Jane McDonald

We did it!!!

Thank you to everyone for your support, a Half Marathon DONE!! What a great day it was - despite the 4am wake up call. Perfect cloudy day, excellent organisation and loads of other CanToo-ers to cheer each other along the way.

The Inner West pod has been a wonderfully supportive, fun group of people to run with. I love them!! We celebrated later in the afternoon at a pub in Balmain, ate about a thousand slices of pizzas and maybe had a lot of champagne.

Big thanks again to everyone for donating to this organisation, CanToo. This is the first time I have been involved in their programme, and I really admire their organisation, vision and purpose.

Crossing the Finish Line without my Father

Tonight is our CanToo Half Marathon training Graduation celebration. A chance for our fabulous Inner West "pod" of running buddies to reflect on our achievements, challenges, humour and general brilliance. I am not joining the celebration tonight, as I'm at home, reflecting on the same topics with my Father in mind. He passed away peacefully this morning.

A couple of weeks after I started this training programme, my father was hospitalised.

While I was getting stronger and fitter each week, he became weaker and more vulnerable.

As I ran to raise funds for cancer research, we turned to published cancer research for guidance and treatment options. I sought medical help to fix my knee; he sought help for palliation.

Each week that went by, our Saturday runs became longer, and hillier, and we sucked in our breath to face those hills. Each week in hospital, his breathing was worse. His challenges were greater.

During those runs, our friendships grew, our support and trust in each other kept getting stronger. His world was shrinking. We clung to photos from the past to kindle memories of old friends and family.

As the Half Marathon is only four days away, I find myself with greatly increased self confidence, fitness, focus and determination to cross that finish line. My Father beat me to it. His life may have ended with a PB of 80 years, but his memory will guide me through many more challenges and triumphs ahead.

Rest in Peace Tom Haldane Stewart.

Half way there

I think we just passed the half way point in our training plan. The Saturday morning long runs are getting really long now. Last week was 16km. This week will be 18km. EIGHTEEN!!!! If anyone tells you it doesn't hurt, then they are missing a part of their pain recognition physiology. It bloody hurts and really makes you push yourself hard.

Our group has had a few injuries, a few illnesses and some awful personal issues to deal with over the last few weeks. Having a structured group (coach, mentor, leader and the CanToo group) has really helped us support each other and make this goal of fundraising and running the Half Marathon even more meaningful.

Apart from considering a hip and hamstring transplant, my training is going OK. The best bit is choosing songs for my playlist. And playing with the old Garmin watch to obsessively track distance and "speed". Oh and I bought some fancy new socks. And of course I am an expert in analysing the Olympic runners strutting their stuff in Rio. Actually when I see the pace they can run a marathon, it is mind boggling.

Thank you to everyone for your generous donations, it really is very much appreciated.

The Windy City

How windy and hilly can this city be? Very. Our longest Saturday training run so far was 14km of awfulness. Who knew the Inner West had so many hills? Victoria Road and the Anzac Bridge will never look the same again, unless from inside my airconditioned luxury hybrid vehicle. Plodding into a gusty headwind we made our way to the Harbour Bridge, with a few surprise staircases thrown in for good measure. I remembered to take an energy gel with me. I remembered how disgusting they are. But this blog isn't all negative. The breakfast afterwards was great. And the Swans won later that afternoon. I just couldn't walk down the stairs from my seat to get a celebratory meat pie.

This week I have appreciated the physical and mental health benefits of getting back into running. I won't give up. Please donate to this fabulous organisation CanToo which supports cancer researchers and also encourages people in the community (like me) to get back into a positive healthy fitness routine.

Baby it's cold outside

How to get back into running after a 5 year taper? Easy. Just sign up for a half marathon, buy some new shoes and set a fundraising target.

Easy. But it's COLD in Sydney right now. And every muscle hurts.

If I can convince a few people to donate their English pounds or Euros, that would be a good start!

I'm training with Can Too for Blackmores Sydney Running Festival Half Marathon!

I am training for an event with Can Too, a health promotion organisation that engages and inspires individuals and the community to achieve personal health, wellbeing and altruistic goals. 
 
Beginners and experienced athletes alike are given professional coaching as part of a team to run or swim in endurance events- including 10km, half-marathon and marathon runs; as well as ocean swims and triathlons.
 
In return, I am raising valuable funds that go towards innovation in the prevention, care and control of cancer. In 2015, Can Too community is funding 14 early career researchers through Cure Cancer Australia.

Thank you for supporting me!
 
‘It’s so much fun and I can’t believe I’m going to achieve this goal that I never thought possible. A great program and team support is making it possible. You Can Too!’