The Running Blog

Hippokrit

2012-01-24T20:43:00.000-04:00

Here I am feeling annoyed that my favorite blogs don't have enough to read. I mean, they blog daily, but Im annoyed that the ones I like don't have anything new to read. Not annoyed...surprised. Bored. And Im thinking; if there are readers they should blog a few times a day. Even if they figure they need to make up funny things to write about. I am demanding LOL. (they write lots. They dont owe anything.)
And I realise I am only writing about once a week. I get it. Im a Hypocrite. I owe a blog post. Even if no one is reading it.

Bless me for I have forgotten, It's been 5 days since my last blog post....

I will give some Hail Mary's and a post about what's been up.

Re-read last few posts. That's what's been up.

Is it possible I just have nothing to say? I mean, everyone is saying it already! I just write to keep track of my workouts. Which I am also still doing on the MapMyRun training log. But sometimes I just wish I had more witty things to say.

I can always add cute photos of cute kids about to play hockey ;)

Friday morning started with Holly's hockey practice at 7 am and I think it is nice to start the day with a skate at the rink while watching the sun come up (red sky warning and all that). We skated a lot and then I got the kids to school with their breakfast and muffins and I went to work.
We did get the snow we were expecting last week. It snowed after school and lasted til evening, got about 3-4 inches which is just enough to make things slippy. The cold moved in quite solidly and we had -12 for wake up weather on Saturday. After hockey scrimmage in the morning, I took my running clothes along and was able to go right out from the rink; skipping that home step makes the run far more likely to happen. There is something about going home that is like a black hole; I go in the house and never come out ;)
So I went right from the rinking thinking the side walks would be better than the roads; I dunno...they were pretty unpleasant! They were cleaned up by the rink by a plow, and that left beind a bit of snow over ice; Then on the main road out they were not cleaned at all! For about a km it was full snowfall. I know, only 3-4 inches but it was smooshed about and slippery and shifty. Fun! Then back on cleaned sidewalks, but they had been cleaned by a sweeper type cleaner, which only removes the looser snow and left behind everyone's footfalls, which were stuck to the cement. Everywhere someone stepped a couple of inches of snow remained :) It was just so much fun. My hips ached by the time I got to the car, not to mention the cold with wind chill. I was happy to finish 9.8 km but it took 1:02:45. Ugh.

The rest of Saturday was a blur of hockey game, house cleaning, kids over, and early to bed.
Sunday morning was sluggish; I had a terrible headache, and it was worse laying down but bad sitting up. After everyone was off to church and hockey I went out for a short run (6.5 km) up the hill and back, then ate and went to my hockey game. We lost that game but I did score a goal and it wasnt a bad game although I have a feeling the other team was just toying with us. They likely could have scored more on us.
There was no soccer this week, so after Annika's game (they won 7-2) we were able to go to Holly's game across town (they won 5-1) and then after a period of the highschool game we went home.

Monday comes too early. It's long day at work and there was no chance for a run. But I did get to skate at Annika's hockey practice so at least there was that. another early night.

Tuesday morning I was awake early. I took the kids to school and met friends for a run. We ended up, with the rain and ice and someone's wonky knee, walking a fair amount and on that ice I suspect it was a good thing. It warmed up to about 10 C during the day and rained and rained. I saw my osteopath after work and she did something nice to me knee; it's feeling pretty good tonight.

So plans for tomorrow include an afternoon run, and work. Not much else at the moment. The kids might have more plans ;)

It's a beautiful cold day

2012-01-19T22:21:00.000-04:00

The weather outside is frightful-ly...cold. It is January in NS, but still, with wind chills of -20 or worse, that's just cold.
Especially compared to yesterday. Or the day before!

Monday didn't do a thing. Nothing! after the long day and dealing with bed times and stuff I just couldnt do it.
But Tuesday before picking up the kids I went out for a nice run; it was almost sunny, and over 0 C. I had on short sleeves and long over, and was too warm with my coat; tied that around my waist and was still quite hot. Good thing since i forgot gloves. It was SO warm! 8.4 km in 50:25.
Wednesday was a gorgeous sunny warm day. Light coat sort of day. I worked very hard and didnt get out for a workout. Way tired. After lab and picking up kids at home I took Holly to hockey practice then right straight to her first basketball game.

The team did really well after only 3 practices; they were short players and had a 28-18 win over a neighboring school, Holly scored 6 of those points :) It was a good time :)

After Bball Taylor had to be dropped right off at Tae Kwon Do and then I could take the little ones home and get them into bed and ready for the next day. What a tired lot of kids!

Brings us to Thursday and what a change in the weather! It was getting colder and damper last night and was frozen this morning....like -12 and windchill of -25.

I waited until lunch time today and then just had to run. It was sunny but still SO cold. My face just burned! My toes got cold, and I was really dressed improperly. I realised I packed my bag yesterday, for Yesterday's lovely weather. I had no sweater or mitts (gloves yes) and no hat although I had a non-running one in my other bag. Light running tights, not the heavy ones. Not the cushy coat but instead the light windbreaker.

I did get warm underneath. And eventually my fingers warmed up. At least til I could feel them. I kept pulling my scarf over my face but then I had to take off my sunglasses (fogging) and Thennnnn the wind burned my eyes so I could not see through tears that froze on my face. The scarf got gross with breath and snot and I kept turning it and pulling it up til I felt like I was suffocating then I would pull it back down....Blowing frozen snot across the sidewalk; almost hit by 2 inattentive drivers, good thing I am watching for them because they are not watching for me.

But it was a sunny day, and it was a snow and ice free run for the most part; I was even on the trail for awhile. I was so glad to get out but SO glad to get back 56 minutes later because I was frozen to the core. 9 km done.

It took ages to warm up and I picked up Holly and went home where we made cookie dough and then after Annika got home and we had supper I took these two to Annika's hockey practice where we skated pretty hard!

We are expecting some snow tomorrow YAY! Maybe enough to make things slippery; I promised the kids I would take them coasting if there was snow and they went to sleep right away.

It's looking like a realllllly busy weekend. But I plan to get running in!

Dust layer remains intact on the Snow Shoes

2012-01-16T20:29:00.000-04:00

We still have no snow to speak of. Only the calendar and maybe the temperatures say it is January. Sometimes it is -17 (this morning) and sometimes it is +10 (3 days ago). NOT global warming ;) just a less snowy piece of winter :) I am finding very little motivation to getting outside and doing the runs I so badly need to be getting in :( And Im not finding a whole lot of time to get workouts done inside either. It all just takes so long, and with meals to make and lots of work and cleaning to do each evening, it's not clear to me when people fit this stuff in!

I only got in 3 runs last week! YIKES! Im falling off! Because I just noticed, it's ONLY JANUARY. I have months of winter left. This is not a good start.

Sunday we took Annika out to her morning hockey game and then I did not get in a run before my hockey in the afternoon. Im not good at getting in a Sunday run :( I find with both Hockey and Soccer, Sunday can be very tiring. and Mondays at work are seriously long with most of the day on my feet and lecturing. And instructing in lab. And just going on and on. lol So unless I do a short run, Im not getting much run in on Sundays. :( The hockey game was a good one, we won 3-1 and I scored a goal. we were sort of short of players so there was lots of ice time. I like lots of ice time.
Holly and Annika played hockey at the same time that I had soccer; so I sent them with other people and selfishly went to my soccer game. It was also a good game, we tied nothing nothing LOL. Soccer is hard!

Monday was a 9-5 day with kids to get to school on one end and kids to get to bed on the other :)
No Workout at all. Rest Day.

Tuesday morning after Scott toook the kids to school I did Kenpo X and Ab Ripper x. Waiting until the kids leave does not give me enough time to get to work at a decent time; but doing workouts while the kids are getting ready for school is full of frustrating interruptions and their needs. Getting up to do workouts before they get up is just plain hard lol. I squeezed in a run before school pickup, then had Annika's hockey practice to skate through before supper. It was one of those very active days.

Wednesday; I dont remember what happened to my Wednesday lol. Oh yes, classes, a sad funeral, kid pick up, that sort of thing. and dark, cold, gloom lol.

Thursday picked up with a 6.4 km run before picking up Annika from School and Holly from Deb's place and Taylor from school. Holly had hockey practice which her father took her to.

My endurance is certainly taking a hit; I have not run more than 8.5 km since Christmas. :(

Friday morning after drop off we went for a 45 minute drive in the snowroads to pick up fertilized eggs. Taylor's science fair project is on it's way! I squeezed in a run at lunch time between lecture and lab. Tired.

Saturday morning had me up and on the ice by 7 am again; such a great way to start a day. Between my hockey and Holly's I worked on a 4H meeting which I had after Holly's hockey game. After the 4H meeting it was dark and we didnt really do anything Saturday night.

Which brings us back to another Sunday with a hockey game we lost 2-0. we skated very hard! Short handed again! Then after Annika's hockey game, we had a soccer game that we lost 1-0. Hard day on the ego. But again we played very hard. Just didnt manage to score.

Monday today; another longgggg day at work and so far no workout. The kids are finally in bed and it is 830; Im torn between going to bed so I can get up early tomorrow and hit the workout OR doing it now. Im very tired and my throat is very scratchy; might prefer sleep. Or blogging, apparently ;)

January well under way now!

2012-01-07T23:04:00.001-04:00

I just wish it would bring more TIME with it. I would think that with the quiet winter days on us, we would have more time. But rather I feel like I have less time than ever and Im not even really that busy ;)
For example it's been an entire day since I started this post. I just don't know where the time goes. Mostly wasted away :(

We are well into January. An entire week of it, actually. And It's been a hard adjustment. Weather has gotten much colder, it's dark, and mornings are starting before dawn even thought about arriving :( We come home often in the dark just like we left, and there is no motivation to get anything done :(

I love winter. I really do. Actually I would be happy if there were enough snow to DO something but there hasnt been much yet and it doesnt stay. My snowshoes are just dying for a spin :)

So since New Year's Day the runs have been happening although P90X isnt regularly I still intend to get some workouts in. Especially on days that are too nasty to run outside. But I do find it hard when home to find that chunk of time to do the workout, that I can steal away while at work by working through my lunch hours. :)

Monday was 2 ice times; noon Christmas hockey and supper time practice for Annika. Christmas hockey was fun; will miss it.
Tuesday morning school started up for the kids and after Scott took them off I got a P90x workout in. Plyometrics didn't seem so hard but I was sooooo sore for the next few days; abnormally sore. Thinking it wasn't just the workouts but rather the way my joints and head ached maybe a bit of a virus. Either way so sore to walk and going down stairs was hard. :(

But running was not as hard so I got in a run from work. Dara and I went 7.75 km to her place and fed the horses and back to work. 48:51 minutes not bad considering I'm sore and she is sick; there was a lot of snot.

Wednesday was just a quick run at the end of the day. I was soooo sore and it was freezing cold out. Holly was home sick for the day :( classes started Wednesday. After classes and getting ready for next day I managed to get out for 5.3 km In 33:48. Not great but done :)

Thursday morning was rushed; didn't manage a run til noon when the snow started; Lavinia And I had a beautiful run to the top of the park and back in light fluffy snowflakes. it was a little bit slippery but really fun. 7.2 km In about 44 minutes. Nice.

Friday started with a 7 am skate and ended there. Busy and maybe a rest day is ok. 50 minutes skating is a great way to start a day.

And up to Saturday; 7 am hockey scrimmage was disappointing as pretty much everyone was there, so we sat on The bench for EVER. I prefer being short handed ;) I'm selfish!

Before supper I got in a run; 8.5 km pretty quick (since dark was coming ) 50:30 minutes including stopping and talking to Scott :)

Not much actually planned for the week; I wonder if I would be more likely to work out if I wrote my plans down?

Now looking for some snow!

Year 2012 Goals

2012-01-01T23:09:00.000-04:00

In 2011 I wanted to run 1800 km. I did not get there; I finished with 1714 ish I believe that to be accurate enough. It's better than last year, by a few km.

My goals for last year were only sort of successful.

1. Kms run: last year I wanted 1500 and I finished with about 1692.75. So this year Im thinking 1800 would be an awesome goal. I sort of managed to do better but not the 1800 I wanted.

2. Marathon. Do I want to run another. YES. Im actually thinking one in spring and one in fall. Fredericton Marathon is on my radar. Nothing for fall yet.I did not do another marathon. FAIL. Just too busy!

3. 5 K PR. I want to get a PR in this distance this year. Which means Im likely going to run more of them. :)No PR's this year. Any.

4. Weight; Id like to be 5 pounds lighter next end of year than I am now. That's doable right?Nope. Not 5 pounds lighter.

5. Drink more water. Yeah I did do this. It's not hard to get used to.

6. 30 minutes or more of activity 6 days a week. Not average; every day I think I did average this. But not always 6 days a week.

New Resolutions:

1. Just do stuff better.
2. Remind myself that I will feel great when I make myself go for those runs.
3. Cross train more.
4. Try to do most of the P90X sessions this time.
5. Running; 1800 km goal again.

That's all. Nothing else LOL.

December Wrap Up

2012-01-01T22:55:00.000-04:00

December is a tough month for Activities beyond shopping and housecleaning and eating :) But I still pulled off 124.36 km of running. Sparse but sure nuff :)
28.35 hours spent being active;
34 Workouts
14, 149 calories burned!

Longest run was 10.4 km but I did that one morning with 2 runs adding up to 16 km.

Not the worst December ever.

End of 2011 Post; on First day of 2012

2012-01-01T22:42:00.000-04:00

2011 went out with less of a bang and more of a wimper. It was just not that big of a deal :) It's now January 1 2012 and it looks pretty much the same as 2011. Shocking.
Christmas Day was certainly a rest day LOL so Boxing Day was a run day. I wore the new grippies my mother gave me for Christmas; it was pretty icey but without icey patches so they spent some time on the pavement too. That was not comfortable ;) but they were nice and grippy for the ice. I think they will come in very handy in our icey rainy/snowy winters :) 8.6 km in 56:06. Its going to be a long winter ;) it's just starting!!!

The hockey tournament in Brookfield started for Annika on Tuesday so we went there at supper time and Annika played 2 hockey games. CUTE :) I played hockey at lunchtime with the "girls" and had a great hour of hard skating :) our scrimmages are not at all relaxed although they are hilarious. Intense and hilarious :) Had coffee with a friend between games. After Annika's second game we hurried back to town so I could go bowling with the Cross Country Team and alumni! It was good to see that bunch again; I always miss them when season is ended! Party continued at Lavinia's and it was 230 before she and I were done talking :)

Wednesday was a new day :) with more hockey! LOL I ran in the morning 6.5 km in 41:23, it was just up the hill and back down as pressed for time. Hockey was at noon, another hour scrimmage; then we went to Annika's last hockey game, then hung around the rink and had supper with friends til Holly's first game in the tournament. Both good games. Home and to bed :)

Thursday morning we met our new kitty; he was being fixed up for us and we were taking him home! It was another hockey day; Holly had 2 games, they had a tie and 2 wins and finished first in their division. Semifinals were next day. I had hockey between her 2 games and it was all very rushed.
Friday morning I managed a little run before heading off to "stuff". lol 5.4 km up the hill and back, 33 minutes. It was chill! It's certainly gotten much colder since last week! We went to Holly's Semi game, they won it and had to be in the Championship game at supper time; I had to cancel my spot in an exhibition game. We cannot be in 2 places at once and it's not hard to pick her game over mine but it isnt always pleasant either; I really wanted to play that game LOL

Kessel under the tree :)

We picked up the new cat, Kessel, after the game and took him home to spend a couple of hours before the Championship game. He is quite a cat; a stray from the SPCA who was unadoptable due to a spectacular heart murmur and therefore he has found a great home with us; we're not scared of long term medical conditions! He has a purr motor like few others and after just 3 days here it's like he has always been here. He's a very cuddly cat!

Holly's team did not win their Championship game; they played hard but were simply outplayed at the end. :( They did well and she did really well skating up the boards and taking pucks. Im still glad I went to the game.
Whew lots of hockey to Saturday; we slept in Saturday morning, and I dragged out of bed for 9 am hockey. It's New Year's Eve and we all chose to play hockey! I would have played more :) No more hockey; we cleaned the house and shampooed carpets! We had friends over for New Years and a houseful of laughing kids is the best way to celebrate a holiday! It's been so long since we all got together, way too long. I just realised we didnt get a group photo.

and now it is January 1. 2012! UNbelievable. I thought I might start P90X again on Jan 1 and now here it is. for once I went through with it.
We slept in this morning a bit and then after cleaning up the tree and cleaning out the living room, we did the carpet and went for NY dinner at the Inlaws! Left the kids there to come home for more cleaning (it wont end til all that Christmas stuff is GONE). When it was almost dark I finally forced myself out the door for a run; 5.65 km down the road and back, 32:16. I did the first 5 km in 28:54; 1.1 km downhill, 1.6 km up, 1.6 km downhill, and 1.35 back up. It's a hard run from here either way. it was cold and damp as only NS can be.
I changed clothes and before I could change my mind I went down to the basement and did P90X Chest and Back. I did not do Ab Ripper X; it was getting late.

Updated to now, where I sit blogging :)

Posting on Christmas

2011-12-26T00:00:00.001-04:00

It is Christmas Day (only for about 25 more minutes) and it's been a long haul to get here but here we are, on the other side of Christmas again for another year.
Our family is very lucky to be healthy and mostly get the gifts they hoped for again. I often think we are overdoing Christmas but I have no idea how to go back from here.

this week has not been too active; I was making the kids some christmas gifts and was spending tonnes of time working on that; knitting is not an active sport but rather a fairly inactive hobby LOL. So maybe possibly tomorrow morning first thing Im outta here for a run.

Tuesday last I pulled of a quick 6.66 km run (i know right?) in about 40:30 minutes. It is now getting very cold on runs. And now it's snowy! I also had tonnes of yummy food at a work christmas lunch; lots of desserts too! lol

On Wednesday I managed a lovely sunny (cold) 10.4 km run which was very enjoyable but I have no run since. SIGH. My mother got me some grippies for my shoes; supposed to be good on ice. I cannot wait to try them out, seeings it is not only cold but snowy and icey here.

Wednesday night I played hockey with Holly Against her team; those kids did not hold back at all! LOL. 10-12 year olds are tough! lol The parent team did beat them and we played nicely with lots of passing, to make a good example LOL.

Thursday morning was an early morning on the ice with Scott's work friends. With few spares our scrimmage was a lot of work and those players were also very very good. Another tough workout.

I wish I could consider shopping a workout. We did about 5 hours of that.
The kids had their first of 2 Drama presentations at night and they did awesome :)

Friday was a rest day lol meaning I basically knitted and shopped. It snowed all day. and because of the cold, the snow stayed!

Saturday I was up early. Ive been sleeping very poorly past couple of weeks, waking early after late nights to work on the kids' presents while they sleep. most looking forward to sleeping some after christmas.

I took a break and played Saturday hockey with the girls. It was good fun :) We only had a couple of spares so again it was a hard workout with loads of skating sprints!

working on gifts and cleaning house until Christmas Eve, when we finally had a break for a family gathering :) then knitted til 2 am. Seriously. But got all of those stockings complete enough so that Santa could carefully fill them! (now I have to make myself finish them ;))

Christmas day was a lazy jammie day and although it was sunny it was terribly cold and we totally didnt get dressed. I comtemplated a run in my grippies and new under clothes but instead I had a long nap ;) I mean really after all of these 4 and 5 hours a night sleeps I have some catching up to do. Back on track tomorrow!

Deja vue

2011-12-19T12:35:00.000-04:00

Because it is Monday again. Good intentions never seem to lead to follow through :)
Last Monday was exhausting. Lol it's not like anything even happened. Went to work, went home, repeat. Emotionally exhausting can be quite debilitating. After going home I put on some running clothes and went out for a run, taking road up to the Warren Road trail and then I crossed a big gully and came up in someone's back yard and then took road the rest of the way home for 9.6 km In 58:30. It was kinda fun. Somehow Monday night I forgot about a meeting; just too many things to remember right now.
On Tuesday despite good ish weather and decent temps I waited for someone to be free to go running with; and then she couldn't go! I'm hating running late in the day, I'm usually tired and almost always starving ;) I'm deciding at least right now I'm a morning runner ;) I went much later than i wanted. But I got 8.8 km in about 55 minutes SIGH it was nice out.
Wednesday just was a total write off. I might have gone to Halifax and shopped my behind off.
On Thursday I managed a short 5.2 km run which I did at tempo and time was great right up until almost the end. Then I unfortunately ran into 2 dogs that chased me right off the sidewalk onto the road and would not let me pass. I inched past them trying not to let them too close...and I kinda yelled to the no one listening "would the owner of these DOGS please come get them??" but no one came....it took me a bit to get past them and once I was far enough I started running again, they followed but from a distance til I got to the next cross road and crossed into the campus again. GRR. But it's MY dogs that are the problem? The 5.2 were done in 30:25 including dealing with the dogs so the running part was ok.

That evening Annika's team had a hockey practice; 45 minutes of skating time in. The kids claimed I made them work harder than usual :):)

Friday was a nothing day. Ive been spending a lot of time working on Christmas presents that are WAY behind schedule. I should be working on that right now!

Saturday was 7 am hockey scrimmage which was good :) 50 minutes of play time :)

But no run. I just didn't.

Sunday morning I got out for a run after the kids went to Church; 10 km in 1:01:15 which for my lack of real effort was better than I thought. Weather was CRISP. I could not feel my ears.

After a short rest and some soup I had a hockey game; Our entire team was there for once and we won the game 4-2. Our second win of the season! SIGH. Yeah we are struggling a bit.

After the game we had some sweets and drinks for Christmas and that party just went on and on until it was time for Annika's game a few hours later. WHere did the day go? LOL. Annika's team had a great game and afterwards there was a potluck; I had not planned to go but I did, skipping our last soccer game SAD :( but when Annika looks at me with those BIG eyes and says Mommy you're not going to leave me are you? Won't you stay? I can't say no to that. After catching the end of Holly's game it was late and Annika and I climbed into bed :):)

Now it's Monday and I have a bit of a head ache and upset belly (hmm) and Im super tired. Great start to the week :D

SiGH.

Monday Again.

2011-12-12T10:40:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe it's Monday again. I feel very much like I am behind and not getting things done :( it's been a wretched week :( Ive been inactive and sluggish and so busy at work and home :(

Monday; no time for anything; got the kids out for a walk. We went up the hill in back; it was SO muddy. Mistake not wearing rubber boots. Not sure why I didnt. we walked total about 2 miles, half up hill and half back down. Steep trail we took too...it's an old stream that spends half the year wet. The dogs had fun but really wanted to be let off leash. If just Certain Dog would come back...it was a super nice day tho and I wish I had made time for that run.

Tuesday I did make time for the run, worked from home a bit and in office for a couple of hours. Did not make a lot of headway on the To DO list tho :( 8.4 km done in 11 C temperatures (I Know, December 6...too bad it was drizzly)...in 52:47 minutes. Just in time to pick kids up from school lucky me.

Had to take Annika to hockey practice afterwards; went home for Holly's skates and took her on the ice too. We did a lot of skating drills and some shooting as well :) good hour skate.
The kids did not go to their school Christmas concert that night (for the littler kids...they are in choir so should have gone). We had a 4H meeting/christmas party and I just didnt think they should have to miss that too :( Trying to do it all can be really hard.

Wednesday and Thursday totally fell off the wagon. Noticed the cat, who is 17 and has been losing weight lately and sleeping a lot, and peeing a LOT, was looking particularly ragged :( Wednesday was busy with work and running around for kids and I dont really remember what else we did. But by the time we got home it was dark and there was still stuff do to. Im working on knitting up some Christmas presents for the kids but that means I am on a bit of a deadline. Like, Christmas is coming. There is no extension. I thought I would go to basement and toss in a DVD but I did not.

Thursday was similar. I saw the cat was bad, after taking the kids to school I went home and hung out with him, did my work from there :( He couldnt walk very well and would cry in his sleep and when he tried to turn around. Not eating for days now, only drinking :( I wasn't sure he would make it through the night. Told kids he was sick, so lots and lots of tears. Friday morning was even worse. The cat was worse,he couldnt walk and was completely out of it. the kids were worse. I took Holly to hockey practice and we had a nice hour skate, then took her to school and visited with Annika; she was sad in school. went home, and my poor 17 year old cat passed away that morning. We were so lucky to have him as long as we did. It's still a bit surreal that he's gone. Im still looking for him and I swear I hear him in the middle of the night. The kids have never known a day without him.

Being sad doesnt make me want to go out and run it off. It makes me want to curl into blankets and sleep it away :( It has taken so much to resist that urge. It's just not an option and half way isnt good.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday we carried on normal stuff. Saturday started with my hockey (an hour scrimmage) and Holly's hockey game was at noon, which she scored 2 goals at, and they won by 1 point. exciting! The afternoon was quieter. Annika was at a friend's house but we had to pick her up early for tears and coughing :( she is taking it very badly, losing this cat. Random tears, no sleeping, staring out the window at the tree where we buried him :( Saturday night we took the kids all to the Bearcats game. It was a good game. Annika fell asleep before the end.

Sunday morning was typical crazy. Scott didn't shut off his alarm so I was awake at 6 am and once it was slightly light I headed off for a run; it was really cold, frozen! 6.4 quick km up the hill and back, 39 minutes. Got Annika off to her hockey game; a nail biting 5-4 loss. She plays super strong on the boards.
After doing some car switching and getting Annika to church and Holly to a gift exchange, home and more working on Xmas presents and cleaning (fun) then off to my hockey game which we were short of people and we skated our legs off for a frustrating 2-0 loss. :( Couldnt get anything going.
Home to get warm and eat, off to hockey for Annika, another nail biter but they won this game and did so well! :) then to Holly's game which they won, then to soccer game which we won; home for a snack before getting the kids into bed (really late) so late getting back at their christmas presents. SIGH Makes for one Sleepy Monday morning all around!

Which is where I sit now. Monday morning exhaustion and now that I've stopped moving, Ive loads of time to contemplate the horrible turn last week when I lost my little buddy :( It's going to be a sad Christmas in my house :(

RIP Little Kitty :(

2011-12-12T09:14:00.001-04:00

November Wrap up

2011-12-05T09:58:00.001-04:00

Workouts: 36
Hours working out: 32
161.6 km covered.
8 hockey games and 6 hockey practices
3 soccer games
1 yoga
Best Running Week - 46.15 km
16, 361 calories burned
Longest Workout 14.4 km run in 1:22:30

Catching up

2011-12-05T09:22:00.000-04:00

Because it's been, you know, crazy busy! :)
Tuesday after school I totally dragged the kids and all three dogs out for a walk. It wasnt cold and we went up a trail I have always wanted to go up; of course we could not GO anywhere once up there, since it was just a blueberry field with no paths off...there was a little path off and we followed it for awhile through a very pretty mossy woods but the kids were worried we would get lost and I was a little watchful because it WAS hunting season and none of us had any hunter orange on or anything; so we only went a little way and then back to the field :)

It was super nice and we did get about 2 miles of walking in. Then it was way dark and the kids thought we were going to get killed so off to home we went. After the kids were ready for bed I put in Yoga X and Annika and I did some; I put her to bed but she would not stay so I only got through an hour of it (the hardest hour) and then I had to stay with her.

Wednesday was a busy day with classes that went on forever and a lab exam that went even longer than forever; it was not an active day for me at all! ;) The last day of November was very windy, rainy, and nasty ;)

Enter December. The first day of December was much nicer than November left us. :) Not warm but much nicer! I grabbed an hour at the end of the day for a run; the littles had no school so they were with their father and after lab I changed and went out into the fading sun for a run around town; ended with 9.6 km in about an hour. Friday was also a nice day albeit busy; despite the sun and warmer weather I somehow managed to leave my run until it was almost dark; I left from home and ran to a more lit sidewalk in Bible Hill and then through town where I met Scott and he drove me home :) another 9.6 km again in about an hour. It was SO cold when I was finished; despite the fact that it was actually +6 C which isnt too cold; it was humid (read: damp) and wind was in my face at the end and I ended up super cold. Stripped my clothes off and put on Scott's sweater to warm up for drive home. That will teach me to not pack some clothes in his car next time.

Saturday morning I was up and out bright and early for hockey; a nice busy scrimmage that left me reallllly tired. the rest of the day revolved around picking up kids for hockey, a little teeeeensy bit of shopping, getting home at almost dark, laundry, and watching hockey before sleep. No run in. Need a rest day I guess.

Sunday is always so busy but CRAZY busy this weekend. I was awake and needed a long run (Sunday isnt the day for this but no soccer this week so I went) I got up and did 7.8 km 47:11 before breakfast; then I took Annika to her hockey game; they played like crap lol. No excuses this game. After the game I took Annika to her grandmother's for drama while Scott took Holly away for a hockey game and I ran from town to home; another 8.2 km 52:30 all before noon! Split long run which I hoped would make me less tired.

I did laundry and messed with the internet (it was out) and had some lunch then it was time to go to hockey. this was NOT a fun game; I do not like that team. I got a goal and we lost the game and if I could say ah well it was fun then that would be good but it wasnt much fun. SIGH.

After a quick shower and supper Scott and Holly and Taylor were out the door; Taylor to her band concert set up and Scott and Holly to her hockey game. Then Annika and I followed for HER hockey game; we did a huge pump-up in the dressing room and the hockey players actually started working harder for the puck and playing their positions and they BEAT a team they have been losing to most of the year. Yeah, this working hard stuff really DOES work (quote). I wish I had been there; I left after the first period to get to Taylor's concert on time (which I was) and afterwards it was time to get home.

Super busy Sunday :)

Now it is Monday and I feel very tired LOL. But it's sunny out and a run must be had at some point today LOL! Because tomorrow might not be as nice and Wednesday is cold rain!

Over 1600 km for the year

2011-11-29T14:00:00.000-04:00

Can't forget that yesterday's run made a total of over1600 km for the year so far. That means that in These last 2 days of November and all of December I only need to run 200 more to meet my goal of 1800 for the year. OH yes and Im not running today. I could do it. I went over 200 km twice this year, and once I was THIS CLOSE. Its not impossible. Maybe if I start doing some long runs again...2 a week should do it lol.

Tuesday Rest Day

2011-11-29T13:57:00.000-04:00

I woke up Monday morning feeling less yeah LESS rested than I was when I went to sleep the night before. I did not sleep well and when Scott's alarm went off at 5 am I didnt get back to sleep :( I figure burning over 1300 calories throughout Sunday can just be a big draw on your energies!
Once I finally concluded I had been stood up for lunch, I grabbed a snack and went for my run. It was without a doubt the worst run I have taken in ages. I was dead right from the start. I mean, dragging tree branches for legs rotten. No matter how I tried to improve my leg turnover, there was no response. I figured since I was going a little shorter (Thinking 5-6 km) I would do some speed intervals HA they were sad sad little intervals. ~~Crept along~~ warmed up for about a km then did 200 m faster 200 m jog for 4 km. I THINK I did 11 intervals but I lost count. I actually walked once (it was the big hill) because I figured I could walk faster than run. Oh I walked again later because the roadside had washed out and then been filled and plowed and it was just a mess so I walked. So I walked twice. I wanted to do another mile to kinda cool out so I went out on a side road then I just kept going and added 3 more km on to make it 8 crappy, miserable km. In the wind. SO slow....52:30 was time. It was dismal.
Ah well it can only go up from there.

After work I had to take one Cranky, nasty little Annika to hockey practice; I almost went alone and left her in bed but I would have been crankier doing that so eventually she got herself into the car and we went to practice; another hour on skates where we did power skating; some Bearcats joined us which was neat for the kids and some of them actually worked hard. Annika had a headache and she didnt put tonnes of effort into her skates but at least she did the drills as well as she thought she should and then we went home; after supper (creamed peas on toast...I eat too much bread) we all had an early to bed.

Today is my day of rest. Relative of course. Im not going to run. I think I will get the kids to go for a walk. I saw the Osteopath this morning and she doesnt want me to run on her days so I will just rest. :) And walk. And maybe do yoga. She suspects among other things that my pelvis may not be moving normally due to adhesions from a C/Section 13+ years ago, added to a tailbone broken twice and general weirdness; and we are still working on my knee which is not painful everyrun, just some of them nowadays. LOL Which is certainly better than September when it actually stopped me from running on hills.

End of a very busy weekend

2011-11-27T22:29:00.000-04:00

So relieved to finally be in bed; wish we could have a longer night. The kids were up super late tonight and I expect after their full weekend they are going to be very cranky tomorrow morning!

Clean up from Wednesday/Thursday's storm was fun; Lots of snow and it was heavy and wet! I hope this is not a sign of the winter to come!

Friday was a chilly day but warmed up to above freezing by the end of the day when Dara and I pulled out for a longer run. We had time so we just kept going until dark and 10.4 km were passed in 1:06:16. It was a more relaxed run with slower speed. It was a little chilly to have done our run around town, we went a completely different way than usual. This time of year it can be really hard to stop for stop lights and stuff with chill coming on very quickly. I usually hate to even stop for a walk break when its this cold so times are going to be slowing down quite a lot. I expect the weather to start having some irritating effects on my running for the next...5 months or so. :( I am so dreading these short days and cold temps; it's almost enough to make me want to give up running :(

Saturday morning was Holly's 11th Birthday; we were all up early and out of the house; I had hockey at 7 am and so did Holly; So we were off to different rinks, Scott with Holly and Annika came with me because she had a game at Debert an hour after me. Played a good scrimmage game for 50 minutes then took Annika to her game; they played well but the wheels fell off at the end of the game and they lost. They played well until near the end.

After hockey games we cleaned up and headed to the Valley; B and SIL are moving and we thought we should try to help/lend moral support when we could. Once hockey was over we actually had the rest of the day free; that doesnt happen a lot! So we took advantage and went for a road trip! We stopped in Bayers Lake on the way at Old Navy where we didnt really find anything. On to the Valley; visited with the family and Had some birthday cake for Holly's 11th!

It was nice to see the boys and their parents. We got home very late and the kids slept in a little on Sunday morning. They went to Drama and I went for a run. It was not too cold today! It was above freezing again and weakly sunny! It was nicer than I expected and I took a longer route. I have other things planned today; still could not resist the chance to run. I figured that since our hockey game should be a blowout anyway, what difference could it make if I was a little more tired than usual? 10.4 km in 1:05:30 (stopped to look at some deer lol) on the hilly 10 k loop.
After a quick lunch I was off to hockey which thanks to some spares was not the blowout I expected but rather we won; our first win this year! 50 Intense minutes!
Got a little bit of rest this afternoon after hockey; then a quick supper and off to more hockey games; Annika and Holly played at the same time in different rinks; I took Annika and left immediately after her game to go to my soccer game; Again her team played well but they almost blew it completely; they had a comeback to get within a point thanks to one player's hat trick and lost by only one point. It was a good game. One of their most exciting games.
Soccer game was interesting; the team we played was very good and has played together for years, summer and winter. You could tell they did by how well they seemed to know where they were going to be and they were set up so well. They scored early and then again later; we had one goal; the keeper was going to get the ball but I rushed her and she kicked it right into my chest and it bounced and headed for the net; I followed and made sure it was in; :) So we got one goal and didnt blow out that game either. My second soccer goal was thanks to error on keeper's part.

End of one totally busy weekend!

The Day After Yesterday

2011-11-25T09:24:00.000-04:00

We survived the first snow of the year. It actually DID get very nasty! We got at least a foot of heavy wet snow; luckily my trusty little CRV had no troubles driving on the unplowed roads to get me home safely :) We tucked in for the night and watched the snow.

The morning after (that was yesterday) we were slow to get around. I hopped out of bed and showered and got ready for the day; all before they announced School closures...so I looked out and sure enough we were snowed in; snow up to the garage door, road not plowed. Scott took many hours clearing the driveway but by noon road was still not plowed; at least I could then get the car out and through the snowy road to work. But It was damp and sidewalks are back to their nasty uncleared state (likely for next 6 months SIGH) and I just could not get myself out for the much needed run! :(

After supper Annika had hockey practice; an hour of skating made me feel a little better. We focused a lot on power skating and on shooting; it was quite fun! Bed time came fairly early due to

Friday morning hockey practice with Holly! It is so hard to get organized for this one :( We have to get to school/work right after which makes it complicated. We try to get ready the night before but it is so hard LOL!

Holly wanted to get to school on time so we left practice early; only half an hour of skating this morning! But it is still a nice way to start the day! I have planned a run for after this morning's class but it's still snowy out and cold so Im just not looking forward to it! It is hard to compete in a Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge when this weather just makes me want to curl up and sleep; how can I run as much as someone in a warm climate who is comfortably running for hours? UGH It's challenging :(:(:(

Will see how it goes :)

Photos

2011-11-23T17:25:00.001-04:00

My cutiepies

Amazing fall weather; home!

Annika climbing a tree downed in the rainy flood storm

First snowstorm 2011/2012. We got our run in before it got this bad :):)

I'm Baaack!

2011-11-23T14:53:00.000-04:00

Already! bet ya thought I couldnt do it; 2 days in a row? Go me!

Because I am trying to do a better job keeping up and because I dont want to have to write an entire booklong post every single time I do sit down here, and so that I can get a post done in less than 4 days, I am determined to at least write every second day. Or every second workout? Will see :D:D:D

Yesterday was bloody freezing! and really just because I am not ready to give up my lovely fall weather yet! And I might not have to;

Despite this awesome weather we are experiencing AS I TYPE (I love technology) we are supposed to get back up to the high single POSITIVE temps this weekend like 9 and 8 C! So even tho my kids have been picked up early from school today (by their dad not me; Im stuck at work) due to a snow storm ;) this is not what we have to put up with forever. At least 2 more days of not freezing to death are going to be mine!

Yesterday was bloody Freezing (ummm dejavue?) but it was Bright and Sunny and we had a spectacular chilly run. Something about the sun makes it all better. And there is still some strength in the sun right now; it's not gone all weak and sad and with little heat; I can still feel some heat when I stand in the sun (not in the wind) and let it shine on me. I love the sun. And we enjoyed it as long as possible yesterday; 8.55 km in 53:47 awesome minutes before we had to go back into the building and be responsible employees. We did some road running and less trail so it was more like winter running SIGH. Brr. We ran near the high school (at noon) sigh and the students we had to pass were so rude! I mean, do you have to walk 4 across and block the sidewalk AND the grass? Where would you like me to go? And then to glare at me when we say excuse me we need to like exist here? Ugh.

Today we were expecting this snow, like a foot of it (where are my damned snowshoes now)? and therefore we planned to go before it's expected 12 noon arrival. This snow storm has nothing in common with ME or mine...it was 2 hours early LOL. Ah well, we headed out into the snowy brightness and had a lovely albeit a little slippery run around the 5 km loop and including the trail we got in 6.7 km in 42:34 which pace wise sucks but what can ya do with the first real snow of the year? Fall on ice? naw. So we slowed down. Too bad the cars aren't....so many reports of cars and trucks off the road, accidents I hope are not going to actually hurt anyone but will cost insurance companies plenty. Ugh more. You would think no one knew winter was coming. It comes every single year.

Ah well. Listening to the cancellations:)

A Good "Running" Week Despite

2011-11-22T10:38:00.000-04:00

The challenges placed on a busy week could leave me completely paralysed with "I can't do it all" feelings; in fact it has plenty of times when rather than just "doing it all" I go to bed and pull my covers over my head and ask myself "why bother when it's so comfy here and Im warm and happy".

But it seems like a bit more of a victory to look back over a week and think " I did do lots this week. I picked it up (literally sometimes) and pulled it together and was everywhere and did all of the things and cleaned lots of the things and got the three "THINGS" where they needed to be...most days anyway lol. The weather has been mostly agreeable for November, and the days are giving us just enough daylight to still be constructive.

So it's a victory week and I am allowing myself a little bit of a victory rest this morning. Just this morning. Im not doing nothing, Im just doing a lot of it sitting here :):) I will be up and moving soon enough :)

Monday I got myself out of the office and got my run in before picking up the kids. I had hoped it would be a longer run but I did waste enough time that I only had a bit so I took to the trails around Bible Hill (minus the little one with the stream; I assumed it would not be passable in sneakers...or a small boat). It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining and the wind at least not cold ;) 10.4 km in 1:04:11 which was a little bit more than the time I had (sorry kids LOL). After pick up we enjoyed some time out in the yard and sunshine :)

Tuesday I had early class and then saw my Osteo; she concentrated more on other areas and we talked about other issues that have been going on; Im hoping to see some improvement to allergies and belly pains. No run that day; I did however skate with Annika's hockey practice which was good movement and activity :) without impact for practices.

Wednesday was yet another warm beautiful sunny day and I took advantage running out the door for a "short" run which is better than nothing LOL and I did 3 Hill repeats on the College Road hill before heading around the rest of the 5 km loop for total 6.7 wonderful km in 41:05 for a 6:07 / km pace :) Nice for on that hillllll. Hills are your friend right?

Thursday was not the day I would hoped for lol Scott was away so I was off to school early and the kids went to school with their grandmother ;) Between classes and Lab I had to run home for the dishwasher repair man, he was an interesting man, rather rude IMO and after he finished telling me our dishwasher wasnt in as "asthetically" as it could have been, proceeded to preach about college students and vets and played with the cat. All the while I was wanting to run and needed to get back to class;) ah well I did get some housecleaning finished :) After kid pick up there was supper and then Holly had hockey practice and then bed time stuff with kids as Scott still away SIGH I was SO much extra tired on Thursday, not sleepy but that weary " I cannot walk any further than I have to" day :( I also felt a bit boggy-headed and sore throat/stuffy/congested feeling; I took some Cold FX that night (3!) and then the next day twice (6!) and then another that night and 2 on Saturday and one on Sunday and amd feeling so very much better :) Back to just sleepy lol for now!

Friday AH I love Fridays lol Class was ok and after class I had a run with Dara :) We went on the trails around BH (the dry ones at least LOL) and came back up to the college with 9.3 km behind us :):) It was a good run :) Still feeling a little crappy that day so it was good to get that run in; after lab was over it was home and into bed! Meant to go to the tree lighting in town but we were all way tired and chose instead to get to bed earlier and be able to function on a busy Saturday/Sunday.

Saturday is the first day of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge at http://www.runtothefinish.com/ which is an activity and eating right over the holiday challenge to remind us to stay active and don't totally forget to eat well between the festivities. Saturday was a super busy day in a super busy weekend! It started at 7 am when both Holly and I had hockey games :) 50 minutes of sprints and crashes lol totally high impact cardio for my challenge :) Score 5 points!
After our hockey efforts we had a nice breakfast (not so healthy french toast ) and then headed off to Annika's game in Brookfield. She played well; she has been playing defense with the other little girl on her team and their coach calls them Girl Power :) She is getting so good at poking away the puck and has little hesitation when she is going for the larger players! Even when she falls! It was very much fun to watch!
The weather was amazing with full sun and cool temps (like 6 C), and after Annika's game I stripped off to my running clothes and ran from the rink in Brookfield to the rink in Truro! It wasn't that far; its relative right? I did a long run of about 10.something km last week and thought this week I could go up to 13 since I am sort of rebuilding once again; Im not sure why since winter is about to set in and that totally limits my longer runs; ever run 10 miles at -15? Freaking brr you just cannot stay warm. But anyway while I can I am making longer long runs again. And since I have had not a single peep from my wonky knee I thought this would be awesome.
And it was. I mean, how much better can it get, sun shining, not too cold but not too cold, and I don't know if it was the net downhill despite rolling hills, or the temperatures, or the slight tailwind, but it was like the fastest and easiest run ever! First 5 km was justover 28 minutes, 10 k was under 58 minutes (fastest this year?) and 14.4 km were finished in 1:22:27 for a 5:43 pace! I mean seriously, who expects that after a morning hockey game and on a LONG RUN? When my pace should have been at least a minute slower? It just felt so very very good!
I did hit a truck on this run;) I saw this fellow coming out of a parking lot towards the sidewalk I was on; traffic was heavy and I could see he was not going to get out of that parking lot any time soon but he seemed to think he might have a shot lol....I knew he was not looking my way and when he stopped I hesitantly kept going but then he started coasting onto the sidewalk and still did not look my way. So I Slapped the front of his truck hood; scared the absolute crap out of him I know! I waved and said "HIIIIIII" and then when he was stopped and likely considering the huge load in his pants I ran across in front and continued on down the sidewalk. I'm just so tired of people who don't consider pedestrians and block the sidewalk or just keep driving despite the fact that there is a person there. Sitting comfy in their warm cars with their heated seat and they cannot stop for the people on their feet in the chill because it might make them 4 seconds later to whereever they are going. I'm glad I at least am watching out for THEM since I would be a flat runner otherwise. Multiple times.
So a total WIN on the long run this week. Can I keep up this trend? Snow is coming soon!
After the game we went home and I rested and puttered and did some housework before supper and the Santa Parade! The kids were all supposed to be on the 4H Clifton float although Annika decided last minute to jump off and she hung out with me instead. We had a long walk (1 mile but with a 9 year old) after meeting the float to where we were meeting friends to watch it; the walk warmed us up considerably! LOL. The parade was nice, I like nighttime Christmas parades with the twinkling lights and the Sweet Candy Christmas theme was cute :) Long walk (1 mile) back to parade start and the car which was stuck on the dyke (long story) lol and then we had drinks with friends before heading home. I was SO glad we could sleep in the next morning! Or not.
Sunday morning I could not sleep in :( I tried very hard but I just could not do it! :( So I got out of bed and sat in my living room doing bows and knitting a sock until the family got up :) We had some breakfast and then they all went to Drama/Church while I stayed in my jammies and finished up some housework/bow work and knitted a little more (I tore the sock out eventually tho). Annika decided on Drama over hockey for that morning; her game was an "extra" and I had told her before we knew about it that she could go to Drama; she has a solo in the Christmas play and really wanted to go and practice it with the group! She has to get a little louder tho! I really missed her hockey game but sure did enjoy the quiet Sunday morning at home.
Sunday afternoon I had a hockey game; another 50 minutes of high intensity for my challenge! unfortunately things did not go exactly to plan and after my second time hitting the ice with my head (thank god for helmets) I had to admit to headache and nausea and sat a shift. A quick concussion test after the game confirmed a mild (not serious) concussion and other than some memory lapses for the time after the game I actually ended up fine (with enough Tylenol). Annika had a hockey game a couple of hours later so I rallied for that; the bright lights and yelling were a bit hard on my head but more Tylenol had me out of the rink and off to our second soccer game which was a 1-0 loss (lazy goal went in :( we should have had it) I had a few headers which may not have been well thought out but all in all it wasnt a bad game. I was pretty sluggish but without many spares I played almost the entire game (one break). Another 50 minutes for my challenge!

So Monday morning was a groggy morning that dawned too early with a splitting headache that the Tylenol had some trouble catching up with; I did sleep right to my alarm which doesnt happen often; maybe that is because of the kids who were up way past bedtime and cranky? Or the one that started throwing up and missed the toilet so she sat in her little foul puddle and kept puking onto her hands and feet? OMG the stuff nightmares are made of! Her father dealth with the mess and I took the poor little (cleaned and bathed)creature to bed with me. That's my role. Comfort. He does puke. I hug. But it was a late night.

Monday I wanted to get a run in since I had not "run" on Sunday. I had to pick up the nighttime puker from school due to a sore belly (ok she was NOT sick. But once the school call comes Im obliged to pick up.) so I did not get a run in during the day. Before supper and when there was still an inkling of daylight I headed up the hill and OMG was immediately struck by a) how COLD the wind was...what a change from the weekend; and b) how dead my legs were. I felt like I was dragging two pieces of firewood along. or some boat anchors. It was awful! LOL But I got those 6.6 km done in 41:27 so it was not a complete loss. My head was much better and I was just glad for some fresh air.

So that brings us up to today. Seriously it is Tuesday. I started this post on Saturday! Gads why is it so hard to write? Because its a long post! I need to get back to posting short daily posts lol. I will add some photos when I get back home. Today I have a run planned with Dara (in about 20 minutes). But nothing else. Snowfall warning for tomorrow but we are already planning a pre-snow run. Thursday might not be a running day; with expected RAIN on top of the snow. I might get a workout done at home (yoga? OH PLEASE yoga!).

Have a great Tuesday!

“Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”

2011-11-14T12:54:00.000-04:00

November so far has been an awesomely busy crazy month. I feel like we rarely stop running around and when we do I fall asleep almost instantly! UGH!
Im still not sleeping so well, so it's nice when I get to go to sleep early. It makes the 430 am mornings much nicer. I wish I could sleep right through to my alarm, this sleeplessness is getting a little old. I actually almost fell asleep in class yesterday while I was supposed to be watching student presentations. They were good but I was just that tired!

November 1 was the day after Halloween :):):) The weather was super nice :) I did not get to go running until slightly later in the day, and I had been paying attention more to the weather eye on my desktop for temperatures rather than going OUTSIDE to see how to dress for runs; What a mistake lol. It was way warmer than the temp said it was. I had worn a shirt and a vest over my shorts and it was so warm! I had to ditch the vest but they dont tie around your waist so well so I ended up hiding it in some bushes to get back to it later :)

Around 6 km I felt some cramps :( I had taken care of all sorts of GI business all day including drinking my coffee and eating right but still felt a little hungry and had some awful pains from 6 km to the end of the run. :( Did some trails and some road loops and ended up at about 13 km by the end :( but had to make a pit stop in some bushes when almost back to the end :( biggest FAIL to date LOL. But 13 sunny km in 1:21:44.

The belly pains have continued to be a problem ever since November started :( Every run I go for is plagued by pains and it feels like my stomach is slapping around in there. It's kinda gross. It has turned the last half of every run into a nightmare.

Wednesday is very busy and has been a rest day lately :)

Thursday was maybe very rainy? I cannot remember if that was the day I ran in rain? It was a long time ago :):) I have been having some issues with time managing; I just dont always use the time that I have; I just try to get one more thing and one more thing done :( and then I run out of running time :( but I have still been getting runs in; just shorter ones. Thursday was 7.8 km in 49:44. Not great time.

I cannot believe how much hockey the kids have been playing LOL and then there is mine as well :)
Friday morning Holly had hockey practice and I took Annika as well which was fairly painful lol. She is not a morning girl! Had a nice skate :) And then a busy day at work. Friday is becoming another rest day, at least for a couple more weeks :)

Saturday was 7 am hockey for me :) Then some bows were done; it was a little snowy out UGH I know snow! And after dinner we went to New Glasgow and visited my grandmother and aunt; then we visited another auntie and her family for supper :) nice :) then we bought a new dishwasher which still does not work SIGH.

Sunday morning was Time Change day! Fall is a slightly easier switch than Spring; we gain an extra hour. But of course at night, it feels an hour lated than it suddenly is, and I feel it! Annika had hockey but since I was up nice and early I managed a quick run in the barely-light out! lol. 6.6 km up the hill and back in 39:20; had to hurry a little to make it in time for Annika's practice; it was not a game weekend. After my hockey game in the afternoon (1-1 tie) I took Annika to her hockey practice where we did tonnes of skating drills :)

Monday back to work and back to runs; I made the most of my time and did 10 km in 1:01:30. I went on some trails and roads around Bible Hill again; it's great to be able to use the trails as long as there is decent weather!

I am currently not making the most of my time; I should be out running right now but I am looking at finishing this 4 day old post now, before I allow myself the luxury of runnning. And while letting my dinner settle.

Still struggling with the time change, Tuesday was a sluggish awful day LOL which I forced myself out the (work) door in some awful wind for another 10 k run. Wind is not my friend and it has been keeping me from running a nice (albeit flat and boring) BH loop around Farnham Drive. It's just too windy out there on a still day! LOL I make up for it by running other places ie. trails, town streets which buffer the wind a little. 10 km in 1:02:44 was acceptable lol. Getting some good kms in this month so far! Trying not to fall off the wagon.

Wednesday is still a rest day LOL

Thursday I managed time badly again and was left with a smaller window of time; if I dont get it done before picking up the kids chances are I will not get it done. This was a niceeee sunny day and I didnt want to waste as much as I did inside! LIke I am right now! LOL write write! Last Thursday I did run the trails alllll the way around the office area for 11 km (could have made it further, given the time). It was great, lots of crunchie leaves :) 11 km in 1:10:06 SiGH.

Friday was Memorial Day so no school for kids, no work for me; and some super nasty weather. It rained hard; temps were wonderful but 55.8 mm of rain and huge winds had this awesome floodplain town under water. Roads were flooded out, bridges closed. Holly had 7 am hockey and on our way home I enjoyed some high winds/rain driving. My window would not clear! we stayed cosy in the house most of the day, watching movies and fluffing bows. When we did venture out it was hard to get anywhere for closed roads. I did decide not to run before the day; I mean really, I don't have to prove Im hard core by running through weather like that. I could. I choose not to.
I run through those tunnels :):):) the road did not survive; it was torn up and floated away!

Saturday dawned nice and early and somewhat less rainy/more sunny. It was clear when i went to my 7 am hockey scrimmage and most roads, although not all passable, were at least not under as much water. Holly had hockey at 10 am and we had to make several turnbacks trying to get there. Annika had hockey at the same rink 2 hours later and we had to get to town to pick her up; saw some water damage and flood.
Saturday afternoon eventually I got off my butt and went for a run; was a little apprehensive about my route as some of it had been closed as of that morning but I found all roads and bridges repaired (somewhat ) and passable. nice weather for a 8.5 km run 51:38 minutes and it ended in dark!!!!! Yeah time change is biting my butt!
Sunday was a VERY busy day. Although I suppose I could have gotten up at 5 am to go run early, I REALLY wanted to sleep in; first time I stayed in bed past 6 am in over 2 weeks!! So I luxuriously slept in until 7 am (restlessly) and then got Annika off to hockey for 9 am. ZZZ. After some yard work and clean up, I had my hockey game at 3 pm. We started slow; I felt like I could not get my feet moving and was doing some awful bonehead things but we picked it up and I scored a goal on a rebound and a teammate scored to get us tied where the game ended :)
We stayed at the rink because Annika played a great game at 5 pm then I had to hurry over to Bible HIll or our first indoor soccer game; it's always such an eye opener, really, to restart something especially something not done in like 2 years; Im so glad I had the summer of practices with the girls team to remind me; and I think Ive learned a thing or two from hockey about keeping on moving; I scored the goal in our 1-0 win over a "pretty good team" and we had no spares, just all played the whole game. It was awesome.

This brings us to RIGHT NOW where I am still not running despite temps of 14 C out there (NOV 14 huh?) but it's windy SIGH. I need to go out and run right now if I am going to get it in before picking up the kids from school. Time management is not my friend!

Now we are up to date for another week :) My little workout journal/blog idea has taken some hits this year in the post department. I need to update more; the entire point is to be able to keep track of training, and if I cannot remember the runs, that's not working.

Hello November, End of October Wrap Up

2011-11-01T11:48:00.000-03:00

Finished off October with a few less miles than I had hoped for; only 112.9 for the month :(:( this is far below my goal, 50 below September's total (which was low) and 50 below last year.

Im not really on track for my goal of 1800 for the year; Im 350 km off! and I only have 2 months left for this 350 km. I don't think IM going to make it this year! :P
In October I was on the ice 11 times. :)
I did 27 logged workouts; Activity was almost 22 hours.

11,288 calories burned with these activities :)

Longest run was 1:39:31 with 16 km run and 960 calories burned.

Lifetime Totals (since MapMyRun :))
Total Kilometers
4,268.35

Total Hours
719.94

Workouts
815

Total Calories
354,441

Neat stats.

Busy Times. Nothing to say about it.

2011-11-01T11:13:00.000-03:00

I know this busy time will end only to be replaced by another busy time. Over and over I hear people say to us "you are too busy you have to cut stuff out" and Im just rolling my eyes because what can I cut out? Really, only the things that I LIKE. The rest are here to stay. The kids are not over-scheduled; they are in like 2 activities each. unless you start adding up school stuff like choir and band LOL. And I have to work, I have to run, and I want to play hockey. What should I cut out?

Bows will be over soon. That is a time suck lol. Spend half my waking hours dealing with those things, including spinning them up, running all over town dropping off supplies and bows to different people. I look forward to the time I am going to have when making bows is finished; time to clean my house, care for the pets, clean out the car. SIGH.

Running is going as well as can be. The weather has been rainy but I have gotten in runs in my spare (HAHAHAH) time. I swear, if I dont prioritize this shit it doesnt get done! Im all about prioritizing myself some days! We all need to come first once in awhile. (as long as the kids are looked after of course. My first comes behind them first. HA.)

Since last week there has been.... a lot of hockey and a lot of bows.

hockey practices and games X 8. the weekend was relatively hockey free with only 2 games for each of the kids. I played Sat morning and also Sunday afternoon; I played goalie for a team that occassionally calls me and I had a great game; they are good defense and I didnt let any goals in. Neither did the other goalie so it was 0-0 at the end. But at least I didnt lose it for them. I cant score from my net. In the game with my team, I did not score and we lost 3-0. No bitterness, nothing more to say about that. (SIGH).

Thursday no running happened. Between working and office hours and hockey practices there was just no time left for any more. Evenings are SO not happening right now. We ran out at dusk to hunt up some pumpkins from the local pumpkin farm ;) and carved them on Friday.

On Friday morning I skated at hockey practice with Holly's team. Im not convinced they need me in any way but I like that early morning skate and figure I might as well be on the ice as sitting in the stands with a coffee. The kids had no school and they stayed home with a parent running in and out once in a while. The rest of the day was a blur of meetings and classes and long lab; Anatomy lab has hit the stage of Cat Dissection and therefore are long and smelly ;)

Friday night we ran home and dressed the kids up for their parties; Taylor was invited to 3 parties and asked to babysit. She chose one of the parties. The two small people went to the 4H club party and had a total blast; they won the costume contest as Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was a late night.

Saturday morning was super early with hockey pick up game for me and Holly had a game of her own. We left Taylor and Annika sleeping soundly and went out into the dark. SIGH. After my game the kids cleaned and I did bows til I wanted to wrap myself in wire and then I went out for a run; my "long" run consisted of a pathetic 10.3 km but it was nice weather and I was happy to get out. Time to start building up a few more miles to finish off the year before weather gets too nasty and runs are cut short by freezing temps. I think last winter my longest run was 16 km and I near to froze. lol my handheld water bottle did freeze. But the nice 10.3 km in 1:02 was a nice treat with the weather being seriously sunny (and cool not cold.)

In the afternoon the kids had a choir concert (halloween theme) and then they went to the Bearcats game and their grandparents for the night while I did some wild and crazy bowing.

Sunday morning was the sleep in...til 730 am. then we got around to going to Annika's hockey game and then I bowed until my games in the afternoon; then I did more bows til bed time. Partay going on in here.

Monday brought more work and school and bows. A freaking cold 5.1 km run was to be had; I didnt dress warmly enough as I should have had my light vest on, and I was really cold for most of the run. I did it quite quickly to fit in between classes and the 5.1 km was about 29 minutes. (its all relative right?)

After work We got the kids fed and off Trick or Treating (Happy Halloween) while I did YES more bows and then T and T til the kids went to bed; then I spent a couple of hours marking OH the fun the joy. Bringing us to an early Tuesday morning class and lots of exhaustion going on.

Im looking forward today to a rise in temps from 3 yesterday to 7 today; Im waiting my run until later this afternoon in hopes the temps will go up and up and up. The rest of the week looks to be above freezing temps and somewhat sunny by times. Want a nice long run today as tomorrow there might not be a run at all. Thursday morning Im hopeful for a good run before seeing the Osteopath. Will see :)

Cross Country is really OVER :(:(:(

2011-10-26T21:50:00.000-03:00

Cross Country season ended on Monday and although this gives me a teensy bit more time to do things like write blog posts and spin off bows, and maybe even some work stuff, Im still intensely sad to see it end. The reality that some of these kids I will not see anymore because they are going to graduate is setting in. While there will be times I will run into them and see them at the end of year party, it wont be the same.
But all good things come to an end and there will be new kids next year...SIGH.

I did get my run in last Tuesday afternoon before picking up the little kids. It was good :) I ran around town a bit, down through industrial park and up to Walmart. Across from Walmart/Kent there was a small field and I had to stop and watch for a bit because there was an odd group there; 3 deer and a fox were staring back at me. They were so close together! One of the deer pretended it was alarmed that I was watching and put on a little snorting, hopping away show...but none went far. Pretty cheeky.
8.05 km 47:38 minutes.

Wednesday I saw the Osteopath again. Im not sure if you can tell a difference after 3 visits or if I should be? No idea. But with a little less running and seeing her my knee doesnt seem to be bothering me much at all. Wednesday was therefore a rest day. I had some spare time in the afternoon and the kids and I went for a nice walk.

Thursday was pouring rain! LOL It was a busy day for me with Scott picking up the kids and my lab going late; it was easy run day and I hirried to the park in my work clothes to send the XC kids off on their last easy run before deciding what I was to do. It was not just raining there were rivers everywhere but it was super warm; 19 C! I found a small group of dedicated runners and Lavinia waiting for me there so I changed quickly and Lavinia and I headed up into the park behind the kids and wandered around on the trails for an hour! It was SUPER pretty; leaves on the ground everywhere (hiding roots and bumps oops) and tonnes of ankle deep water. After the first while trying to keep feet dry (ha) I gave up and just paddled through the water. Some areas were foggy and were like running through a dryer vent; hot! Other areas were cool. The river was running way high and the falls were exciting! Where was my camera? In my dry car ;)
Estimated 10.5 km in 1:02 ish. Pretty fast considering we walked up some of the steepest hills. One of the best runs I have had lately :) I need more run companionship!

Friday was clearer and cooler. I made it to Holly's hockey practice for 6:40 am and had a good skate with her for 50 minutes; brutal way to start a long work day LOL
We met the XC team at the park for their last hard workout before Provincials and the end of the season :( It was not too hard a workout, 4X30 seconds then 6X90 seconds with equal rests. I did the workout with them although not toooo hard LOL. afterwards there was a little bit of Parkour (which seems to be them clowning around and climbing everything in sight) "Parkour (sometimes abbreviated PK) is a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency. Originally developed in France, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping. Traceurs (parkour practitioners) train to be able to identify and utilize alternate or the more efficient paths. Parkour can be practiced anywhere, but areas dense with obstacles offer many different training opportunities." Then they had a contest to see who could gather rocks and build an inuksuk fastest. I think I see more team-building opportunities next year :)

Saturday was busy "sigh" with hockey for me, bows, hockey for Holly, Hockey for Annika, and then more bows before the 4H Auction fundraiser in the evening. Not an early night.
Sunday there was more hockey for Annika (X2) and me (X2) and Holly (X1) plus Taylor had Drama, the kids all went to church, more bows got "done", and we had the XC Pasta Dinner party at Lavinia's place.

We had a little bit of yoga before heading in to the fooooood which was so good and there were games and coach presents which were SO incredibly sweet :):):) Im so going to miss my team!

I had to leave the party early for our 2 hockey games; this season is going to be a little brutal I suspect; some unpleasant changes to our team might be hard to overcome :( I did get a very pretty goal, popping a pass up over the goalie :) Could not do that if I meant to! lol. I need to learn to lift the puck.

Sunday night could not come soon enough for me UGH!

No running for 2 days; Monday came in nice and foggy and I worked for a couple of hours before heading away to Halifax's Point Pleasant Park for the XC Provincials! The park is beautiful LOL and we had a nice 2 km walk through on the course before the race start, and I did get a chance to run a warm up with some of the team members :) And spent the day running...from the bottom of the hill to the top and back at least 25 times ;) then to finish and to our cozy tent staging area overand over :) It was another exciting day which came out sunny with fog and temps up and down but no real wind; perfect running weather. The teams had good races with Senior Boys taking a bronze medal. Lots and lots of good running and an awesome course (sure, I know I didnt run it ;))

Tuesday was back to early morning class and long day at work; it started raining in the morning but I steeled myself and went for a 6.5 km run after lunch; it was not cold (9C) and the rain (more like a heavy heavy drizzle) was pretty wet. 39:20 minutes.

Annika and the Golden Jersey

After drying up and another meeting I was able to go get Annika and take her to hockey practice; I forgot my skates and was useless in the warm room. House was cold and damp when we got home; Fall is so hard temps wise as it's often too warm to keep a fire going but too damp and chilly to have none :( so shivery waiting for house to warm up.

And now it is Wednesday and I managed to get a run in at supper time before going home to family :) 8.7 km 52:45 minutes and I felt awesome BUT had some knee and hamstring issues :(

NSAC Homecoming 5km Trail Race

2011-10-18T11:32:00.001-03:00

Still having fun! I think I need a vacation. Away from real life.

Managed a run last Tuesday :) 8.2 km in 50:36 which isnt awful :( Just short of what I hoped it would be. I think Tuesday night I might have taken one of the kids to hockey. I cannot remember LOL Yes it was Annika who had hockey. They were being evaluated.

Wednesday is always a long day not made any easier by a longish lab in the afternoon. I am sad that I cannot join my XC team in a good Yoga workout; work is interferring with my fun! LOL After lab Holly had hockey so more rink time and socializing;)

Thursday I ran before lab I think lol I did a test 5 km run to check pace and was not unhappy to see 28:30 for 5.2 km which is a 5:29 pace. And I thought it was pretty slow on the roads :) More hockey for Holly that night.

Friday; off to Antigonish for the Cross Country Regional competition. Our runners did SUPER well, trying hard for banners and taking 2nd in Senior boys and 3rd in Senior Girls and Intermediate boys. Our one intermediate girl made top 15 and will compete at Provincials next week :)

So running Friday would have been difficult. There may have been some time at the meet but I would have been sweaty and uncomfortable and it drizzled most of the day so I kind of just didn't. Besides I was running around from place to place trying to see our runners in as many places as possible! It was a fun day! And I ate at McDonalds for the first time in like a year. I NEVER leave that place thinking Hmm that was good. I did have a milkshake and no matter how much plastic is in them and how many calories (560 for a small GASP) I still did enjoy it. I miss smoothies and milkshakes that never seem to get made anymore.

Saturday was the NSAC 5 km Homecoming run. It was on the trail this year, with 2 laps around the Bible Hill Rec Park before heading back up the trail to the ending. That trail is pretty rolling with hills; and at the park we had to climb a steep hill back up to the trail...twice! LOL It was challenging! I played hockey first thing in the morning and although I knew I might be a little tired I was still kind of surprised at how heavy my legs felt when I was warming up. It quite worried me! But once the race started I sort of forgot about it. Too busy thinking about climbing and coming down! LOL the weather had started out kind of rainy in the morning but was totally sunny and quite warm by this time and sweat was pouring :) A very humid day; I love NS weather that has us facing snow last week and a Humidex this week.
So we all started in the woodlot parkinglot, and ran a little loop around to the end of the trail, where we headed up hill. up up up lol. We ran behind the farm complex, where it was later reported there was a bear the night before. lol Then we ran along the edge of a drop off to the river, to the rec park. When I made the turn I could see the front runners already heading towards us for their second loop (while I was starting my first). The loop was about a km long I think. I was passed the first time on the way down. We went around the ball field where there was ankle deep water. And then crossed a parking lot with some "trash" in it. lol What is WRONG with people? Then back up the hill where I was passed by some members of my XC team :):) Did my second loop and it was slippery in the mud on corners :) and just as I was ending I passed some people just starting their second; that was kind of neat. I headed back up the trail, never did catch my rabbit as she was quite speedy :) But I caught up to a fellow I ran the Cabot Trail run with, Im not sure he knows me but I remember him, he's been on our team both times I ran it. We ran together until just before the end when I just couldnt stay with him; I finished to the cheers of my team and friends :):) and was in place 42 overall; I checked my time and it was super close to my watch at 28:20 ish. I liked my time. I was in the open category which apparently means no freaking category at all; those people between 20 and 39 who belong no place; I was SECOND in that non-category but there is no age-group award for those people; I dont need a medal but it sure would have been nice to have that recognition! :P Very happy with my run on tired legs and my time :) We had a half decent meal (with water; no drinks, and not enough rice crispie squares for everyone?) with the team members who came out, and then I had to go to the Ex grounds to see how the Fall Fair Open Holstein show was going; Taylor was working with a farm there with her father and they were busy and showing. I went home for bows and mowed the front lawn before the littles came home. Saturday night was "another" early night for us!

Sunday was WAY too busy with hockey, and BBQ, and more hockey; and a band concert for Taylor; I did not get a long run in. I had thought I might in the afternoon but I was doing bows and it started kind of raining and I was hanging out with the kids and I just did not go. Not like it matters. Im not training for anything I guess :)

Monday I ran my first 4 km with the XC team, we did 4X30 second intervals of not quite full effort, with a rest between, then 2X4 minute intervals of race pace, then 2 more 30 second sprints and some cool out; before heading off to pick Taylor up from band; while I waited for her I took a few minutes and did 3 km in the park and around the school for 7 km total in 40:22. Thought I might get a little more in later but got busy at home and ended up sleeping ;)

Bringing us back to Tuesday. I have planned to run after lunch and before XC; have to pick up little kids and it's a bit confusing with the Choir and some sort of a sign language thing afterward; I suspect if I dont run before 3 I wont be running at all today SIGH. And tomorrow is a long day here so I dont hold out any hopes for then; plus I have an Osteo appt and I wont be able to run afterwards :):):)

Running is going ok; life is really busy and as much as I hate to think it; I don't actually think I CAN do it all SIGH.

Time Flies when you are Crazy Busy. Don't talk to me about Fun.

2011-10-11T10:41:00.000-03:00

Where has time been flying? I cannot believe it is the middle of October (well almost) and students are starting to talk about MIDTERMS and I was like huh? Midddd terms? Um. Crap. Where is my fall going?

Since we last talked, I have NO idea what Ive been up to. Lemme see if I can remember ;)

Saw the Osteopath and had another rest day.

Run less than usual.

Spent a lot of time standing in my room spinning up bows and watching On Demand tv and movies.

Started Hockey and Im aching head to toe.

Skated with the kids.

Annika got her cast off. Her arm is more sore now than before. And stiff.

Taylor started school band. She is playing a French Horn.

OH I know where the time suck went. PRO SHOW. Spent 3 days at the Ex grounds with the kids and their calves. Holly's calf won it's class. Taylor's was buried deep in 7th place.

It rained for 8 days. Starting to look at the shed and think that wood would have made a great ark. Our roof leaked. YIKES.

During that rain we ran the finish line for the last XC regular season meet. Regionals are this week.

KM Count for year has reached 1375 (almost).

Had thanksgiving weekend. We had company at our house.

Had turkey dinner. Just one. Having leftovers today for lunch :):):)

missed my planned fall Marathon. It was this weekend past :(:(:(

Cleaned up the back gardens somewhat and started the front ones.

Read a book.

I clearly need to get more sleep.

I had like 3 runs last week which is ok; had some rest and actually my knee seems to feel a little better. Rest? Osteo? Foam rolling? Not doing Nearly enough of that.

Ive not had a long run in 8 days. And that run was shorter than usual. Time is just not on my side, and I was getting that run in between rain showers so I was just lucky to get it done. XC is almost over and then rather than being easier to get in runs it will actually get harder. I know. But I use that time to run quite often. Not today :) Annika plays hockey after school and choir. We had a thanksgiving practice yesterday and that is the only reason I got my run in.

But today I feel a little more under control. Maybe we will finish painting the shed, cleaning up the lawn, and trimming the driveway. Maybe. Only limited sunlight left and days are getting cooler. We have had some amazing weather this week; last week it snowed. SNOW!. And then it was like 23 C this weekend. We wore shorts. Confuse much? Its hopefully going to be nice today at some point. I have some run to do :)

Humid Weather finally breaks and Rest Day

2011-09-28T17:34:00.000-03:00

Monday afternoon running with the Xcountry kids was grossly humid. They were dripping and could not believe how wet their clothes were. Im used to that; been grossly sweaty for a couple of years now. But it really was hot and humid and they felt legs were heavy and dragging and they were way more tired than they should be. And they were; humidity is not a runners' friend. I myself was better than expected after the long run of the day before; I actually did some of the km trail repeats that I put them through as well as running to the top of the trail and back down for a total of 5 km in about 31:30 minutes of running. The km loop we did was a very hilly part of the XC trail here and it was not easy but they did not complain too badly.

The falls, not the XC kids and No one jumped during my XC practice ;)

Tuesday was an easy run day so they ran to the waterfalls and back twice; the second time at the falls a bunch of them went swimming!

On Tuesday the heavy humidity had stopped and a cool (chilly) breeze had picked up, and I really was not hot enough for swimming but apparently they were, so they dipped in, many of them all the way to the tops of their heads!

I left them after they got out of the water and went up into the park for a longer easy run; was interrupted by a pee break at the top of the park ;) but 8 km in about 50:15 minutes was ok.

My knee has been hurting and has actually "spread" to the back of my leg. Im thinking I need more stretching and foam rolling ;)

Wednesday Im taking a rest day. I had a nice walk on the trail at lunch time of about 3.4 km but I am not running today! by choice! YAY! lol I might get some sleep. I might get some bows done. Might go for a bike ride. But Im not running ;)

Monday And I can't wait to be enjoying some Sun!

2011-09-26T12:35:00.000-03:00

I hear it's sunny out. I do not even have a window to test that theory. I open my door and peek out the window of another office and see that, yes, there is sun in the sky although it appears to also be cloudy (that could be smoke from the building across the way).

Last Thursday was as I expected; I ran with Taylor and her friend and met up with the team doing an easy run on the trails at different areas. Taylor is trying, it's nice to see. LOL Her friend was easily able to keep up over the 3.2 km we did (24 minutes) while running back and forth letting Taylor catch up. A bit harder of a run for her that day as I was not waiting for her as much. She ran with Holly last night and she enjoyed it because when she ran with the 10 year old, she felt fast. LOL

I didn't feel like I was getting very many miles in last week so on Friday morning after lecture and before lab I headed out to do 10 km. It was a slow 10 K with some very tired legs. I did as much trail as I could and knee was just barely piping up on the hills but enough. I was very hot and when i did get back to my office (8.75 km cut short due to time constraints) I actually put on a fan and "dried off". It has been humid! Holy warm YAY! 53 Minutes for the distance. I had time to eat and sort of made it to lab on time (the clock over there is way fast). That lab took the rest of the afternoon.

To combat the massive tiredness I have been going to bed lately WiTH the kids. I dont always go right to sleep but I am trying to feel more rested. But sleep in the middle of the night can be hard to get; there was the 3:55 am dog barking, 4:30 am train, 4:45 am Scott leaving, 5:30a m howling SOMETHING in the back yard and resultant dog barking, 5:55 am kid talking in sleep and batting me on the side of the head with her cast...yeah sometime during the night she crawled into bed with me. I see an early night tonight although I plan to paint the shed until dark. Dark is coming earlier now; it's dark by 8 pm completely and getting hard to see by 730.

Saturday I did not run; we spent the rainy day in the Valley visiting family while Scott and my brother starting building his shed. Lots of driving. Few better ways to spend rainy days.

Sunday morning it was not sunny as promised but was not actually raining (94% humidity) so after the kids were off to Drama I went for my long run. I decided rather than thinking long run I would break it into pieces lol running a start on the Irwin Lake road and planning to head back at the end of the trail and finish up about 24 km on the trail which gave me an out if my knee was a "pain".
It took me over 28 minutes to actually feel like running; before that I was just going through the motions. Once I finally felt like running things got a little questionable; why do things always feel like a good idea when you are running but in retrospect are a little silly? lol
Like my decision to keep going after the trail ended, and go right down into Hilden and back to Truro that way? the trail ended at only about 4 miles so I wanted to get further before turning back and hitting the Cobequid Trail (yawn). I underestimated how long it would take to get into Hilden tho; I hit pavement at about 10.5 km but did not get to the crossroads until about 13.75 km. After heading down a 2 km steep HILL. That was not very much fun; knee issues and a cramping calf kind of ruined the down hill for me. Back into Truro in about 19 km. NOW I had to get back to Old Barns...how many times have I said I will have to stop running without my phone? I cannot do math; on the trail I was thinking Old barns in 7 km which is acceptable but that is from Lower Truro not Willow street; SO now I was looking at another 9 km UGH. I wimped out at 22.5 km at the convenience store to call Scott and see if he could come meet me in another couple of km but a fellow (That I know) at the store offered me a ride and I was all like...Yeah Ive gone far enough LOL So I stretched and then caught a drive back to the start. My knee? Acceptable although not as comfortable as last week. I was careful.
Run done in about 2:22 minutes and a 6:19 Pace. not bad; I could have gone further but chose not to. LOL It is nice to have the choice. And not overdo things.
I feel a little tired today and a little sore but not terribly. A workout with the Cross Country team today should work out the kinks. Will see.
Now going out to see some sun.

She has a CAST now!

2011-09-22T13:12:00.000-03:00

Baby Girl with her still-wet cast

After a trip to Halifax and yet another opinion we now have a cast on the child. I don't disagree wtih any of the opinions of our now 3 different experiences; the first doctor waiting for the swelling to go down and recommending a cast seconded by the IWK; the second doctor's less-invasive approach to use the splint which Annika was doing awesome with; and the IWK NP opinion that, particularly since it was not just the radius that was broken but also the ulna, a cast would provide best immobilization and would protect best. So now there is a cast in the house and we will see how long the child is happy with it BUT she is still currently thrilled. Also commented on how heavy it is!

Not a tonne of running going on this week; Tuesday Taylor decided to discontinue her team swimming (OMG I am still having some trouble with this one) and she wants to run with me. We went for a run in the park and she was a trooper while I dragged her up and down and she wants to go again. NO knee pain at all but it was a short, easy run and often the knee pain doesn's flare up until after 4 km.
Wednesday I grabbed a short 6.4 km run before work, knowing the crazy day later would not allow a run. I actually had a really good run; very little comment from the knee. I wonder if this is the improvement I was hoping for, or just a calm after the appointment I had? That is 3 runs now without pain. But I can still occassionally feel the burn even when just walking.

Wednesday after the trip to the city we had Holly's hockey, then haircuts. All the girlies in my house got some trimmed hair (Annika chopped off a few inches).

Today is an an easy run with the XC team. I need a few more km but Taylor and her friend are coming so Im not sure I will actually get them in. It's such a juggling act!

What a week! Holy cow!

2011-09-20T14:42:00.000-03:00

Since I last wrote I have:

taken one kid to the city for allergy testing and on the same day spent 3+ hours in the ER (which I hear is a short wait...) with one of the other kids for Xrays and a splint on a broken arm

Worked out with the Xcountry kids 3 times

Taken Xcountry kids to a meet once

had 10,000 meetings at work

had pizza for lunch and dinner one day

Survived 5 single parenting days without a lot of trouble

Gotten the kids to school on time once.

Ran with knee pain

Ran without knee pain

Ran 12 k with no pain; followed shortly by the 10 km Terry Fox Run where I had 2 little girls on bikes for company, also with no pain - 22 km split long run

Watched Holly's first Ice Hockey practice for 2011-2012 season

Met the creatures...er....teachers...at the kid's elementary school

Met with a Massage Therapist/Osteopath who says I am not only a mess but a puzzle and is going to work on putting me together

Attended Rick Hansen's Man in Motion 25 year celebration at the park in town

Gotten very little sleep.

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So we have had our first broken bone. SIGH. Annika was jumping from the jungle gym to the monkey bars at her school and forgot about sweaty hands...slipped and fell off, landing on her right hand. She broken the radius above the wrist. The ER doc splinted it, got us a referral to the IWK, and told us to come back in 2 days for a cast which we did...and the doc that day decided we would not get a cast but would instead manage the break with the solint rather than a cast and sent us on our way. We are still going to take her to the IWK, because we already have the appointment. Should be interesting to see what they do then.

Annika is handling the whole thing really well, with a sense of humour. And she really doesnt seem to be in much pain; Unless she is overdoing it. But against judgement she is playing on the trampoline and running around the playground; but not playing on the monkey bars ;) I was going to take her on the Terry Fox run this past weekend on her bicycle; she is doing so well, I forgot that she really cannot ride her bike for 10 km with a broken arm. She stayed with her Nanny.

Xcountry season is in full swing at the high school. Im doing far less hair-pulling this year as Lavinia is back and she is doing a lot of the stuff without my even knowing it! Im lost most of the time but things are getting done so it's all good. I do some runs with them and sometimes I just watch and give orders lol. Yesterday I was ready to run with them on some fartleks but just before practice I saw a new MT/Osteopath about my knee; she actually spent loads of time on my back, head, hips, etc. And made all sorts of "ugh" noises and "oh my" comments lol and she is going to work on getting me balanced and all body parts moving and working together, which should take care of loads of the issues I have besides my knee...which is not getting a lot of attention LOL. She told me NOT to do right out and run as soon as I left her office...so I didn't. But I am going to have a nice easy run today.

The Xcountry team had a meet last week which is always very exciting and lets them know where they are in their running and what sort of work they are going to have to do in order to get to where they want to be.

Scott was away for 5 days for work and it could hardly have been a worse time, with Annika's broken arm and all the extra things taking so much time and effort. And the dogs were real assholes while he was away. No matter how well Annika is taking her broken arm, there is a lot of things that she cannot do, so everything is taking a little longer. We had 3 school days and 2 weekend days; by the time Saturday came around I was WAY tired and did nothing but housework, laundry, and gardening. Because all that is nothing. lOL

Sunday I got the kids to Drama/Church, and then while I was waiting for them to be done, I did the first part of my long run; Garmin died on me so I just ran for awhile and turned back; my 10 k run turned into about 12 k in 70 minutes instead and I was late...

which made me and Holly late for the Terry Fox Run in the park; but we made it with little time to spare. Many of the Xcountry kids were there, and although they were way faster, Holly and Angeline (biking) and I did the (actually 9.75 k) in about 63 minutes, including stop lights, cross walks, water breaks, and dodging ignorant pedestrians who apparently had no idea that an organized run was going on. This was very disappointing to me; apparently a lot of the participants of the run left early on their own, rather than starting the run as a group; some went hours before, Im not sure why. I think that this, combined with the fact that there was little advertising, the roads were not closed, there was a ceremony going on for the Battle of Britain, and the Rick Hansen tour was going on the next day, combined to create very little Terry Fox impact on the town. It was almost an afterthought. Ah well, some money was raised.

After the run Holly and I got her ready for her first hockey ice time. She is trying out for the girls PeeWee team and they had a conditioning skate. Holly looked SO SMALL. She is short and age-handicapped lol so she looked extra small. I hope her making the team will not be a problem, she is a great skater and puck-handler.

We were ready for bed after all this so tried for an early bed time but didn't get much sleep. I seriously tried Saturday AND Sunday mornings to sleep in and was awake by 530 both days and unable to go back to sleep. Kept the trend going last 2 mornings as well and gotta say Im getting a little sleepy. It can be hard to keep my attention on something like meetings when Im this sleepy LOL. I have been sleeping with Annika while Scott has been away and despite me putting a big ol pillow in the middle of the bed she is still getting past and beating me up!

Im looking forward to catching up on some things now that we are a 2 parent home again! And that includes the running that was neglected!

Long Run Semi-Success

2011-09-11T21:57:00.000-03:00

Friday afternoon I did hill repeats with the XC team. I had great runs up although not pushing very hard, already ran that day, being careful of sore legs. Coming back down the hill was very painful. I had to walk a few times, limped some, was uncomfortable. CRAP.

Party Friday night. Sat morning was signing up all the kids for all their winter activities. Taylor is swimming as a senior this year. Holly is trying out for the local-est PeeWee girls team. And Annika will be playing co-ed atom this year. I hope they all have fun!

Saturday night was a wedding. Brr. It was in a tent and despite wraps and stuff, it was very chilly. Our table was on the end where the wind was blowing, and although the tent was great and it wasnt tooo windy inside, the wind lifted the tent flaps and the rain came in on us the entire time we were eating. So I was cold and wet. We warmed up later, all was fine.

Sunday afternoon I finally headed out for a run at about supper time. Not hungry, which is always a concern. The sun was out and temps were perfect. And I felt nothing from my knee for first 4 km, then just a twinge. It complained a little at about 8 km I had to walk down the big hill on College...but it improved after that and I did not have to walk any more hills.

17 km done, I think sort of a good run, felt good, 1:48:19 without a lot of effort which is a pretty good pace including a little walking. Not bad for me.

Checking In

2011-09-09T14:41:00.000-03:00

Nothing much has changed around here :)
I was right about the weekend; KICK ASS weather and fun to be had!
Ran at noon on Friday with Dara, she showed me some new trails that are going to be AWESOME this winter for snowshoeing. Fun Fun! LOL We did 6.4 km, about 42 minutes. :) Was good. It was super hot. I love hot.
Then we packed up and headed for Scott's friend's cottage. But not before we ordered free glasses from Clearlycontacts.ca. If you have not, you should check this place out for your glasses needs! I have some pairs; I am wearing my glasses like accessories LOL not like glasses. Red, Blue/Brown, Brown metal, and now, GREEN! LOL. Easy since my prescription has not changed significantly in the past 3 years ;) Even my 8 year old ones are sufficient for around home ie. watching tv.
Anyway we went off camping and had tents in the friend's back yard at the cottage, which although it's not really roughing it, was still camping. We slept on the ground with no fly on the tent (chance of rain was 0) so we could see the stars. It was awesome.
Saturday morning we got up and had a lazy morning. I mean lazy. Coffee on the deck, breakfast, knitting (working on a sock I have since ripped out 2 more times), and time wasting. Finally we got dressed and went to Five Islands where we met up with friends who were camping. It was chilly there, so no beach walk and no hike (I had worn sandals...didnt know!) and we got super sunburned LOL nice visiting. After returning to the cottage I put on running clothes and off I went, doing the cottage road loop and then since that wasnt long enough, heading up a smaller loop within, ending with 32:30 minutes and no idea how far. WAIT. It is totally on the map for MAPMYRUN! Gonna map it. ok I thought about 4.5 but its more like 5.7 km that I covered. Go me! LOL It was very flat and actually bothered my knee a lot.
After I ran I met up with kids and men down the shore where the kids were bass fishing. They have never done anything like that before and they loved it. They caught nothing but thought it was awesome.

Campfire that night after an amazing meal and then sleep listening to the crashing waves and waking to the same noise was awesome. The 5 am crows were not so awesome. The weather the entire weekend was amazing tho so early mornings were easier to deal with LOL.
We had coffee and an awesome breakfast, before and during packing up and heading home to shower and head back OUT to the Valley to see my boys! OK they are not my boys but as close as I am ever going to get. They were lovely!

Home again and off to a good night's sleep!
Monday was Labour Day and somehow I feel Like I am forgetting what we did. Oh we had some company for a bit, I finished putting sealer on the back deck floor (have rails left) and we had the neighborhood BBQ which was actually a lot of fun! Our neighbors are quite nice :) there was food galore and swimming and games and water balloons. I think grown ups had as much fun as kids. I had a test run that morning (later than I would have liked....very humid) and tried for 10 km, thinking I might go more later if time permitted but knowing I simply had to get that deck finished. I thought if my knee stood 10 km I would be ok.
What did end up happening was a couple of things. I finished 10.4 km in just over 1:06 which is acceptable, but in order to not have a very sore knee I had to do one of two things; I either ran down hills with a silly hitch in my stride where I dropped one hip rather a lot and then it didnt hurt. This is obviously not a long term solution. OR I ran down the hill with a long stride, like a bat outta hell, which caused no discomfort at all. LOL weird. Good Run. Did not go out later. Deck, company, BBQ, you name it.

Tuesday was the first day of school. The kids were excited and we were not TOO late. They had a great day! I had Orientations and meetings to fill my day before I picked up kids and carted them around. I was busy with the kids and housework until late that night and Scott went to a 4H meeting so no run.

Wednesday was first day of classes for my students and was a very busy day. After school there was a cross country running team meeting and easy run to the park. Distance was only about 4 km but it was relaxing and fun; in the middle we did some core/push ups and started some stretching. Good times.

Thursday was another easy run at the park with the team although I have to say, I ran with the kids who consider themselves "intermediate performers" and we not only went further but really pushed the run right to the end and had a wonderful time! :) 5.25 km in 30 minutes is AWESOME on the hills of VP. Good run!

Friday so far has seen a run with Dara around the trails of Bible Hill and another great run although there was enough discomfort from my knee that I actually walked down the last big hill as nothing else worked. UGH. Shortly Im heading out to meet the team again, and will get a few more km in. We did 6.4 in 40 minutes which makes me pretty happy. Good times.

Wishing for a nice relaxing weekend that is not going to happen. There are numerous obligations calling my name this weekend. I am looking forward to every one.

Plans Messed up and WTF is with my knee?

2011-09-02T10:35:00.001-03:00

It's been another one of those weeks! Im starting to seriously doubt whether or not I can get these kids out of the house on time if I cannot even get myself out on time! It is taking me a really long time to get ready for work and Ive not gotten there when I wanted to yet! It's only going to get worse when there are 3 more really slow people to move as well :(:(:(

This has been quite a week! :) I've kind of decided to make the posts more efficient Im not going to write every single day to mention a little workout although this idea of keeping a log was to keep track daily; and by the time a week is gone I have forgotten what happened anyway! Will see.

Last Thursday I did not manage a swim at the pool; I think I just sat there. TIRED. LOL But Friday I did take advantage of the very last lane swim of the summer and did some laps. Not so many, I get chatting or watching the kids swimming lessons...Taylor was giving me some tips on my swimming which apparently is something she can laugh at, nice. She says in a very patronizing voide...try lifting more with your chest and less with your head. huh? I had a run that day as well although I dont remember where I went and what it was like; 6.5 km in 40:25.

Saturday I suppose was a "rest" day; we had some spare kids and got a lot of house work and yard work done; we went to the pool in the afternoon since it was very hot and likely the last swim we were going to get in before the pool closed for the year. :( sad! Scott was away all day and evening so we just relaxed and had a bonfire.

Before the walk

Sunday was supposed to be my 20 mile run; first of this training cycle. I didnt make it. I did do the Cobequid Trail 5 km walk with a friend staging a come back from a spinal cord insult; it was fun and we took photos and chatted for 1:15 while walking 5 km at a good pace, 15 minutes per km. Im really glad I could do this with her. Hilarious at the start where there was no nerves to affect us, we were chatting and taking in other runners; saw this lady I SWEAR didnt her friends look at her? Everyone needs a friend who will tell them that although they are fit and look great in their little

watching the pack vanish

sports bra, those shorts are totally see through and that is QUITE the black thong you are wearing. OH my.

5km turnaround

Cashen Family

It was a little weird at the start, as we were just a couple of walkers in a running race, to watch the runners leave us in their dust and disappear. It was only about 10 minutes or so before we saw the 5 k runners coming back; we were not alone for long. At the start to the trail I saw a rather bejewelled Ipod laying on the ground so I picked it up; it looked like a child's Ipod (sparkles) and it was playing the Rankins. LOL I walked holding this stupid Ipod out to the side so that on the out and back course the runners coming towards us would not miss it (Sparkles) and I carried on this way past the 5 K turnaround and then I changed hands and held it so that the runners catching up to us would see it. Awkward right? No big deal but kind of awkward. Anyway just before about the 4 km mark, I hear behind me "that's my Ipod That's my Ipod" and before I can even turn my head to look at the voice this "woman" grabs the Ipod out of my hand and keeps running. Wow. I didnt expect her to stop her run and Gush all over the trail but a thanks might have been nice? Or acknowledgement? Sheesh. Did she think I was trying to steal it, and holding it out to the side was my way of sneaking off with it? Christ, next time I see an ugly Bedazzled Ipod laying in the rocks in the rain, I will just leave it there. BEEATCH.

After the walk there were prizes and really great food. I was SO Hungry! LOL. I ate, it was breakfast type stuff and I really wanted it! LOL I looked at the running times when I got home, and I should not have; If I had run a really super mediocre 5 k run, not my best, I would have gotten second in my age group. I have never placed in any run before in anyway way (unless you could the beer mile and I dont LOL), and I didnt even have to have run well to place this day :( Try not to think about it since I had a lot more fun on our walk!

ready to go!

Sunday after lunch time we watched the winds pick up from the outer waves of Irene and the rain came in waves as well....sudden downpours and then nothing....right through the night. So no long run was to be had. I took the chance to, after doing some yard prep, totally crash and we watched movies and stuff for the rest of the afternoon. that was nice.

Monday night, after not having run for 2 days, I felt I had to get out for a quick run so I did a rushed 5.25 km up and back down the hill before Holly's soccer game right at supper time. Sheesh rush! It was also a long day at work and it was plenty warm. LOVE WARM. 32:41 for the 5.25 k.

Tuesday was a run with Dara. We found a new fun trail from BH Rec to Osprey and will be using that more often :) It was definitely "trail" in so much more the sense than the Cobequid Trail or even the VP trails. It was awesome. 5.25 km in about 34 minutes (some trail issues hehe) and then I did a few more to complete 8.5 km in 54 minutes. It was just about 5 km that I felt a funny feeling in my left knee...like a stabbing particularly when the grade was slightly downhill. :( No big deal, I figured it was the pace and it would disappear when I did a couple more km at a faster pace. It did not. I foamrolled and rested and stretched at home and hoped for the best.

Wednesday I ran from the college after work to avoid some of the hills; I went on CT to BHRec and then took our new trail up to the middle of the hill before continueing on the 5 km run course back to the college. At about 3 km I felt a yucky feeling in my knee but not as bad as the day before so I thought that was pretty good :):) Lots of stretching and more foam roller :):) 6.4 km in 41:17. It was super hot. Another Soccer Game for Holly; last one for the year, it was their playoff finals and they lost their game but got Silver medals and did very well in the game. Circumstances as they were, this was the best outcome possible!

Thursday morning was the trail run at they park with the Xcountry team and holy 7 of them came out! As well Lavinia was there and the weather was cool and it was quite nice. We ran up to the water resevoir which was SO pretty we stopped to stretch and look at the scenery for a moment, fog was lifting and sun was shining and it was quite nice. 5.25 km in about 37:48. It was about 3.5 km in that I started noticing my knee was stabbing on little downhill grades and it would come and go. Felt cold and would just give out; I was reduced to walking twice! :( Then the pain would just be completely gone, then return for no reason. NOT FUN :( So Im not exactly sure what to do about this little hitch in my marathon plan. I have made an apopintment to see someone and need a quicker appointment to see someone else but I have no idea what to quite do about this. I detect no change in my stride, no injury or fall, no reason for this except for something Ive no idea LOL.

Spent the rest of Thursday walking a lot which doesnt hurt a bit ;) this weekend we are going to camp with friends one night and visit with the newest Nephew and his older brother (oh and their parents) for a night, and rest as it's the nice long weekend and weather should be kick ass. :):):) Lets hope! Not sure what to do for long run this week :(

Big Finish!!!!

WhirlWind

2011-08-25T15:07:00.001-03:00

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

2011-08-18T20:15:00.000-03:00

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!

2011-08-15T21:53:00.000-03:00

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

2011-08-07T10:41:00.000-03:00

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.

Running July into the Ground ;)

2011-07-29T00:26:00.000-03:00

July is fast coming to an end :( I am not ready to say goodbye to July, what is usually our hottest, dryest month. This July has been more chilly than hot, more soggy than dry, and has gone way too fast. Im very sad about that. In a little over 2 weeks I will be heading back to the office; way too soon to be leaving the hot summer days for air conditioned shivering. UGH. Busy weeks to come too...Exhibition is coming fast with lots of 4H stuff to be done and lots of nights of soccer to boot :)

But there it is, end of July and running is going well. Despite a lot of pressures that are being put on us. After my long 22.5 km run we visited my ill grandfather; it was immediately obvious that we were not visiting so much as saying goodbye; we stayed and 1025 that night he passed away, surrounded by so much family. It was expected but much sooner than we had thought it might be :( Cancer is a bitch.

Hence my week was all not what expected. Rather than the usual humdrum days, we had company, visited, spent time hanging out in a fueral home, my brother came home from Australia, my uncles came from across the country and the states.

I did run....Im following a new plan that I came across when I decided to do the Valley Harvest Marathon. It's a pretty simple plan, and I might lengthen the mid week runs a little, but I think it's solid and doable for me with the busier weeks to come. I am doing the Level 2 Beginner Plus schedule :) That's me, Beginner, plus.

So I had a long run on Sunday and rested on Monday after our very late Sunday night and the feeling of sadness that goes along with losing someone special :( On Tuesday I was looking forward to some alone time to think and had an early tempo run 8.5 km with warm up and cool down total time was 52:25. It was super hot and humid already at 7 am, like running through soup. I interviewed once again for my position at the college; I do so wish they would reword it so it is not a term position but rather a seasonal and I could stop interviewing!

Wednesday after Holly's soccer practice I had my mother drive home with Holly and I ran home with Holly's coach. We ran into Nick from Cross Country last fall and he ran with us for a couple of km, then we continued on to home and the soul sucking hill for 9.8 km in 57:25.

Ok back at the post; went out and lived a bit.

Thursday was a crazy get ready and go to funeral home for sad visitation which we do not completely understand....having people cry on you while the man in the box is on display :( But it was nice to see so many come to see Grampie :(

Friday; I selfishly went for a really early run before we had to do the funeral thing; 6.5 km in 40 minutes. Was hot hot hot.

The funeral was nice; I read a page, cousins took part as well, 6 grandsons were pallbearers, it was nice. My grandmother always keeps it together; but the look on her face throughout breaks my heart.

Friday afternoon was spent with family; evening we came back to Truro with mother and brothers and family and had a nice BBQ which went super well and we got to spend time with Cullen and hear about Trevor's adventures in Australia.

Saturday we were somewhat back to normal; Grammy was still visiting but was away all day and we stayed around and it was hot and nice and I did get in a nice 5 k run that was fast in the morning; 5 k in 28:20 and 5.6 in 33 minutes total.

Sunday the heat let up somewhat and although I would have loved a long run, I had to settle for Vetchecking a horse show, followed by yard work and a ball hockey game that night that, since I had not played since June, kicked my butt a lot.

On to the next week!

Since Moses

2011-07-17T11:48:00.000-03:00

Another drive by updating; things have been hectic. Since Moses running has been steady 4 runs a week. Its been 2 weeks LOL. Today was the first long run since. 22.5 km done; the end was a little rough; at about 21.5 km I felt like I might be sick; felt kinda like dehydration but I had water the entire way so Im not sure why but the last km was a bit of a slog up the freaking hill :( I hate that hill! But when I run near home, I cannot finish without climbing that hill!

Finally feeling a little better now. Worried tho about not being half way to my yearly running goal; 867 some odd km finished but a lot more to go still :( Ah well it's just a goal not a requirememnt.

Not Since Moses 2011

2011-07-08T23:09:00.002-03:00

Not Since Moses 2011 was not particularly on my run list. Im not sure why; I figured (rightly so) it would not be the same after having the experience of it ending on the island and getting to be boated back to shore after a bbq and exploration. But for some reason I did start to take note. I did not sign up for the Miramichi run I had considered, too much work lol. Some friends were going to the Not Since Moses and because of one in particular (who did not end up running it) I signed up for the 10 K run. I waited until literally the last moment; about an hour before registration closed I signed me and the kids up for the event; we almost missed our Canada Day fireworks for my signing up! LOL Sad! Scott decided not to run any part, preferring to be support staff.
The day of the run was clear and sunny as could be; predictions were for very hot weather. We got up early (6 am for a 630 (more like 645) departure) and we ate breakfast on the way to Five Islands. It's a really pretty drive but I admit I didnt pay too much attention as I always get nervous no matter how not-seriously I am taking the run. and I was not taking this very seriously; it's never good to hope for a best time when the conditions are like these; beach, mud, rocks, water.
We got to the timing chip pick up spot early enough; I was not enjoying sitting in the field putting on my number tho due to the hundred of little biting midgets (Gnats I think) that were attacking mostly me. Those little buggers sure can sting; cranky making! I sat in the car, did some fly spray, got to the very end of the portapotty line, and waited for a bit before finally getting my last pee (considering no one wants to pee on the beach; there is nothing to hide behind out there!) Runners were being bussed to the starting spot, as parking was a long way from the beach. Scott and family were going to drive me but While I was sitting there the last bus was boarding and I could not imagine why not just get on it.
Saw some folks on the bus that I knew, chatted a bit, before being dropped off in a field with a mowed pathway; hard to follow lol I warmed up with a little jog down this path and got to a cliff where we had to go down these stairs to Soley Cove, the starting point for the 10 k run.

Steps to Soley Cove

Soley Cove crowd from the back

Once I got there I saw where all the runners were;) I did take the last bus after all. This was all quite well set up. Still lots of time to warm up and greet folks and of course take photos. The crowd from the bottom of the steps looked big.

Excellent scenery ;)

everywhere we looked it was so pretty!

Very pretty warm up area

The view from the Cove

looking out from the cove to the water beyond; Bay of Fundy. We went left when we started running.

The Cove from the beach looking back

out on the beach looking back into the awesome cove we started at. They just don't make it prettier than this.

View down the beach

looking down the beach to the righ where we had to go.

Waiting to start; I found Lavinia and Crew!

I looked for some friends while ~~warming up~~ taking photos and found Lavinia And family doing the same.

The Carreau Men waiting to start their race

those Carreau's are a fast lot; first in mens and ladies, third man too!

Helicopter flew around us the entire way!

this helicopter hovered over the cove and repeatedly flew back and forth over us and the 5 k runners; I wonder where we would see footage of that?

We were off! Started out heading left off the cove, through tonnes of mud; turned toward the beach then back past the cove and to Sand Point, the end of the race.

at about 8:45 am it was already hot and they started the race; I kinda wanted to get wet to cool off but there wasn't a lot of water. Little bits. We went left down the beach and around a flower pot before running out to the water and around a weir then cut right and headed for Sand Point and the finish line. We were in mud almost immediately; a lot of the run was over hard flat rock with mud or sea weed on it; this was pretty easy to run on actually. A little bumpy.

Much of the footing was this seaweed covered rock

Self portrait while running

with no one to take photos we improvise, it was super hot and I was not near wet enough yet.

Lovely footing.

My favorite is the sand bar moguls; when you are at the beach and you walk to the sand bars they feel pretty neat but when you are running over them they are shifty, squishy mountains. Some were so high they were like waist or chest height; sometimes they were in series so you had to climb and fall, and I'm not of a height where I could go from top to top or between...had to climb and fall up and down...Fun fun.

Pretty scenery along the way

Despite all the beautiful scenery around us, we were rarely able to enjoy it; the footing required a lot of attention or someone could spend the remainder of the summer on crutches. I did slow to take a few shots and soak it all in; how could you not? Not like I was going to win or anything. But I was surprised at the first water stop when they said it was 5 km done; I was only a little over 30 minutes for time and over that footing, while snapping photos? Not bad!

Watery spot; it got about 16 inches deep for a long ways

more cliffs and rocks and mud and moguls then we rounded a corner and found some nice cooling water; it was about half way to my knees and hard to run in so I kinda hopped from foot to foot through a lot of it. All along the way I was kinda chasing the chick in the purple shorts but about here some guy was behind me and he complained so endlessly I eventually made it my mission to just escape him before he sucked all of my energy away!

Weed covered big rocks; twisted my ankle here.

This was the worst of the footings with big seaweed covered rocks and here I wasn't paying enough attention and I twisted my ankle. It did hurt but I limped a few steps and it was not bad. Once you hurt an ankle it just seems easier to do it for ages; twisted the same one on 2 runs this spring. I need to pay more attention.

My feet :)

Lol could not resist snapping a photo of my feet in the water/mud; thought it turned out well lol.

River to cross

This was the only significant portion of water we crossed near the big of the 5 islands; almost knees maybe? With current. It felt nice and cleaned up my sneakers.

Finish line

Finally the finish line is within reach! Although I should have sprinted i instead took photos *giggle. Not breaking records here! Family and friends were waiting to cheer us in which is my fav part of most runs! Despite my official time being 3 minutes off my watch time, I was really happy with my 1:04 ish run! 20 minutes faster than when I last ran this course! I'm sure that changes every year!

Taylor took some finish line photos for me and it was nice to get to see them!

The kids Basket Run started a while after I got back and wandered. It was cute. Lots of kids had these bandanas and buffs and I wondered where they got them; someone said they were giving them to the kids but I tell ya I saw more adults and non-running folks wearing them than kids. Cute anyway. The kids all started and Eve lost her shoe righ away; we righted that and then she and Holly went off running ; they did two laps and 1 km in the mud; Holly is a trooper and carried her lost shoe across the finish line. The other kids? Did one lap and collected their medals. I'm pinning my hopes on Holly.

After the basket run we went up to the Sand Point park area to clean shoes (they ran out of water) then we joined the food line. There was entertainment which I was finding loud and the line was incredibly long for food. I think the sun was starting to get to me and I needed to sit for a bit so I left the family to stand for food and I layed beside our car. they had lots of food (mostly) but the wait was way long; I think they did a good job just wish the line could have been less painful. The kids were really good thankfully, making the wait better.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach of course and all headed home sporting wicked sunburns and very sleepy.
Impressions? I liked the run better landing on the island I'm sure my spectators liked it better when we landed on land and they didn't have to kill time waiting for the tide to come back. Way long waiting for various things and too many people not involved in the running part were ahead of us for food and there is little in the way of swag so every bit counts. The shirt was not a favorite. But this is definitely the most fun run I do all year and I will be back for another go!

Posting again

2011-07-04T09:22:00.001-03:00

because freaking Blogger ate my post! the only thing I hate worse than trying to remember what I wrote is writing it again. So I'm not doing that LOL.

There isnt much to update before Sunday anyway; Thursday after the kids had their report card days at school and we had an amazing lunch at Chez Mama Barnhill's, Lavinia and I went for a very hot 10 k run up the mountain. (mountain...giggle). It was about 23 C and It was hot! But the pace was not as fast as it could have been, and I DO love to run along listening to Lavinia talking about this and that, it's enjoyable. It makes the gross I feel much less. I was pretty choked by allergies and felt dizzy at one point because I could not get a deep breath, but this time of year that's pretty standard, and it passed. A nice hot run. Some people dont seem to mind the heat!

Friday was rest day (unintentionally) as was Saturday; I tried really hard to mow the lawn; actually tried really hard to do a few things; the power went out so my breadmaking, ice cream making, and lunch making efforts went to hell. Our Canada Day was fairly uneventful (Friday) with a few chores in the morning and beach in the afternoon; right after we spread our blankets the rain started, and although it stopped after about 1/2 hour, it was never really hot enough for me. Nice tho. Restful. Made it to a party that night for birthday/Canada Day celebrations and stayed up late singing around a fire :) Relaxing!

Sunday - Not Since Moses run!

Sweat Your Thorns Off Run; Moving On!

2011-06-29T13:25:00.001-03:00

Getting back into the groove...too bad it took so long; now the heat is actually starting to appear. I am not finding it overly warm but I know it is coming, so the early morning runs are going to have to begin. Meaning go to bed early and get up early, and if you can, grab a nap. Ahh summer.

The day after Johnny Miles was a rest day. The pool was closed so there was no swimming. And I didnt go biking. Last full week of school for the kids, so lots of busy going on there (although not much "work"). Did try to make the most of the free time. :) Monday night I played ball. It wasnt a complete failure ;)

Tuesday a nice 6.4 km run (up the hill and back down maybe?) in 40:05. This seems to be the time I am stuck at. LOL

Wednesday I had no run, and just went to soccer practice with Holly, left early to go to a ball game. A better ball game.

Thursday I headed out for 8 km but went another way and went 10 km instead. It was HOT. But a pleasant run, not a strenuous one tho. :) 1:03:30.

Friday up the hill and back again, 6.4 km 39:03. actually put a little effort into the middle section of that. Friday night was ball hockey night; we had a good game against a tough team but we down 1-0 until near the end of the second period (i think) when I caught a nice pass in front of the net and put that thing into the net. Yay team!

Friday night we had company :D The Carreau's are back in town! we had good dinner, conversation, drinks!

Saturday morning! After getting up slowly and slacking majorly Lavinia and I went out for a great run :)

I joined the Boring Runner's Sweat Your Thorns Off 5 K run. Apparently this theme does not apply to NS because there was nothing sweaty about my run. This weather has been CRAP! LOL I think I had on a long sleeved shirt and capris! Not so sweaty.

We warmed up for about a km, then took off (again up the stinkin' Hill) for a quick 5 K run! I tried really hard to sweat my thorns off! LOL

Totally forgot to make a race number but Im firmly number 777! LOL

After the 5 km in about 28 minutes we cooled off all the way up the hill for another .6 km and finished with 6.6 km in 40:30. Saturday run in!

The rest of Saturday passed in a blur! Actually most of my time has lately passed in a blur LOL.

Sunday morning is long run time! Jillian and I met in Salmon River and ran the Harmony Ridge! Freaking 8 km of uphill followed by about 5 of downhill; with some added jigs around some loops and finished 21 km in about 2:10. Time not bad.

I started out feeling SUPER tired. My legs were dead. LOL at the start I was very clogged up (allergies?) and had some trouble catching my breath but that cleared up by about 5 km in. I had taken Reactine (or something) and it was kicking in; but it leaves me pasty mouthed LOL. I left water at the end of my road to refill my water bottle as we passed but I didnt bother. I didnt finish my water until we were finished anyway.

Once we hit the top of Harmony Ridge I felt like crying; like the end of a race! LOL Suddenly my legs were less tired and heavy and I felt great all the way to the bottom, where we ended our run! GREAT long run :):)

Monday = Rest day.Soccer in Antigonish for Holly.

Tuesday - Nice HOT 22C 6.5 km run AGAIN up the hill. 40:48. Not so great but it was 10:45 in the morning and super hot. Ball game at night.

Wednesday - midweek long run. Had to get up at 6 to get this run in, but at least the weather was more tolerable temperatures and humidities. It's super nice at that time of the day. 12 km loop in 1:16:38...the time isnt important tho! lOL legs still somewhat tired. It was a good run anyway....very easy.

Ok Im caught up. Will do a better job!

Johnny Miles Race 2011

2011-06-27T15:46:00.000-03:00

Wow where did this race come from? It was barely on my radar LOL but in the end I could not resist.

Johnny Miles was the first race I did when I restarted running 3 (yes now 3) years ago. I had been running almost 2 months when we went to our first and things have changed since then!

The startand finish is no longer at the park but is instead on a downtown street across the bridge. Its crowded and more congested....but it doenst make a lot of difference.

I have done the 5 K (above) and the half marathon twice;

And now I figured it was time to do the 10 K run there. I have no intentions of ever doing the marathon there; 4 10 km loops does not interest me very much. 2 was enough.

So I went over the the Expo (?) the night before and registered last minute. Really last minute lol. I worried about being able to get a shirt; they are limited but I did get one. LOVE the red colour, the fit for women; Im not loving the fit very much but better than some wide, big shouldered shirt I wont wear; and the hats were WHITE! Who wears white hats? Ok I have worn it already. I like the hats, super great quality.

The race expo was super disappointing...there wasn't really one. There were about 4 booths and none of them were anything worth going to. Wasted very little time there; the people in the booths were kinda bored!

Race morning the entire family got up and went over to New Glasgow; we had a family thing afterwards and being Father's Day we spent time with family around town.

The start was a little congested until the 5 k runners left; with staggered starts that no one bothered to adhere to; half the 10 k runners that started with me were half marathon and full marathon runners who were supposed to start behind us.

I feel like I started this race with every single thing wrong. LOL I kind of only entered for tradition; I ran this one first and I have done it each year now. But I didnt prepare properly thanks to the tailbone injury and being crazy busy and burned out at work last few months. I didnt do any intervals; no tempo runs; I ate poorly the day before; I did not rest; I slept badly; I drank a lot of coffee LOL. I went for a nice long bike ride the day before in a lot of humidity lol. Is there anything else I could have done wrong?

So I started a little too fast, and felt pretty tired right from the beginning.

Half the run is on road and the rest is on trail. The trail part was nice although a little muddy (surprise, with this weather). It was VERY congested the first 5 km or so; I got elbowed in the head, stepped on, pushed, and had more people run right in front of me....it was annoying as hell. At the first water where I grabbed a cup as I went because I started out pasty mouthed; this woman lept in front of me and then stopped...dead. Grr. I spilled most of my water on her; good thing I only wanted enough to wet my mouth. This continued until the road cleared a little. and then there was the bottle neck at the start to the trail where it narrowed and there were porta potties with people jumping in and out randomly ;) The trail was crowded with requests to keep right and pass on the left (or other way around?) being completely ignored. I KNOW with these small town races you get a lot of people out for the fun who may not be aware of etiquette but most of these were 10 K or more runners who are not just out for a walk; you would think they could mind their manners. And I was tired which made me a little cranky. SIGH.

Anyway, at about 6.5 km I just wanted the run to end; I was tired, had another very tall man elbow me in the head, and the sun was kind of out which made it hot and muggy which is NOT the weather we had been experiencing lately. Through the park and onto the road I could not believe the run wasnt over yet. The first 5 k was done in about 28 minutes which was a decent time compared to what I expected for my lack of preparation. The second 5 K (+) took 30 minutes. Most of my kms were under 6 minutes which was my goal, to just hang onto that sub 6 minute pace. I had to walk twice thanks to crowds and an ache in my hip; but soon enough the corner came and I was heading back across the bridge to the finish.

My family was waiting at the finish line for me :) In 58:01 I came trotting in.

You cross the bridge and come around the corner to the finish line with bleachers and some crowds still there...I saw friends and my aunt and uncle waiting for us, and of course Scott and the kids.

Laps:

1- 5:36

2- 5:21

3- 5:45

4- 5:48

5- 5:29-28:01 for 5 km

6- 5:52

7- 6:04 (feeling pretty crappy)

8- 6:05

9- 5:52

10- 5:42

0.1- 4:35 sprint to the end :) 58:01 / 5:44 avg pace

My Garmin measured a little long with 10.1 km at the end.

Place 190/514

17/87 in age group

Gun time 59:04/ 5:49 pace.

So Johnny Miles is over for another year :) Maybe next year I will feel an urge to run the full there.

Still Chuggin' along

2011-06-27T08:59:00.000-03:00

Making plans and keeping on running.....

The weather has not been at all hot which I suppose if Im running is a good thing BUT it has been SO wet, and we are not getting other things done that we should be, like lawn work and flowers.

Taking up where last note left off...

It was a Saturday in the middle of nowhere and stuff had to get finished....

lol

I barely remember the morning but I mowed the lawn in the afternoon for a couple of hours. That's not running but it is some serious walking ;) I enjoy lawn mowing...it's good for ya.

But we went to Halifax that evening and had some seriously decadent supper at Five Fisherment; I had Swordfish for the first time and it is SOOOOO good. Too bad it costs so much!

ok That is Saturday. Im SO far behind, I should just give up! lol

Quick Stuff to get to fun stuff:
Sunday - Ball Hockey. We won out game 2-0 which is great fun ;)

Monday I swam 2 km. This laps thing can be super boring. Im not so sure about it but thinking some open water lake swimming this summer might be more fun. Will see.

Tuesday was Long run day since I didnt get a long run on the weekend. And needed one before the next weekend. The weather was nice; I did 14 km (I do not really remember where I bet it was the long loop around Pictou Road and across Village Line Road). It was ok; 1:29. Dont remember much.

I guess Wednesday was a rest day. I dont remember it.

Thursday apparently was a tempo run. 8.4 km in 50:50, and the first 8 km were in 47:38. Wonder where I went that day? Maybe up to the Cream Horse.

Friday morning I swam 2 km with Deb water jogging; that was nice :)
That evening we had a ball hockey game where we lost 4-1 SIGH. lol

Saturday I went for a bike ride with Jillian; her first time on her new bike. My legs were tired; she kicked my butt on hills LOL. Rest for some of the rest of the day; working on shed and Scott was away so I got to lift and hold and run around for supplies; we went to New Glasgow later in the afternoon to register me for the Johnny Miles run (10K) and then supper and home for Taylor to babysit. Not so early to bed for me!

Which brings us to the Johnny Miles 2011 run :)

Running Since the Relay

2011-06-10T13:25:00.000-03:00

has been super hit and miss. Life has been busy; very busy. And Ive been tired. Super tired. Im not sleeping well and I cannot seem to get to sleep at a decent time at night. Mornings are still coming early, despite late nights. It's a trend I would like to see change LOL.

Since work stopped things have not slowed down at all. Things still go on, soccer has hit full gear, and the kids still have school which means, really, nothing has changed except after the rush of getting the kids to school, I come home to do stuff instead of going to the college.

I have still not managed to restart P90X despite my intentions to every day.
Ive not gotten to the pool like I wanted to; there is always something to do and days like today when I should be there; I ran instead. And I could go later but I just cannot seem to convince me to go back into town at noon. LOL

I will try to break it down day by day so I can see where I am going wrong and can fix my day LOL

Monday after the relay was a rest day. I woke up with a super sore left hand; index finger and knuckle hurting a lot. I can barely lift a cup of coffee with that hand. Ball hockey injury? I dont remember a hit or a weird shot....weird.
Tuesday I got out for a nice run; it was sunny and not cold once I got out there. Cold has taken on a whole new meaning, considering it's not January anymore and Im so very happy about that. Do so wish the rain would let up; it has rained some most days for over a month SIGH. 8.5 km on the Valleydale Road route; 53:37 minutes (still tired. Resting.)
I did housework and kid stuff and played some ball later that night; not much tho so I didnt even put it on the calendar.
Wednesday I went to the city with Scott and completely forgot to go to Costco. That was my entire reason for going lol. Sheesh. Once home, I did after supper go for a fast run up the hill and back before meeting the Glenabbey Drive Run Club lol 5.75 km in 32 minutes (more or less) and then a leisurely 2 km.
Thursday I didnt run. I have NO idea why not; the weather was nice after a brilliant storm the night before. Our power was off until lunch time and I snuggled in bed with a book rather than running. I had an upset stomach and no power....it was disturbing. Again no idea why I did not run later in the evening. Time is getting away from me. Must have been busy with stuff....

Friday morning I dressed for running before School drop off and took the dog with me; we went from the Jr high to the park and ran the trails. HILLS! I miss the trails. It was fairly leisurely again; the dog seems to be having some limps and I waited for her sometimes while she was sniffing bushes. She loves the park. And so well behaved!
7.6 km 54:39 minutes.
Friday night was Holly's first soccer game in Antigonish. Long drive! They played really well and won that game 2-1. Late getting to bed that night.

Satuday June 4; I have trouble remembering these days LOL. OK Scott was puttering around somewhere and disappeared for hours. We did yard stuff and house stuff and during a short period of he's home, I went for a fast 5.2 km run 32 minutes including warming up. Had company for a bit; kept my cousin for the night so the kids could enjoy some more leisurely time. :)
Sunday morning the kids all went to Old Barns so I could have a long run; I planned 18 km but mapped out more and finished up the hill with a change of route with 19 km still....little long but I felt ok. The weather was cool enough and I had water in the belt; was very hungry when I got home. I had some belly discomfort part way through thanks to being hungry but it was ok and I had 3 walk breaks and walked a little of the hill up to the house (just a short walk; I was tired LOL) 19 km 2:06:33 ick.
Played ball hockey that night after having a scrapbooking class all afternoon; not well planned. STILL tired from that I swear LOL
Monday was rest day; I spent the best part of the day cleaning Scott's REALLY messy nasty car out. Seriously, never seen anything like it. Was not finished after the first day lol.
Tuesday; hmm why didnt I run on Tuesday? LOL. I dont remember; it just didnt happen I guess. I finished cleaning Scott's car...yes it did take 2 days; in the middle I went to School to see Taylor off on her French Class Trip; 4 days away! SAD! Picked up the kids then came back and finished the inside of the car; washed the outside later on while it was raining. Not that it mattered. Annika had hockey in the evening (in the rain) and Scott took Holly to 4H.
Wednesday AHhhhh I did run. I again dressed before School drop off and I went right out from the library; ran to Cheesefactory and back for 8.2 km just under 50 minutes. I felt really tired; maybe because of too many days off; too much going on in between.

I then finished cleaning the house and got everything ready for a BBQ; Scott was away but the littles and I hosted the entire Cross Country running team for some food before heading off to soccer for Holly and the awards for me. IT WAS LONG. 3 + hours of speeches and awards; I had to hand out the awards for our team and Ive never attended the awards before; someone told me I would not have to talk but I DID! I had to talk a little about the team and then why each member got their awards. I LOVED handing them their awards LOL. Few surprises. I got to present a favorite runner (ok they were all favorites) a special award and talk about her (in front of 60,000 parents and athletes) which was a thrill for me to get to remind people why she is so great; 3 people on my team got special awards including athlete of the year; Runners rock!

Late late night for me and the kids and the neighbors who kept the kids while I was gone. These speeches had kept me from sleeping for at least 2 nights; anxiety about the rest took care of the previous week.

Go team!

Thursday I did the unthinkable; after the kids went to school I went back to bed. I didnt sleep; I just layed there wishing I was sleeping. LOL. After the awards Wed night I cleaned up from the bbq and did some puttering while the dogs did their running around and by the time I got to bed it was super late. I was still a little hyped up and didnt sleep too good again.I treated myself to part of the morning in bed before I got up; I planned a run but was surprised (only a little) by a visit from a friend for lunch and then it was time to get the small kids and we had appointments at the chiropractor and then a stop at the library, home from some tree trimming, supper, and back out the door to soccer game (Annika) and then practice (Holly) where I played goalie like a rock star *giggle* and then home where there was garbage to put out, dogs to clean up after, house to set straight; I only got the garbage done really, then the littles had to go to bed and they were following me around putting out the garbage so I climbed into bed with them and once they were asleep I dealt with the dogs before getting to sleep myself.

That alarm rang very early this morning. once again I considered just staying in bed and turning it off but I knew I would regret is so I got the kids up and off to school, dressed for my run so I could not turn back; I parked at the Big Stop and ran up the hill, down to the trail, back to town, and up the hill to the Big Stop again; finishing 8 km in 49 minutes. Not bad for all those hills and I had only planned a 6 km easy run anyway :) Just to get back out.

I felt really awesome while running; no walk breaks, no trouble with hills. I may be catching up a little. Ive felt more energetic ever since.

So Tell me, why have I not started P90X back up? I KNOW I want to! LOLOL

Cabot Trail Relay 2011

2011-06-06T11:19:00.001-03:00

I think Im not so enthusiastic about writing this post because I have almost no running photos! I guess I was caught up in the race, forgetting photos and most things until it was done and I was like...well crap, Ive nothing. Plus I ran in the dark so there were no photos ops there; Scott didnt take any of me running or at the start/end. And BLOGGER has been giving me a huge headache trying to upload the photos I do have SIGH.

I was again part of the Tidal Boars Runners on the Cabot Trail Relay 2011. It was great last year and better this year; mostly lol. Out team was quite a group with a mix of very fast and some slower runners, led by Jody who is fast and Chris who is recovering from a stroke in 2009 and leads by example :):)

So Saturday after the yard sale we ate and packed up and took the kids where they needed to go, and we skipped town only about 2 hours later than I would have liked. The weather was....cloudy with a little bit of rain. It's ok I dont mind rain. Much. I had not slept the night before very well with getting stuff ready for the yardsale and worrying that we were going to oversleep. Taylor was away for the night and I worried a little about her getting back on time. I was tired ;) But also glad for the chance to nap, since I had a feeling sleep was going to be hard to come by that night.

Crossing Causeway

crossing the causeway

It was still kind of half sunny and pretty when we crossed the Canso Causeway but we could see ugly clouds ahead :):)

Looking back at NS Mainland

Lovely weather as we drove up my Last-Year-Leg.

We headed up the trail backwards, like we always seem to. Timing was a little off and we had to either drive all the way around the trail to meet the relay, or just park somewhere. While we were driving up what was my leg last year, we ran into some rain. It was about 13C. I was wondering if I had brought the right clothing choices :)

End of my This-Year-Leg - 13. Joe's Scarecrows and something.

So my leg this year started at the Co-op in Cheticamp. I took no photos of a Co-op, not even in the dark. LOL The end was this kinda odd spot called Joe's Scarecrows and Diner. I didnt see a lot of Scarecrows LOL And I wonder if the "diner" is still open? Ah well. It was dark and I didnt even see it.

My route; VERY close to the sea :)
Too bad it was dark.

When we drove this route last year I remember thinking what a pretty leg this was (it was sunny last year) and that it was a shame that it was run in the dark. Leg 13 starts at 2 am LOL. PITCH dark. not a lot of street lights either.

Driving up my Relay leg...backwards.

Pretty Mountains in the Rain

I ran here.

It kinda smelled bad when I ran across here.

Too bad I could not see this in the dark

Pretty :)

Behind the start

View from the Chalet

The chalet *Giggle.

So our team had a chalet in Cheticamp GOOD LUCK for me because I started in Cheticamp. LOL we got the key and stopped in to eat, afterwhich time we were going to meet up with the next leg and do some cheering. I took some photos and we ate and got back in the car. The temps had dropped to about 8 C and I was wishing I had brought my winter running coat, I was sure the temps would be that miserable by the time 2 am came along.
We were sitting in the car trying to figure out where we should drive to meet what leg at what time and none of the times were very pleasant; if we did this couple of hours of driving I was not going to get any sleep, and my tailbone was really paining after sitting in the car all day and being on my feet since about 6 am :( we got out of the car, went back into the chalet, set up sleeping bags, and went to sleep.
There were a few interruptions but we got at least 2 hours of sleep LOL. At about Midnight a group of runners landed and there was no sleep after that. It was actually pretty good; by the time I had to get dressed I was actually awake and had had my coffee, and was not groggy at all. :) The runners were pretty hyper and had lots of stories to tell :) there were some showers then it was time to head out to meet the next runner and send me off :)

LOL It had warmed up to about 19C! I was so surprised; at 2 am it was the warmest it had been all day! I had overdressed in a long sleeved shirt over a tank top. I had to wear a reflective vest over top and it was so big and rubbed and draped on my neck terribly; next year I will have my own, lighter, better fit to my size :) I had to carry a glowstick which was fine, I always carry stuff. I tucked a half a bar into my pocket but never did eat it. I didnt carry water; I had a banana and had a little upset stomach, likely from being up most of the night? LOL I visited the portapotty 3 times (darned coffee) and then when people were starting to overuse it (non-runners sheesh get out of line) I wandered behind the credit union and peed behind the air conditioner *giggle* it was much faster. And it did the trick; no pee issues LOL. I cannot stand running while I have to pee!

We started before our last runner arrived; I was sad to miss seeing her come in. Off we went in the dark.

I started near the back of the pack because I dont love the crowding and I hate it when a lot of people pass me; I prefer to have someone to pass myself.
Within the first few km I had passed the slowest and was tucked nicely in behind a couple who had headlamps and I was watching the upcoming road from behind them. Until she slowed down and I had to pass her, and I guess he sped up because I didnt bother keeping up.
There was some light from the headlights but most of the crew vehicles follow the lead runners, which i was NOT one of. Us back of the packers run in the pitch dark. And the road was rough and potholed so I didnt always feel comfortable running fast. OH and the side of the road had been graded so it was nice and soft and deep. SIGH :P
I picked a few people off at the water stop; it was at about 6 km and people were stopping there, including dreadlocks dude. How can he run with that much hair? Anyway they stopped and rested and I zipped past.
The support crew is not allowed to stop on the side of the road in the dark legs so I did not see much of them but as they passed and whooted.
I didnt see any of the scenery. Glad I drove across during the day.
The dark was both a good thing and bad.
The good? We could not really see what we were running, so hills were hidden, and we could only tell by the effort level needed. There was one spot where the hill was steep and we could see it in front of us for quite awhile; the cars were backed up on it so there was a distinct line of red lights showing us exactly how steep and long it was. This route was hillier than last year's but still not too bad. it was no mountain :)
The bad? Car headlights were blinding, so when they came on us;particularly from the front, we were unable to see and then when they went past we were left in darkness that seemed even darker than before.
Something was rustling in the bushes near us for a bit; I kept running lol.

Around 10 km I felt very queasy and wondered if it was going to be an issue; gurgling died down at about 12 km.
There was a second water stop; I only grabbed a cup and kept walking fast; only walk breaks were for the water, about 20 seconds each. There was a third unscheduled water stop lol a fellow gave me a bottle of water and I was so glad for it; Im not sure how far to the end but I was dry despite the high humidity. Very salty sweaty.
I found I drifted off a couple of times, rather than running hard I would be lost in thoughts and slowed a bit :( crappy, needed the time, stay focused! Must have been the fact that it was the middle of the night; except that happens on daytime runs too :):):)
With about 4 km left to go, still feeling ok, I noted I was catching a few people. I passed 2 and then hung on the heels of this one lady for about 2 km; she would speed up each time I caught her heels and I let her go then reeled her back in. We passed another runner and then on a downhill I went to the gravel and passed the rabbit (actually she had a chicken hat on????) and pulled ahead of her, expecting to be finished soon.

Heartbreaking; I could see the finish line a bit away, by the lights and music I could tell time was tight; I was running very hard; expected to be finished before 16 km, and that was what time limit was set for; 15.88 km at 6 minutes a km. For most people it's no big deal but Ive had such a hard time with the tailbone and getting training done, that few minutes mattered to me :( Because it was actually 16.4 km long, not 15.88 as the course said. That extra hald a km was my difference between getting a time and not. I could see the timers packing up and driving away; I missed them by about 30 seconds :(:(:(

This sucks! LOL We could not see where to go; it was so dark. And I got a DNF despite running my ass off to get there :( I had the same time as the people walking; when we were driving back to Cheticamp there were people walking miles out, and I had the same time as them; the last timed runner plus 5 minutes. SO unfair! People say "well just run faster" I have nothing to say to them. I ran very hard :(

Ah well I did time myself so I know my time was 1:40: 18 which was only 2 seconds a km slower than last year on a more difficult leg, so Im not totally beating me up :( but seeing the timers drive away was awful :( Some runners were very angry LOL 330 am is not a good time. LOL

I loved running the dark leg, even if I have no photos. It was good :)

We drove to the chalet, showered, picked up the last runner there, and headed back to catch the end of the leg after mine; we caught the beginning and ends of the last few, and then went to the end to cheer the "glory leg" which is always a party. Scott went to sleep while we went to the meal afterwards; awards and such.

Eating with the Tidal Boars; note the yellow shirts; the tech shirt was awesome this year!! Thrilled!

I was very touched when Chris won a watch; Run NS sells tickets for Timex watches, which I need with Tri training coming on; waterproof watch is good :) Anyway Chris bought tickets and won a watch; he generously passed it on to me, so sweet of him! He has been very generous always, and particularly with his recovery and his vow to "repay" everyone involved. As if. we love Chris!
We pulled out at about noon and headed for home; I got a little sleep on the way but spent most of the time just groggy watching and scenery; there was again sun on the mainland lol and once we got home the kids were busy so we had a nap; love naps. Ball hockey that evening was super hard; very tired. I swear its been over a week and I am still sleep deprived. Us old people just cannot recover LOL!

Cannot wait for next year's Relay!!!!

gad a whole week just flew by

2011-05-30T12:42:00.000-03:00

this is the way it's bound to be for the rest of the year Im thinking! LOL Time is just going to fly away and Im going to be left sitting here wondering where the hell it all went!
Im finished the term now and on my summer vacation. Over a month later than usual. this working is for the birds ;) kidding, I do love my job. I just also really like to have spare time.
Im trying to remember where my Monday went. I think I might have cleaned. It was a holiday here, so the kids were here. I just cannot remember what we did. OH yes my mother was here. And we forgot Taylor's swimming; Holly spent the entire afternoon throwing up, crying, and sleeping; poor little thing, not much of a holiday for her :( ate at In Laws, got kids to Dog meeting, went to a meeting of the Cabot Trail Relay team to get organized (sort of), and then home. It was chilly.

Tuesday morning I got up with purpose but still managed to not really get things done in a timely manner LOL I did eventually get out to do my long run which was now 3 days overdue; 16.1 km in 1:43:40. A friend picked me up while I was still a km from home; good timing, we had some coffee and a chat :)

I spared softball for a team I know; that was fun! Ive not played much in years but sparing, which doesnt really give me a great deal of practice, but it is still fun to get out and play. I could use some batting practice LOL. Foul, Foul, and Foul.

Wednesday I finally did it; I went to the pool and I went for a swim! I did laps...boring LOL and Taylor says running is boring; at least the scenery changes. Swimming is hard SIGH I did 80 laps for 2 km total in about 1:15 and took lots of rests between and worked on my stroke a bit but in my mind Im flying and in reality I bet I looked like I was drowning HEHEHEHE ah well, the swim got done.

After the kids were picked up it was time for judging; the kids spent 3 hours judging 4H projects and I spent 3 hours standing and watching. SIGH. Fun times.
By the time we got home and ate it was time for kids to bed and then I followed LOL.

Thursday was warming up; I left late again and went for a 10 km run. 1:01:30 was not bad considering I was trying to go easy. Feeling pretty confident LOL I did not expect to get so wet on that run; it totally rained on me.
I planned a bike ride for the evening but plans foiled; I stayed at Holly's soccer practice instead, helping the coach with little things I can handle. LOL It was warm; the kids complained about the heat! IMAGINE!

Friday...I should be tapering a little for a race this weekend right? Ha funny. I havent trained enough to taper.
after a trip to the dentists, I did get on my bike and I headed out with no plan for an easy ride. I didnt push too hard anywhere; I even stopped for a snack because OOPS it was lunch time and I forgot my snack. SIGH. By the time I got home I had over 24 km on the bike.
I also had a sunburn. Poor planning went into that bike ride LOL

Afternoon was spent running kids around. By the time I was finished we had no kids home for the night. We celebrated by sleeping a lot.

Saturday I wanted a little Loosen Up run but it was not to be had; Taylor's school yard sale had to be dealt with first; and that took until 1230; picked up Annika to go home where we packed for Cape Breton and went off to that.

It was only partly sunny partly cloudy threatening rain when we left. LOVELY weather. Warm tho.

this is where it's about to get wordy and photo-filled so I will end this post. Unfortunately Im short on photos of the run; gonna have to go look for some.

Swim FAIL. Weekend run FAIL. Giggle.

2011-05-22T23:09:00.002-03:00

I did NOT manage a Friday swim. It was my last day of work and I wanted to get in on time. I was trying to figure out; Id have to pack up stuff to get ready for work and shampoo, stuff like that. So we were late but I just went to work from dropping kids off.
Friday after school I had an unexpected opportunity to run when I brought T home from swimming rather than taking her; she wasnt feeling well. So she watched Annika while I went for a nice slightly raining 8.25 km run. I went up the hill and back down and it was a nice stress reliever.

Saturday? nothing. Nada. I had a 4H class for scrapbooking and that was time consuming. COULD have gone super early and really I should have. Ive no discipline!
Ditto Sunday. I was CRANKY and cold and allergies were kicking my ass and I just didnt go. In fact I was sick to my stomach after taking something for the allergies and I just layed down. Not enough eye drops in the world...and head aching.
By after supper I was feeling a little more human and I did go to our ball hockey game; our beloved goalie is away so I subbed for her. I let 2 super easy goals in but I made some good stops and we tied a very tough team. WINNING ;) at least for us.
And my Glenabbey Run Club friends met me when I got home and out I went for a nice 4 km run/walk on our road for a nice 4 km :):):)
I mean it about the triathlon training. Im really going to do it LOL. Scott even bought me a new book; it has a couple of plans in it for all sorts of lengths and goals and seems very comprehensive and mentions things I might not have thought of :)

Now tomorrow. It's a holiday and I seem to have some company so Im not really aiming for an early swim. Wednesday?
But I do owe me a long run. 16 km on the plan. And I really do need to do this! :P
Have I mentioned my Cabot Trail Relay leg? for convenience and no witnesses to my dismal result Im running a 2 am leg. 2 am! When normal people sleep. It should be an experience. And cold I am betting.

Biking, Check. Swimming? Do I hear swimming?

2011-05-19T11:04:00.000-03:00

LOL So Monday was a rest day. Kinda by choice. I think I may have too many rest days in the run of a week. I kinda had 3 last week. Im a fan of rest days LOL. Gee, I wonder why those 5 pounds are still hanging around?

Feeling a little more ambitious today tho. Tuesday and Wednesday workouts have been successful. Feeling a little less tight, a little less uncomfortable.
Tuesday night I ran while Holly was at soccer tryouts. It did not rain on me! There were some massive puddles but the sky was dry. It was very humid :) I ran trails around the soccer area and it was really nice :) A little long, 9 km by the time I landed but I still had time to stretch and sit and wait for Miss to be finished. Tryouts went well, she made the competative B team. The A team had no 4th graders on it SIGH. Her birthday month really might hold her back; there are 6th graders trying out but she will be moved to U14 before she gets there :(

9 km in 55 minutes, better time. I stopped to adjust, walked up a hill, some other stuff....its a good time.

Wednesday :) Still super gloomy. I spent the day unfortunately in sessions for OHS and WHMIS so lots of sitting which was really super hard on tailbone and lots of complaints all day lol. But by the time supper was over I was ready to push myself out the door; bike ride and run. BRICK ;) or Jello whichever ya prefer. I used the littler bike which is pretty fast; and chose a less hill-ridden route; no where around here is flat but at least there was no 6 km climb to deal with. Rolling hills and 19.9 km in 58 minutes :) Close to my goal of 20 km in an hour :) Then I parked the bike and changed hats; dealt with the dogs and ran off to do 20 minutes running. Legs were less jello like- it was far warmer tho. :) 3.1 km in 20 minutes, then walked to home. FAIL on the stretching this week; not sore today tho.

Swimming. I planned to start yesterday after buying the cap and goggles, but had the training sessions. Planned to start today. But the pool times did not mesh with my schedule so well. So M-W-F I can drop the kids off at school and hit the pool for 2 hours I think. NOt that I would swim for 2 hours. But its a nice window. So tomorrow? I will swim tomorrow!

Ive been checking out the Triathlon schedules and Im not thrilled to see that most of them require membership to TriNS which is going to cost an extra 20-40$; I just want to try one! LOL Its a costly venture; Im undecided at the moment. I actually got a little excited about a Parlee Beach Tri...but that would require day membership to TriNB as well...so I need to pick a province and stay there LOL.

Brick

2011-05-16T08:21:00.004-03:00

OOOh Thursday I did my first BRICK workout!
And although hard, I thought it was pretty cool.

I planned to do an hour on the bike then 20 minutes running. It wasnt too far off that :)

I decided to do Harmony Ridge which is over 6 km up hill then rolling and downhill on the way back, then flat and a nice long uphill to home. The weather was heavily misty and occassionally sprinkling but chilly. My feet were most cold! Hands were next LOL.

The bike ride was ok; was on the green bike with it's new and smoother tires; knobby on the edges for trails but smoother in the middle for roads, it's got a good comfy seat and I do like it loads. Im not sure it's as fast as Taylor's Bike....gotta get that one a new seat :):)
The road is terribly bumpy; very jarring when hitting larg pot holes and nasty cracks lol but I did like the bike ride portion.
About the time I get near home and Im climbing the over a mile of hill, I get kinda tired LOL need to build up some more endurance for biking. So 18.8 km biking in 68 minutes more or less. Not really horrible. If I pick a less hilly ride I might get faster; last ride was up another mountain ;)
So I got home and my Glenabbey Run Club was trotting down the road; I quickly parked my bike in the garage, changed hats, had a drink of water, and ran out. My feet were SO numb; really cold! And my legs; well I dont think BRICK quite describes them but it sounds better than a JELLO workout lol. I definitely felt wobbly. Ran up the hill and down, met with the group about the time I finished my 20 minutes ~ 3.25 km; we jogged and walked a bit more, had a good stretch, and went home for Grey's! :):):) I liked the BRICK workout and will do another this week.
Im going to swim; might have mentioned previously but Im going to start this week at the pool in town; there are times that work for me, for Lane swimming, and one punch card should get me through until the town pool opens, where we get a family membership and I can swim a couple of times a day, every day, for no charge (other than the membership). Will do a couple of swim/bike BRICKS during that time which I hear are not as hard since swimming is mostly arm-focused and biking leg-focused.

Friday? I cant remember that day LOL. I THINK I went for a walk with the girls on the road; they had some drinks along and I just walked and enjoyed sone conversation. LOL
Saturday it DIDNT rain all day! LOL No sun, but no rain! I totally got a TONNE of gardening done! Lots of bending and squatting and pulling made me quite tired! Moved some plants and bushes. Filled a bunch of cups with plants to sell at Taylor's yard sale if they live; Holly was a little hard on them LOL but she did such a good job LOL! Might do a few more with different varieties :)

So I ended up missing my run on Saturday; one thing led to another and I went to bed with Annika :)

Sunday morning; What a day Sunday was! Sheeeit!

I took Annika to the church for Drama early (9 ish) and planned for my long run right away; stopped at In Laws to be sure the kids got where they needed to be and socialized for an HOUR! ooops. didnt mean to stay quite so long but got some important information lol. I was then really worried about getting in the run before it was too late, and getting to other things on time; and also it was threatening to rain and was really wet, I didnt want to have wasted an hour of no rain and then run in the rain SIGH.

I scooted to the trail near town so my drive was less, then I ran on the trail to the Church and back again, for a total of 14 km. It didnt rain hard thank GOODNESS and it wasnt that cold; I took off my coat within a short time but forgot my belt to hold STUFF and therefore needed the pockets. At half way I had a half a Cliff's bar; my first. And I liked it! :) Thank goodness since I bought a whole box. Very easy to go down which was a relief since I had no water. I usually carry or hide water for runs over 10 km but I forgot my handheld. It was really humid anyway.

Ran back to the car and I dont know if it was sweat or heavy mist but my hat was SOAKED and dripping off the brim. LOL.
I had a Yogurt drink while driving home where I showered SO fast and drove back to town to meet the kids for Taylor's Musical at the school. That took a few hours and then I took littles home for an hour and supper before the book ends had to be back at the church in Old Barns for a play dress rehearsal. How many trips today? it takes 25 minutes to go to Old Barns SIGH. and 25 back. Luckily Scott was back to take them that time because I was DYING for a nap before Ball Hockey.

Ball hockey SIGH. I was SO tired. I KNOW I should not do my long run on the same day as Ball Hockey but when else should I? It never seems to work out so Im just DOING it. I will deal with the consequences. I think even being that tired I can still run longer than a lot of people. Just not so fast. LOL
Ball hockey game was rough and I banged my head hard on the wall thank GOD for helmets. we did pretty good and only lost 2-0 LOLOLOL.

After a drink it was home and to bed with sleepy kids who were a little grumpy Monday morning.
Weeeknd is over.

Rock n Run Mirimichi

Thanks to a friend ;) Im now considering this Half Marathon; it would be an awesome weekend for a family campout? :):):) I wonder if I could swing it alone?

It's still Raining and Im sure it isnt raining MEN!

2011-05-12T09:32:00.000-03:00

Although I cannot imagine what else is going to come from the sky, it's not men. Still Raining! Im really affected by the weather; all this rain is just SO depressing and I think it makes me sleepy! I want to go home and curl up in blankets and sleep all the time! I think I feel it's colder than it really is, because it's so damp and crappy, I bundle up and end up too hot; more on that.

So the rain has sort of affected my running; I claim to be hardcore and not mind the rain but it is SO hard sometimes to go out in the cold rain and get wet. Not that I wont sweat and be wet anyway; not that it is that cold. It is just hard! LOL If it rains while I am out, it's not as hard; but leaving the house or the car in the rain; that is hard.

Monday was a day of inactivity; a rest day. Unplanned, not really called for (just had one Thursday) but it is what it is.

Tuesday I Leapt out of bed (not really) and did my daily round of P90X Shoulders and Arms. It was good. It wasnt long. I had to get moving to get to my wonderful First Aid course on time, spent the day watching videos and listening to some emergency First Aid stuff, had WIFI which made my day but felt way too guilty to actually spend much time on it; during breaks and stuff it was a nice relief tho. Tuesday evening Holly had her first night of Soccer tryouts and it poured. It was gross. I dressed for the run but rather than getting it in, I totally sat in ME's van and chatted. LOL Watched some of her soccer but they were on the other side of the field and I was getting wet. total run FAIL.

I payed for it tho.

Wednesday the wind howling woke me. We have this bird feeder on the bedroom window (how smart IS that? A bird feeder on the window of the room we sleep in? Yoiks.) Anyway it is there, and the lid was blowing up and knocking on the window. Not quietly. So by 5 am I was awake listening to this noise. Figured I might as well get up as lay there listening to the knock knock. I had a long day ahead, beings Im so tired already. The video I put in was Kenpo (Kickboxing sorta) and I actually kinda enjoyed it as a change. The kicking wasnt too bad, the stretching at the start was pretty painful for the poor tailbone. I do not think I am ready for Yoga X but I might try Plyo this week. It's pretty high impact tho :(

Wednesday evening Holly had another soccer tryout so I again dressed for running; the rain had been less for awhile and there was actually dry spots on the road so I thought I might luck out. For the second night my GA Run club ran without me SOB Im lonesome lol. while driving there were some sprinkles but I was still hopeful. I didn't hesitate too long, I watched Holly for a bit then I headed out on my run; planned to go to the end of the trail and back, then whatever was needed to get to a nice countable mileage around 4.5. Miles.

I was super cold so I dressed as tho it were -5C, I swear. almost. It was super windy with 50 K gusty winds. I put on a snug hat (not a cap) and gloves, had on a tank, long sleeve shirt, and my coat. I was hot within 3 minutes lol so started undressing. And it was like that the entire run; constantly adjusting wardrobe. Gloves off first. Then hat. No elastic so hair was in my eyes. It started to sprinkle rain a little; no biggie. I was hot. I undid the zippers of my coat. Hot. Took off my coat. Hot. It started pouring; I put the coat back on to reduce the wet of my shirts. I stopped for a few minutes under the overpass. The rain let up a little, so I went back out. Relief was short lived.
I got to that end of the trail and turned back. Now the wind that was kinda at my side and back was at my side and face. UGH. It rained harder. I ran faster. I stopped again under the overpass but I was fooling myself and the rain did not let up. POURING. The rain hitting my face was like little ice pellets (no it was NOT that cold. but it was that windy LOL). My head was wet and cold and I was getting one of those cold headaches so I put my hat back on but it was wet and I was soon hot. Left it on. I eventually zippered back up the jacket. I was almost to getting gloves back out but despite the wind I was still pretty hot. And soaked right through. 7.2 km in 44 minutes. Would have been faster if I had not kept stopping to adjust the malfunctioning wardrobe.
Before I got back to the car the rain did kinda lighten up and got harder a few times but It didnt stop. I think this is punishment for skipping the Tuesday night run which in retrospect would not have been that bad since it never rained THAT hard the whole evening. SIGH.

I climbed into the back of my car ;) and put the seats down, and proceeded to strip all wet clothing off (in phases of course) and put dry clothes back on. I like to think I did this without anyone seeing anything with the rain, fog, and tinted windows. That's my belief anyway. THEN I went back out in the rain with my dry clothes on to watch Holly playing soccer again. That didnt last long as the rain was hard and wind was blowing. She came to the car a few minutes later and she was an ice cube. Poor little thing. While we were driving home she stripped and bundled up in my coat.

I slept well last night.

This morning? nothing so far. Will see how the day goes ;)

April Recap

2011-05-09T11:06:00.000-03:00

A bit late but April wasn't a great month SIGH
Runs: 83.05 km.
Days off after injuring Tailbone: 6. 6 Very long days.
Hip Hop Abs: twice. Because I cannot do Ab Ripper right now; too tailbone intensive. Experience tells me its going to be ages before I can do that entire thing again.
24 workouts
9303 calories burned (explains the 4 pounds I put on and cannot shake.)
Longest Run: 14 km in 1:30. 868 calories burned.

UGh what a month. Im just feeling better now; had a better weekend but then feeling pretty sore today; overdid the run last night? I dont think so; but muscles are still so tight, it's uncomfortable. :( And still so SLOW! I need to see massage therapist NOW! LOL!

Back on the Road...

2011-05-09T10:18:00.000-03:00

wow I have no idea why but last Thursday I had a non-scheduled rest day. I cannot even remember what we did...just that it wasnt a whole lot. I think it rained. A lot.

Im kinda off the wagon with P90X again. Ive no idea why its so easy to get derailed these days. Back at it today I hope!

Friday was a better day; worked and saw the grads before they left forever :(:( Picked up little kiddies and then Taylor at her Heritage Fair, Then we met Scott and he took the Swimmer to her meet in Halifax; me and the littles stayed home, and although I could not convince Holly to go to her dog meeting, we did meet the Glenabbey girls on the trail and did our run before heading to Ball Hockey; We played really well; wish we could SCORE more. We did have it tied at 1-1 for a long while (I scored a goal!!) before they got a breakaway and pulled ahead by 1 at the end SIGH. Another really close game :)

Saturday morning we were up super early and all of us went off to Halifax for Day 2 of the swim meet :) We spent most of the morning at the pool watching and waiting, then left for a break at lunch where we went to the Museum of Natural History to see Sue T. Rex before she left for another location. The girls have been Begging to go for months! :)

I thought Sue was awesome :) I cant get over her anatomy; So odd! And checking out all of the old injury sites and even just the size of her was pretty overwhelming :) :)

After we visited point Pleasant Park and I decided not to run there, we took T back to the meet. I don't know the park at all, and I was concerned about getting lost, or not knowing where I might end up to find scott and te kids again, waiting in the chilly wind for a ride, no water, etc. Too many unknowns but Im going to check out a map and maybe run there another day because it looked nice (bummer about the trees; cant imagine what it looked like before Juan wiped it out :()
While Taylor was warming up I did manage a short run at that end of Hfx, and although I mapped it out, and knew where I was going, I got completely lost and ran all the way DOWN to the water, which meant I had to run all the way UP to get back to my start. It was nice but it was also very creepy, I was on some pretty shady streets and had to run through 2 groups of rowdy looking men outside a hotel, and past some guys who made a few comments and whislted (mostly comments about "bouncing" over in their direction UGH men are gross) but all in all it was a nice sunny run :) an hour later it was raining so I did good to get where I did when I did :)

5.5 km 34:10 minutes :) Hill training hehehehe

We got home from the meet very late that night and slept in a bit on Mother's Day, after which we had breakfast, then lunch was Chinese food at the In Laws home, then the kids went fishing while I photoed LOL; eventually we did make it home and although it was supper time I went out for my LONG RUN Ugh conditions were less than perfect as I was kinda hungry; I took my handheld water bottle but it was SO warm ugh and it wasnt even hot out; I think I need to put some ice cubes in it next time. 12 km in 1:18:31 which isnt great but at least I did the whole thing without dying which feels better than last week. UGH I had a really upset stomach from about 8 km on, had to walk a couple of times til it settled :(

I have loads of hope for today LOL~!

Case of the Sleepies

2011-05-05T10:11:00.000-03:00

Still not able to sleep so well. Maybe I could use some ear plugs? Or a good knock on the head?
Yesterday was a busy day :) after taking kids to school I did P90X Day 8 Chest and Back; it went well. Then I did HipHopAbs GIGGLE and I dunno if it is helpful at ALL! LOL.
After work I went for an 8 km run which was windy and REALLY HARD. I feel like I am putting my top effort into it and not getting any speed. Muscles complaining too much LOL tailbone sore last night...more than usual. But it was 8 km in.
Holly and I took the dogs for a walk; she ran another 1.5 minutes walked 3.5 minutes and did really well :) I walked.
And then the Glenabbey Run Club had another nightly walk/run. I need to get them onto a more regular schedule. LOL Its not really exercise but activity.

I wonder if these nightly runs are interferring with my sleep? Ive never been so great at exercising too late at night since it tends to keep me awake but I would think after being active sleep would be good and solid. Not so much.

Drinking my water and NOT paying much attention to what Im eating :) No wonder I cant get rid of my last few unwanted pounds :)

What I've been up to :)

2011-05-03T11:41:00.000-03:00

More catch up posting :) It is Tuesday morning and Ive been slack. In many ways :)
Friday despite planning loads of things I didnt do much other than play a ball hockey game. It's so hard to get back into that sport; Im not ready for Ice hockey to be over; running that rink is so much less fun than skating it. and slow! And nasty. Yeah for the 3rd year our first game was against the nastiest team in the league, and we generally lose to them by very high scores. This game? 0-1. We lost, but with that score, this is like a win. It is in large part thanks to our awesome goalie, she was simply amazing and kept all but one ball out. But to our credit, we did keep the play in their end way more than usual, and had some good chances :) I hoep this is a sign of a good season to come :) I only had one injury, when a SUPER AWFUL player from the other team choose to check me from behind rather than let me beat her to the ball, and laughed all the way to the penalty box. Because apparently it is fun for a 19 year old to push down the old woman who was beating her ass to the ball. SIGH. A few bruises but otherwise ok. I hate the idea of being injured over something stupid, I dont love ball hockey THAT much.
Speaking of injured, tailbone hell continues. Im moving easier in a lot of ways, same in others. If I have to spend much time sitting I get super uncomfortable and have a lot of trouble getting up. Driving is about the worst! because there is no position I can sit in that does not directly impact the tailbone. I hope this ends soon.
Saturday I kind of managed to do very little for most of the day, before finally putting on sneakers and heading off on a run. It was nice and sunny and a little warm, but windy, and rather than wait for Sunday to do a long run (forecast Rain) I turned a different way and did the long run on Saturday.
I could only do 10 km. I walked 3 times. My butt and hamstrings were SO tight, I was running this stiff, short-strided shuffle, and no matter what I tried I could not loosen up. Misery. I was really tired really early, legs were heavy and knees were complaining. LOL Im glad I could go 10 km, but it was very humbling. Im getting really worried about the Cabot Trail Relay; long, hilly, with a time limit SIGH.
But the long run is done for the week; 1:09. Walked a bit at the end.
Sunday I did nothing. I think I took this Weekend of no Commitments a little too far and other than some gardening I didnt do a thing ;)
Monday I jumped back in, up at 530 am with P90X Legs and Back workout. It was ok, legs were tired, hands sore (gardening?). At suppertime I went 6.4 km up the hill and back, 41:20. Then I did 3.5 km more with the Glenabbey Run Club walk/run program. I was thinking about doing these runs in little shoes; maybe a little barefoot or neat running would be good for my feet/legs? But its been pretty cold so far.

Now It is Tuesday morning. I woke VERY sore this morning and with little sleep after listening to Scott snore for hours. Good times. I thought after the kids left I should go for a bike ride. After some mechanical issues (flat tires, seat in a way low position) I got off and did 19.6 extremely hilly km. It was good, a little slow, but good. Tailbone was ok (no pressure there) but the seat of the bike was SO AWFUL I was numb in the nethers very fast and that was way more painful than the biking. It's Taylor's bike but I think even she deserves a better seat :) gonna go get us one later today maybe. LOL if I want to borrow that bike, I need it to be sitable. UGh. Another 1:09 active.
Mapmyrun keeps track of my calorie counting but I dont think it is very accurate. I checked out a couple of other calorie sites and apparently it is anywhere from 50-100% low. My bike ride this morning burned 400 calories according to MMR; on another calorie site it said 800. GADS. Whatever...ive got my hour in today :):):)
Another walk/run session tonight. Run tomorrow :) Maybe take in a ball practice tonight? OR go to 4H meeting? LOL!

Thursday

2011-04-29T13:33:00.000-03:00

A busy day, not a whole lot of work got done, but home stuff did :)
Since it rained all week and was pretty warm, our grass kicked into grow gear. yay right? Ive not raked it yet. UGH is what Im saying LOL. I do have most of the dog poo off of it. The trampoline has been hauled out. Im going to go mad with the raking this weekend. The sun is supposed to come out, tomorrow tomorrow. With chance of showers SIGH. Yesterday was actually a nice hot day once the pouring rain stopped. It got up to about 21C and the sun peeked out.
Ah yesterday.
After taking the kids to school I was SO cold. I did some stuff around the house and eventually wandered to the basement where the DVD player is. I had skipped Plyometrics Day 2 so I put in Day 3 Shoulders Biceps and Triceps, and even tho my arms were sore from the pull ups and push ups 2 days before I had a good workout. I did however go out later in the day and buy some 8 pound weights. Next week is 12 pounds; then we are covered from 3-15. There are just sometimes when I really want something in between and there have been few occassions where I might want heavier than 15 pounds at this point.

After P90X I put in Hip Hop Abs because I still cant do Ab Ripper X. It was better; i kept up better. I still did not feel it was high intensity enough; but I am sure its better than nothing and at least I was moving.
Last night we started our running club on the Hill :):) A friend wanted to run so we thought we would just start out; and we picked up 2 more as we went. We will see who sticks. but it was super nice not to be running alone. I was trying to remember the last time I ran with someone. I thought it was like October but in January I ran once with Margie so that's wrong. Either way, company was nice. We did about a minute and a half shuffle and three and a half minutes walking, repeat 5 times. Warm up, cool down, stretch; all took less than an hour :)
So fairly active low-impact day.

Pretty sleepy today because of being up late last night. Contrary to believe it's because of the dogs needing to be out "one last time", not for any tv event or a good book. SIGH.

Recap for March before the end of April

2011-04-29T10:54:00.000-03:00

Ive been forgetting to update my ticker with my km totals so I went through the months and totalled up the km Ive done for March and April and updated it.

Then I didnt recap March. lol

Total km: 119.4 (plus some walking (125.83))
Total Hours: 34.83 active hours logged
40 workouts logged
16,020 calories burned.

March wasn't bad. the weather was a little hard to run in, and the hours were short, but workouts were rewarding.
April was not a good month. More on that later. I think Ive griped enough :(

Hip-o Hop Abs

2011-04-27T12:34:00.000-03:00

I should have gone home yesterday afternoon and done something. Anything. Slug fest continues LOL.
But by the time I had picked up the littles, Holly had a headache and was crying, and I had already taken Tylenol for a head ache combined with a butt-ache from spending a few hours in my chair at work. Misery continues in the southern region. I took Holly home and we had a nap on my bed, and then she hopped up revived while I felt even more lethargic LOL. I finished a book I was reading, Tuesdays with Morrie, which was both sad and inspiring at the same time. I watched most of his nightline interview with Ted Koeppel (is that right? Cant remember) and after a small supper, and some time with the kids, there wasnt much left.
Ball hockey games start this week. Im not super excited about it, I think its going to be a rough season, with lots of bruises, and it has started on a low note with some team stress and unnecessary meanness. Not excited but slogging through the planning anyway.

This morning I had some trouble getting out of bed (darned hockey game dramas) after sleeping poorly and having some weird dreams. So I did not get up early. After I took the kids to school I put in the DVD Hip Hop Abs with Shaun T. OK that guy is weird. It was kinda cheesy. I am also terribly uncoordinated apparently and I have no rhythm LOL. Maybe I was really doing it wrong, but I dont feel like I "worked" very much. I tried the technique and I tried to do it as fast as they did although sometimes I was not really keeping up. But I dont know if this is for me. Shaun T was cheesy. And those grinning robots with him? hmm.
Ugh I had this weird sharp pain in my left knee while I was doing the DVD. It was to the left and behind my kneecap, stabbing discomfort. Gonna keep an eye on that. It was snapping while I was bouncing too LOL

Anyway I started the day off with some moving around and now Im working the day away, planning a run to ball hockey practice tonight?

Im not sure about P90X Plyometrics. I started some this morning and the jumping was....jarring. May run through it or just stick with weights this week and run on the "active" days.

Continueing

2011-04-26T15:16:00.000-03:00

All I can do is keep doing something today. I cant worry about yesterday or fret about tomorrow SIGH just get something done today.
I am lucky really to have so many options, things to do. If it is raining I can (could) ride the trainer in the basement. P90X DVDs with lots of options, other programs. Sunny? Run outside. Hockey, ball hockey, baseball, snowshoeing, hiking. There is always something to do.
Yesterday the weather was awesome and once my work was complete (yes complete, marking is finished) I went home and prepared for a run. I took the two little girls on their bikes and we went the 8km loop. Some of the roads were a little busy but the kids did awesome right until we hit the hill up to the house, then the whines came out a bit (Im going to DIE) but they really did great.
Im still running funny, stiff and careful. Its hard on the knees and ankles.
This morning I got up and after the kids left for School I did P90X. I gave in and restarted Day 1. I just feel lost in it at the moment and how can it be hardful to go back to the beginning? :):)
Now I do have to do something else that is active today for the 500 calories burned, but in the rain Im not sure what it will be; I cannot imagine sitting on the bike trainer for a n hour with my tail bone agony. But if I learned anything this morning it is that I can do squats and pull ups and push ups but I cannot do downward facing dog and I believe that will put pretty muich all of yoga off the table. I might this time around replace some of those days in P90X with a run. Rather than doing both. Will see how awful it is; maybe by Friday I can manage to do the yoga. Or just skip anything that hurts. All I had to skip in the Chest and Back DVD was the Dive Bomber Pushups because the DFD at the top was just too awful and pulling back up into it seemed rediculously hard. LOL Maybe in a couple of weeks.

I need to try an Ab workout that does not involve sitting on my butt. Im thinking Hipo Hop Abs might be the thing but I have to find it somewhere. Will have to wait for a bit

Onward and upward...

A shakey run

2011-04-24T18:53:00.000-03:00

It's been 6 days and today I finally went out and ran.
The last 6 days have been super unpleasant. Anyone who has had a tailbone injury knows. You cannot even sneeze without hurting that thing :( Rolling over in bed taking a lot of effort and so sleeping has been rough. Not getting enough of it. Walking around hurts but it beats sitting, anywhere, anytime, because sitting is pure misery.I have even been sitting on an exercise ball; its better but not really working for me.
I got through my Grandmother's memorial in great discomfort but it was distracting to see all those people. Once that was over, it was back to work. I had a stack of exams to mark a foot high :( And that means a lot of...sitting. I spent Wednesday at my office moving from my chair to the big ball to standing and bending over (which is harder than squatting) and walking as much as I could but I didnt get much done. Thursday I could not face another day of that torture so I marked from home standing at the kitchen island. The height was perfect for marking and despite the distractions I got twice as much done as I did the day before. Still, marking goes slow because I have to move around so much. It's not done yet. SIGH.
We had a ball hockey practice Thursday night and I could not take part :( Too uncomfortable.
FF to Sunday; I decided today was the day I was running no matter what. I had spent too much time sitting down today and it wasnt until late afternoon that I feel the Ibuprofen kicked in enough to go for a short run. 5 km in 34 minutes; hilly. But I did take it super easy. Went really slow. I was stiff and running in an awkward position to ease discomfort. It did feel better towards half way; I picked it up a little on the way back. It wasnt great but I suppose it is a start. I cant go too far or too fast, but I was out in the sun! And Im a little worried about the odd running form, being hard on my body parts. My ankles were sore as were my shins. But it could be partly the fact that for 6 days Ive spent most of my time doing very little :(

Holly and I took the dogs for a walk after my run, so I got another 20 minutes of movement in. Ball hockey practice tonight.

Cannot believe what I've done :(

2011-04-19T10:04:00.000-03:00

Ugh as if the get up and go wasn't low enough lately with too much stress and too many demands:( Friday was visiting and running around with kids and meetings :( and work.
Saturday morning worked; had an exam to give :(
Saturday afternoon after housework we went to visit family; Not sure how that went as there is illness and death everywhere :(
Sunday after the kids were sent to church I headed out for a run despite the drizzle and gusty winds :( because it was better then, than later. I planned to go on a route that had some turnaround spots to shorten it if it was not going well; but I did go the entire planned distance. I was surprised to get back to our road a mile short, and ran a km past the road and then back down to make the distance before Scott picked me up and took me up the hill. 14 km in 1:30 was pretty good. Felt ok even with the winds which did get terrible later.

After dinner we headed off to visit family in hospital in Halifax; and I slipped in the back seat of the car and sat down hard....on a wooden toy. I have broken my tailbone before and it was agony. But this is almost as bad. I can hardly move. I cannot believe I did this. Just as the weather is improving! :( If I had been an inch or 2 to either side, I would have simply bruised my big ass. But to sit directly on the tailbone on this darned toy....what was the chance?

Now how can I run? or bike? or P90X? i cannot even roll over. And getting out of a chair kills. And then there is all this family stuff, like visitation and memorials, others still in hospital....
I can't sleep.
And I have 40 hours of marking to do...in the next 2 days.
:( SAD.

Not sure how much more I can take :(

2011-04-15T09:01:00.000-03:00

Im really trying hard to be all positive and cheery and get enough sleep and eat the right foods and be active and I really think the Universe is trying to tell me something as lately I cannot seem to shake the feeling of doom :(
Running is going ok when I get out which is not enough. Other activities are fine when there is time.
Work is winding down which will be a much needed break; there is still some time and marking and preparing for next year to get through but time has cleared a lot and it's breathable.
Now if the family would just get healthy....
Serious illnesses. Death. I suppose this is what happens as we age; Im fine with aging, I do not so much miss the youth and all that; but a side effect of getting older is my family is aging as well. I miss my kids when they were little and my parents and grandparents when they were not scaring the crap out of me. Those older folks are giving me grey hair. My grandfather's bout with dementia and move into a seniors home last year was a wake up call that will not turn off. My grandmother was left living alone and family worried much about her.
My Grandfatherinlaw is going through something similar. And has been for awhile. He is now in hospital while his wife is alone at home. He was actually in the same ward as my Fatherinlaw for a day; FIL is also having concerns of his own with a sick heart that is worrying us all with spells of good and bad and now an extending hospital stay.
My other grandfather was misdiagnosed and finally diagnosed with lung cancer that seems pretty advanced. Doing tests but these things go slowly and at his age I am not sure what treatment options are realistic anyway :(
So with all of these worries I was completely blindsided by the sudden and unexpected death of my grandmother 2 days ago :( She was not actually ill. She simply died suddenly (and alone; quickly I hope) in her home in the middle of her breakfast. For all that we are shocked and sad about it, Im relieved she will not suffer and we will not have to watch. This is the way I want to go; here one moment, not here the next.
I think my family has had enough.

Running? Went on Wednesday afternoon in the rain; did intervals on the trail and it was nice (not fast but nice). I havent done intervals in forever and then I go and bust out 8 X 400 m intervals at a 5 K pace. mile warm up, couple km cool down. 50 minutes for 8 km total. much enjoyed but its the last time Ive had time for running. And getting up early for P90X or doing it in the evening has been hampered by company and late nights. I just need to get through this time; I have no races coming up any time soon. SIGH.

I hope the Universe is listening. I NEED A BREAK.

Tuesday WINNING

2011-04-13T08:43:00.000-03:00

after kids left for School I totally managed to get at P90X! I restarted week 5; so I am back to day 19. And Ouch it was not pretty! I was so shaking! But I did the whole Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, and then Ab Ripper X, and did try my hardest! I Cannot do one arm Push Ups! But I did dip a little on them so I counted...4. yeah 4 HAHAHAHA. This morning I am super sore so I guess I worked out pretty well.
Im not sure tho that I should not have started again at the beginning. But Im not even really sure it matters? As long as Im at it.

After school the littles and I went for a walk/run; they are starting their running program and I walked the 3 dogs behind them. It was a beautiful although windy day and they had a good time. Annika's feet hurt. We went about 2.3 km over the 40 minutes so that isnt bad.

While cleaning up the garage a bit, Taylor called to say her play practice was cancelled and could I come get her? SIGH.

No run. UGH! Im not sure why; after all that activity in the afternoon I felt I had to do some marking. So I marked until...MIDNIGHT. Jeez.

Super tired Wednesday morning; did NOT get up to do...Plyometrics I think it is this morning. I hope I can make myself do it later on. :(

Check In

2011-04-11T21:21:00.000-03:00

Great hockey team :)

4 weeks to the half marathon I am considering. 4! How can I possibly be ready? The Fredericton Marathon might just go on without me.

Last Wednesday I did manage a little run of 6.6 km. It was better than expected. The weather has been terrific and Ive really needed to take advantage of that but I have not. I have been spending too much time in an office without a window, no view of the lovely weather. Which is likely just as well since I need to work harder to get things done. People keep asking for stuff from me! Im going as fast as I can! Ugh!

Super new sneakers; back to Gel Cumulus 11.

Thursday I was single parenting and there was so much to do; go home from work to get hockey gear, pick up kids at sitter, cross town to pick Taylor up at school, cross town to take her to swim practice, cross town to get Annika to hockey where I did get a teensy bit of skating in; back home to put supper on, back across town to pick Taylor up from swimming; feed kids, get them to bed, clean up house; and fall into bed exhausted. No run.

Friday was working, getting kids off to hockey tournament and 4H dog meeting; packing bags and stuff as well. No run.

A little dog training

Excited to go play!

Saturday we were up super early and off to the city for early hockey games and swim meet. Taylor went with grands and we took the littles to the Female Festival. They love this tournament; playing with girls is a different experience for them once a year :)

Being fairly silly; No photos of Runners Pose!

Holly the Goon :) Had a fairly aggressive tournament.

Hockey girls :)

Saturday afternoon there was a bit of a break and with the amazing warm temps and sun I decided to go for a run :) I got some directions from Auntie Jessie, and ran around Portland Estates for 1:17 for a total of 12.35 km. I ran up a trail and around a sub division. Then down another trail, over some really rough wood chip trail, back to road, and 3 times around Jessie's sub division to get the distance. Long run done.

Back to hockey :) The girls were having good games with wins or ties. Late back to the hotel which was awesome :) We had some fun trying to surprise Lex for her birthday and had some cupcakes and candles :) The kids ran around the hotel all the rest of the night, and slept in a bit the next morning.

The sun was shining in the morning and I had time to squeeze in another little run, across the highway was Shubie park and miles of trails so I ran 8 km there on the rolling trails. It was SO nice. I got a little lost but kept the highway on the right side so found my way out quite without making any turns back :) 52 minutes and change.

The rest of the tournament was good :) we came home and I worked til very late.

Now it is Monday and thanks to the weather I did not manage to get a run in. It was way rainy and Super windy with notable gusts. Tomorrow I will make time for a run. :)

AND maybe I can get up and get back to P90X?

Times Flying By

2011-04-06T17:29:00.000-03:00

Panic setting in about many things! Time needs to slow it's ass down! OMG I havent written since March! That's because...nothing much is going on here.
Since I last wrote Ive worked like a dog to get stuff done at work. Do not have my head above water yet but I see the surface. I played hockey 9 times. !! It was tournament week and we had a few kid practices and pick up games for fun. :):) We had a tough tournament but we made it to the final game against the odds. where we lost SIGH there was just no way.
I didnt run much at the time, trying to preserve energy and working and just very tired. Really tired. I am supposed to be back on track now; its' rough.
But as soon as I have something to write I will write it.
Thinking about a run soon. Went on Monday and will go tomorrow...maybe. LOL

Crazy Busy

2011-03-27T21:43:00.000-03:00

No time.
Friday? No activity that I can remember. LOL Oh the guinea pigs came home.
Saturday? worked, timed at a swim meet, played a game of hockey in the afternoon, worked all evening on school stuff.
Sunday? worked, ran 8.5 k in the worst wind in ages UGH had to walk into it for long distances, like walking into a wall :( very hard 56:12 run. Hockey in afternoon with Annika's team not very strenuous. LOL.
And worked all evening.

This coming week is nuts. Hockey, work, marking, meetings for kids, science fair...its not going to be fun. I dont expect to get much accomplished. Going to put P90X off another week to get through it all :(

Prioritizing; if I have time, it will be for running. Weather is supposed to be awesome! Hope this wind lets up! :)

Success...sort of...

2011-03-24T15:01:00.000-03:00

Ugh sometimes it can be so hard to get things in when you need to! With husband leaving town for a couple days it's important to run when kids are in school, or be stuck working out in the basement (I could use more cross training, honest!) This morning I was so not expecting to be taking the kids to school but I did. At 2 different times at that. I dressed for running when I took the first load into town, dropped them off, and headed off for a nice 8 km loop. Wow did I miscalculate that. Because of where I parked, I was off a bit on my estimation...I ended up going 9.7 km back to my car. Oops. I was therefore late for picking up lot 2 of children, but luckily Scott had made an appearance and took the older ones to school so I could shower and dress and get off to work. 9.7 km in 1:01: ish not bad for running around on a strained ankle. OMG I ran on the Cobequid trail and I have NO idea who is going to clean up all that dog shit from a winter of stupid people letting their dogs shit whereever? WTF? Nice, people. I wont be taking my dogs there for a while. It's toooooo dirty and Im not walking dogs from shit pile to shit pile. Sometimes dogs owners just suck.

Notice no P90X updates in awhile? I seem to have fallen off the wagon. after the weekend, when its hard to get workouts in due to hockey, I had the flu and have been extremely tired since. Running is my first priority and it's been all Ive handled this week past. I do intent to start week 5 over again, possibly tomorrow or Saturday now that the girls' regular hockey seasons are over.

Will update.

We need a Redo

2011-03-24T06:34:00.000-03:00

The damned flu bug has wreaked havoc in our house this past week and a half, there was not a single day over the kid's march break and beyond that did not have someone feeling ill or vomiting. Or worse.
So it was not a huge shock when it hit me. No it was still sorta. I eat well, wash my hands, I should not get sick lol. But I did. Good and sick. I took Monday off anyway; seems a nice rest after busy weekends and a long day on Monday in class. But I had big plans for a long run on Tuesday. I was instead sick all through the night and into the next day. I spent all of Tuesday in bed or very near bed. Ugh I hate being sick bad enough but the recovery is always so long.
Wednesday morning I could barely wake. I slept badly the night before and after 6 I was still barely awake. Dragging out of bed was really hard. Smells made me feel terrible. Working the day was somewhat better; once out of bed things get easier. After Work plans changed a little when Taylor did not go swimming so I took a very dangerous chance and I went home to run from there. Home can be a huge energy suck; once you walk in the door there are distractions and energy just seeps away until you don't go anywhere. But I dressed and got out the door into the amazing weather anyway. I went in a long sleeved shirt and tights, a head band rather than a hat. It was slightly chilly in spots but so nice! The sun felt very nice! Planning a short run, I went up the hill to 3 km then turned back. Once I got to the big hill I was feeling super and I lengthened my stride and took in the sun and was singing a song and then. It happened. I wasn't watching closely enough; the sun and tree shade were playing games...and I stepped in a little teensy washout and turned my ankle over. And to not fall onto the road in front of a car I stepped right on the top of my foot (dirt on my shoe showing me where). I didn't fall. I said oh no lol. And I walked. At least I could. It REALLY hurt. My shoe felt tight very fast. I limped for about 30 seconds but I was only 4 km into a 6.4 km run and there was no one to take me home; so I figured I might as well see if I could run. It did not hurt more to run, so I did. Slowly I think. Little faster as I got closer to home. I pulled up in front of the house with 6.4 km in 40:20 which isn't as far off my intended time as I thought it would be.
I iced ankle and foot and went to bed. This morning it looks normal but hurts quite badly. I'm going to try a run this morning; changing plans a little since I guess I'm taking the kids to school. maybe I will walk instead. Not a good morning to try the trails. Lol

Weekend recall

2011-03-21T11:27:00.000-03:00

I was right! I did not feel like working out after Holly's championship game. I was totally bummed after Holly's game. LOL they went through the tournament unbeaten, but so did the other team. They scored loads of goals. So did the other team. Both teams went into the final fairly even. And Holly's team lead for most of the game. MOST. But they were not in the lead when the game ended. I was So sad. And embarassed for the behaviour of some of the team members. Shameful poor losers, 9 and 10 year old kids are. SIGH.
Anyway we went home and had some sinfully good frenchfries and chicken wings for supper, and by the time we were finished drowning our sorrows and enjoying a kazoo concert, it was time for all to sleep.
Saturday morning was for sleeping and we did! Past 7 am! Glorious! lol. I woke for awhile and then luxuriously went back to sleep until almost 8! Bliss!
I had a hockey game that I took Holly and her friend to, it was pick up so they played with us and it was fun :) All scored a few goals and went home for the rest of the day where, even tho it was sunny, it was cold and I stayed in and worked. And worked some more. Marking Marking, I hate this semester for all of it's marking SIGH. But by Saturday night I had finished one assignment. I had Taylor rubbing the kink out of my neck for ages. Wonder where that came from!
Sunday morning, up early for a breakfast out, then I didnt feel much like running for a couple of hours. Sunday is hard when it is hockey season because I want to run almost every Sunday, I feel like it, but I dont want to be too tired for Hockey. SIGH. I left the house just before noon for my 10 k run. Yeah no long run. Hockey game was at 3. The run was good, about 1:03:45 with a 6:20 pace for the 10 k, lot of hill on the way up and less on the way home. :) The weather was mostly nice lol windy but warmish and sunny and I was very happy to just run along. No speedwork and only about 6 dogs. I KNOW! Where are they all coming from? Im just so happy that the good weather is returning :)
Hockey game in the afternoon was good. I had a goal, tie game, got my finger whacked but it only bothers me when I have to use it SIGH. Pull ups this week? Maybe NOT. Ive gotten a great headache going on and I need to see if more sleep and more water will improve it.
This morning I did not drag out of bed for a 5 am workout. In attempts to be better to myself I took the extra sleep. Not that I got much. It was super hard to get back to sleep after Scott left and Cat was howling. SIGH. But I took the laying in bed. There are only 3 weeks left of this semester and they are going to be super busy ones. If I have to take a break from some workouts,this is the time to do it. And it is Monday. Not my old friend. I start at 8 and teach until 5, nearly non stop. Hard.
Time to start bike riding regularly. I might use Taylor's or Scott's bike until I am ready to remove my bike from the trainer....changing tires is way too hard. :)
Swimming. How am I going to get to swimming? If Im going to do a Tri this summer I really need to start swimming and very soon!

Feeling Somewhat Better

2011-03-18T15:13:00.000-03:00

About things. I have to thanks IAN for pointing out possible burnout; it made me rethink the whole cranky mood/tired running thing and I actually did read quite a few articles about burnout while trying to decide if I actually WAS burned out or just tired of winter...
and Ive concluded, since it's my workouts that keep me sane and Im not getting enough of the outside world thanks to the weather, Im actually more likely just tired of winter and having a little SAD to go along with it. Ive had some good workouts this week and am feeling a little more on balance.The weather improving or at least giving me breaks is certainly helping.
Ive also slept in a bit this week; my kids are on March Break and although I still have to go to work, I was able to sleep a teensy bit later 4 of those days; no 5 am, more like 6 am. Yesterday I barely remember the alarm going off; I turned it off about 6 times before I finally figured I should get up. YEAH that's an hour.

Tuesday morning I got up and did a sort of long run. I do believe Im going to run a half marathon in Fredericton in May before the CTR, and then a full marathon in the fall when I will have a better hope of training for it. So I backed my long run off this week. That kind of means I am completely off of any plan, because to do a half marathon plan I have to like...half my running. While I may not be doing a full in the spring, I do not really want to back off the long runs too much (after doing 18, backing down to 10s again as the long run seems silly). So Im going to keep uping the distance with back off weeks until after May. I did 12.1 km on Tuesday morning before work. The weather was amazing and it was an effortless run with a nice 6:16 pace on hills and 1:16 time. Nice.
That night we went off to the Valley for Grammy's 60th birthday party. we arrived in time for some cake before scooting the kids to bed (almost midnight)! ugh.
They were very difficult to wake in the morning. I snuck out of the house at about 7 to get in a very short, fast 4.1 km run done in about 23:16 with a 5:40 pace on some flat some hilly roads. :) Again it was chilly but the weather was awesome.
We dragged the littles out of bed and rushed to get to Annika's first tournament hockey game (we were late). She had 3 games on Wednesday. Between the first 2 we took Taylor to her Nanny's house because she was sick. While we were at the games Holly got sick as well, a stomach bug. With Annika's cold, that was all three feeling terrile.
Thursday morning I did P90X Day 37 Plyometrics which was fun :) After working the morning away I went to Annika's last tournament game where she got a medal (as did I...for coaching :)) and then went back to work for a few more hours before heading off to Holly's first tournament game in the opposite direction. SIGH. the weather was even more amazing and I missed it! :)
SO Friday morning I decided to do a nice run in the afternoon. Until I heard the weather forecast for gusting winds and rain; then I threw on my clothes and went in the morning before work; barely fitting everything in! UGH. So stressful making time for things! But I got the 8.5 km done in 52:52, 6:12 pace. I feel it's coming back a bit, after all that nasty snow and ice LOL.
I might do P90X tonight (I love the potential of Friday nights) but after Holly's championship game in her tournament in a couple of hours, I might be tired and just NOT.
Planning a long run for this weekend, whenever the weather seems appropriate. I have a feeling we dont have much going on this weekend and I cannot wait! LOL my last 2 hockey games of regular season are this weekend, then just one tournament for me and I can put away the gear, and start planning for ball hockey SIGH.
I LOVE SUMMER.

I'm hesitant to write about the weekend

2011-03-14T22:00:00.000-03:00

Because it's such a FAIL. And I'm trying to figure out why it has to feel like a failure when i'm tired and overbooked,and I do not manage a lot of physical activity, I feel like I failed somehow.
I'm on a training program and I'm failing it miserably. I need just a touch of what Charlie Sheen has; he thinks he is winning ALL the time.
Time for a mind change. Work is busy, weather difficult, kids busy, hockey busy, and I just need to give myself a teensy break. But if I do that, it just gets easier to skip. Which Is why I've not run in 3 days now.
Back to Friday; I got up half early and I did P90X Kenpo, and Ab Ripper. I dressed and ran after lab, only 5 km but it was decent in the wind and rain that was falling. Temps were duper warm relatively and rain was light. It was fine.
I was tired and slacked in the evening, only foam rolling, trying to watch a frustrating rental movie, FAIL again, and finally sleeping.
Saturday morning was early hockey. I played hard lol. The weather was super nice and somewhat sunny. And instead of running I got to do hockey. This was their last full weekend of hockey and they had a lot of it. If only I could have come home and run but I didn't. I Do not remember what I did. I did forget about a party we were supposed to go to. I folded laundry. Did some work for week ahead. Wasted day.
But was it? I enjoyed the kids hockey and relaxed...
Anyway. Sunday morning was awesome but I had Holly home and rather than leaving her alone, we took the dogs for a nice 4km walk. Weather was again super nice.
Hockey in the afternoon, then although I planned to run, I worked instead. I thought I would run later but I didn't finish what I was working on until past 9 pm. Ugh.
Monday dawned super early because of the time springing forward, so at 5 am or the old 4 am I crawled out, after listening to Taylor being ill, for a while. I did some P90X chest back and triceps. And Ab Ripper. And went to work for long Monday morning. I cannot stand listening to me talk for that long.
Afternoon fail. Mostly because it was snowing and blowing a lot SIGH. I did again walk the dogs, 2.45 km which ain't great but at least we got out of the house for a bit.
High hopes for Tuesday :)
And maybe time for a retry at a positive mindset. April is coming after all.

Retake on the Virtual 5k race

2011-03-10T16:59:00.000-04:00

Went far better than the first. Mostly. Best? No snow or ice or slush. Worst? Flooding.

Ok so Tuesday morning Out of bed early and to the basement for P90X Day 32 Yoga X. I think I am getting better at it lol. I wish I could do it more often. My time is coming. Off for a nice work day, then enjoying the sun and the warmer temps, I dressed and headed out from work. Totally determined to do better at the 5 k. The schedule called for 4 miles.

I did not know the names of the "corners" and roads. I heard some stuff on the radio about flooding and road closures but I didn't know where they were. I should have known better since this stupid town was built on a flood plain.

Detroit Runner's virtual 5 k was just a little challenge I took on to test my speed at the moment, which after this long hard winter, is not great.
Weather was perfect, sun was shining. 5 k done in 28:34 minutes. My goal was not too ambitious; under 30 was ok with me.

But I made some critical judgement errors on this part of the run. When I got to the end of this road for a short cool out run back to my office, I realised I was not going to be able to get through this way.

The areas where there is water...usually there is no water. Particularly on the road. LOL FLOODS! I had faith. Someone would drive me across this water.

No matter how pathetic I appealed, no one picked me up to cross the water. They looked at me like I was raving mad. I did NOT want to turn back! It would double my distance and had some nasty rolling hills and a steep hill on the way back.

Im such a genius. I decided to head down to that water and turn right, where there was less flooding, and run to a friend's farm to call for a ride back to my car. It was not as far as turning back.

What it was, was cold. The wind across those flat fields was SO cold. No longer a nice sunny day but a cold sunny day.

I went past more gates saying road closed; I thought they were for behind me. Judgement error 2. I got within sight of the farm...I could almost touch it. And there was another river, flooded across the road. I was now 7 km away from my car, on a 4 mile run. lol

I went to a stranger's house, to call for a ride, I got ahold of Scott and asked him to come and told him what road to take. Then I ran towards town. the woman in the house said I should sit and wait if I wanted; it was her birthday and she seemed a little lonesome. But something in her house was making me sneeze (a candle? some sort of scent) and I thought i might stay warmer if I kept moving. I get super cold when I stop and Im sweaty.

What I was not counting on, was Scott taking half an hour to come get me. He says he took a wrong turn and it wasnt that long but I was almost 4 km back to the car before he came along, and I was so cold I actually had tears. I should have 1. learned what roads were closed, 2. not assumed it could not be that bad, and 3. turned around and headed back at the first flood water. It seems not so far in retrospect. My 4 mile run turned into 10.85 km. :(

It took me hours to warm up; didnt help that I had to go to the junior high for the science fair right away.

Wednesday morning; I did not hop out of bed. I packed a bag and thought I would run in the afternoon after labs were done. Which I did. It wasnt that cold, the sun was out. BUT. I got hungry. No big deal, right? My stomach was sloshing and empty and I got very light headed and dizzy and felt like I was floating, not in a good way. I kept tripping; my speed was horrid! I felt like I was working super hard but getting no where. And I was on another planet. I wanted to go 8 km; I went 7.55 but I walked 3 times, and went super slow. That's a lot of run FAILS. I was so happy to see my car, I went home, ate, went to bed and shivered....I was asleep by 730. And I did not hop out of bed Thursday morning.

I did get up eventually and did P90X Day 33 Legs and Back, then Ab Ripper. But Im not running today. I MIGHT cross train on the bike trainer, but Im not counting on that. LOL Still not feeling 100%.

Weekend Workouts

2011-03-07T10:54:00.000-04:00

What an active weekend! At least, the car got a lot of activity, driving us all around all weekend :)
Saturday morning the little girls got up at 530 am. 530! OH jeez what a day that was. Grumpy tired little girl in my house :) At 7 I went off to play hockey; pick up is always a lot of fun :) It was a good workout!
once home, Scott took off for 4H speech day and I took Annika to hockey. She had fun but was super tired and wanted to do her speech so I took her to the speech day and she didnt play her hockey game.
Speeches were great! Annika totally kicked butt in our house with her speech on Shelley :)
It was nice to see some friends I havent in awhile :)
Speeches ended in Old Barns and I got ready for a long run back to our house; with some detours in town it's about 18 km to our house. The sun was nice although it set way too soon; the wind was nasty in places but it could have been far worse. I did some rerouting to avoid running the entire way into the wind, and got 18.2 km in less than 2 hours. Over that ice and slush and MUD it was a good time. Parts were very good; I had stepped in slush puddles less than 2 km in tho so feet were very wet. Felt good the whole way pretty much. Gatorade in hand held; jelly beans at 6.5 km, half a bar at about 12 km. 1138 kcal burned!

Did lots of foam rolling that night and went to bed early even tho Taylor was having a sleepover; they are low maintenance at 12 and 13 years old.

Sunday morning I got up early for Holly hockey and then prepared for 4H Scrapbooking meeting in the afternoon; hockey at 1 was a hard workout; gained a few more injuries and bruised my tailbone which makes most movements today much harder.
Scrapbooking meeting went fairly well; finished marking some assignments, made supper, and did prep work until dropping from tired by 930 pm.
My clock is now officially reset; I can hardly make 10 pm and am fairly wide awake by 5 am which is making getting out of bed easier but is a little frustrating when I have a lot of work to do in the evening. I should have a daily nap!
This morning was unenthusiastic but I DID get out of bed at 5 grumpy because someone woke me way earlier than that; did P90X Day 31 Back and Biceps, and Ab Ripper. Im slowly getting through my weeks; combining with the running is slowing the progress a lot. Back and Biceps was a little boring; I need some new weights; 8 and 12 pounds would be nice.
No run today; working late and we have to do Holly's science fair project tonight. Tomorrow morning tho...

Time is not on my Side

2011-03-04T23:15:00.002-04:00

It sort of feels like i am just writing the same old things here. Not much has changed in NS. I am sitting here on a Friday night in my cozy living room on my new loveseat that is very comfortable. Annika has a whole gaggle of friends in the basement watching a movie; her birthday was 4 months ago but we never had a party for the poor little thing until now. And even now the timing is terrible; tomorrow there is hockey x 3 and 4H speeches and Scott is not going to be around to help with any of it. But it was never going to be a good time for her party so it is just now. They really are being very good:)
So on Wednesday I dragged this ragged butt out of bed and did Yoga X. I do like the yoga better now; hell of a stretch and workout, still very long but enjoyable. I did cut it short when Annika told me that the coffee maker was on, meaning 630 am. Kids had to get to school. They were all so keen, we got out of the house early and scooted by the college to pick up stuff for Taylor to present her science fair project on DNA. In French. I'd like to see her do it. After classes all day I put on my running stuff with dread; it wasn't terribly cold but there were 60 km winds blowing and I do hate to run in wind. On ice and snow. But if I don't make myself do it, I simply won't. And since runs are often on windy days I might as well remember that and make the windy runs too.
I went to the pool where I was meeting the kids and ran from there. Gives me the most efficient time use. I cut my planned 18 km run down to 10 then even shorter once I headed up hill into the wind for 2 km. I was battered sideways and backwards by the wind. But it wasn't too cold; exposed skin was cold and I did dress warmly, but by 3 km i took my coat off and ran in 2 shirt layers and one sweater layer. Relative balmy.
After the up hill into the wind I spent some time running parallel to the wind then wind at my back for a bit; what a relief. Then I turned onto a new street and the enjoyable roads and sidewalks were replaced by my friend ice and snow. And deep slush puddles with no warning. Sigh at least I'm getting used to that. Oh and more wind.
I got back to the pool after 8.5 km and about 56 minutes Which is a terrible time. Lucky I'm used to being slow. Foam rollered for a bit Before bed. I hope it's working.
Thursday morning I got right up and did 5 am workout P90X Day 29 back chest and triceps. That was hard.
Admit....tired lately. Some workouts harder than others.
So after kids went to school I dressed in running clothes for a short 5km run. It was meant to be a test of where im at, and maybe the virtual 5k I signed up for. If I don't get a better one lol.
It was cold. Holy cold. And sometime over night, it snowed. On top of rain, and ice. The main road out there was not plowed. There are not a lot of driveways to getoff the road so I was listening really carefully for snowplows and big trucks. I pushed hard but hills, cold, and slippery didn't help; 32 minutes was all I could manage.
Friday I chose not to run. Again really cold, and I wonder if I'm just overdoing it sometimes. I've slightly shortened the running schedule by necessity, and I'm not exactly flying through the P90X program. But I need more sleep and I need to maybe moderate more workouts? Hmm
Therefore Friday I didn't run. I did do 530am plyometrics (day 30) and then ab ripper x but that's all. No run lol. Leg day.
What's missing? A weekly long run.
Tomorrow maybe?
It is supposed to warm up...

Recap

2011-03-03T12:23:00.000-04:00

Don't think I did one of these. My MapMyRun site is changing and I better get this info before I cannot find my way around anymore! SO confusing, I do not deal so well with change!

January:
107.7 km
11,875 kcal Both less than last January
(Started P90X on the 25th)

February:
129.53 km
18, 831 kcal (Both far better than last year)

down a little over a kg

Lifetime Totals
(Or since I started MapMyRun lol)

2,975.09 Total Kilometers
521.4 Total Hours
595 Workouts
252,031 Total Calorie

Kind of neat. :)

working on learning the spots to look for the new MapMy Run but there is no gear tracker OH NO so I have to keep going back to the classic version to map.
PLUS the new version does not give me very generous calorie counts for the same workout.
UGH.

Not easy to get in workouts OR blog posts apparently.

2011-03-01T10:44:00.000-04:00

Life has been super busy lately. And Im in this mood. Grumpy, impatient, intolerant, I dont care mood :( It might pass if we start getting some sun. And it better fast before everyone hates the sight of me or I say something I really should filter LOL.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early for Holly's hockey game and Drama for the other little drama queens :) After Holly's rather unpleasant game, she went to a friend's place and I went out for a shortish run. I went up the hill and back down for 6.45 km in 42 minutes; times had better start to get better or I might wonder what on earth I am doing wrong! Most of this was on the road with only minimal slushy running so I would like to think it would get better.
After getting some work done and some major house cleaning done, it was time to go to hockey. I have nothing to say about hockey. It was not my best game and my very bad mood did not make things any better. Im going to stop going if I cannot leave my mood at home :(
Rest of the day and night was spent marking and doing some last minute lecture preparations. Good times. Monday is that terrible long day; I start classes at 8 am and go until 5 pm. It is amazingly hard to talk that long, honestly. I just dont even want to hear my raspy voice at the end; even my jaw was sore and I was grinding my teeth Thank you stress! :( I hate Mondays. Only 5 left thank GOD. 6 weeks of classes and then exam time :)
I had planned to do "something" last night although I was not sure what. By the time I got home with Taylor from swimming (Horrible weather and bad drive) it was 6 pm and supper was ready and I ate and did some work for today then went to bed to read for some lecture prep and OMG was asleep before I even knew it; Didn't see 9 pm. :(
Slept terribly last night; was awake for hours :( Someone was snoring, then wind was blowing, worrying, thinking, exhausted but unable to sleep. I should have been smart and got up at 5 am for some P90X but I figured I had time later. WRONG. I had to take care of school drop off and time was cut short. I did most of the Core Synergistics DVD but not the cool down. And with so much to do today/tonight with kids and one-parenting it, I wont likely get much more in. Maybe after the kids get to bed I can do some bike trainer or Yoga but that will be late and chances are I will just be tired. No run in sight :(:(:( NEED a run tho, so frustrated.

This has been a seriously negative post. I will try really hard not to post many mroe of those :(