Foto & Follow up Friday

I'm Alive!!!!

Yes, I know, it has been too long for me to be away. I somehow forgot to tell you all that I was going to be away for a while! My husband and I went to a wedding for a good friend in England, and decided to make a tour of France and Germany at the same time! So there was a lot of packing, travelling, eating, relaxing, and some stressing when our travel agent messed up our flight home. Since we've got back, I have been working overtime to get back on track. Why does it always seem like you have to spend two weeks catching up from a 2 week vacation?

So to make up for my absence, here are some photos for your enjoyment! More to come!!!

Third Time Thursday

Well, this weekend I had scheduled plans to help my friend M complete her first marathon. She had signed up for a tough local race, once that had a lot of hills, and a pretty arbitrary policy of telling people to not sign up if they thought they would take more than 6 hours max. Even those who thought they might be over 5 hours had to sign up for an early start time. As a result, there were only about 200 marathon runners, and my friend was SUPER nervous.


The week before her race, I agreed to meet her about 25km into the looping course, and help her run the rest in. 12-15k was something I knew I could do just fine, so I planned where to park accordingly. The morning of the race however, everything went wrong. I couldn't get to the place I wanted to, so had to park with all the participants, and had to walk the course to the 25k mark. This meant about 5k of walking to get to the meetup point, with a bag on my back in 28 degree heat. I was worried I had missed my friend, and kept an eye out for her. I texted her, and was scared when I got no response. There was at least one marathoner I passed who collapsed at the 20k mark, and I assisted another in dropping out on my way to the meetup point.


Finally, I called my friend, and found out she was just approaching where I was. She had got to the 23 k mark, and decided that running it wasn't fun, and she wanted to cross the finish line with a smile on her face, so she made the executive decision to walk the rest of the race. Somehow, I was convinced to walk with her. So, I accidentally completed my third half marathon this weekend. My friend was the last person on the course, and didn't finish in the 6 hour time limit, but thanks to some great volunteers, she had a human finish line to cross and a medal to receive when she got there.


I had great fun being a sherpa for her, even with the blisters and sore muscles the next day. I got home to my husband saying he told me so (I said I wouldn't do another half marathon again) but that was ok. It was my first time "spectating" and was completely enjoyable. If all my races were like that, I would do a half marathon anytime. There were no expectations, no pressure to complete in a certain time frame. The goal was to cross the line, and in the end, we both did.


Anyone have their own "spectating" stories where you ended up being more than just verbal support? What do you think about a race having a time limit?

Spoke too soon

Every year, I get to this point (October) and think, I will run through the season. I will not be a wuss. I will put my big girl pants on and get my butt out of my warm bed and run, even though it is getting chilly.

And then the season change comes, and it hits me like a freight train, and I can barely get out of bed to get to work on time, let alone run. I have signed up for the Resolution Run in December, so I have to get back to it, but I am giving myself a little bit of breathing room for another week or two before getting back into it full force. I have a pile of other things going on, work related, life related, and sometimes, you just need to give yourself a little break.

So my last post, I mentioned that I managed to avoid the dreaded black toes that I had last year. If you weren't here, 5 of my toes turned some shade of purple or black after my first half marathon, and partially detached from the nailbeds. I managed to keep them all, but was not happy about the process. This year, some of my toes turned a strange shade of pink, but after almost two weeks, I was confident I was going to keep them all.

Fast forward to this past Saturday, I had a friend visiting from overseas and we were showing her our new house. My husband and I stepped in to hug her at the same time, and sure enough, my husband stepped on my big toe, and I immediately knew it was trouble. I looked down and the middle of my nail had already started turning purple/black from blood pooling underneath, or bruising, or something. So, I'm back to crimson nail polish!!!

FYI - don't google black toenail - some people have ugly toes!

Are you a fall runner? Do you notice any change in your running when the seasons change from warm to cold?

I love running...

This post has been a bit inspired by Mel over at Tall Mom - she had a negative incident with a photo caption, and clarified that you don't always have to look happy or have a smile on your face to love running. I think right now that point needs to stick in my head. I don't have to be competitive, I don't have to be fast, I don't have to run marathons or half marathons. I could, and I know that, but just because I choose not to doesn't mean I am not a worthy runner, and doesn't mean I don't love running the distances I choose to run from now on.

My husband proceeded to keep digging a hole with me today when he called me at work. After the run, he didn't ask what time I finished in, and to be honest, I didn't share because I was horribly ashamed of it. I should be able to run faster than I do. So many people I know, bloggers I see do halfs in 2 hours or less like it is no big thing, so when I have to say I did my second half in 2:48, it sucks.

I guess my husband took it upon himself to look up my time, then he called and jokingly called me a slacker. Which resulted in me bursting into tears at my desk, because I feel like it is true. I feel I failed, I am lacking, the result isn't impressive, and am terribly ashamed. I think upon hearing my reaction, which was crickets followed by a conversation on why that wasn't funny, he finally got it.

Still waiting on the photos, but my body is pretty much 100%. Toenails are a bit sore, but thankfully, I think none of them will turn black or fall off this time. Might try to get a run in tomorrow.

Has anyone ever made a really stupid comment to you they thought was "funny"? What did you do about it?

Not my best today....

Wanted to check in really fast to provide an update, as I received a few comments on my last post. Saturday night, I knew that things weren't going to go my way when the hubby didn't go to bed early, instead deciding to stay up till 2am (I know, he woke me up when he got in bed) watching movies and doing his thing. I didn't even bother trying to wake him up on Sunday. He didn't show, but he did manage to drive into Ottawa that same morning (could have probably made it to my finish) to go shopping instead.

Race was fine for about 8k, then we stopped because my friend was having digestive issues, and I just didn't want to go any further. I was done. It just wasn't my definition of fun anymore.

I finished the race, 5 minutes slower than my first, but did noy feel joy or relief. I just felt empty and sad.

At this point, I don't think I will be running another half again, at least not with any serious intentions. Maybe the disney princess half, but no others. My heart isn't in it, and the whole process has just made me sore, cranky, sad and depressed. And it truly shouldn't make me feel this way.

So 5's and 10's are what I'll do. I'll accept what I now know is my personal limits. It is hard not getting caught up with other bloggers who go further and faster than me, and it is getting me down. So I am going to focus on what I can do decently well, that puts a smile on my face.

P.S - two years ago today, I married my husband. Realized I never posted any photos of us last year, definitely meant to, so here's one for you:

Freak Out Friday

Two recent developments have me freaking out in different ways about this weekend:

1) the race directors/powers that be have just announced that the course has changed for the third time in three years. While I hate that there isn't consistency, and that I now don't know/have never run about half of the route, the advantage is we get to avoid a KILLER hill that made me nearly keel over last year. It's about 2k of straight uphill torture which I am glad to miss. See my comments on that hill and the racer who I saw collapsed on the course here.

2) the bigger freakout has to do with my husband, who I love, but is not a runner. I have tried to convert him, he has done part of the C25k program, has ran with me as recently as this month, but has never caught the running bug. I can accept that. However, he has always been supportive of the past in attending my races and cheering me on, which is something I thrive on and means a lot to me.

So I had the following conversation with him on the phone just now:

Me: Hey Hun, so we have to get to M's house at around 7:45-8 so we can drive into town for the race, since it starts at 9.

Him: 7:45?!?!

Me: Yes, it is a 9am race.

Him: Well, I was planning on going out to the shooting range tomorrow morning, and was really looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday.

Me...... um, ok, but you knew about the race.

Him: What am I going to do for 3 hours anyways?

Me: Go have breakfast? Watch me and support me?

Him: *sigh*

Seriously???? He knew about this race MONTHS ago, and all of a sudden sleeping in is more important? My friend M has her parents, who live in Alberta, who have flown out just to see her run, and my husband can't get out of bed and spend three hours supporting me. I could just about cry right now. Because the only thing worse than racing, is racing knowing no one is there to support you specifically. The rest of my family is in a different area of the province, so if he doesn't come, I'll be going it alone. As much as I am upset, it isn't worth me forcing him to attend.

I have been realizing over the past little while that I am losing my run mojo, and with this it feels like another nail in the coffin. It is hard to continue doing something where you have no one supporting you, and where your goals aren't motivating you like they should.

Do you have supportive family? If you don't, how do you do it?

Slacker Monday

On the weekend I was checking my facebook account, and was confronted with my status from last year which indicated that I had two interviews on one day. At the time, the interviews were great news as it had been a long trying summer of attempting to find employment, only to get two different job offers on one day. On October 4th, I will be with my workplace for one year, and so glad to be gainfully employed and earning $$$!

However, this status update reminded me of how different my life was last year, and where my head was at the week before the race. Last year, I had a guaranteed job, but hadn't started working yet. I was essentially on a holiday, with all the time in the world to run. I was optimistic and full of energy after a long and depressing summer. As a result, I was super excited/nervous for my first half marathon.

Fast forward to today, I am 6 days out from my second half marathon, and I feel like it is a chore. I did my last long run last saturday in brutal heat and humidity, and it was a definite slogfest. I have ran one 5k since then, and feel like my heart isn't in it. I am so focused on my job, my new house, our upcoming trip, finances, getting the Munckin back into the routine of school that running is something I do, not necessarily something I love or an excited about.

I know that excitement will come back as I attend the race expo later this week, get my swag and maybe buy some new gear, but for now, it is SO hard to convince myself to get out there and do a run or two this week. It is so scary to think that this weekend, I run 21k. I feel unprepared and nervous that I will tank out worse than last year.

In case you don't remember, I ran my first half in 2:43 last year. I am not exactly a speedy Gonzales here. I will be embarassed if I don't surpass that. I should be a better runner now, having another year under my belt, but I am concerned that with my life back on track, I didn't take the time to become a better me.

Is this rambling part of my taper madness? Maybe. Is it messing with my self-esteem? Yes.

Despite being so focused on life this year, the one thing I do find about my training is that I have been WAY more positive. Last year I would fight my running buddy to take breaks when it gets tough. This year I found myself pushing her on when she wanted to stop. I am hoping that between the two of us, we will be able to challenge our limits in a reasonable way, and get close to that 2:30 time frame I had initially wanted. I have not been wearing a Garmin on my training runs (*gasp*) and don't really know if I am on track, but I am hoping with some determination and drive, I will be able to push it (push it real good!) and get to my goal.

I WILL run a 10k tonight

I WILL be excited for Sunday

I WILL be positive and keep moving for as much of the 21k as possible

I WILL meet my goals, no matter what they are the day of

I WILL be happy for myself, even if it is just for being healthier than at least 50% of the population

What will you do today?