Whilst running I enjoy listening to music, and I’ve noticed that there is a lot of music out there that is good for me to run to, and music that is not so good. Music, to me is a very emotional evoking media that with either push me or destroy my motivation. So far I have found the following all have a motivational effect:

Katy Perry – California Gurl, Any Danny Byrd, Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow, Christina Aguilera – Ain’t No Other Man, Lady Gaga – Telephone, Sergio Mendes – Mas Que Nada, The Bloody Beetroots – Yeyo

And these have a ‘dangerous’ effect on my workout by making me feel angry, but motivated:

Any System of a Down, any Marilyn Manson, a lot of Eminem, Slipknot and Korn, basically any rock and angry rap!

However, my ‘power songs’ are:

Prodigy – Voodoo People, Pussy Cat Dolls – Buttons, The Streets – Fit But You Know It

Yes, you did read right, a song about a female chav who thinks she is too good for the ‘average man’ with the video set part in Ibiza and part in the UK is one of my power songs. I don’t know what it is about that song, it might be the beat, it might be that it reminds me of the UK and it might be that I secretly like the song. So, let the jibes begin.

What’s your power song? 

On Sunday I participated in the 5k Run for the Cure. Not only did I raise $257, but I also beat my personal record and completed in 30 minutes and 8 seconds! According to CTV an estimated 10,000 people participated and an estimated $30 million is expected to be raised across Canada.

I made the decision to participate in this run back in August as I had already started running in June. I had never really considered what I was running for, if I was running to participate in races, or if I was running for me. This run had made me realise that running to raise money is fun, but from what I saw 10,000 runners was more than enough people! At the beginning it was quite congested and I found it hard to get a good pace going.

Never the less, the participants in this run were an inspiration for me. To see people have names and pictures of breast cancer patients on their t-shirts did make it an emotional day. There was a very strong air of determination and togetherness from everyone there.

I found the last 1k to be the most emotional. As soon as I saw it was the last leg of the race I text my fiancé (yes, whilst running) to say I was nearly finished, put my power song on and ran as fast as my little legs would take me whilst looking at the families and individuals around me all thinking about the reason why we were running.

At the finish line, when asked how I felt, I replied, “Can I go again?”

This Sunday I will be taking part in the ‘Run for a Cure’ Breast Cancer Canada 5 kilometre run in Vancouver. I started trying to get back into shape in June, and set my first fitness goal as running this 5 kilometre run with the aim of participating in different runs over the next year or so. It is a way I can get into shape and attempt to do my part for different charities. This is where I started to realise that not everyone is as enthusiastic about helping out others.

As some of you may know I don’t live in England any more, and this is where my family is based. Therefore I am attempting to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, but that shouldn’t matter to those in the UK should it? After all, I think if Canada found a cure, I don’t think they would keep it to themselves, do you?

A few days after signing up to do this run I had an accident at work and have not been able to work since. Don’t worry though, I am better, but cannot return until I am 100% due to the nature of my job and injury (I have been given the OK to do the run). Therefore, I have not been able to ask those I work with if they would like to help the cause and donate to charity. I turned to facebook and twitter to see if any of my contacts would like to help out. I didn’t expect a big response on twitter, but I thought surely some people on facebook would like to help. Nope, not one person who is not direct family wants to help. I don’t want this to sound selfish, condescending or bitchy, but £5 is not a great deal of money and you can donate online with ANY visa and it is safe. This idea got me thinking.

Are people not donating because they are scared of donating in Canadian Dollars? Is it because they just don’t want to help? 1 in 9 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their life, that’s 11% of the female population! 180 Canadian men are estimated to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010! Every hour five women in the UK are told they have breast cancer. So these are my reasons for raising money, I want to help towards those affected by breast cancer now and in the future.

I was having a conversation with someone about running for this cause and was told that people generally tend to give to this charity when someone they know has been directly affected!!!! Come on, what a weak excuse! I do not know anyone that has been diagnosed with breast cancer, I have known people to be affected by other cancers, but why should I wait to be affected to contribute to the cause? If everybody thought like that then no one would have any help until they had raised the money AFTER diagnosis?! I want my generation and generations after that to have all the help they can get towards the fight against breast cancer.

For all those reading this should consider this; that one extra vodka and coke, glass of wine or pint of beer that you might have tonight, or the £5 cheaply made Primark top brought for no reason other than it was cheap, could have gone toward making a difference for your future, our next generation and those you love. Please help contribute towards a future with out breast cancer by clicking on the link below. 

http://www.runforthecure.com/site/TR?px=1419417&pg=personal&fr_id=1111