Inspiration Tuesday

.  Today was not a good day as far as my running goes.  I did something to my knee yesterday and today it killed me to run the mile that I did.  I wasn't even really running, but more of a fast walk.  Right now I'm icing it.  The plan for the rest of the week is to rest it tomorrow, cross train on Thursday and I'm at a swim meet Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I won't be running then.  I'm hoping with icing and resting by Monday I can be up and running again.  I have another 8 mile run scheduled, but I think that may get cut short to see how my knee does.  I may have to put this training program on hold for a bit.  We'll see though.

I read this today and thought it really fit what I need today and for the week.

I have to remember that everyone had bad days and I have to roll with it.  If this week is a week of rehab and taking it easy then I have to accept that.  I can keep going with other things though.  In the long run what I do now will help. 

Have a great day!

Happy Victoria Day!

Wow we've had a busy weekend, but we've gotten a lot done and just enjoyed being at home.  We got some more flowers in the flower beds.  We bought a little bistro set for the deck and got that put together.  I made potato salad and White Russian cupcakes.  We've grilled out every night.  It has just been a really nice holiday weekend.

This morning I got up and went for a long run.  It was a beautiful morning.  Nice and cool and quiet.  I headed out on a new route.  I wanted to run through Huron Natural Area for a change of pace and to get a bit of trail running in.   It was so peaceful being the only one on the trails early in the morning.  I did about 2 miles of trail running and then took a new paved trail back into a new neighborhood. 

I had a vague idea of where I was, but I ended up taking a wrong turn and had to double back.  That made my run a bit longer, but that's fine.  It was a nice morning.  I got back on track and was on my planned route again. 

I'm glad I choose this route because there really is no traffic.  It's quiet and natural.  I like that.

 About a mile to a mile and half away from home my knee started hurting.  I'm hoping I just twisted it while running on the trails.  I iced it and it feels better. I just don't want an injury now that I'm really feeling good about my running.  I'll stretch and ice some more later today and make sure I'm taking really good care of it.  Tomorrow I have a short 3 mile run planned and then some weights so that will help me recover.

Today we are doing some more organinzing and grilling out again.  I have really enjoyed this weekend and really don't want it to end.  Have a great Monday!

May Is Half Gone!

Wow, I just realized that May is halfway over!  I was sitting here looking at our calendar in the kitchen and it hit me.  It has been flying by!

Yesterday I went for blood work and came home and finished the newsletter.  Before I knew it, it was lunch time.  I didn't get my short run and weights in so I switched it to Saturday after swim practice.  With the long weekend, I'm hoping everyone else will be gone so the gym won't be too crowded.

This morning James and I walked to daycare.  As usual, he was solving the world's problems.  Today he was fixing the enviornment.  He is so cute.  We signed him last night for 2 day camps in August.  One is called Clay Works.  It's at a local artist studio and they do all sorts of clay and art projects.  Plus they play games and go outside.  The other camp is called Mad Science Camp.  He's going to the Rocket camp.  They are building lots of different rockets and launching them as well as learning about the mission control, they physics of rockets, and other rocket stuff.  He is really excited.

After dropping him off at daycare, I went for my 4 mile run.  I am really starting to expand my running area.  I used to try to stay in our neighborhood.  I didn't want to stray to far from that.  Now I'm running all over the place.  Tuesday the hills gave me problems.  Today that was not the case!  I wouldn't say I destroyed the hills, but I did defeat them!  It felt good too.  I wasn't keen on them as I was running up them and cursing them, but once I got to the top I was fine.

Tomorrow I take my car in for some warranty maintence and an oil change so I'm running home.  I have a 7 mile run scheduled.  I know the route I'm taking has a ton of hills too.  I may not beat all of them, but I will make a good go at them.

The long weekend is looking like it's going to be a really nice one.  I'm excited for that.  We are finishing our spring cleaning and doing more yard work.  I'd like to have it all done by Sunday afternoon so we can just enjoy Monday.

Right now I'm off to get ready for my dentist appointment.  Have a great Thursday!

Inspiration Tuesday!

Yeah it's Tuesday!!!!!!  Today started our with a nice walk to daycare with James.  As we were leaving the house he made the comment that his two most favorite things to do in the world were crafts and exercise.  He absolutely loves walking to daycare.  This morning was a beautiful morning too.  It was in the low 50s with a beautiful sunny sky.  Spring is here and we love it!

The whole walk consisted of us talking about pretending and saving for a trip to Disney.  He really wants to go and to be honest so do I.  We came up with a plan save to go.  He's excited to help with that.  He also had to start planning what we were going to do this summer.  He needs to plan a vacation he said.  I reminded him that we are going to Winnipeg for Uncle Pat and Aunt Kristie's wedding.  And that helped with some of the planning.  He's so funny and it's never dull with him.

After I dropped him off at daycare, I went for my run.  I tried a new route today.  I had a 5 mile run on the schedule today and the total mileage ended up being 4.92 miles.  I went through McLennan Park.  It is a nice park near James' school.  A little less than a mile away.  I ran through a new neighborhood for me to run through.  It was pretty.  Once I got on the trail into the park I hit the first hill that kicked my butt.  See this park was built on an old dump.  It has a huge hill in the middle with mountain bike trials on it.  I was on the walking/running path, but still a big hill that just got me was right there just over  a mile into the run.  I ended up letting the hill win and had to walk up it.  I was kicking myself the whole time, but I will be running this route again so I will beat it next time.

After that I settled into a pretty good pace.  Now this route took me up a pretty busy road.  When I started back into running I stayed pretty close to home and off of main roads because I didn't want anyone to see me run.  Now I'm on main roads and I really don't care.  I was pretty proud of myself when I realized that.  I'm slowly stepping outside my shell.

It was on this road that I met my second hill that kicked my butt.  I ended up having to walk up it as well.  Friday I run this road again so I will make sure I run up this hill!  It may be slow, but I'm going to do it! 

Then I was back on familiar ground with a downhill run to the entrance to our neighborhood.  I hit one of the schools near us at drop off time.  I swear some parents don't watch where they are going when they are driving to school.  I saw a few kids almost get hit and it wasn't because they weren't paying attention...it was the drivers not paying attention.  I felt like I was running an obstacle course dodging kids, backpacks and cars.

I was pretty happy with my time when I got home.  I am going to have to start wearing my fuel belt on my longer runs.  Especially now that it's getting warmer and I get dehydrated quicker.  Friday I'll have that with me when I run home from dropping my car off.

This week while I was running I did let my mind reflect on last week.  Last week I just couldn't seem to find my motivation.  I kept finding reasons NOT to go running or to the gym.  Each day I felt that I let myself down.  I'm the only one that can be disappointed when I don't run or workout.  I'm the only one that feels it.  This is my source of inspiration for the week.

One of the ways James and I decided that would be a good way to save money for Disney was in addition to putting our spare change in a jar, I would put a dollar in for every mile I ran.  That way I'm helping two goals...saving for Disney and keeping motivated.  I don't want to let him down so I will make sure I stay disciplined.  I'm getting a jar ready today and we are going to start saving.

Tomorrow I have a short 2 mile run that I will probably do on a treadmill as a warm-up before I lift weights.  Thursday will be 4 miles with interval training/hill training and weights.  Friday is a 7 mile run.  I have to take my car in for an oil change and warranty maintence so I'm running home after I drop it off.  The route I'm taking is quiet hilly and I'm going to be ready for it!  Saturday is a rest day and Sunday is cross training and weights.

I'm ready to destroy this week!  I'm off to a good start and I'm going to keep disciplined and keep the momentum going!  Have a great day!

A Little Monday Fun

I saw this on Women's Running magazine blog this morning and had to share.  I have to admit to running and dancing on occasion.

My Confession

I have to confess that last week I was lazy. I just didn't feel like running or exercising or moving period.  I gave into the laziness.  I feel like I should be doing pennance this week.  I made sure that I started this week out right so I can make up for last week.

Due to meets and training camps, I had to come in and cover morning dryland this morning.  I was up at 3:15 getting things together so I could make today my long day.  I got my coffee and hit the pool.  Since I was opening I was the only one in the building for about 30 minutes.  That is kind of creepy, but oh well.

After doing dryland with the kids, I got changed and went for a run.  Today was a 2 mile easy run.  The weather was perfect!  It was cool, but the sun was up.  I ran through the arboretum since I was at the University.  I like that run as it gives me hills, but some softer pathes to run.  It was so peaceful in the arboretum.  It smells like spring too!  It kind of felt like I was trying to keep the weekend going a little bit longer.  Tomorrow I'm scheduled for 5 miles after I walk James to daycare.  I have a new route that I want to try and am pretty excited about it.  Should be a nice run after a mile and half warm up walk.

I'm looking forward to a great week of training and a great day today!  Get out and enjoy the beauty sometime today.  You won't regret it!

Inspiration Tuesday

It doesn't seem like a Tuesday to me.  I guess when you have a busy weekend, everything else tends to fly by too.

Friday, Mike and I had a date night.  We went to see The Avengers.  It was a great movie!!!!!!  I recommend you seeing it if you haven't yet.

Saturday I had to get my NLS updated.  That's the lifeguarding stuff here in Canada.  It was a quick course and I was glad of that. Then Mike and I went shopping for groceries.  I normally don't go on Saturdays, but we had to get stuff for dinner.  We made steak, fried mushrooms, and asparagus.  It was wonderful!!!!!

Sunday I had a meet and Mike left for Ottawa.  It was a quiet afternoon for me after the meet. 

Yesterday I must have really needed the sleep because I slept through 2 alarms.  I never sleep through my alarm.  It was 10:00 before I got up.

This morning I got up and went to the gym.  The plan was to just do weights and then go for a run, but it was really foggy and rainy so I decided to to some interval training on the treadmill.  It was an okay workout.  I warmed up for about a mile and a half.  Then did 6 rounds of 1:00 hard and fast with 2:00 recovery.  The 1:00 went okay, but the recovery was slower than I would have liked.  I just wasn't feeling 100% today.  I then did about a mile cool down.  Afterwards I did weights.  I did a full body circut, upper body and legs.  It was a struggle getting through that to be honest.  I normally feel really good after I workout, but today not so much.  Maybe it's the weather.  I'm hoping it is.

As I was running I just kept telling myself to keep going.  Same with the weights.  That's why this week my inspiration is this...

 
I'm going to keep reminding myself of that this week.  Tomorrow I have a short 2 mile run planned at some point in the day.  Thursday it's 4 miles and weights.  Friday is a cross training day and weights.  Saturday rest day and Sunday a long run of 7 miles.  I just have to keep going because I'm still breathing.

Have a great Tuesday!

A Beautiful Morning, An Okay Run

It is just such a beautiful morning this morning.  The perfect running weather in my opinion.  The air was clean after the rain yesterday.  It was cool and sunny.  Just perfect.

I started out with an uphill run.  Meh...not my favorite, but I did it.  I just never really loosened up after that though.  The first mile was a bit of a struggle for some reason.  I eased my pace and focused on my breathing.  It wasn't labored so my pace was good.  I just kept saying one foot in front of the other.  

I got to the trails around the schools and the adventure began.  Between the two schools there is a  little wetland area that has geese.  Well, around that area my shoe came untied so I bent down to tie it.  I saw the geese with their babies and made sure I wasn't stopping near them.  I stood up too fast and got a head rush.  It took me a minute to clear that out so I just walked a few steps.  Well, one of the geese didn't like that and started giving me the evil eye.  I told him to relax and I started running again.  He didn't like that I talked back to him and started hissing at me and half-heartedly chasing me.  The other geese just kind of rolled their eyes and kept on eating.  I got away without having to fight the goose, but I was still a bit dizzy.

I ended up having to walk a bit to get everything calmed down.  I just felt a bit off and wanted to make sure I was okay.  Once I felt good, I started running again.

I came off the trail and turned right instead of left and the went straight when I should have turned.  It got turned around and ended up seeing a new street.  Of course it was on a steep hill. 

I got back on track and turned onto Ottawa which is a main road.  I'm running along the sidewalk and I hit a mine field of goose poop.  I must have provided some amusement to the drivers on their way to work as I dodged goose poop and snails crossing the sidewalk.  Finally I got onto to Fischer Hallman and the downhill part of my run. 

I was still tight and was trying to stretch it out a bit on the downhill part.  Normally I'm watching the bushes along the wooded area, but today wasn't a normal day.  A rabbit scared the crap out of me as it darted out of the bushes and into the trees.  Once again, the drivers had to find my jumping straight up and running in the air funny.

I finally turn back into our subdivision and am running the final stretch home.  The last half mile was pretty tame.  Just a few kids starting to walk to school and people out walking their dogs.

I lengthened my run by a half mile due to the wrong turn and I felt tight almost the whole run.  But I did it and I'm glad I did it.  The morning was perfect and the air was fresh.  I'm looking forward to my walk to daycare with James tomorrow and then my 6 mile run afterwards.  I'm exploring a new route so I'll have to see if I can stay on track or not.

Have a great day!

Crazy Wednesday...Already

Whew...it's been really busy and it's only 8am!  Mike left for North Bay this morning so I delayed going into the University so I could take James to daycare.  I still got up early and hit the gym since I didn't get to run yesterday.  I did just over 2 miles with hill intervals.  Today was just supposed to be a 2 mile run, but if I was going to have to do it on the treadmill then I decided to spice it up.  I'm glad I did.  It made the run go faster and kept me on my toes.  After I ran I did weights focusing on my upper body.  I increased weight on some of my exercises so the reps were less, but I still pushed myself.

I got home and hopped in the shower before Mike left.  Once he left, I got James ready to go and we were off.  After dropping him off at daycare, I got a text saying our meeting was cancelled and to come in whenever I wanted.  Sigh...today was a perfect morning to go for a bit of a longer run outside since I didn't get to run yesterday.  Oh well.  Tomorrow morning is supposed to be even nicer and I have a 4 mile run scheduled so that will make up for it.  I'm even looking forward to Friday's 6 mile long run.  It's going to be a nice morning to get out there and go.

Saturday is my rest day, but I still have a morning practice and NLS recert. class.  I'm still up and busy.  Sunday is a cross training day and a complete body weight circut.  I'll get in the gym after the meet Sunday morning.  Mike is leaving for Ottawa early Sunday morning for the week so hitting the gym after the meet is going to be good for me.

I can't believe how crazy this week has been so far.  I spent almost the whole day yesterday at the fracture clinic with James getting his splint put on.  Then I had to go to my doctor's appointment.  I knew what he was going to do, but I still have to jump through the hoops.  I have to go through all the fertility testing yet again.  So blood work, sonograms, etc.  Just more time at the doctors.  All the more reason I need to run.  I really need the cheap therapy that it provides.  Just when I thought things were slowing down a bit, they seem to be getting crazier.

It will get better!  After all the week is half over!  Have a great day!

Inspiration Tuesday: Happy May Day!

Today is already starting out to be a very busy day.  I got up and went to the gym to do weights.  I did legs this morning.  Then the plan was to walk with James to daycare and go for a 4 mile run.  Well, I have to take James to the doctor for his finger, then get him to school, then get myself to my doctor's appointment in Guelph by 1pm.  The run is now out the window.  GRRRRRRRR....

I need something to keep me going through the day.

I am learning that I just have to go with the flow sometimes.  I have to accept the challenge of finding a way to fit my runs into very busy days and to just realize that I may just have to not go for a run one day due to unexpected events.  It will be okay.  I just have to remember to breathe.

Well, off to get everyone where they need to be.  Have a great day!