weeks till the Big Day

Wow....Time is flying by. We have our first big fundraiser coming up in 4 days. We've got our fingers crossed that we'll have a great turnout, that everyone will have a great time and that we'll raise some decent money towards our fundraising goal. I hope everything goes fairly smoothly for this weekends festivities. It's our first time planning a big event (together or otherwise).

Last week we managed to log a fair amount of kilometers! I logged 38km and Mike logged 41km. Not bad for a weeks worth of work. This week should be about the same given that we have the tournament taking up most of our weekend. Our goal is to make sure we at least fit in Sunday's long run/walk after the Tournament is done.

Not only are the kilometers trained adding up, but so is the money raised!! Just got a few more $50 donations this past week. Still lots of people on our list to hit up. I'm finding that we ask a couple of people every few days and more than not, we are lucky enough to receive more donations. Still a ways to go to reach our total target between the two of us, but it's coming along! Hopefully after the 2 fundraisers this weekend (Mike's dad is also hosting a Golf Tournament on our behalf on Saturday) we will be closer to our target. Soon we will start hitting up our friends and family. My parents have been really supportive and are also hitting up all of their friends!! Thanks you two! We really appreciate the support.

Stay tuned.......

Mike's thought of the day

Has insanity kicked in when a steady 8km run is considered an "easy" day of running?
Only if training for a marathon I guess.....

Cinqo De Maio

Happy 5th of May....
Well we've managed 3 days in a row of our mid week training this week. Both feeling pretty good. Just a bit of regular muscle soreness that comes with stepping up your exercise program. Put in over 25km so far this week. Tonight Mike has softball and tomorrow we'll see if we are up to the 6km workout that is scheduled. If not we'll stick with Sunday's long steady one and get in our 13km. We don't want to over do it and be back to where we were a week ago and being sick and run down. A couple more donations received this week. Smaller ones, but they all add up. One more week till our first big fundraiser. Keep your fingers crossed that it goes off smoothly, and that we manage to raise a nice bit of money towards our donation. Next week will be really busy with last minute preparations, running around collecting tickets and money from our awesome local Game Stores who have been so incredibly supportive! and getting everything ready for a fun weekend of gaming! And of course fitting our training in and a ball game or two for Mike. No rest for the wicked over here. :)

Have a great weekend everyone. We'll update more after our long workout on Sunday.
PS: Craving for a Game in Surrey Central Mall has re-opened in a new location after being closed for the past few weeks!! Be sure to stop in and see our friend, Buck and check out his new digs. We'll be stopping by tomorrow sometime.

Feels Good....

**** for intructions on how to donate online read to the bottom****
M



to be back to training and back to healthy selves. Mike is feeling much better. He's now over the nasty Stomach Flu he had late last week. Wow, did that ever take its toll. I managed to fight it off with some gravol and a really good nights sleep...which I desperately needed after 10 hours in Emergency after a sleepless night, and of course lots of rest over the course of the weekend.

We've successfully completed 2 days in a row of training after missing a week. Last night we went to Burnaby Lake after a full evening of errands and chores. We both managed to get in our 6km workouts and a little bit extra. I really enjoy walking to and from the Lake together. Once we get there, Mike starts to run so we are on our own for a good portion of our workouts. My IPOD keeps me company and my GPS keeps on track for walking a good pace. Tonight we stopped on the way home from work along Kent Avenue at the foot of Victoria and worked out along the seawall there. It was great. Mike managed to get in his 10km run, and I walked just over 9.5 km. I met a really nice couple who I chatted with for the first half of my workout. Managed to even give them one of our donation forms at the end of their walk. :). Bill & Nancy--it was great chatting with you and who knows....we may bump into you again.

Tomorrow night it's a few errands on the way home from work in preparation for our fundraiser next week and then our 3rd training workout this week. A medium length one, 8km.

A note for anyone wishing to donate on line....please see the link we have set up on the far right hand side--Under LINKS -- Click on Support Us, fill out the form on CDA's website and when it prompts you to pledge a participant you can either type in Waleah Cook or Michael Blais and the city we live in is Burnaby. Make sure when clicking on a race it's Iceland 2006. By looking us up that way, it will allow us to receive credit for your donation towards our fundraising goal. We are getting closer, but we still need lots of help. Thank you to all who have supported us so far, and thank you for continuing to encourage us and cheer us on.

Till next time......Stay active, stay fit and keep healthy.

ugh.

Been a really tough couple of days here. Tuesday's run was pretty tough, it was only 6k but at a quicker pace. In the end with my longer than normal walking break I finished with a pace of 7:30/km and that is about what I run with my 10/1 intervals. A big problem was I was still sore from softball the previous 2 days, Softball and Running are not the same muscle groups for sure. It only gets better from there. Wednesday night I went to bed feeling a little sick, a couple hours later I was throwing up and couldn't stop, finally at about 5am on thursday I had Waleah take me to emergency. They hooked an IV up and ran a few bags of saline through me and was finally let out about 4pm. It was a long day for me, even longer for Waleah as she had to try to sleep in a not so comfortable chair. Yesterday was a lot of sleeping and drinking water. So thursdays run was a no go and today's won't happen either. I am still feeling nauseous and crappy but it appears Waleah has been able to fight the bug off. Since wednesday night I have had to eat 5 pieces of toast a small cup of chicken noodle soup and 2 scrambled eggs. We'll see what tomorrow brings and what kind of energy we have (supposed to be 13km but we'll see).

We Completed the Sunny Vancouver Sun Run!!!

What a beautiful day to live and walk/run in Beautiful Sunny Vancouver!!
We got up early this morning and got ourselves ready and hopped on the sky train to downtown to wait at the start line, for what seemed like a really long time. Oh wait, it was a long time-- just checked what time it was when I hit start on the GPS -- we started at 9:55am. We waited for 55 minutes to cross the start line. All I can say is thank goodness it was a sunny day and not raining out! Mike and I walked the event together. We started out by jogging for only about 3 minutes just to get away from the congestion of the crowd. We then kept up a really good walking pace throughout the entire 10km (our average pace for the entire race was 8:49min/km). In fact at the eigth and ninth Km we even managed to pick up our pace. We finished up with about a 3 minute jog to the finish line (mostly because I wanted to cross the finish line under 1:30:00 (1 Hour; 30 Minutes). And guess what.....WE DID!!! 1:29:42 was our time! I'm pretty pleased with that considering 98% was walked. We even noticed that we passed some people a couple of different times who were walk/running the event. I calculated that at today's average pace I would finish the Marathon in August in just under 6 hours!! Hopefully I continue to get stronger over the next 4 months and will be able in fact to finish walking the marathon in under 6 hours. That would be awesome. This week we will train Tues & Thur. Starting next Sunday our training goes from 3 days a week up to 5 days a week. And the mileage weekly will start to increase. Looking forward to it now that the nice weather has started. Stay tuned for more updates........

Just Ask and You Shall Receive.......

Right now I'm learning that fundraising is really a lot about asking people. And about sharing your story of what you have set out to accomplish. Today we have officially reached $7188 in funds raised. I have another $1100 or so coming from a source that will be matching a portion of the funds I raise. Adding that money to what we have already collected will bring us up over the $8,000 mark....2/3 of the way there and pushing us towards the 3/4 marker. (I won't be adding the "partial matching funds" till we receive the money--as the tally increases every couple of days). I'm learning that there are a lot of very generous people out there and they are happy to donate to such a worthy cause and a lot of people have thanked us for sharing our story with them and allowing them to be part of our accomplishement. We have received a lot of donations, big and small and lots of prize donations too for our fundraisers. We are regularly amazed at people's generosity and very thankful to them. Each one of you who has donated thus far has made our experience that much more enjoyable as the stress of raising the funds gets less and the stress of working on the distances increases! We hope that you enjoy reading our blog entries and hearing about our progress and updates as much as we enjoy sharing our experience.

Sun Run here we come

Well 6 more days till the Vancouver Sun Run. We have entered; and Mike and I will be walking the event. We decided that we wanted to do it together so Mike will walk instead of run. It will be our training run/walk for Sunday. I think the experience will be good for Mike as he has never participated in a big race like that (when I say big... I am referring to the number of participants--usually over 40,000 some odd people). I have participated in the Sun Run 3 yrs in a row from 1999-2001 and always ran it; so it will be a different experience to go out and walk the course instead. We are contemplating whether we should try the Vancouver International Half Marathon or not in a couple of weeks. We are sure we could walk it but not sure about keeping up the steady pace for that long and consistently. We'll see what we decide. If we do it; it will be a walked event. One of my good friends Donni is planning on walking it and we may just join her.

We picked up a second GPS gadget on the weekend and it really helped me in my training session on Sunday morning. With Mike off running I have not been able to keep track of how fast I'm walking during my solo walk workout. I discovered I can keep a pretty good steady pace going. It takes me on average 9-9:48min per km. And that's with rolling terrain. On the flatter stretches I can speed up to about 8 min per km. When Mike joins me after his run and we continue to walk together we tend to slow a bit more to about 10 - 10:50 min per km pace. Which is still good as it's more about our cool down at that point. My pace seems to be on track for the training guidlines set out for walking. I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish the marathon in under 6hrs for being a walker. (I'm still hopeful to be able to run a few km here and there though come August---so maybe a little quicker??). But the Most important goals are (a) raising the funds and awareness for Diabetes and (b) completing the event and completing it healthy. The competitive side in my is setting the side goals for myself :) I'm also really looking forward to going to Iceland, seeing a different country and sharing the experience and adventure with Mike.

stay tuned.....

Gaming Fundraiser

I have stared a 2nd blog that is dedicated to our boardgaming fundraiser.

Gaming Fundraiser

2 weeks to go

Only 2 weeks to go before the "official" marathon training program begins. The base run to start is 10k and I'll be ready to run that that Sunday morning. This week we have done about 35k of walking/running, for me 17.8k of running was done over 3 sessions. That's a lot when I think back to when I started it was work just running 2 or 3 minutes at a time. Tomorrow is the first time I'll run a 10 & 1 interval and I'll repeat 6 times. I haven't calculated the number of intervals for the actual marathon yet. I'll do that much later so I don't scare myself.
I made an actual running mix on my iPod for yesterday's run and it worked well, the first part of the run was really hard it being early morning and no breakfast but by 20 minutes in I felt great and was suprised when I caught back up with Waleah and was done, I felt I could have kept going forever.

Bawitidaba - Kid Rock
All Jacked Up - Gretchen Wilson
Around the World - Daft Punk
Dance, Dance - Fallout Boy
You're Pretty When I'm Drunk - Bloodhound Gang
Short Skirt/Long Jacket - Cake
Sk8ter Boi - Avril Lavigne
Let's Get Retarted - Black Eyed Peas
Spiderwebs - No Doubt
More Than Fine - Switchfoot
Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai
How Do You Like Me Now - Toby Keith
Love Shack - B-52's
Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
Cowboy - Kid Rock
Beer for My Horses - Toby Keith/Willie Nelson
Seven Nation Army - White Stripes
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
Give it Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Tainted Love - Marilyn Manson

OK, varied list but when I got to How Do You Like Me Now I was feeling good and started singing along.
Have a Happy Easter, we'll be up bright and early for our run tomorrow so I make an Easter Brunch for Waleah, Kari and I.

Walk, Run, Walk, Walk, Walk..

As Waleah mentioned earlier she has taken a break from running but is continuing to train by walking. Since this is a joint effort we want to work together as much as possible. What we have been doing is the warm up walk to the lake together (approx 2k) and then I will run my intervals and meet back with her for the walk home and cool down. A great idea but we didn't plan it so well last night. I had a shorter run of 3k last night but once we miscalculated how far around the lake we went and we ended up doing a total of 12k! We need to figure things out a little better so our "resting" days are what they are supposed to be, short and rewarding.
Things I have noticed now that I am getting into my training:
1) I look forward to my runs. I never thought this would happen. After running 7k on Sunday (the furthest I have ever run at once) I felt I could keep going indefinitely. Last night was a little harder but it still felt good.
2) Music is great to run with, I took Waleah's iPod on Sunday and listened to some Switchfoot and it made the run go by so much quicker and I found myself looking less at how much time do I have left on a particular interval. Last night I loaded some Daft Punk on my new shiny black iPod. That was great for setting a pace but very hard to judge my interval time and the run seemed very long, I probably will not be putting too much of that type of music on my playlist.
3) Our GPS is a great tool, it helps me keep my pacing to a level I am comfortable at without letting me slow down too much. It's also great for tracking exactly how far we went without having to figure it out on a map. I just set the training intervals and reps and run. We'll pick up a second one this week for Waleah so she has a better idea of her pace and distance on her walks.
4) Now that we've started running around Burnaby Lake I can't believe we spent so long running around a track. I guess for the shorter runs it was ok, but the track is pretty boring compared to the trails around the lake. Sunday's training will be another step up, I'll have finally hit 10 & 1 intervals (10 minutes running and 1 walking) and this is what I will be doing for right up until and part of the marathon. It's part of the Running Room's training schedule and since Team Diabetes is being trained by the Running Room I'll stick to their plan since they know far more about running than I do.
5) I still haven't figured out how running affects my blood sugar on a consistent basis. At first it seemed to drop 2 points for every 20 minutes of training. On Sunday and last night it only dropped 1 point and that was over 2 hours of training. The only thing I had to eat was a banana before we started. I think that now that my body is getting used to running my sugars are lasting longer. Then again I am probably talking out of my ass. :) I hope to figure it out eventually so I don't have to worry about a low blood sugar during a long run and abort it. That would suck and throw a kink in plans.

That's it for now, have a happy Easter weekend if we don't check in sooner.

Words of Encouragement

A note I received today along with a generous donation today......

"Waleah
You are going to fly along this course,
Boundless energy being your source.

All the work and miles and vision,
When the rest of us sat watching television.

When the going gets tough and it will,
Be grateful that Iceland does not have hills.

It's people like you that make the world a better place to be.
Way to go!"

These words and the donation I received with them mean a lot to me and its this kind of support that makes the hard work worthwhile and easier to tackle.

Thanks buddy!! You are a great motivator and a very supportive and encouraging friend.

uP and UP the Numbers go!!!

Our fundraising total just keeps on climbing up....a few dollars here and there each day and they just keep adding up!! It's very exciting to see the Thermometer climb. We received another $147 from our generous fellow Curlers from the Mixed Friday Night league over at Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. Thanks everyone! Today a colleague of mine gave me a great poem and a cheque for $251 dollars (not to be outdone by a fellow colleague in another office!) Thank you Brian!! You are awesome and very generous!! We are now at $6593 raised to date!!

Our mileage is also increasing.....We did our long steady run/walk yesterday (I walked and Mike did his run/walk intervals). Mike ran 7km (not including the rest of our walk) -- the most he's run so far in a row....I'm so proud of him and I know he was thrilled too with his accomplishments. I managed to walk 13km (which is my longest to date as well) and Mike did a total of 15km yesterday between his run and walking with me before and after. So only 27 more Km's for Mike and 29 more Km's for me!! It was a great workout yesterday at Burnaby Lake....even with the rain.

Only 2 more weeks till the Sun Run which we will both walk together. My body is still not ready for running so I will continue my training with walking and hope that over the next few months I may be able to run more. If not, I will be walking the full marathon.....I'd rather complete the event healthy and injury free than not be able to complete it after all of our hard work.

HALF WAY THERE!!

Monday, April 3, 2006 We have officially passed the halfway mark in our fundraising efforts!!! Yippee!!! We so far have collected $6,005 in cash donations and have been busily getting Prize donations for our upcoming fundraisers. When I came in to work this morning there was an email adivsing me of an on-line donation of $30 that pushed us over the $6000 mark. I'm so excited. We have 4 1/2 months till Iceland and our 3 Fundraisers to go. Mike & I still have friends and family to hit up for donations so hopefully with all of that combined we'll reach our goal no problem. (We hope!) :)

Thank you to everyone who have been so generous so far. We appreciate every single donation (everything from $5 to $1000 to date--it all really does add up!) We appreciate you passing on our request for donations to your friends and family and contacts. And we also very much appreciate all of the prize support we have been getting from local and not so local Game stores and friends and contacts too! A special thank you to Mike's friend, Liane for her generous Starbucks prize donation. Stay tuned for more details and our continuing progress........

Beach Volleyball Tournament-June 17th

We are running a beach volleyball tournament on June 17th at Coquitlam Town Center's Beach Volleyball Courts. The format is 4 on 4 mixed and there will be an 'A' 'B' & 'C' playoff pools so all teams are welcome. Again all proceeds will go to our fundraising efforts. For more info and to sign up just email us.

Only slightly unrelated

Drexoll Games is having a trade in event for your used games. Since they've been so supportive to us for our boardgaming fundraiser (see below a few posts) I will pimp it for them.

Drexoll Games Trade in Event!!!

Training update

Well training is going along slowly but surely. We recieved our training schedule from the CDA and the program to complete a marathon starts April 23 and we need to have a base run of 10k for then. We're a bit behind on that but we'll be ok. Waleah's found a pair of shoes that seem to work for her so that is a plus. Sunday was a tough run, we did intervals of running 5 minutes & walking 1 minute 8 times and that totaled about 5k plus our warmup and cooldown brought us to 7k, Still a long way from 42! What made it tough was the fact that we didn't run at all for 8 days, we just let life get in the way of training. My legs won't let that happen again! Today's run was ok, a bit tired once we started but as the run went on they loosened up and felt ok. Thursday's run will be interesting it's 3 & 1 intervals 10 times, still a little less than sunday's though, but still a good run considering we've only been training seriously for a month or so.

Curlers Rock!

A quick update for those of you following our progress.
Last night at Curling at the RCCC in New West one of our fellow curlers got up and made an announcement on our behalf. Thank you Violet!! Last night alone we managed to collect another $326 towards our goal. We have just hit the $5000+ mark. Yay! And we also had many fellow curlers asking if they could bring their pledge forms back to us next week or donate on line. Of course we said yes! We really appreciate everyone's support!! Just under $7000 more to raise before mid July. We curl with a great group of people on Friday nights in a mixed league. Some of you may recall the earlier blog entry at the end of January refrencing my broken wrist....ah yes.. But that will only keep me away for the remainder of this season (2 weeks) and next year I'll be back as good as new. And I think that both Mike and I intend to join a men's and women's team respectively as well as keep playing on our Friday Night Mixed League. Last night we also managed to find that there are a couple of gamers in our midst at Curling too and have recruited more people to attend our Gaming Fundraiser in May. Stay tuned for more details on the Golf Fundraiser in May in Chilliwack. A couple of Golfers in the midst said they would like to attend that one too!

Next....Just returned my new shoes for a different pair. My first ones just weren't working for me. The helpful staff at the Coquitlam Running Room have set me up with another pair and I'll give these a try. Wish me luck that these are the ones that will be staying! And helping me work towards my goal. It's amazing how important a good pair of running shoes are to your training. You don't need a lot of equipment to run, but you sure do need a pair of shoes that fit your feet properly and give you the support you need. It's amazing how different we all are and how many different pair of running shoes are out there. Thank goodness for such well trained staff at stores like the running room.

Well that's all for today; I must get back to tidying up the apartment. We have some friends coming by for dinner and games tonight. Should be a fun evening. Won't be too late though; as tomorrow up early to get out for a run. Only 4 1/2 more months till the Marathon. Yikes! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Last night's training was a challenge for me; I was only able to do part of our intervals. Tried to run through it; but listened to my body and I continued to walk while Mike contined to run his intervals (I'm trying to prevent re-injury and be able to go the long haul, even if it means walking the marathon). Hopefully Sunday's run will be a better one.

The donations are starting to trickle in now. In the past 3 days we have received $830 towards our goal. The thermometer is slowly creeping up. We are one quarter of the way to the fundraising finish line. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far!!!

Enjoy a Guiness for us today!

Cheers!

$how u$ the Money!$!

Fundraising: Yesterday I sent out a mass email to my friends and colleagues at the Firm I work for. I hit up everyone I work with in my office, people I know in other offices as well as contacts in our head office. I also asked those people to pass on the request to their friends and family. Yesterday alone, our request went out to over 124 people in one hour. I got at least 5 favourable responses back right away of people telling me they would definitely donate; as of today I have physically received 4 monetary donations. (3 did theirs on-line) and one gave me a cheque in the office. That's $335 towards our goal in just a few hours. Lots more to go, but I'm hopeful that most of the people who received yesterday's message will be sending me their donations over the next few weeks.

I would like to send out a very special thank you to Richard Rand (buddy and colleague from our Richmond office). Today he very generously donated $250!! He also promised to forward on my email to others. I also received a donation of $15 today from one of my head office contacts. Just goes to show you that it really doesn't matter how much you donate as long as you donate. Every dollar helps and I'm thrilled with every donation we receive.

Mike and I continue on our quest to send out our message and request to everyone one we know. We continue to ask people to keep forwarding our message on to their friends and family and anyone else they can think of. We even had a cheque arrive in the mail for $50 from a client of a client that Mike deals with. This is exactly the kind of thing we are hoping for.

Thank you again everyone for your support and encouragement so far.

Keep checking back. We'll keep you updated on our running progress, our dollars raised....(I even figured out how to update the thermometer on my own today!!)...and important details about our fundraisers.