City to Bay HeartKids SA Fundraisers

Below is some of the other people that are also raising money for HeartKids SA through the City to Bay funrun. Unfortunately as detailed below, it would appear the everydayheros site was not set up correctly initially so people that are raising money through their own pages are not showing on the HeartKids SA thermometer. Be assured however that HeartKids SA are receiving the money and an amazing amount has already been raised.

Here's the text from the HeartKids every day hero's page
www.everydayhero.com.au/heartkids_sa

"Thank you to the wonderful people who have set up their independent Hero Pages to raise funds for HeartKids. Due to an initial setup error their efforts are not recorded on the meter to the right but we will keep you updated with a tally on the left! As of Tuesday 19th August HeartKids has received $7728 already from generous donors in support of our City-Bay efforts. All funds raised will be going towards boosting Support Services for our HeartKids SA community. We thank the 'big kids' who donate from their heart to support HeartKids SA. Check out some of our links:
www.everydayhero.com.au/Lucy_Cornes
www.everydayhero.com.au/Lisa_Guy
www.everydayhero.com.au/Braveheartlewis
www.everydayhero.com.au/Cathie_Turner
www.everydayhero.com.au/Kathryn_Pearson
www.everydayhero.com.au/Tim_ONeill
www.everydayhero.com.au/Lee_Morgan
www.everydayhero.com.au/rachaelfrackowski "

Training Continues at All Costs

The City to Bay gets closer so training cannot stop. An almost lazy 9.5 km per hour run for 35 minutes last night but that's what the training manual said ... "35 minute 'easy' run". I am hoping to get a corporate on board for the run so hopefully we see the fundraising thermometer climb over the next few weeks.

Because I don't think the Adelaide climate is best for building up for this momentous run, I have decided to condition myself interstate for two days. Well actually I need to travel for work purposes but hey .. training cannot stop. Fortunately I know the hotel has a treadmill so it will get some work.

Update on Connor's upcoming surgery: What surgery I say! It's a few months off, we don't have a date as yet so what's the point on dwelling on it. Why not focus on taking him on that trip that he wants to do ... sounds better to me.

City to Bay Training Continues

The City to Bay gets closer (September 21) and a bit has happened this week.

We had a one hour meeting with our cardiologist to discuss all the aspects surrounding the decision to recommend the third attempt to reconstruct Connor's Mitral valve ie attempt to make long term gains with obvious risks associated however. This is a complex case and as opposed to the other two surgeries where really we had little choice, ie he either had the surgery or didn't survive at birth and at two years was not in good shape either, this time we need to be sure we have all the facts and that we are comfortable that the time is also right. The time is really never right from the perspective of putting your child through such a surgery.

The real difficulty is that Connor is looking so well and healthy and that makes it all the harder.

Anyway, in terms of training for the run, I did about three runs this week. A 30 minute run at an easy pace 10 kms per hour, some interval training with 12 x 200m runs and race pace with 60 seconds break in between, then I ran the 7.75 km lunch time run on Friday that I have done three weeks in a row now. I am really happy to date as the first week I ran about 39:30, the second week 38:30 and this week 37:50. Also did a corporate run on Thursday which was 4kms in a sedentary 21:24. So at this stage if I can continue the training without the knee (either one that is) giving in, I am looking like half a chance to beat the time of 20 odd years previous of 57:30. I am taking a couple of days off as the knee that hasn't been reconstructed was getting a bit sore toward the end of the week.

Anyway, onward and upward. Bring on 21 September ... well .. after a few more weeks of preparation that is. If the energy from the inspiration I have at the moment thinking about what Connor has already and is going to have to go through could be harnessed, I could run our house without power. When the knee is a bit sore or the lungs running a bit short of air, legs a bit heavy ... I just get that mental image and along comes a new burst of energy.

As previously posted, I am running as part of the HeartKids of SA team ...

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/tim_oneill

Edit: Just noticed a visitor coming from Japan. Keisuke if that was/is you, can you please send your latest email address (email address at side of blog) as no one seems to have it.

Swapace.com Offer Assistance

Thanks goes to SwapAce.com who once again have come to the party and offered assistance in the form of giving more prominent advertising for the Sir Donald Bradman A.C. Commemerative Release for finalising the special zipper up trade challenge.

See the item on Swapace.com here ....

Thanks to the folk at Swapace who have made this happen (AB and JR) and let's hope we find the right person to come across the item now.

I have just located an actual deed for the item which indicates it was purchased for and worth at that point $995. It is now being sold, as detailed on the Swapace listing, for just under $1500 with a minimal number of the limited release left.

Shell Shocked Whilst Donations Come In

The response to the City to Bay run has been great with $115 raised so far. Thank you to all that has provided the supportive comments and of course the actual gold.

Things took a major turn this week and as a result my inspiration and energy that will be injected prior to and during the actual run has increased ten fold.

Tarnya took a phone call from Connor's cardiologist who informed her that Connor's surgeon in Melbourne would like to have a third attempt at reconstructing his mitral valve with open heart surgery in December or January. I was in a meeting when my phone rang and I couldn't take Tarn's call. When I later listened to her message to call when I had finished our meeting, I knew something was up ... just not that it was going to be this significant.

Again thanks to all for your support as we start preparing for the surgery which will approach very quickly despite being a number of months away. Quite ironic that I was conducting a challenge to assist SA families and currently trying to finalise that challenge with the Sir Don currently advertised on Swapace.com (see post above in relation to support from Swapace).

Training this week has been a bit slack and flat but will bounce back. 25 x 100m at race pace with 30 second intervals completed last night and will look to push at 8kms tomorrow although slightly below race pace (should be 1x 6km run at race pace this week and next before increasing to 7km) .. hmm .. little way to go yet.

City to Bay

Yesterday I mentioned I have registered for the City to Bay 12 km fun run .. see previous post here.

I am now registered under the Everyday Hero Fundraising site in the HeartKids SA team. Now I know times are tough and interest rates are climbing killing us with our mortgages and petrol prices are (astra)nomical (get it? ... Holden Astra for Australians) .. but if you have a spare dollar please consider donating on the site below where you will find my name ... Tim ONeill if you have forgotten whose blog you are reading and can't read the sidebar under the photo (which wouldn't give me much confidence you could navigate to the page below and successfully make a donation but you never know).

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/Tim_ONeill

For those of you who know Connor's history and as one specialist has said "defying the odds", you will know that this is an extremely worthy cause. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't.

More Angle Grinding - Watch Out Eyes

Today saw the continuation of paving after laying the base yesterday and screeding it off this morning. Just a small area so that we can get to the clothes line without walking in the dirt ... did I say we ... whoops .. I mean Tarnya. Kidding .. I'm pretty sure I do a fair share around the place not just claiming the outside jobs are the only ones I do.

So laying pavers requires cutting pavers last time I checked. So with a new diamond blade it was time to fire up the angle grinder. Some time ago you may recall I did this and couldn't find the safety glasses. Instead of calling a truce I soldiered on and ended up with three metal shards in my eyes .. yes .. let's not just affect one. Two months on I have just been to the optomotrist as one eye is still blury at times and she could still see where I got the metal in. That is despite two digs with needles over several days and then drilling (yes ... a drill in the eye) out the last bit of the rust. She commented that if it was 1-2 mm higher, I would have lost a considerable amount of my sight. So humour aside, let that be a serious warning to those that run the gauntlet. I know my brother in law know wears safety glasses when previously he would have done the same thing.

Needless to say I have long purchased safety glasses and even used them for the wipper snipping (lawn edges) today as on numerous occasions I have had a rock fly up and just miss my eye. Not sure how the male species has survived to be honest.

Paving complete, just need to sweep some sand in and we are finished incident free. Now I can start the next job ... paving a border for new garden beds!

School is not the only source of education

Anyone following Australian Football League (AFL) would know that the Adelaide Crows have not been travelling particularly well of the last couple of months. I stuck through watching every game pretty much keeping my cool until the sixth loss in a row when I thought the effort just wasn't there. Perhaps it was that they were overtrained and just didn't have it ... I don't know but the amount of turnovers and blatant mistakes was very frustrating. Not helpful to kick the ball out of goals straight into the arms of your opposition to kick it straight back over your head for six big ones .. and that happened several weeks in a row from memory.

I thought no more about it .. really not a big deal these days. Once upon a time I would get pretty fired up and some choice language may have been heard.

Until .... Tarnya informs me that Connor told her that "he doesn't like football" because "they are playing "CRAP"". They were down today before hitting the front and just holding on and Connor asked me if they were playing crap. Well .. it won't take long for the vocabularly to expand from the schoolyard I am sure so I don't think my effort is that bad. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he has dropped the F Bomb and pretty sure it didn't come from me. Anyone want to own up?

City to Bay Entry

I have said for many blog posts of past that I have wanted to run the City to Bay 12 km fun run and finally this year it seems as though the stars are going to line up. Well least ways I have taken a punt and entered with 1.5 months to go given the run is on the 21st September.

The last time I did the run was about late 1980s I think and in fact it was the first and last time I did it. This is no great feat I know but 20 years on I am aiming to break the 60 minute mark as a first goal and go under 57 minutes and 30 seconds as the second goal which was my time back those many years ago (crap time I know but anyway...).

Three years ago I got a bad virus in the lead up and couldn't get up to the speed I wanted so didn't enter. The year later I was six months post knee reconstruction so no cigar obviously. Last year I wouldn't have made 12 with the knee still strengthening.

At this stage I am able to push out 12 kms on a treadmill on a 1 degree incline. Only problem is that is is way over the 60 minute mark. Two weeks ago I did it in 70 minutes and last week I got it back to 66 mins from memory. I ran 7.75 kms on Friday in 39 mins 15 secs which gives a bit of an idea of where I am at .. still a way off getting both my goals but they do seem achievable.

Of course I will be a member of the HeartKids SA team ... http://www.everydayhero.com.au/Tim_ONeill (should be on the page soon) and will try to generate a couple of hundred dollars as part of the effort.

There has been many a night when I have been on the tready trying to keep my fitness up and stress down (yeah right on the stress) and after 30 or so minutes I have thought I can easily just slow down or stop altogether. Then I let my mind replay the video memories of Connor's fight to stay with us at birth and again at 3 months of age. The memory of thoughts going through my head when the cardiologist informed us that night that Connor may not make it. As said by his previous speech therapist "he has defied the odds". Just the thought of what he has had to go through and what he still does go through provides that "Forest Gump - Run Forest Run" reaction ie something called motivation or inspiration.

Lee Morgan, a Committee member of Heartkids SA and board member of Heartkids Australia has run the City to Bay 33 times. First thing I noticed was why - "inspiration" from his son having heart disease and the second thing I noticed was damn ... he could really run in his day running 41:01 in 1986 from memory. The article can be found here.