Joints In Motion - Afton and Janelle's Great Adventure: 2012

Monday, November 26, 2012

Mission Complete

Thanks to support from the community, our family, and our friends, Afton and Janelle have completed their mission!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Back in Canada, for a month already!!What a strange limbo I live in. After getting home, which I was yearning for, I felt out of place and distant. However, thanks to Afton and some other good chums, I am back to normal (for me at least). Sorry for the long absence, but it is never too late to get back on the horse. Onto training, Afton and I have made a pact to wake up EARLY and meet at 7am for a walk/run/move our bodies outdoors for some period of time. Today was day #1. Without her, you better believe the snooze button would have continually been pressed at my house.

It may be 7am, but this city sure looks awake and full of life! Loving the Calgary sun! (the star at the centre of our solar system, not the trashy newspaper)

We also met up with our ol' running crew for the first time together since January! As usual, we started at the Tech Shop. I may have been too ambitious by biking to our starting point. My calves were killing me on only kilometre 3! This afternoon I picked up my Joints in Motion gear for Iceland, and I sent my dear Afton a wardrobe coordination text just for your viewing pleasure.

Joints in Motion FOREVER!

Onto Fundraising. Afton is officially done, but continues to support the cause. Thanks to her and her gracious neighbours, I have another 100$ raised from bottle/cans donations. If you have any bottles, I will gratefully come pick them up, with all proceeds going to support The Arthritis Society. Shoot me an email: janelle_1_2000@hotmail.com, or call 403-797-4581.

Thank you for the support so far! I am getting so close to my goal! Click here to donate

And for one last amusing note, this is a photo of my family when I was about 12 years old. It was first included in the Awkward Family Pet Photos Book, and will now grace the pages of the Awkward Family Pet Photos Calendar for 2013! You can catch me on May 18/19th, a good weekend :)

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Come Together - Janelle

Back to one of my favorite places! Of course, it is the people that makes the place, so I will always love London thanks to my friends Kasia and Piotr :)

Now, I know Afton has started running again back in Canada, so I laced up this week and did a little running myself! I ran through the beautiful french city of Strasbourg, through farmers fields in Melbach Germany, and now around London. My friends live very close to the famous Abbey Road, so I ran to the zebra stripes where the Beatles iconic photograph for their album cover was taken.

I made sure to walk the same stride across the street. Of course there were loads of tourists taking photos, but I left the camera at home. The Beatles did it best anyways :)

In fundraising news, I have raised 76% of my goal, so any support is greatly appreciated!! When I get back, expect a bottle drive or two ;) Any donation over 20$ gets a tax receipt from the Arthritis Society.

I get back to Canada on Monday. I can confidently say I am ready to come home. I have seen a lot in Europe, and I am so happy with every experience and lesson I've had in the last 4 months.
Here is a quick look at my last three weeks!

Biking in Strasbourg with my mom

The best view in Paris

Versailles with my dad

A door in Germany, just for you Afton!


At a German soccer match with my friend Julia and Apple Wine!

Have you ever watched this youtube video? Well at almost 34 million hits, it is pretty popular. When Julia visited me in Canada, I showed her this clip. When I came to see her in Germany, we witnessed a double rainbow in PERSON! We were both so excited! Just like Yosemitebear :) Here is our video


Double rainbow, all the way across the sky! It is so bright! What does this mean???

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Home sweet home! - Afton

Hey everyone, long time no write!! Well let me tell you Janelle and I had a wicked time in Europe together, I wish I was still there with her, but at the same time I am sooooo glad to be at home! I missed free public washrooms and yummy brewed coffee. I'm not sure how Janelle feels on this but I can't wait to get back out running! Perhaps another half marathon is in the works?? Maybe a full?? The last couple kilometers of our race were gruelling though. I knew I was going to make it, it really all came down to listening to my body.... can I run the last three kilometers....? So with my better judgement I gave myself permission to stop listening to the garmins now very familiar chime, I said to Janelle, "You can keep running if you like, but I need to walk a bit." As the wonderful friend she is, she replys "Hey we are in this together, if your walking so am I!" Janelle and I walked about 1.5 or 2 kilmeters before Mike, the Joints in Motion trainer came across us and coaxed us into running that last 900 or so metres, and I am so glad he did! Thanks Mike!

So as for my running regimen, I definitley need to take a week or two off I'm hoping to be back at'er by the end of the month, and I hope to see all those familiar faces. As promised in Janelles last blog post here are some race photos for your enjoyment! Sorry I expected to get more on here then two, I will try again another day, thanks everyone!!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Long time, no blog! - Janelle

What a great time we had! Yes, it was almost two weeks ago now, but this is my first chance to get on the computer and spend some time putting up photos for you all to enjoy!!

First of all; Afton and I finished the Hervis Half Marathon in 2 hours and 21 minutes! 21km in 2:21...a little bit symbolic perhaps? After a bathroom break, and photo breaks, combined with the cold wind and a few sprinkles, we are both very happy with our time! Afton has all the race photos, so we'll have to wait for her to find a computer so she can share our struggles with you.

Enjoy these snapshots of our time after the race! We spent a day together in Prague, then took a very long train day to get to Krakow, Poland. Here are the highlights: