Three Things Thursday

1. Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! Everyone should get on board with RunToTheFinish for another round of healthy holiday competition! It's pretty simple; we just have to track points according to the following list and bust some bootie over the holidays. She has PRIZES!

1 Point per mile (run/walk/snowshoe)
1 Point per 3 miles biked
1 Point per 30 minutes of weight lifting, Pilates, yoga, stretching or abs
1 Point per 15 minutes of another form of cardio (i.e. kick boxing, aerobics elliptical)
1 Per day where you reach a minimum of 7 servings of fruits and veggies

CLICK HERE to sign up.

2. Last night I had a great 10K (actually, 10.5 - but who's counting?) with the group. The kilometres ticked by quickly as we chatted away in the peaceful darkness of a November evening. Tonight is SPIN!

3. Our very own Morning Runner is hosting this week's TIaRT and she wants to know:

What is your favorite race? Do you live for the marathons or crave a 5k? Would you rather race in the morning, afternoon, or at night? Do you like big races with tons of people and encouraging crowds or do you prefer the smaller hometown races?

The beautiful thing with racing for me is: I don't have to choose! There is a plethora of options out there year-round in all distances, any time of day, big, small or in between. I can appreciate a small town race with just a couple hundred participants (our own local Rebecca Run and Hartwell Half come to mind) as well as the big boys with several thousand (such as Ottawa or the Toronto Waterfront). I also love to race every distance from the 5K to the marathon. I suppose the simple answer would be: I love variety.

My only problem is narrowing down the options (perhaps you will recall that I ran 9 races in 10 weeks this spring).

How about you?


P.S. (okay, maybe this is Four Things Thursday): Lil Runner is giving away some Clif Quench and you can enter here.

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

***

After my morning run yesterday, I had a thorough butt-whooping at the gym in the evening. H.O.T. class presented another round of intense intervals from burpees to mountain climbers to walking lunges to step-ups to planks to jumping jacks, and the list goes on. I even hopped on the elliptical for 20 minutes before the class for a little warm-up. I love a good workout before my weekly dose of The Biggest Loser.

Project Lean Mean Running Machine is well underway and pretty soon I'll be adding the HBBC to the mix for added motivation. Bring it on!

Tonight I'm meeting some people I have not seen enough lately for a 10K (or so). Since adding varied exercise to the mix, I actually love running more. Imagine that!

The awesome weather seems to be continuing with sunny skies and cool (but not too cold) temperatures. Jess made a comment about finding it funny to be wearing a jacket in November; we're just lucky not to be wearing full-on winter gear at this point. The best is yet to come.

Happy Hump Day!

Morning run

I have a class at the gym tonight and plans at lunch, but I wanted to squeeze in a run, so 6AM is was. The cool, dark and quiet morning was eerily calming and it was a great way to start my day. I truly wish I had the discipline to do this more often, but the truth is that I'm surprised I managed to get up today. I'm just not a morning person during the week.

So the run was nice and I took a slight detour to scope out some new running/walking trails being constructed in our neighbourhood. We've been promised ~9K of trails and I can't wait to explore more thoroughly as progress continues. With winter looming we probably won't be able to fully enjoy them until next spring, but it's definitely something to look forward to.

Not much else to report here. My tummy is grumbling for some breakfast; one thing about running in the morning - it makes me extra hungry all day!

I'll leave you with a post-run sweaty pic that I took for Prior Fat Girl's Proof is in the Pictures:



Don't mind the nasty cold sore on my bottom lip, which is also the reason I could only half-smile. Ouchie. :(


Have a good one!

P.S. The Daily Cadence is hosting a Box O' Stuff giveaway - check it out here and please let him know I sent you!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday

For the first time in ten days, I took the day off completely from any exercise. It was a much-needed break and I busied myself with other things. There were many preparations for a semi-surprise Birthday party for a certain someone the following night.

Saturday

Saturday morning I met some of my Goofy training buddies, a.k.a. Team Goof-Eh?, for a long run. Many had opted to do the longer run on Saturday, which also worked for me knowing I had the party that night. We set out on a very hilly route for 23K, but a wrong turn had us back at the finish line closer to 20K. I was particularly tired after a heavy duty week and the hills had taken a lot out of me, so I called it quits along with a few others. It was a beautiful day (although windy) and I was able to lose my outer layer and run in a short sleeve after a few KMs.

Saturday afternoon was spent cleaning the house from top to bottom. Nothing like the looming possibility of overnight guests (they didn't end up staying) to get the house cleaned up. Between the run, cleaning and last minute party preparations, I was pooped by late afternoon. Fortunately, adrenaline kicked in as we got ready for one awesome party.

Sunday

Time for another run! I decided to do this one on my own, which allowed me to sleep in. It was even warmer this morning and I ditched the long sleeve almost immediately. I have always taken the day off after a two-hour run so my legs were really feeling it at first. I got into a groove eventually and coasted along ticking off the KM's much easier than I expected. 16K done.

The mini back-to-back this weekend gave me some confidence for the much longer back-to-backs coming up. Overall - success!

After the run I had just enough time to shower and get ready for a friend's baby shower. Busy weekend! It was a fun afternoon but after this busy weekend I am just about ready to crash.



Hope you all had a great weekend! I'll be catching up on what you've been up to soon.

Three Things Thursday

1. My legs are torn up from all of this cross-training. I'm feeling pain in muscles I don't even recognize. Owwie! When I showed up for Spin yesterday, I knew I was in trouble because my legs were screaming from the drills in H.O.T. on Tuesday. Sure enough, I could not fully participate in the class. I did what I could, but my legs were not too happy. I'm meeting some friends for 10K tonight, but I'll take it easy and hopefully the legs will hold up. I'm thinking a rest day is in order for tomorrow before my first set of back-to-back long runs this weekend.

2. We leave for Florida exactly two months from today for the Goofy Challenge!!! That leaves exactly 9 weeks of training (including taper) and one of those weeks will be spent in Cuba, which leaves approximately 6 weekends available for long runs. I'm sticking to my plan of taking a laid back approach with less running and more cross-training. This won't be a "race" by any means, but I still need to adjust to the mileage again. I'm going to incorporate a few runs in the upper 20's (KM) and at least one 20-miler. Better get started on that...

3. Coach ran the NYC Marathon on the weekend and sent us some thoughts:

New York City is special. Those of you who have been will agree, I'm sure. Their marathon is a reflection of that specialness. The city embraces the race. They appear to be genuinely glad that you have come to run their race. They are proud of it, and it shows. Over 40,000 runners; over 8000 volunteers; over 2 MILLION spectators! I remember running up 1st Avenue at about the 16-18 mile (26k-30k) stretch. It is 8 lanes wide and was TOTALLY filled with runners as far as I could see (at a least a mile or two both ahead and behind me). The crowds are 6-8 deep along both sides and just ROARING as we go by. I've heard noise like that in Boston, but only at Wellesley College and at the finish! Here we were out in what is often the "dead zone" in many marathons, and people were going berserk. Wow! What's even more amazing, is that wasn't the only spot like that: the same sort of thing had gone on earlier in Brooklyn and would occur again later entering the Bronx. Given that description, can you imagine what it was like in Central Park for the last couple of miles?!? Really, words escape me. This is a MUST DO marathon, folks!

I'm so tempted to put my name in the lottery right now...

P.S. Hopefully we'll be reading lindsay's NYC report soon.... *hint hint*

Wednesday Catch-Up

Mark

Mark is recovering both physically and emotionally. It appears to be a hip flexor issue, but he is on the mend. Fortunately, it is nothing too serious. UNfortunately, this has made him question his decision on Sunday. I believe he is forgetting the pain he was feeling at the time. Thanks again for all of your support; Mark has been reading the comments and I know it is helping him feel better about the whole experience.

Edit: I just came upon a post that Kenny wrote yesterday and it rings very true: Braving It. Thanks, Kenny.



Running

After a one-week running hiatus, I hit the streets on Monday evening for a 5K. I felt amazing and ticked off progressively faster splits, with my final K just 2 seconds off 5K race pace!

Project

Project Lean Mean Running Machine is going great since kicking it off last Monday. For the first time in a long time, I feel focused. I worked out like crazy last week despite not running - yesterday was my 8th straight day at the gym! I’ve taken yoga, spin and interval classes and worked out on my own as well. I’ve also gotten back on track with healthy eating again. This girl didn’t eat a single piece of Halloween candy! And when hubby ordered a scrumptious-looking pizza for Sunday night, I made my own healthy version - a tortilla pizza with veggies and turkey pepperoni. I had to take a picture:



The best news: I’ve lost 4 lbs and I’m only 6 away from my lowest weight last year.

Gift

I got a super awesome surprise belated Birthday gift in the mail yesterday from Tall Mom.



Hand & toe warmers, GU Chomps, Roctane GU x2, a Mojo Dipped bar, Luna Bar and Luna Moons (only the wrappers remain…), a Pink String for breast Cancer, a fun “Today I Feel” magnet and a sweet card. I was utterly spoiled! Thanks Mel!

Happy Hump Day!

Thank You + Photos

Thank you so much for your outpouring of comments and support; it means a lot to both of us.

Mark has been pretty bummed and is having a hard time dealing with the disappointment, but I'm trying to help him work through it. No doubt it's hard to see 18 weeks of hard work and dedication trickle away, but I hope he is proud of what he has accomplished, whether or not he has a medal to show for it.

It's important to remember that regardless of what happens on race day, completing the training is an achievement in itself. He pushed himself to the limits, reached several new records along the way and learned a lot in the process.

There will be another marathon.

Here are a few photos from the earlier stages of the race.

Patricia and I with Mark keeping warm in the school before the start. We wore the costumes most of the day and many runners got a kick out of it on the course.



Here's Mark lining up for the start:



We ran down to the nearest street corner to watch him run by:



Then we hopped in the car and bolted to about the 10K point.



Here's blue M&M handing Mark a gel:



Next up was the just after the half way mark.



And finally, we bolted to 30K where Patricia and her hubby Ueli got ready to pace Mark for the remainder of the race. Here they go, Team Yellow!



And unfortunately, you know what happens next.

Mark already has his eye on the Mississauga Marathon, where we both ran the half this year. He's already recruited his pacers!

Special thanks to Patricia and Ueli for being there to support both of us all day long and to my Mom, sister April and her boyfriend Andrew for coming out to the finish line.