WhirlWind

The past week has gone past like a hurricane!  Speaking of Hurricanes we are watching one make its' way closer daily at the moment, Irene raising some hell south of us and at the moment Im thinking we here will get nothing but some crappy wind and rain (nothing to be excited about but it messes with my running) of course this could change at any moment. 

So after work last Thursday I met the kids at the pool and Scott showed up without Taylor. ARGH. She was off with someone else and he didnt track her down til it was too late so she missed her lesson and the other two had a shortened lesson; someone double booked their instructor and it took them 10 minutes of their 30 minute lesson to sort that out :(:(:(:( lucky they dont care. So I had 20 minutes of laps and managed 24 laps of 25 m in that time; .6 km done.  It was refreshing :) Omg it is hard to swim with a snotty nose;)

Friday I did a lunchtime run of 5 km with Dara from the college; Im getting better at running in the heat :) It was about 25 C and although hot and sweaty I didnt feel like DYING.  lol. Still sick tho.  The kids were set for swimming lessons and me for laps after work but there was a pool "fouling" and swimming lessons were cancelled.  I just wanted to go home very badly LOL to get some sleep WISHFUL.

Saturday was a rest day. I don't remember much about Saturday.  There just isnt anything on the training schedule. I might have taken the kids to the pool. I might not have.

Sunday I was up early and out the door by 7 (still later than I planned) for a long run. I mapped out 29 km, and Scott met me at aboutn 16 km for a gatorade refil. This 29 map was the one we ran often last year; familiar but not one I do alone. It feels like I was WAY out there.  Scott had the kids at a farm nearby washing and clipping their calves.  At least if I had needed I could have called. The pace was slow; the first hour was cloudy but the sun returned and heat ramped up.  It was a hot hot day.  I left from home and ran to town, to North River, and back to home. It was nice. And long long.  lol  29 is getting to feel long.  I ate half a Cliff Bar at about an hour and a half. Didnt feel like eating the other half ever.

When I was near home I ran out of water and I should have been able to be ok rest of the way home but of course Scott and kids drove by and I was like...water? They had none and I almost melted into a puddle ;) Scott went home and brought me back a part bottle of Gatorade and I drank that on the rest of the way home.  Ran up the soul sucking hill!!!

29 km in 3:17.  Time suck.

Then the chaos began.  Scott went to Ex to get show stuff ready while I took the kids to Lisa's bridal shower which was nice...low key. I was SO tired. And didnt feel like eating; I had an omelet after my shower and that was LOTS.  I drank punch like it was going to be gone forever; I had water as well.  Couldnt get enough to drink.  Maybe the cold, maybe the run; I was never dehydrated but felt parched!  And tired.

After the party we went to Ex grounds where Scott wasn't; so we went home to get 4H projects collected. I layed down for a bit; then remembered my OWN knitting projects I had wanted to enter; I started to block the socks but realised it was after 4 and deadline was 4 pm; no Ex exhibits for me this year.
We gathered projects and entered them in the Ex; Annika's Cloverbud box, Holly's Scrapbooking, Taylor's foods. AND OMG we forgot to make Annika's cookies and I forgot how long Taylor's bread takes; we worked at the display and waited for calves for awhile then I took 3 screaming kids home to bake while Scott got the calves in.  The kids needed sleep. Taylor did not make bread. She made something else; oatmeal Craisin Snack Cake yummy!  Annika's cookies were flat; too much lard.

Monday morning wasn't too rushed; It was day 1 of 4H at the Ex,Scott took kids in,  Calves were in but not showing yet; we got the Guniea Pigs in, they seem fine; finished up and entered the rest of the of the lifeskills projects, and I got there in time for my scrapbook members to do the Scrapbooking Competition; Holly did great once she understood what to do!  One of my members won it!

There was a bit of downtime on Monday, I had to take Taylor shopping for some whites and we also got some pants and shoes for her to show the dog in; We picked up the dogs and got them back to the Ex for the dog show.  (I think Im missing stuff).  The girls took hours to show the dogs in Showmanship and Obedience.  It was fun but a lot of waiting around.  :D Holly was SO terrified!  But she did super well, 5th in Showmanship and something similar in Obedience. Taylor was around 3rd for Showmanship (behind some experienced juniors) and Maybe 4rth ish in Obedience?  I would have to check.
Monday night was a late night. Directly after dog show was tug-of-war and Holly was on that team. I love tug of war.  I find it exciting.  They won their first pull.  Then we settled the animals and went home.

Tuesday morning was early for Taylor and Holly; they got up and to barn by 6 am to wash and ready their calves.  Annika and I slept in, did laundry and tidied yard, and then just before we were ready to go in to see the Dairy showmanship start, ZOEY disappeared!  Brat. we couldnt find her so we left her out. ALL DAY.  I don't think she made a lot of chaos in the neighborhood. At least no one mentioned it to me.

Dairy show was excellent. Showmanship was a nail biter; Taylor was in first place at the start; the judge could not decide between she and Lane, he had them switch calves and the deciding moment I believe came when Taylor didnt set up the front feet so well; she ended up second place :(   Holly was disappointed with her 6th place finish; I try to remind her it's only her second year and she was 6th out of...I dunno, 22 juniors?  But she takes this all very seriously.
There was a tug of war between the dairy classes Which the team did not win.  they pulled very hard!
 After lunch there were Dairy Conformation classes; these went well, with Holly's calf pulling a surprise (for me anyway) close second place; could have gone either way.  Taylor's calf was first in it's class (not so much a surprise).  Taylor's calf ended up Reserve Champion Holstein and Calf overall. A good day for Taylor :)  Both calves are going to Pro Show.

 

In the midst of the Dairy Calf class the girls showed their Guinea Pigs with Taylor getting second in showmanship and Champion piggy; she was thrilled with Trufflebutt!  Holly got third place ribbons for her Guiness! 

There was some more tug of war with a win and a loss; putting the club in third place overall.  there was a Grand Champion Showmanship class that Taylor was in; It was long and she babbled all the way through, no idea where she placed but her Guinea Pig sure did have quite a time; no one knows how to show Guinea pigs!

And there was a 4H parade and awards; the club did well and it was all fun and thankfully, over!  We got home relatively early (7? 730?) and dealt with the neglected house and collapsed into bed.

So no running on Monday or Tuesday at all!  SIGH.  It's all good, I was on my feet ALL day.

Wednesday was the Open Dairy show where the girls showed their calves and Annika had a calf to show as well, Gossip ;) Happy results all around; Holly's calf beat the calf that beat it the day before, Annika got ribbons for her calf and for showing, Taylor's calf was Honourable Mention Junior. 

After I went back to work I had a run with Dara!  Running again was nice; the temps not so much. It's been a hot sunny week!  5 km in 31:43.  After work I had the kids into the pool for lessons and went for a run; not so much a run as a hill workout ;) I ran down trails to Jacob's Ladder; 175 stairs straight up.I did this 3 times; ran (gasped, gagged, walked parts) up it and then took the road back to the bottom, back up again, back down. The third time I got to the top and ran down the road only a little way then grabbed a trail back up and around past the pool; finished 4.3 km of stairs (which Garmin ignores) and hills in 31:07.  GAG!  A nice 16 laps of the pool to cool off, 20 minutes.  Then Holly and I were off to soccer practice where I was cold and annoyed at the mosquitoes and unbelievable, dealt with an abscess on one of the soccer players arm. Who can say they did THAT in the run of a day?  OMG it was something else. 

feast or famine I tell ya. Wednesday was a busy day! I have a feeling Im heading for a crash. IF I GET TIME.

So here we are back at Thursday and other than looking after the animals, the chaos that is the Ex week is over.  I feel like we enter a vaccuum when we are into the 4H show; I have not seen the news, have NO idea what is going on with friends, completely oblivious to anything except survival of the kids and their animals LOL.

This morning I was up early and hit the park for running with the Cross Country kids. This is the third week; Ive not seen the same runner twice! LOL Sheesh. 2 kids this morning, they were both faster than me and ran summer track so they are also in good shape; I was tired, stiff, and really behind them for the first 10 minutes when I finally caught my breath and worked out the kinks and got comfortable.  SHEESH. the joys of being this close to 40 years old. BLECH. I need a gentler warm up. 6.5 km in 43:12 which is NOT great but we did SO many hills in that park Im starting to feel quite intimate with them. we Did see the view from the lookoff at WoodStreet which was nice since I had just read about it.  THAT is where I am going to watch the next lightening show.  If Im free. Which chances are, I will not be. SIGH.

Before lunch Dara and I headed out for a somewhat easier and less hilly run; we ended up way out and finished 6 km on the trail in 38:55 then walked to 6.8 in 47:25.  Again the heat was up but so is the wind so it balanced to be quite nice.

Im awfully tired now; need some rest before the long run this weekend LOL Maybe a sleep in? never can tell. But today there are more plans to be carried out including swimming, and softball this evening.

Trying to create a Groove

I cannot seem to get a single thing done in a timely fashion ;) I can't get out of the house quickly. I can't get stuff done at work. I believe this is a case of Summer Brain, where time doesnt matter. Only now, it does. at least it is going to start to matter.  I have another 2 weeks plus before the kids go back to school and in that time we have to get into some better routines than we are in now. THE KIDS ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME and that is one of our biggest problems at the moment; I cannot get them moving and out of the house!

SIGH.

Monday was a rest day. I actually wanted to run the 5 km that were on my plan, but time and work and circumstances got away, some time needed to be spent at the pool, and it was too late. And I was tired. And I just simply didnt go.

So Tuesday rather than getting right up, I slept in, and had to go run at night. Holly had soccer and after that was done and it was getting dark, I headed around town on a run. OMG it was hot.  Steamy night!  I ran down this one very dark road (likely should not have) and I swallowed a bug. It was big enough to choke on...Ive no idea what it was. But once I coughed it up, I could not bear the thought of gathering it up to spit...so I swallowed. Many times. for about 10 minutes i was sure it was sitting in my throat. SO GROSS!  History now, but a reminder to keep my mouth closed.  10 km in 59:12.

Wednesday; another work day. that's going to continue for the next 40 weeks ;)  Better get me used to that.  I didnt get up and run; felt really tired. By mid morning I felt a throat tickle. By afternoon I was pretty sure; that was not just dry air conditioning throat. I have a cold. after work I was just very tired; Went home and didnt accomplish much.  SIGH.

Thursday morning I felt like crap but I dragged out of bed at 6 am to run with the Xcountry team. ONE showed up...only one!  :( But I was there for that one, we had a really nice run. 5.2 km on trails 41:45.  It was a beautiful morning; really worth getting up for. But that I felt like crap.

Before lunch I laced up again and went for a road run with Dara.  She's been treadmill running so she was used to some running; the heat was a little hard for us but we did 5 km with few walk breaks in 32:33 and it was a nice time too.

Afternoon of work and feeling like crap, then out to meet the kids at the pool for swimming lessons. The organization was a little lacking SIGH but it should improve maybe? SIGH.  the kids love swimming lessons.

Now feeling extremely tired and heading to bed early. Really early. Still feeling like crap.  Turning to my friend Tylenol Cold.

It's August!

Actually it's mid August. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Im sitting in my little office and it's the first day back at work.  Over 3 weeks before students will be here to entertain me, I am already finding my time a little slow. And because I feel like I have ALL this time, I am not using it very efficiently.  UGH. I actually have an appointment in a little over an hour LOL!

What have I been doing all August?  Well running,  alot of running. A tonne of house stuff; painting, cleaning, moving stuff....all the things I have wanted to do since April are getting done slowyly.  It's been a busy time for sure. 

August 1 was a Monday LOL.  After my long run FAIL.  Scott was on vacation that week and We did NOTHING.  NOTHING. I spent long hours having quality time with the girls one on one OH that is awesome ya but they were not thrilled lOl ... I ran when I felt I needed to get away.  It rained a LOT.

Aug 1, 9 km normal run, warm temps, 57 minutes.  Nothing exciting.
Aug 2, Holly was awake so I took her with me on the 8 k loop.  She got tired and we walked the last hill; so run was 8 km rather than the 8.6 that loop has become lol. 

I cannot remember Aug 3, we didnt do anything I dont think. LIkely sat by the pool because we did a bit of that this summer too :):):)

August 4 was the start of our Ball Hockey week from Hell. Really who can be expected to play ball hockey that often?  We get WAY too beat up for that.
We had a good run of it; Played 2 games against the same team on Aug 4 and 5, won one and lost one.  It was good.  They are ROUGH and there were a lot of injuries.
on the 4rth I also ran 5.2 km. Cannot remember why that distance or where I went LOL.  Can tell you it took 32:16 minutes.

on the 6th I took our day off Ball Hockey to do a long run.  15 miles on the plan; I took a new road that went pretty out into the midst of no where. It was nice; dirt road for a long way, lots of trees and places to pee; very close to the river which gave me ideas......
After I finished that loop I was sad to have a lot of distance still to make up and had to go all the way to the college and back to home to finish 24.5 km in 2:38:26.  Do not love that Bible HIll run Lol.  I finished before it got too hot and actually felt pretty good most of the time. I ran out of water just before I got home so that went well. Was PISSED when I stopped at a garage and asked for key to the bathroom and the peach faced boy there giggled (yes giggled) and said they had lost the key and I should go to the Tim Horton's down the road, it wasnt far. I looked at him like....You watched me come in, you KNOW Im on my feet and that mile down the road IS far...anyway what option did I have? So I went to Tim's.  After I got home Scott left for his umpiring vacation and I mowed the lawn and painted the trim on the garage.

Sunday the 7th was Another ball hockey game; we won this one and I got a goal, which put us tied for 4rth place for the season; but the tie was broken on Goals Scored which we were dismally behind and we ended in 5th place in the league.  It's all good, we had a good season.  On to playoffs.  Monday was the first play off game against the same team as the night before (gads) and we again won.  YaY!  That was 4 games in 5 nights, with the injuries that go with we were starting to feel pretty gagged.

Tuesday I did a nice easy run on the 8 km loop for 8.6 km in 54 minutes.  I think it was pretty early. Annika had soccer practice and then that night I sent the kids for a sleepover here and there (except Annika who decided to stay) and got the pressure washer for the back deck.

Wednesday Annika and I went to the track with the playground and she rode her bike around with me and played on the playground while I did some intervals:1600 m warm up, 400 M fast (2 mins) 400 M slow X 8, 2000 M cool out. Total time was 58:30 with some pretty slow rests between so not bad LOL pretty boring tho.  After Holly's rainy soccer practice that night I had ball hockey again and we got whipped pretty solid.

Thursday morning (we are up to August 11 now) I met my awesome Cross Country Runners for a trail run!  At least, I met a couple of them. The 9 that were supposed to come turned into 3 hardy little souls who were just my speed and so cute!  What a great little run!  We didnt go super far or fast because my idea is to break them back into it gently (those who have given it up for summer or lent or something) and not have anyone sore or miserable.  But we climbed steadily in that park, and that is a workout by itself. Totally fun run.  4.5 km (maybe?) in 33 minutes.

And after the Parents vs Children game we had with Annika's soccer team, our last ball hockey game. Where again we were soundly whipped by that same rough team as before. I mean really, I DO have to get up and function again tomorrow, and injuries are not a runner's friend. We have beat this team but when you come right down to it, they beat us for Nasty and it's not worth it. Plus this was game 6 in 8 nights and we were just TIRED.  SEASON OVER.

Friday was a rest day Thank God.  A much needed rest day. It rained 4 days out of 5 that week. Weekend was better.
Saturday was Annika's Soccer Jamboree and she had a great time. I got up before they did and did a 5 K.  Took about 30:30 for that.  Nice to get out before the busy day ahead :)
Annika played 2 games and one they lost and one they won. It is super nice to watch her play; she is very intense and fearless!

After the games she and sisters went away for the night and I was alone. And I had NO idea what to do with my time so I visited a friend. LOL I had all these ideas but without the kids it seemed pointless. I layed on the deck...I pressure washed the last of the deck.  I mowed some lawn. But I had no great plans or anything.

Sunday morning I got up later than planned and did my long run. 16 miles on the schedule; I was super hot by the time I was finished. I ran on the trail to Old Barns and did the Black Rock Loop....7 out, 9 around, 7 back. Yup that is 23 km. 3 short of goal. SO I ran back towards town until I had 1.5 km and then back towards the car.  Finished with 26 in 2:52.  Ugh so glad I was able to refill my water bottle at the spring; I was empty by the time I was finished again.
I layed in the shade at the bench til I felt less like a bag of crap, then I headed home. I wanted cold water for my legs but knew i didnt want to sit in the bath tub; so I drove down the road where I ran last week (ideas...right?) and I parked and walked to the Salmon River...and sat down in it.  It was cold...not ice cold but cold.  And I sat til I could not sit on those rocks anymore.  Then I layed on the rocky bank...that was better, it was like 100 little hot round stones all massaging my back at once.  When I was less drippy I drove home.  After eating I felt more human and actually got a few things done before the kids came home, we had company, supper, and I took them to the pool :):):)

Busy first 2 weeks of August!  Now Scott is home and I went back to work this morning UGH that is so going to cut into my running time!  And Im not so much DOING anything.  SIGH. I signed up for some meetings and conference thingies to fill some time LOL!

Bring on the rest of August!

Finishing Off July With ISSUES

A little change up in the schedule and the long run became a Monday run :) Got off to a late start; long run preparation is SO much more than laying out clothes and getting a banana; must eat, but an hour before so up earlier, coffee to get things moving, which means needing to pee thanks to the coffee LOL but I really like the coffee....getting gatorade into the water belt and packing a bar, phone, etc. LOL  And after getting up late thanks to a late BH game, I started out about an hour late.

The plan this week called for 12 miles/19.2 km.   Im a little bit off schedule but trying really hard to get on it LOL.  I mapped out 20 km and headed off. I ended up back on the TC Trail in Bible Hill; it's a nice change from the road.  I stopped at the McWilsons for ice water and poured half of it on my head, to the amusement of the demonstrator dudes standing outside trying to push motor oil. LOL  It was COLD in the super muggy weather.  Wasn't feeling great when I finally climbed that HILL to home, but better than the week before.  20 km in 2:07. 

Tuesday was a rest day/soccer stuff. Wednesday a mid week longer run was done, 10.4 km in 1:03 on the 10 km loop.  Thursday "just another run" on the 8 km loop for 8.6 km in 54 minutes (not great SIGH).  Friday was another Ball Hockey game; we had few spares and the other team was not taking an easy win SIGH so legs run right off us.  After the game we went to a movie in the park which was totally fun :) Back to the Future under the stars :) The kids thought that was tonnes of fun :)
We were up really late Friday night; Saturday was a total write off.  Way too tired and busy to do anything. Ended the week with only 39 km. 

Sunday was a sad attempt at a long run.  I headed out with no preparation and no intention of doing the 21 km that were on schedule.  I didnt even take water or eat.  I had to stop and pee part way through, and managed 12 km in 1:15 before heading home.  SO very very tired.  I had planned to finish the long run later in the day; I dont often split long runs but thought I would in desparation.  Plans dont always work out tho and the finishing 9 km did not get done. FAIL.  Ended July with 170.8 km total, unfortunately no cross training. July was a trying month.