Hills…ya’ gotta’ love ‘em!

It’s no secret to anyone I run with that I tackle (well it seems like that to me) the hills we come across on our runs. Fortunately for the majority of my runs there are very few hills, particularly on longer runs and most are not what would qualify as a true hill…more like speed bumps really.


Just because I tackle the hills, doesn’t mean I find them easy, nor does it mean I always enjoy the experience, quite often I’m struggling as much if not more than my running mates… so why then do my running partners and team mates think I LOVE hills?

Here’s my secret…I pretend I LOVE them, I pretend as I see the hill coming up, I pretend as I start the hill and then I find a new gear, switch it on and motor up that hill believing that I LOVE it….and so far…in training that has worked…I haven’t done quite so well in races as evidenced by the effects of Hamilton’s Around the Bay for the last two years. I’ve set a goal to change that at the Marine Corps Marathon this October, there are not a lot of hills, but there are a couple of big ones near the start and we finish on an uphill, so I’ll have the opportunity.

I was beginning to question if my two weeks away from the Campus hills that I normally run 3 times a week was going to take its toll. I had been training on mostly flat routes due to scheduling issues while away from work. I was still getting in the times and distances, but the post-run feeling was not quite the same as when I’m tackling 3 or 4 hills on a route.

I came back to the campus last week and was really relieved to see from my Garmin stats that my times and distances were pretty much where they had been before leaving the hills behind and running the flat routes.

More importantly though, I really missed the hills, I was able to charge up all of the hills in each training session and although I still felt the effects of the hill, I had renewed energy and appreciation for what the earlier training had done for me. I can honestly say that (last week at least) I LOVED the hills!!

I’m looking forward to the next couple of months of training and to seeing how well this plan transfers to race day and the ability to charge the hills at Marine Corps…I’ll keep you posted.

Here I go again...This time I'm Going Goofy for a Cure!

Last year I challenged all of you to dig deep and sponsor me in my efforts to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada as I trained to run my first marathon in honour of Derek’s fight with cancer.

You met that challenge head on and helped me crush not only my first fundraising goal of $5000, but 2 subsequent goal changes to raise a total of over $7500 to help fund research into blood cancers and provide support for patients diagnosed with these types of cancers.

Your support, encouragement and generosity has inspired me to take on another endurance event challenge. I felt that I needed to raise the bar to acknowledge just how much I appreciated all that you did and so I have joined Team in Training again, this time I will be competing in the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge. A 39.3-mile (63.24-km) adventure held over two days, where I will run the Half Marathon (13.2-miles/21.1-km) on Saturday, followed by the full Marathon (26.2-miles/42.2-km) on Sunday. It is a daunting task, but one I know that I can accomplish with your help. I am asking you to help me reach my fundraising goal of $7500 in honour of Derek by the end of December.

Derek’s Story:

On March 4, 2009 one of my best friends was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The good news was, “it's highly curable”. The bad news was, he had Stage IV, the most advanced form of the disease

He has officially been in remission since October 1, 2009. Congrats DT, we knew you could do it!!

Derek remained positive throughout his entire treatment. He may have lost his hair, but he never lost his sense of humour in spite of difficult procedures and side effects. Anytime I start feeling like I’m having a rough day of training or racing, I think of Derek’s fight and it’s easy to push on through.

So how can you help?

1. Sponsor me (a.k.a. show me the money)

a) The easiest way is to make a secure online donation at http://www.tinyurl.com/Going-Goofy using Credit Card or PayPal

b) You can also by donate by completing and mailing a donation form, touch base and I'll send you the form

c) Check with your employer to see if they will match your donation, many do.

2. Forward this message to everyone you know. Don’t assume that if we know the same person that I have their e-mail or have sent to them, I know you may get this e-mail 12-20 times, but really it’s a small price to pay IMHO.

3. Help me find corporate sponsors; drop me an e-mail and I’ll let you know what’s involved.

4. Volunteer to help me with my fundraising activities and events, I need ideas and people to help with selling tickets, creating posters, etc…

5. Attend one of my events or purchase one of my fundraising items, bike safety lights, entertainment books, etc…

6. All of the above!!

If you’re interested in following my progress, I will be documenting my training and fundraising progress on my blog http://shmittysrunningblog.blogspot.com/ and there’s a direct RSS feed to my Facebook Notes, so if you’re a friend on FB you can just check there or follow me on Twitter (Shmitty67).

If you want to know more about my fundraising or if you want to help in some way I haven’t thought of, simply reply to this e-mail, call me, follow me on Twitter, comment on my FB Wall, Notes, or status, write a comment on my fundraising page, or comment on my blog.

Together we can help find a cure!

Thank you all!!

Brent