Race Day COMPLETE!

I finished my First EVER 5 km run/walk race.. barely.. but FINISHED!!

It was rather cool that morning so I went with shorts, tank top and a running jacket for clothing to be prepared! I got to the race at 930 am to get started for the day... jacket on.. race bib on ( 1822 was my lucky number) I wandered around.. got a little warm and then sat down to stretch a bit...

1006 am comes and we haven't started running yet.. I get very anxious when people are not on time.. I mean the race starts at 10 am.. why have we not started anything yet?!

1015 am - BANG! Off we go.. OK .. so note to self.. don't try to blend in with the pack.. you have to push through those people to get through to start running.. oopps.. didn't think of that.

I start to run after walking 2 minutes to warm up and INSTANTLY.. my shins are killing me and my calves are tight as can be! So I slow it down.. I really found it awkward to push through and pass people.. Are people really this ignorant? They have signed up for a Run/Walk event do they not have any idea to stay to the right so the faster people can pass.. Apparently not!

So I decide after a few minutes of running Ill take a quick stop and stretch out my legs.. OH MY GOD are they sore!!

I keep at it.. running for the first good kilometre and a half of the race.. I come to the north side of the lake and HOLY is it hot!! So here I am trying to walk my butt off as fast as I can so I can take my jacket off and put it in its little bag.. ugh what a pain!!
Now I have my water belt.. and my jacket belt.. the West side of the lake is so windy you can barely stand up.. So I just walked most of the west side and then ran my butt through the parking lot to get to the south side of the race.

I found it challenging to keep running so got into a really fast pace walk mode.. I surprisingly wasn't as defeated as I thought. There was absolutely NOTHING I could do with that wind. So why beat myself up over it!

I get to the 4.5 km mark and I texted my DH to tell him I am starting to run in. I promised myself I would run across that finish line NO MATTER WHAT! I get up the hill and around this little bend and I look over to the event area and what do I see....My little girls are running towards me cheering me on! Oh my .. What an amazing feeling! I instantly start tearing up! I grab the girls hands and we start running together to the finish!! We get about 50 feet away and people are clapping and cheering. Ainsley is right in her glory  ( pictured here )

Hydie however.. Saw the young man at the finish line who was so enthusiastic and cheering.. and ducked out before we hit the finish line..lol it was to much pressure for her!!

I got to the finish line 5 seconds after Ainsley.. and I looked at the clock.... 51:24.... I beat my personal best of my first 5 km attempt... by close to 3 minutes....

I was carrying way to much stuff... Was constantly out of sorts.. BUT I FINISHED a 5 km run / walk race.. at a pace of 10:11min/km.


COMPLETE!

Two days till the RACE!

Well.. I signed up for a earlier race than I was going to be prepared for. I knew that if I waited till the September 29th race I would be completely finished and had ran a few 5 kms prior......

But I decided why not push myself into a race that I likely wont be ready for. So I did.. Get Active 4 Autism.. Its a fun run and all proceeds go into the Regina Autism Resource Centre. I have been very blessed with two healthy twin girls and feel that if I can assist with any family that may need such a resource centre, I can do that! 

However.. I still have to run the 5 kilometres.. I'm at Week 6 Day 1 in my run program. So 3 full running weeks away from running a full 5 km with no stops. At this point I cant see myself even running 20 minutes - 30 minutes straight. I found the 8 minute stretch tough.. I went out last week to do my W6D1 run (two 10 minute runs) and HOLY CRAP! That's tough! So definitely got defeated instantly! I figured that I had better figure out how I was going to have to figure out what running a full 5 km's was like.

Sunday night .. I arose to this challenge.. I got a new running app for distance Nike + Running. It has a GPS that allows to track my run and provide me distances. I found the Nike+ with the foot sensor was constantly inaccurate. One run was shorter then the same distanced run next time. Which was really quite annoying for someone who is looking at increasing your distance.
Ok so now I'm ready.. Water bottle with Nuun electrolyte tablet and my Iphone apps ready! Here I go... I'm on my 5 minute warm up.. then 8 minute run.. 3 minute walk and so on till I complete my 5 km..

Half way into kilometre #2 running into the wind.. I lost my motivation. I fell apart. I couldn't keep a positive thought in my mind. I changed up my 8/3s to 8/3 5/2 to then just screw it I'm walking home! But I powered through and just ran and walked off and no no real structure. I made it to the furthest point then I had EVER made it.. and looked at where I was and thought HOW DID I GET HERE!??!

I turned around.. and thought ok only 2.5 kms left.. you can do this.. you have to get home somehow! So I did.. I just ran till I couldn't.. then walked.. then ran then walked.. I got to kilometre 4 and thought I have to finish this strong.. So I ran it.. stopped once walked 100 ft and started again and FINISHED!

I finished 5 km.. AND in 2 minutes better time then Nike + said I would.. Yea.. I kick its ass!!


I went on a 1 km run the other day.. completed it in 10 minutes.. hoped for 9 but I had a kid with me and well I could have set myself up for better time but I finished it!


Saturday is the Get Active 4 Autism run. Ill finish.. no matter what I'm going to finish and I hope in 50 minutes instead of 52... I've raised $200.00 as of today for their cause and CANNOT wait for my first EVER race tshirt!!!

Check back to see how I did!!

Cheers!

Chaotic Chaos of Moving!

Hello!

I am back into life after taking a week off for holidays with my family. It was hectic and I'm not sure where the "relax" part of the holiday was but I don't think we found it. However, we came home over shopped, over tired and the girls were overly thrilled about all their adventures ( zoo, amusement park , new clothes shopping for pre K ) so it was Successful!

I have noticed that life is chaotic when your waiting for a big transition to occur.. in our instance.. we purchased a home. Waiting for possession has turned my whole world upside down! My 800 sq foot townhouse is busting at the seams.. Its not that I am a hoarder but I don't have a proper utility closet.. nor a cupboard for paper work and calendars etc.. So you find other ways to store them.. and things just over flow it seems! Even buying more then two cans of mushrooms is a hassle because where am I going to store them in the 5 cupboards I have?!

So the skinny on this is..Ive misplaced things... and am frustrated and have left the house this morning with my sectional in pieces all over the living room. The girls are feeling the effect of the insane chaos of a small house.. too many people in a small space and are at one another throat...

Getting these two in the car this morning was an Olympic event which Mommy lost.. I knew I lost when a Regina City Police Constable called to tell me he found my purse... Uhh my purse ( which I had left in Indian Head on Saturday in a restaurant while dealing with OVER tired children :S) I didn't realize my purse was missing.....

He found it on the street.. I apparently had left it on the roof of my car!


I admit defeat.. my whole house is in a chaotic state.. The only time I feel calm and functional is when I am running. I guess that tells you where my heart lies at the moment.. The serenity of a running trail.


Wish me luck that I don't leave my kids on the roof of the car next...

Possession : August 31st - 17 days from now.. SERENITY NOW!

Progress!! I'm a RUNNER!

Today is my LAST run of Week 5!!

I only have 3 weeks left of this program to complete!! I have never done a 5 km program.. in fact when I ran in University.. I just started to run.. then jumped into a 10km program. This is a big accomplishment for me to get this far!!

I have started a 5km program I'd say like 5 times since 2007... and I am (Insert hand gesture where two fingers are about an inch apart HERE) close to being COMPLETE!!

This program changed my world... I now plan my world around my runs... Sunday - Wednesdays and Fridays I run.. If something in my world comes up and I cant.. I reschedule my run and my hubby keeps me accountable to complete it!!

I suggest anyone looking to get back into fitness try this run! I don't expect to be a marathoner.. but I do want to move into being a runner fully. I hope to find my niche with my eating ( which has taken the weigh side in this heat because who wants to cook) and getting to the gym two times a week as well.

GOALS for AUGUST

Complete 5 km Program
Run Active for Autism - August 25th
START 10 KM Program
Hit gym once a week for weight training at least

Goals for September

Continue to train for a 10 km program ( which should increase my 5 km time)
Run Regina Road Race September 29th
Continue to get to the gym weekly for weight training
Tailor eating plan


Its not as hard as I thought. But takes commitment and desire.... but the little success such as running for 8 minutes straight for the first time in 7 years is what keeps you going!!

Good luck! Enjoy your summer!

My baby's a runner!!

Finally the humidity has dissipated! I however was hung over yesterday like no other day I can remember ( in the last 5 years anyways), hubby and I attended a friends BBQ and a pitcher of sangria just happened to disappear. Oh the headaches!

So Sunday I had planned to do all this exciting stuff... well I just rested and we all just relaxed for the day. How much better can life really get on a Sunday ( unless of course I hadn't be hung over)

My one daughter, Hydie has decided she no longer wants to bike ride. I however cannot imagine what being a child without a bike would be like, so I figured I had to do something to get this lil girls back on her bike. We got on the bike.. and I noticed she's very anxious.. so I held my hand on hers while she biked.. This seemed to help. Every time I took it off... she freaked out. We get moving and she's biking excellent but very anxious.. so this mommy gets creative.. and we give her bike a name. TANGO! So we are biking and cheering on Hydie and Tango, life's great! Get to the park make it home.. and she's tickled pink her and Tango did so well.

Later in the day I decide its time to get my rear end out and do my LAST run of the Week 4 of my Couch 2 5 km program. I have been stuck on this week for 2 weeks so enough is enough.  I get all dressed.. shoes on and Hydie has decided she wants to run with me! Well I have had bad experiences with my 3.5 year olds trying to run with me.. they don't have any patience nor attention spans! But I figured what the heck.. lets do it!

So Hydie gets on her runners, with her watermelon socks and wants two ponies just like her mommy. ( Oh so sweet!) We get on the trail.. do our 5 minutes of walking with some crazy arm swings for warming up.. a little cheering and some quacking. We start our run... and 1.5 minutes into my 3 minute set Hydie needs water... and to hold my hand..lol so I jog in spot and we get this going.. We made it through 2 full sets ( 8 minutes of running in total and about 1 km or so ) before she had had it. I paused my workout and sat on the bench till Daddy came. Hydie was SO proud of herself.. and so was her mommy!

Ainsley continued with me for another bit till I ran her back to the park and continued my training. It was a great run.. Hydie was thoroughly proud of herself and barely could walk the rest of the way home she was so tired. But she wants to run again...

My baby's a runner... And this Mommy couldn't be prouder!!

Tragic ending to precious life...

I rarely blog about my professional life.. reason being that I run a Reintegration program that works with high risk offenders with sexual designation. That's a hard thing for a mom to say.. but I do it because I don't want any more victims. I work with these ( usually men) men who are aware of their past, their victims and realizations they never want to hurt another human again. I do have statistics showing that only 23% of sex offenders will reofffend, and I attribute this to the fact they are often the inmates that receive the most lengthy sentences and are pumped through numerous programs. ( please feel free to contact me if you want more discussion on this.. I'm very open to discussing this topic and respectful of peoples views of it as well)

So as a mom and professional , the news on the Aurora shootings of last night has peaked my interest. I am very saddened to hear that so far 12 lives were lost and there is 31 victims, including a 3 month old baby. As a mom, if I had been able to take my baby to a late night movie I would have. Being a mom and stuck at home all the time isn't glorious and not always can we find sitters for youngens. So there is no reason for people to want justification for why this young baby was in the theatre. However, as a mom.... my heart is broken for this family whose baby is fighting for its life. Who thinks going to a movie theatre at midnight would end up in such a horrific end.
I was also sadden to hear the story of Jessica Redfield, a young lady who also was at the movie and lost her life. From my understanding, she was a sports anchor and very involved in the hockey world. I see on twitter she tweeted that the movie was to start in only minutes... Little did she know this would be her last tweet.
Jessica was also a blogger... http://jessicaredfield.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/late-night-thoughts-on-the-eaton-center-shooting/ This is her last entry. She discussed how she barely missed being a victim of the Eaton Centre shootings in Toronto. She seemed to value her life and be thankful she walked out of the food court within seconds of the shooter... Little did she know a month or so later she would lose her life to such violence.


As a professional, I am very aware of VICARIOUS trauma. This is trauma that the public and/or professionals feel and suffer from after being privy to such violent events. I personally suffer from this at times after reading a clients file, the descriptions of their crimes often makes me feel sick to my stomach and I have to take time to take care of myself ( i.e. family time, running etc) to be able to deal with it. I think that the media brings this trauma to the public as well. With the wide discussion of these shootings you see mass discussions on social media sights.. people are sickened.. saddened and very upset. Unfortunately, media will always report on the latest and will always make things worse then what really is. However, with this event.. It couldn't get much worse.

I have attached a link to some material on Vicarious Trauma. It discusses what this trauma is and how people can work through it. http://headington-institute.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2648


Prayers and thoughts go out to all of the victims and their families in Colorado.. Hug your loved ones extra today. You never know what a day brings.

The HUMIDITY!!!

Holy cripes! This humidity is starting to wear me out! I have no energy.. so I'm indulging in carbs.. and of course not the best ones but not over doing it so I guess that's fair. ( gotta justify it some how I guess)
I'm struggling to get through my week 4 run program.. I don't find running for 5 minutes straight hard.. I find it exhausting when the humidity surrounds me and I seriously feel like I'm being weighted down by it. I have full faith I can get through this week.. Just wish the humidity would let up so I could train!

When I train.. I feel great.. I eat fantastic.. When I don't train... I eat like crap and am exhausted...

Can someone please call Mother Nature for me and give her the what for?!

Anyone have any recommendations in how to train in this humidity?!