Amanda

The race is DONE! 12,000 reasons to THANK YOU!

Perfect running conditions greeted us on Sunday morning!

It was dark at 5am when I left home for the walk up to the starting line in Hyde Park, meeting up with my other Can Too training buddies we duly performed our warm ups and then lined up to eventually cross the line around 7am with 12,000 other runners!

Let's cut to the chase - I finished after 1 hour and 54 minutes of running having seen the Walsh Bay cheer squad quite a few times which was fabulous and we raised a staggering $12,000 due to your generosity and support so a huge THANK YOU.

My number one, two, three, and four fans were there being David, Jane, mum and dad (in no particular order as I'm sure they would all say they were number one!) and many other familiar faces along the way which gave me the boost I needed. I actually had a good race, the last couple of kms were the hardest (probably no surprises there) as I was a BIT tired, my feet were numb and the blisters a little ouchy but it was all worth it crossing that line, blitzing my goal of 1.59.59 and the stretch goal of 1.57 - my immortal words are still resonating, "I don't want to run that fast again!"

ALSO, most importantly the fundraising goal was totally blown away - all thanks to Jane and her feats along the way - how could anyone forget the head shave! Can Too raised enough money during this program to fund 5 young researchers for a year - that's phenomenal!

A FINAL THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT - we will continue to support Jane along the way in her treatment journey which is on-going for a little while and wish her more good days than bad. To all of you keep fit and happy - we know that good fitness helps good health #fitnessfightingcancer

The Countdown is on - 6 days to go!

Hard to believe that it will be done and dusted in 6 days time - the countless km run every week, along with core/strength sessions, pilates, and cross training, massages, anti-inflammatories and physio visits will all be worth it!

We are in taper mode which means easy training - gorgeous morning today with my favourite supporter running along the beach for a second to last 5km run this week, then only 1 strength / core session and 30 minutes cross training and my opportunity to thank you all once again for an amazing amount raised for young cancer researchers - WOW - over $11,000. This means collectively we've raised over $20,000 since I commenced Can Too 2 years ago and Can Too has raised a whopping $15 Million for young researchers who are getting closer to finding the cure to various cancers.

By now you all know that this run is for Jane who is fighting breast cancer, has bravely shaved her head and is currently in the middle of her chemo treatment with her 5th session to come on the Thursday after race day. It's been a rough and rocky road for her but she faces every day with determination and trains to keep her fitness 3 times a week when her body allows (sometimes it's not been particularly cooperative with the effects of the drugs). With the latest study coming out saying that outcomes are boosted with your level of fitness it's a great incentive not only for her to keep going but also a good reminder to all of us that the fitter we are the healthier we can stay! So when you don't want to get out of bed or think it's a bit cold to go for that walk or run - get off your butt and just DO IT! Nike has it right and we know that every little 10 minutes helps!

Think of me early next Sunday morning - I'd love your positive thoughts and energy - if you're in Sydney and see the runners - anyone in Can Too orange will appreciate a "Go Can Too" Shout!!

Jane our braveheart - we are with you - you have been inspirational to so many as shown by the amount of money we've raised - your courage continues to shine through. Go GIRL!

The countdown is ON - 4 weeks to go!

Today the Can Too team ran in the Lindfield Rotary 10km fun run - and I must admit it isn't nicknamed LindHILLS for nothing! Seriously, 10km of gruelling ups and downs - PHEW - it's done with much swearing at the end as I needed to conserve ALL of my energy along the way (it's sooooo tough) HOWEVER, there is a little PB in there too - taking 10 minutes off my time from 2 years ago! Yeah me!

This means one last long run next week of 18kms before we start tapering ready for May 17. That's pretty exciting. I've been training and running with some awesome people (big thanks to the Crescent Head team too) and will look forward to racing with my Can Too buddies - see the gorgeous young girls with me!

Enough about me as Jane has had more chemo since the last blog and it's been a really tough last 10 days with all the side effects you've heard of (and even more) but she is no shrinking violet getting down to coffee every day when she can. There are times she doesn't realise how gorgeous she looks with her shaved head, amazing eyes and always a bit of lippy to give her the colour she needs at the moment! (See gallery photo with Gus from Bar Cycle)

So, that's my quick update on where we are - A HUGE THANK YOU for getting us to our $10,885 amount - very very phenomenal. Bring on the big day for me and the GOOD days for Jane, I know she is in your thoughts and hearts and then wish me all the best with keeping my body strong and injury free in the last 4 weeks! THANK YOU for your support.

A BIG SHAVE!

Yesterday, on a momentous Saturday morning (no I didn't do the training run that morning but did it on Friday morning - 12 kms across the bridge and around the opera house with Mentor Mel and Joan) it was time for Jane's hair to finally ALL be removed!

Alberto from Bar Cycle hosted the event and kicked off the donations with a hefty $200 to shave a little piece of Jane's head - and the donations kept coming in from our Walsh Bay residents including Mel from Delaqua hair and beauty, who not only donated money but the cape and clippers. It wasn't for the faint hearted but those brave enough to step up did so with ease. And I have to say the first 3 on the clippers (Albert, Mario and David) would definitely be included as let's say our "follicly challenged men". See the gallery page.

There were smiles and laughs all around and fortunately we had our secret weapon, Lina to help out and finish off the job properly giving Jane a smooth and even finish. Much advice was given about Jane's new look but probably the most important one was to wear sunscreen!! (You can probably guess who said that .... something about the bald men I hear.....)

All in all - it was a lot of fun for everyone, Jane looks absolutely beautiful - and we raised $1980 on the morning. We had a silent donation from Richard Shalhoub (not so silent now) who blew us away with his generosity. We also had an offer of an additional $1000 for Jeff to lose his hair  ..... I can't believe we failed! 

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE WONDERFUL WALSH BAY COMMUNITY WE LIVE IN and also to friends, colleagues and family who have supported us - in this program we have raised nearly $9,500 for young Australian researchers. BRAVO I say to you all - incredibly heroic as Jane's diagnosis with cancer last year has been a kicker and a shock to many.

PS :-) The offer has been upped to $1500 for Jeff's hair - any ideas of how we get him over the line????

Running for Jane's 150,000 hairs

Today Jane started losing her hair and instead of crying in her bathroom mirror - she has decided to dedicate every little hair on her head to raising $ for young Australian Cancer researchers - HOW AMAZING IS SHE?

In her words:

She is currently experiencing the ‘weird and wonderful’ effects of chemotherapy following her surgery for breast cancer.  Her hair has today started to fall out so she decided to use this momentous event for a great cause and here you are!

 "Did you know that the average person has 150 000 hairs on their head?  She wants to raise a minimum of 1c for every hair aiming to  raise $1500.00!"

I think I'm the one tearing up with absolute gratitude and admiration for my friend ... She is my inspiration every day when I train for the half marathon so THANK YOU for your donations ...

We wait to see her beautiful smooth head .... and her gorgeous smile!

Running in our capital city - it's Week 5 of training

Can you believe our first month of training is done and dusted!!

I had the great pleasure of running with our new Canberra pod on the weekend and it was just fantastic to see so many smiling faces completing their first practice race - a 5km park run. It was a gorgeous crisp, clear morning and as we ran along the lake we could smell that uniquely distinctive fragrance of the Australian eucaplypts. Such a joy to be running and in a dry heat - so different from training in the Sydney humidity - I barely raised a sweat (or so it seemed anyway!) While I came 2nd in my age group I didn't quite make the 5min / km time my coach wanted me to aim for - sorry Coach - but it was as fast as my lungs could go!

I did my easy Sunday run around Lake Burly Griffin and saw all of the hot air balloons taking off in the distance - what was David doing during all of this frivolity - well he had the race of his life doing Capital Punishment - a gruelling 55km mountain bike race. A practice race for him as he will compete in the Eiger Bike Challenge in Switzerland in August.

Last night David and I participated in the Cancer Council March Charge powered by Can Too - a session reminding us of the correlation between cancer and fitness - take a look at the cancer council website as there is fantastic information there. We did a fun workout session with the Can Too coaches and met some inspiring people.

This week marks our first 10km practice run that I'm looking forward to - lots of hills to get the legs, glutes and cardio stronger. It also marks my fundraising status at training tonight - I've raised my pledge after a successful Sydney film night raising $1600 and now I have just $200 more to raise to get to an overall fundraising target of $15,000 for Can Too since I started running a couple of years ago. BRING IT ON!!

Many of you know that this program I'm running for my fabulous friend Jane who was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Christmas and started chemo 2 weeks ago. She has a fantatstic attitude and is training 3 times a week with a PT - GO GIRL! Let's see how much we can raise for the Can Too Foundation to fund a young Australian researcher in the quest to cure cancer.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

I've declared myself a runner!

Last June, while in Paris running up the Champs Elysees I finally made a declaration I never thought possible - that I had become a runner! Naturally I was wearing my familiar Can Too orange and surprisingly, in the most stylish city in the world I felt quite at home!

So, come May 2015 I will be donning my orange and running my 5th half marathon in Sydney and this time with an aim to do it in under 2 hours. This of course means I will be training with Can Too, the health promotion organisation that engages and inspires individuals and the community to achieve personal health, wellbeing and altruistic goals. 

Can Too is now in it's 10th year of operation and has become a foundation (nfp organisation) which means the valuable funds I raise will go towards innovation in the prevention, care and control of cancer. In 2014, our Can Too community supported 19 early career researchers through Cure Cancer Australia and the Cancer Council.

Thank you for supporting me! It's a really big deal for me to be able to support an organisation that I volunteer for 1 day a week and feel extremely passionate about!