Digital Champions

VANCOUVER February 26th 2015. Digital Champion Alison Page is a Vancouver based stylist who specializes in food and lifestyle photography. Her hobbies include eating amazing food and drinking local craft beer, so keeping active is very important! Spending so many hours behind the lens, running is Alison’s quiet time where she can disconnect, refresh and reboot. Alison started running a few years ago and has found it to be a great way to meet and connect with people! You can connect with Alison on Twitter and Instagram.

Running Therapy. By Alison Page.  

Running used to be a chore to me.  I used to associate it with obligation or guilt.  Growing up, it was what I had to do for training in between basketball games, when I was in Graduate School it was the exercise I knew I should be making the effort for because it was the form of exercise I convinced myself I had time for in between my studies… But I consciously avoided running and replaced it with more work…  I never thought running would be one of the key factors in helping me through one of the most emotionally challenging times in my life.

Personal Therapy – I’ve been an anxious person for as long as I can remember, very tough on myself, competitive, afraid of failure and making mistakes… I wouldn’t try something new unless I knew I would succeed at it.  A stressful time at Graduate School lead to my decision to take a break from my schooling in Sciences, and this confusing break was soon followed by the very painful end of the significant relationship in my life.  This left me in a very challenging emotional headspace a few years ago.

I found myself working at an interim job that didn’t fulfill me creatively and I knew wouldn’t lead to a career that I would be passionate about.  I felt like I was hitting quite the bump in the road. What I didn’t know, is this job would surround me with the kindness and patience I needed during this time in my life and introduce me to the person who would inspire me to run.

I was fortunate to meet some amazing women at this office where I worked, one of whom was the key factor in supporting and fostering my foray into running.  Wendy and I met at work during my lowest and most vulnerable emotional state.  She was so kind and patient, she could see that I wanted to get out and do something for myself that I’d been avoiding, but she could also sense that I was anxious and self-conscious about how out of shape I felt.  It took her offering to run with me 6 times (and me self-sabotaging by “forgetting my gear”) before she coaxed me out on a short and slow 2K run one rainy day after work.

Wendy’s running experience is impressive.  She has run Full Marathons and countless Half Marathons all over North America, and the idea of running with her had been intimidating.  What I would learn about Wendy, was that her amazing running record was matched by her equally amazing kindness, patience and support.  She got me out running and every week, we added a few more kilometres and a few more ounces to my self-confidence!  Two years ago the idea of a 10K run seemed impossible and made me incredibly anxious, and the idea of running a half marathon seemed absurd.  My goal for next year is a Full Marathon and the only thing that scares me about it is how my knees will feel after I complete it.

Group Therapy – My running group that I met through my former job pushes me to meet my running goals and is a great network to learn about health and nutrition.   I was fortunate to find a group to run with at work, but in Vancouver, there are so many great groups to run with if you are in need of support!  Tight Club, East Vancouver Run Crew, The Running Room (to name only a few)!

Running is the same as most challenges in our lives.  It’s about setting small personal goals, no matter how small they seem at the time, and building on them. My goal last year was one Half-Marathon and I completed two.  This year I’m hoping to complete 3 Half-Marathons and for 2016, a Full Marathon.  The most common thing I hear from people when I talk about my running is “Oh, I could never do that “,  which is exactly how I used to think.  As much as we are training our bodies, we also are training our minds to accomplish something we didn’t believe was possible.  I’ve found this incredibly helpful when thinking about my running goals, as well as those goals that I have for my career and for my personal life.   Running has become my therapy, my peace and quiet, my time I take for myself, my time to clear my head.  Instead of scheduling a run around my work, I often schedule my work around my run.

I know it sounds cliché and cheesy (people who know me, know how much I love cheese), but I say it often and it really is true:

“If I can do it you, so can you!”

VANCOUVER February 11th 2015. Digital Champion Elinor Warkentin has been running for 10 years, taking up the sport at 44 after facing several health issues. After crossing her first finish line, she was hooked! Goal oriented and a lover of travel, Elinor combined her passions and has run 41 races in Canada and around the world, including her first marathon in Iceland to celebrate turning 50.

Running and Travelling. By Elinor Warkentin.

Although I am often more competitive than is probably good for me, there are times when I run for fun and not for the clock, like when I’m traveling.

I’ve run for fun in Belgium, Germany, New York, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, England, Scotland, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris. As a member and Trustee of Women Welcome Women, a women’s travel friendship group, I’ve had the pleasure of being hosted in homes and running in neighbourhoods I wouldn’t otherwise have seen.

Memorable runs with 5W include through West Wycombe, UK, a village seemingly frozen in time, and rural roads in Belgium. On one trip where time and money was limited, my running became a budget conscious way to see much of Copenhagen. A 1.5 hour run through the streets of an incredible city, running through the ‘red light’ district (took me a while to figure that one out!), through parks older than Canada, past classic port-side cobblestone streets (tricky), and ending outside my B&B where I discovered the almost only affordable beer in Denmark, at a corner store. Cold Danish beer after a long run is the best!

I’ve also run in international races. My first and only marathon was in flat but chilly Reykjavik. Wow! In Glasgow I ran my first women’s only race, alongside about 12,000 women. The energy was different, friendly, chatty, more reflective with ‘in memory’ t-shirts worn by the majority of women. (I did not at all protest the bands of topless kilted Scotsmen along the route supporting us.) In Sacramento, I discovered a race the day after my nephew’s wedding, across the street from the wedding venue. Fortuitous timing. And one of the few places I scored for top three in my age category (50-59). Yes, the competitive Elinor wore a Cheshire grin after that one.

What’s been my most fun race ever? So glad you asked. La Champenoise Half, May 2013. Those French are crazy! Crazy fun! Group costumes, champagne stops along the way, hills hills hills, fun Flemish flirts dressed as potato heads & fries, a champagne glass with 2 fills (unless of course your friends don’t want their refill in which case you get umpteen!) instead of a medal, and dancing after the finish line. All that bubbly and only about 10 minutes slower than the hilly, sober April Fools Half six weeks earlier.

This May I’ll be attending 5W’s Annual Trustee meeting in Strasbourg. The running Gods are on my side. There’s a race the day after. I’m entering the 5k!

Running can take you many places. I’ve had injuries and setbacks over the years. It hasn’t stopped me, but I’ve learned to adapt to the times, sometimes running for fun, sometimes for the medal, sometimes with friends, and sometimes to see the world! How about you? Where is your running taking you? Need a running travel guide? I know where you can find one: www.TravelWithElinor.ca

Connect with Elinor on Twitter.