Friday, November 29, 2013

I can't believe I actually ran 10k!

HAPPY FABULOUS FRIDAY! 

It's time for another ELM story to inspire you to reach for your health and fitness goals!





"Well  I completed the 10k in 1:03. Great day—sunny and warm with a bit of a breeze at the end (which felt great). Awesome feeling---I couldn’t believe I actually was able to accomplish 10k! I kept hearing your voice in my head especially at the beginning as the adrenaline kicked in and runners kept going past me---start easy and slow!  It worked---I ignored everyone else and just ran for me at my pace.



I do want to thank your leaders for your positive energy and inspiration each week---it was fun! You are all awesome! "

-L

Friday, November 22, 2013

Personal training works for me!


HAPPY FABULOUS FRIDAY!

Over the coming weeks, I would like to share some REAL stories about REAL people who are on their own personal health journey with the support of ELM.  Sometimes all we need to make the change we desire is to SEE ourselves in someone else who has gone before us and I hope that you find inspiration from these great stories!  If you have a story to share about your health journey with ELM then please send it my way so that you can help someone just like you reach their own dreams and goals:)



Say 'Hello' to Shelley Gartside!

"Exercise and fitness doesn’t come naturally to me. At heart I’m more of a creative person that likes to sit and do craft type things. However, eventually I got to the age where everything was starting to hurt. I knew from previous experience with exercise I actually felt better if I exercised more, so I called a personal trainer. I was lucky enough to meet Sarah Seads and ELM when I made this decision, and that call has improved my life so much I wanted to tell people about it.

Most people go to a mechanic to get their car fixed, a dentist to have their teeth done, and a doctor for health problems. Making a commitment to fitness can be hard thing to do on your own. The initial enthusiasm generally wanes within a couple weeks, and then you slowly slip back into your old habits. I know this happened to me…a number of times! However, when you have a personal trainer, it’s not just you that commits to your health. A Personal Trainer commits to your health too!

At first when I started working out with Sarah, I moaned and groaned on the days I met with her because I really didn’t want to be working out. And even though I had paid for the sessions, I would happily have cancelled them, but Sarah always turned up, happy and upbeat, and full of encouragement. Her attitude changed my attitude, and I would leave each session feeling a little better than the last session.

This past summer, in the only week it rained, down poured actually, we spent four days together biking as part of my Personal Fitness Camp. The first day was a LOT of fun. The weather was nice, and we went to Seal Bay Park and I learned some mountain biking skills. I was a little nervous about that, but with Sarah’s encouragement and expertise I was able to maneuver the trails safely. The next day we set to meet up a Comox Lake Dam. That day it was raining so HARD, it was coming down in sheets. I would happily have gone home, but when Sarah commits to something, you don’t give up. So we spent the day traveling thru water on the trails and got soaked! It was fun though, and afterward I felt quite a sense of accomplishment for having completed that ride in that kind of weather. For the next two days of the “Bike Camp”, it continued to rain. Not as hard as the day we were at the Dam, but when you are on a bike in the rain, it feels like it’s raining REALLY hard! Fortunately it was fairly warm, so it wasn’t too bad.

Those four days would have been a lot tougher if I didn’t have Sarah’s sense of purpose to keep me going. That’s the thing about working with Sarah….You can just let her expertise, encouragement, and positive disposition lead you while you (as she says) “Get outside” and have fun!

-Shelley

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

I don't want to make dinner.


Sound familiar??  I'll bet it does!

Even those who truely feel the 'joy of cooking' will experience a lack of desire to make dinner each and every night.  Who really wants to come up with creative/healthy/delicious meal ideas 365 days a year?  Who dreams of standing in the kitchen for 60+ minutes cooking dinner after a long, busy day?

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Sports Day Canada: Take the Comox Valley 30 Minute Challenge!

It only takes 30 minutes a day to feel like a million….

This challenge is one of many Sports Day in Canada events taking place across the country. What does that mean to our community?
  • Last week a team from CBC came to see just how active our community was. They filmed kayaking, paddleboarding, mountain biking, aquasize, yoga and other activities around the community. This will be aired on Sat. Nov. 9 between 1:30-2 p.m. There is a possibility CBC might return to film more activities around our Sports Day in Canada event.
  • Our community was chosen as 1 of 4 communities across the country to be featured on CBC national TV, which includes a $2500 grant from Participaction.
  • We will be receiving a Sports Day in Canada tool kit to promote our Nov.27 Active Comox Valley 30 min. Challenge event. This will include hanging banners, posters, buttons and 2 adult shirts.
  • The 4 winning communities are:
    • Comox Valley’s 30 Minute Challenge,
    • Yellowknife’s Tour De Yellowknife X country ski club,
    • Bridgewater Nova Scotia Pickle Ball tournament
    • Montreal’s Ligue de ballon-chasseur- Dodge Ball Tournament .
  • Participating in Sports Day in Canada makes us eligible to enter our community in a Participaction BC Sportiest Community in BC Contest: the winning community will receive $1000 in Sports equipment. Active Comox Valley will apply for this after the challenge showing photo and/or video coverage of our community in action, demonstrating that we are the sportiest community.

What does the community need to do to participate in the Active Comox Valley 30 Minute Challenge:
  • Commit to taking part in 30 minutes of activity on Wed. Nov. 27th and log your commitment at www.activecomoxvalley.ca/challenge to include your minutes in our community wide challenge to reach a collective one million minutes of activity in a single day.
  • We’d love to hear about your group activities because your idea might motivate others in the community to increase their groups activity. Email info@activecomoxvalley.ca to have your group activity included in a list of community wide activities taking place on Wed. Nov.27th that will be posted on the Active Comox Valley Challenge website, and could be included in print advertising. Providing us with your groups information will allow us to possibly partner with your activity to provide a prize or incentive to keep your group active.
  • Take photos of your group activity and submit them to info@activecomoxvalley.ca and have a chance to win a portion of the sports equipment that our community will receive if we are chosen as the sportiest community in BC.

Why is Active Comox Valley initiating this challenge?
  • Active Comox Valley came up with this 30 minute challenge as a way of motivating the community to stay active during the winter months.
  • The Active Comox Valley Steering Committee is made up of health and recreation professionals who are passionate about community engagement. When you look around and see what amazing facilities we have in our community for year round recreation it is obvious that there is a collective vision towards a fit, active community. We want to highlight the resources available as well as encouraging the community to make being active a daily priority.

What is Sports Day in Canada?
  • Sports Day in Canada takes place across the country on Nov. 30th. Communities across the country that host events in the week prior to and including Nov. 30 were able to apply to be a part of the Sports Day in Canada promotion. More info on CBC Broadcasting of Sports Day in Canada: http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/broadcast/
  • This national celebration of sport, from grassroots to high-performance, is an opportunity for all Canadians to celebrate the power of sport, build community and national spirit and facilitate healthy, active living.
  • RBC Sports Day in Canada is presented by ParticipACTION, CBC and True Sport, and will be held this year on Saturday, November 30 in communities from coast to coast to coast who will be hosting events in the week leading up to, and including, November 30. More info at: http://sportsday.cbc.ca/about

For more information, contact:

Jennifer Cox
Active Comox Valley Coordinator
Tel: (250) 941-1470
info@activecomoxvalley.ca

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Perseverance Trail Run 2013 Race Report!


Image courtesy of Lorenz Jiminez

This years Perseverance Trail Run on October 27th was a huge success with 350 racers, 70 volunteers, sponsors and supporters coming together to raise funds for the Cumberland Community Forest Society. In it's 9th year, the Perseverance Trail Run raised a record donation of $9000 for the CCFS! The CCFS is a local society working toward purchasing and protecting additional forest lands in the Cumberland area for recreation now and into the future.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Chocolate Peanut Butter Power Balls

Happy Monday!  

Who wants a 'treat' to start their week?  I am more than happy to give you the recipe for these amazing chocolately power balls because I know that you will absolutely LOVE them.  

BUT...there is one 'trick'...you need to do something in return for me...