Let it rain! - Afton

So it was a bit of a soggy day out today. I have to admit I wasn't exactly looking forward to running in the rain but once I got out there I realized it was a much needed change. Comparing it to the 30 degree weather we have been enduring, it seemed a little bit easier to run in. Janelle is missing this week of running with the group due to work, which I can understand but she better be prepping for next week. Rumour has it we are going onto 5 and 1's, EEEKKKK! I decided I was going to run without using my inhaler today to see if I noticed any difference, I NOTICED alright! Within about the third set of 5 and 2's I took my inhaler and felt WAY better for the rest of the run. I ran a whole 6.3 kms in 48 minutes and 30 seconds. The scenery was great as per usual, ran past some beautiful houses along some great tree lined streets. Well that’s all for now, till Thursday, hope you stay dry where ever you are.

Please help us reach our goal to raise money for The Arthritis Society

Janelle Lane

Afton Hayduk

Late post - Janelle

Oh shame on me! Posting the next day....tisk tisk! In my defence I had a long night after running, but first a bit about our GREAT run! WOOHOO!! over 6.2 km, that's not counting all the times we had to check back. That's right, Afton and I were NOT last! In fact, we kept a pretty good pace at the front of the pack. It is crazy to think that just over a month ago we were barely running 5km, and we were usually huffy and puffing the whole way. With just over 200 days left until Prague, I think we will get a pretty sweet time for our half marathon. Last night we ran through the cemetery off Macleod and got a shot by Colonel Macleod's gravestone. Some of those graves are over 100 years old, a slice of Calgary's history.

Afton and I are starting to organize some fundraising events. I purchased over $1,600 worth of chocolates to sell, so if you are interested please let me know! shoot me off an email at janelle_1_2000@hotmail.com. As for my busy night, Sara was nice enough to give me her tickets to Globalfest, however once my cousin got to town and we got down to 17th it was about 10pm. I thought this would be no problem since both the tickets and the website said the fireworks event was going on until 11:30pm. NOT SO! We saw the fireworks in the car and then watched the stampede of people leaving the grounds. Unfortunately we caught the tail end thanks to faulty advertising.

To make up for missing Globalfest, I took my little cousin Brittany (who drive all the way from Red Deer just to see me) to Hot Yoga. Afterwards, I figured we deserved a treat, so we hit up Crave cupcakes in Kensington. If you have never been, it is a must do in Calgary. The gourmet cupcakes are to die for, and after an hour and a half of hot yoga, I figured I could get away with it.

Help us help those with Arthritis. Please donate what you can. Remember any donations over $20 gets an official tax receipt.

Janelle Lane

Afton Hayduk

Any drop offs for the morgue? -Afton

 Wow was it ever a hot day to be running! John totally took it easy on the group tonight, so no hills and there was a definite focus on finding shade; I will definitely not complain about that. We ran through the residential area all the way from tri-it fitness down past the morgue and back, running on the pathway next to the river.

So this was the first attempt at running 5 and 2's, I don't wanna jinx it or anything but I can tell you it felt like my legs would give out before my lungs. I'm pretty sure that I had a lot left in me, which is an awesome sign. Tibor entertained me with a story this evening about running a marathon by accident. I guess it was supposed to be a relay but he ended up on the wrong path, in turn he ran a full marathon and didn't even get a chance to train properly! All I can say is I don't want that to happen to me, so I will be triple checking the map for the right path on my half marathon.

Can't wait for Thursday to see how Janelle fairs with the extra minute tacked on to every interval I'm sure she will do great, she always does. I sure did miss her checking up on me and chatting away like usual. You better get your 6 km in tomorrow morning to keep up!

Help us reach our goal to raise money and awareness for Arthritis

Afton Hayduk

Janelle Lane 

Coliseum - Janelle

On top of training for the half marathon in Prague, I am also training for a 6 day, 5 night trek in Iceland next summer. My friend Cindy and I tackled Coliseum Mtn. by Nordegg Alberta on Saturday. It's a 13 km round trip, and boy did we feel the heat. Here are the highlights:

 Chipper to start our hike

 Yoga on the mountain

 We made it to the top!

 Our epic fail at trying jumping pictures

Sergeant Pepper anyone?

Have a look at my fundraising page to find out more details about Joints in Motion

Janelle Lane

Afton Hayduk

It's a dogs life - Janelle

It seems everyone and their dog were out tonight. From a big white poodle to a little yorkie, seeing everyone with their pets sure made me miss my Patches. It'll be a year September 2nd since he left us. I sure do miss that little guy! John filled us in on his run with Sadie, his westie. Sadie rides in the baby carriage behind the bike, now that's one spoiled dog. I sure wish I had a little furry partner to run around town with, I guess Afton will have to do.

Salt and Pepper - how clever!

 "Old dogs can be cloudy-eyed and grouchy, gray of muzzle, graceless of gait, eccentric of habit, hard of hearing, wheezy, lazy, and lumpy. But to anyone who has ever loved an old dog, these things are of little consequence. Old dogs are sweetly vulnerable. They show exorbitant gratitude and limitless trust. They are funny in new and unexpected ways. But above all, they seem at peace." (Old Dogs are the best dogs, by Gene Weingarten)

We ran by the old train station and through stampede park with our running mates Sharon and Scott. We ran 5.5km in 42 minutes, pretty consistent. Next week, the 5 and 2's! ahhhh!!
We finished just in time before the storm hit Calgary.

As always, have a looksy at our fundraising pages. Afton got a few more donations, Congrats!

Afton Hayduk

Janelle Lane

Ready for More - Afton

Tonight was our 3rd time on 4 and 2's. Despite the twing in my hip and a stuffed up chest, I felt surprisingly Good! I haven't been able to kick this bit of a cough and it has moved to my chest, and of course John made us run up a hill. The best part about running up hills is; what goes up, must come down! I loved the run downhill, I felt like a superstar; ahead of the pack. We met Tanya. She hasn't run for about 8 months, so she fit in perfectly with our beginner schedule. Tibor also joined our running group, he gave Janelle some helpful hints on running downhill; take smaller strides and lean back. That poor girl is scared of falling on her face downhill because she is so tall. All together, we completed whopping 5.5km in 42 minutes, keeps on getting better. I confided in Janelle that I think I am ready for 5 and 2's, but lets not tell John that yet ;)

Visit our Joints in Motion Fundraising pages to donate to The Arthritis Society:

Afton Hayduk

Janelle Lane

Starving student and stairs - Janelle

Crash BOOM Pow 

Mother Nature had a fit in Calgary today; maybe karma for that spider I smushed on Tuesday? At 530pm, I peered through the curtains and thought to myself "yup, not going running tonight, no way no how!" Despite my excitement for a night home alone watching Law and Order SVU reruns, I imagined the voice of John our trainer echoing in my head..."rain or shine, we run run run." Afton affirmed the choice when she skipped out of work in her new running gear. "Janelley, what if it rains in Prague??" We got to the Tech Shop in Mission right on time and we see John in his nice work shirt and trousers. Until the two of us girls waltzed in, poor John thought he had a night off! I guess the rain kept most of our buddies away. According to John, our favourite running pal Sara was having a 'good hair day' so she couldn't make it...Sara...RAIN OR SHINE! Tonight we hit a set of stairs, and as we huffed and puffed up the hill, the view that greeted us was well worth the effort.

 Afton on top of the world 

We ran just over 5km with our smallest group to date; the two of us, good ol' reliable Scott and our personal traffic controller John. All three had to listen to me complain about having only $1.21 in my bank account. As a self-proclaimed starving student, I have never actually 'starved.' I have, however, eaten questionable meals when I start running low on funds. After training, Afton, the great friend that she is, opened her fridge to me and look at all the goodies I got!

I am most excited about the yop, which will be gone by the time I post this blog.

Check out our Joints In Motion fundraising pages!

Afton Hayduk

Janelle Lane

A special thanks goes out to Hope Hayduk, who has been following the blog faithfully. We can feel your support pushing us up the hills.

A boogie of a day - Afton

It was a scorcher today! Despite the heat and my sore throat, we managed to complete 6.5km in just 47 minutes. Woot Woot! It was our first time running 4 minutes and walking 2 minutes. It was a challenging interval increase, but we didn't give up. Joints in Motion Coordinator Elisha Jackson came out as well. We ran from Tri-it Sports at Memorial and Crowchild to Edworthy Park Calgary. There were lots of people out; young and old, 4-legged and furry, speed walking and 'casual walking.' John said hello to everyone like usual, and Sara had her elbows swinging all night. We met Shawna for the first time, who is training for a triathlon. We also ran with Scott again who gave me some pointers on my asthma; including to take my inhaler 15 minutes before we run. I'm gonna give it a shot Thursday. After our successful run, Janelle and I drove home, but made a mutual detour to Boogie's Burgers. Janelle had NEVER tried one, so it was a must! Besides, my supper was frozen!

Boogie's Burgers on Edmonton Trail and 8th Ave NE

Janelle is obsessed with Rainbows

Check out our personal fundraising pages!

Afton Hayduk

Janelle Lane

A Day Apart - Janelle

Vacations can get in the way of a training schedule, and with the gorgeous summer we've been having, I was tempted away from calgary to visit family in BC. Afton went running like usual on thursday with the crew, making August 4th the first day we've been training apart. I'm quite jealous actually, she says "John took us on a new route and we went through readers garden which was beautiful. Then we went through 2 cemeteries." Then she told me the scary part... "Oh, and I think John is putting us on 4 and 2s next week." 4/2s!!! I'm not ready, I thought to myself. At this point it is thursday night and I just finished supper in Whistler. I knew my hotel had a gym, so I decided to do my usual 40 minute run, and I tried running 4 and walking 2. To my surprise it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, however running on a treadmill was lonely, despite the fact I had the TV blaring. The only company I had was a gaggle of girls at the gym window knocking and pointing at me. I smiled and waved to them and they scurried back to the pool. While alone with my thought, I tried to think of all the things I did differently on this vacation than prior ones;

1. Eat like you're not on vacation: even though it was tempting to gorge myself on treats because I 'deserved' it, my sister actually kept me on a healthy track
2. Fit the training in, no matter what: having Afton at home doing her part of the work motivated me to keep up the pace with her and take a short 40 minutes away from visiting and relaxing to run.
3. Have fun: now this sounds like a given, but my family hasn't been on a trip together since I was 12. Needless to say I am nowhere near 12 today, and my Dad vowed to never take us again because of the fighting and arguing. This trip, I tried to have fun, like John says "Having fun is the most important part of a race."

To prove I kept to my training, here's a pic of me at the Hotel gym

Here is the Family at the Olympic rings in Whistler, BC.

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 Joints in Motion
Afton Hayduk
Janelle Lane

Tuesday run along the river - Janelle

Training Day 3 - We met up with John's running group for the first time at Tri It Ltd. along Memorial Drive in Calgary. There were loads of runners, bikers, and the weirdest looking speed walkers swaying their hips and punching the air forcefully. We stuck with our 3/2 system, which seems to be working so far. I rolled my ankle a bit last night in the garage, so I felt some shooting pain in my left foot. Afton is still feeling really tight in her calves. She even went and got it massaged this weekend, but hopefully more training and ice will make it better. I made sure to ice my left ankle right after the run. We did about 5 km in 40 minutes, going on Afton's asthma scale. I am happy to report that even though she felt tightness in her lungs, she did not quit early. Sara and Dan joined us on our run, while good ol' John went ahead with the 10/1er's. One day we will make it to the 10/1 (10 minutes running, one minute walking).

Here is a map of the area we ran today. It's a gorgeous area right along the bow river, and there is an icecream shop near Shaganappi trail on the pathway. Thankfully we 'forgot' to bring money.