Thankful Thursday!

First of all, I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all my new followers. I responded just yesterday to a post by Tall Mom on the Run (http://www.tallmomontherun.com/) asking "Who are you?" to all her followers. I congratulated Mel on her followers (now over 600!) and explained about my blog, joking that I would love to have 10 followers. Suddenly, my followers have doubled in a little over a day!!! I love having so many people checking in on me, it makes me be accountable and keep pushing harder. One thing will have to change about the blog, I am going to try my best to post distances and times in both kms and miles. ;) So, WELCOME!!!



Well, today we got through the funeral ok. My dear husband was given the task of delivering the eulogy, which he did so well. It was interesting, as it was my first french, roman catholic funeral, which left me feeling a bit lost and out of place. I met quite a few new "family members" and was glad to see so many people came out to honour such a great lady.



When we got home, I wanted to go out and have a quick "tempo" run, since with the chaos at home I haven't been getting out as much as I'd like. Plus, I had a new toy I was dying to try out!


I have been doing my long runs with my quick draw holster from the Running Room, but found having to time my walk breaks to fill my bottle was tiresome and frankly annoying. I knew I had to graduate to either a full belt with race bottles, or something with a larger capacity on my back. I decided on the latter, and after researching my brands and going to about 5 different stores, I settled on the Classic 2L Camelbak Hydration Pack:





Obviously it has a 2L (70oz) capacity, it is sleek and compact on my back, and only weighs about 5 pounds (2.25kg) when completely full. It also has a small pocket big enough for ID, gel, keys, cell phone, those sorts of small items. The bite valve has an on off switch, and the mouthpiece is easy to use and provides a nice flow of water. I was a bit worried that it was going to be annoying, that it would rub or be too heavy, but was pleasantly surprised that about 2 minutes into the run, it was like the pack wasn't even there. Very good first experience! I am going to fill it to the brim on my long run this week and see how it holds up then, but for now, two big thumbs up! (Now if only I could get companies to send me this stuff for free and hold giveaways like the big running blogs...)


My run went amazingly well. I managed to do a short 6k (3.73mi) run, and my Garmin actually decided to work for once, so I have a time to report! I managed to git'er done in 35:59, which means exactly a 6:00 km (does 9:39/mi make sense here?) pace, which is GREAT in my mind, especially since it was still 23 degrees outside (74 degrees Fahrenheit) and a decent humidity level. Makes me really hopeful that I can finish a half marathon in 2:15-2:30. I would LOVE for a 2:00 half, but I don't think that is in the cards for my first.

One question to leave with you all, new and (semi) old followers - like the new design? I decided the white had to go, and played with a few other things. Anything you would like to see added? Any topics I should cover in the future to keep you all interested?