Category: Health

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Imaginary run to PEI – week 6

Whew. Much better this week than last that’s for sure!

Hoping to have run Q to day care at least once or twice but managed to sleep in every day so didn’t get to do that. I did get the runs in during the evenings though so I still kept to plan that way:

Monday: short run + commute = 7.5 km
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: medium run + commute = 7.6 km
Thursday: weights at lunch and spinning in the evening
Friday: short run + commute – running done on Saturday = 5.4 km
Saturday: something other than running; not sure what though – ended up running around the playground with Q and Henry – lots of fun but not very structured.
Sunday: 5km fundraising run – my watch says 5.18 km and I use that for everything else so it feels weird to just count 5. Oh well = 5km

Grafton – thanks to wikipedia

For a total of 25.5 km on the week. And a total of 143 km from home. I’m past Grafton  and on my way to Brighton ON. Still in Northumberland County then. There are seven towns/townships and municipalities in Northumberland County: Alnwick.Haldiman, Brighton, Cobourg, Cramahe, Hamilton (not to be confused with the city of Hamilton), Port Hope and Trent Hills. The total population of the County is about 82,000. The County’s tourism wesbite includes 8 driving tours including the Chocolate, Bakery, Bison Tour! Which is tied with the Cheese Curds, Cows and Beer Tour. I have a specific running friend who now lives in Michigan but is from Wisconsin that I HAVE to tell about this one.

Lots of outdoor activities in Brighton including a ton of apple orchards!

And today’s run was my one and only fundraising run of the year (I have until the end of June to collect money so let me know if you’re interested in donating!). I mentioned it last week – the Toronto Challenge. They changed the course thanks to some construction along the usual route so there was a gentle incline from about the 0.5km point to the 2k marker, then flat for a bit, and a gentle decline back to the start. My official time = 34:42 – a 6 second personal record. My watch, which I use for every other run tracked 5.18 km in 34:21.09 – annoying that it’s so different over such a short race but all it really means if I’ve still got a ways to go if I’d like to ever get under 30 minutes.

I walked twice, plus once through a water station, but I am happy I pushed myself through the last 300-400 metres when I REALLY was saying “Oh, eff it” to myself. I know I was partially worried that if I went too quickly I might completely blow up and I guess I didn’t want to risk not coming close to my PR. Mountain Equipment Co-op has a series of runs throughout the year – I did one in January and it was great. There’s a 5k in September but we’ll be away then! And the one in October also has a 15k run. I love that distance! Sigh. I’ll have to figure something out!

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Health

Fitness Friday (June 7/13) – Happy Sette Giuno!

Yep, the 7th of June is actually a holiday in Malta (I’m half Maltese – we’ll get into Q’s split national backgrounds another day) It’s a day to commemorate four lives lost shortly after World War One during a civil uprising against the colonial Maltese government and the British. I’ve never actually read a lot about it before but it’s one of those things that you read and thin “if those responsible had acted differently, the course of history might have been changed.” The next couple of paragraphs are a summary of a pretty grim episode so skip down a couple of paragraphs to the weekly update if you’re so inclined.

GRIM HISTORY SECTION
After the war, things became pretty precarious in Malta; the cost of living rose; shipping was interrupted and Malta’s this tiny island in the middle of a vast sea – shipping is the lifeline. As fewer food supplies come in, the price of what’s there goes up and no one can afford it. Couple that with some political differences – become independent or remain “British” – and you end up with a tinderbox waiting for a spark.

So before the June 7 meeting of the National Assembly (the government) the police were worried about a planned demonstration but they didn’t actually do much about it. Then the crowd of people who showed up noticed that the Union Jack was flying above the Maltese flag and they got pissed. They broke in and took down the Union Jack. They went through the capital getting places with British names, or in British named buildings to close – basically no where with a Union Jack was safe. The army was called for help but only a handful of soldiers came in against thousands of rioters. One of the soldiers must have felt threatened, or thought a shot in the air would calm things down (weird no?) and a shot was fired and a Maltese man died. One soldier fired and others followed. Four Maltese died that day. While there were more uprisings the next day the point was made that the Maltese couldn’t live as they had been – people were starving and feeling like they had no voice in their own governance. That couldn’t last. Within a coupe of years, a new constitution was introduced and a new governance structure put in place.

BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

so another week – and 2 more pounds lost since last Friday or 20 total from May 1. Last Sunday I went and had a facial as my “20 pounds lost” reward. A little early I know but my nephew is in town now and I have a 5k race this Sunday so I took it a little early.

This week’s favourite meal was made with leftovers! Toby took some leftover steak and stir fried it with broccoli and almonds and spicy sauce. It was awesome. I also made that low carb almond chocolate cake and Toby made some very yummy brownies.

I’ll promise to include more recipes and food pics in the future!

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Health

Imaginary run to PEI – week 5

Uhm. I haven’t run this week. Seriously. I don’t remember the last time that happened. My ankle (right) and hip (left) were both wonky after the half last Sunday so I knew I would likely need a day or two extra to recover. But then I went and got all crampy and moody. But, as I noted on Friday I did at least stay away from chocolate and potato chips this month! Anyway, enough is enough and tomorrow I start again.

So what to talk about then? I spent some time over the last couple of weeks reading different threads on Running Ahead (link here – it’s awesome!) and got some help from others who know way more about this whole running thing than I do. The end result is a training schedule leading up to the half-marathon I’m doing September 28 in Michigan. This week’s schedule is more to get me back into running again. The “+ commute” is where I run Q to day care after my run. If it’s raining then I don’t (at least not until I can find the rain cover for BOB) and the goal is to run him in twice a week. Next week I swap out a short run with some intervals and the other short run with “tempo” runs – basically a little bit faster than I usually go. I’ll be interesting to see the effect it has on my speed.

Monday: short run + commute
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: medium run + commute
Thursday: weights at lunch and spinning in the evening
Friday: short run + commuteSaturday: something other than running; not sure what though
Sunday: 5km fundraising run

I only do one even each year that I raise money for and this is it: The Toronto Challenge

banner_home

It raises money for the benefit of residents of Toronto’s long-term care homes.

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Health

Fitness Friday (May 31/13) – 1 month done

This week hasn’t been the greatest. I’ve been a bit stressed at work and a bit crampy and out of sorts. :/ I didn’t give in to any sweet/salty cravings, which for me usually amounts to chocolate and potato chips so I’m pleased about that. I did drink more this week than I have all month though so I was kinda surprised to weigh myself this morning and find I lost another 3.5 pounds this week for a total of 18 pounds for the month of May!

I’m supposed to update my measurements and weight and pictures and everything today (hence this is being posted a little later in the day – I needed to take the pictures and then upload etc and I’m old remember, I’m still getting the hang of all this technology).

Anyway here’s the change in month one
Pounds lost: 18 pounds
Inches lost from waist: 2    hips: 2    chest: 2

I’m really glad I took the measurements ’cause I find it very hard to see the weight change myself although I know that some clothes that used to be too tight fit and others are too loose.

Other things – Toby’s been amazing with the cooking. This week alone we’ve had a mexican spiced cheesy casserole thing, chicken curry with saag and paneer that Toby made! and twice – let me repeat that – I have TWICE eaten cauliflower.

pepperoni cauliflower casserole from http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com
pepperoni cauliflower casserole from http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com

Cheesy cauliflower goodness from http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com

Oh and here are the pictures of me:
A reminder of the first one.
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And here’s number 2. I think I’ll take them in regular clothes from now on, only because on some days Friday might be a rest day 😉 Toby says the first ones sucked – so he took these ones:

IMG_4260

IMG_4261

Seriously, I hate that I cannot see more of a difference although I have asked this week – completely NOT fishing for compliments – whether people can see a difference. Even my dad said “ya, a little bit.” So there we go. Not much running this week at all to speak of so Sunday’s post may be more about my new training plan than anything else.

Edited to add: I thought I’d join a link up called “Fit Friday.” Here’s the button if you’re interested!


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Health

Imaginary run to PEI – week 4

A bit better at the mileage this week. Just as an aside, why isn’t it something like kilometerage?

Still only three runs though:

Run 1 – 9.5 km
Run 2 – 5.4 km
Run 3 – 21.1 km (well, I go by my garmin for everything else and garmin says it was 21.18 km so anyway….)
weekly total = 36 km for a running total (groan) of 118 km.

And on my imaginary run to PEI I’m just past Cobourg Ontario and I’m running closer to the water now. Actually I’m on King Street East, which makes me giggle a little. This past weekend we had Doors Open in Toronto and I spent Saturday afternoon at work showing off one of the courtrooms. Northumberland County has their Doors Open next weekend. They have a guide online and it looks pretty nifty. If you’re from that area, I highly recommend it. You get to go into buildings you might ordinarily walk by and there’s gonna be people inside who love the place to tell you all about it.

But again, I’m gonna talk about the actual runs.

Run 1 was kinda fun. On Wednesday, I went out and ran 4 x 10:1. Then, when I got back home, Toby and I got Q ready to go and I ran him to day care for a total run of 9.5 km. Then Friday I did the same 4 x 10:1 but ran it much faster than I had on Wednesday. Guess the extra time from the Cleveland half helped.

And Run 3? I ran today’s Toronto Women’s Half Marathon. My second slowest ever – but as my slowest ever was last Sunday I’ll take it! 2:55:39.7 according to the official time keeper people.

Flat runner #2
Flat runner #2

Yep, pink hat (to match the effing pink shoes I guess) blue and white tech shirt and green running capris. I am NOT a stylish person.

I left the house a little late so I ended up in the farthest possible lot in the park. It was only 1.5km to the start from there so the walk to the start was actually a nice warm up. The walk back? Not so much. My hips were sore and I did something to my ankle and it was already a little swollen so that walk back seemed to take forever.

seriously, where'd I get all the freckles?
seriously, where’d I get all the freckles?

Anyway, weather was great, lots of enthusiastic people and a decent course. Except there was a last minute change due to some park construction and part of the course got pulled out onto the street. Huge hill with only about 2.5 km left to go which made it hard. The worst though was being forced to stop at the top of the hill just as the light changed to yellow and red SO THEY COULD LET TRAFFIC THROUGH. I highly doubt they stopped the people who ran in 1:30 – 1:50 but I guess it was okay to stop the ones running in 2:50 – 3:00. I couldn’t believe it and likely won’t ever run it again as a result.

*okay an aside – I know it was one light but think about it, I actually know they didn’t stop a friend of mine who finished in less than 2 hours. And I know it was only one light and at most it was a minute. But it was a minute of being forced to stand still after 2 hours and 30+ minutes of run/walking with less than 25 minutes to go. I wasn’t going to finish in a best time but what if I was? oops too bad. Apparently only the faster women are allowed to “set the pace.”

So, although I haven’t written about the earlier two here (yet), today’s half-marathon was my fourth since I ran in St. Louis on April 7, 2013. I’ll definitely do a race report for that one too because if it weren’t for two of my online running friends I would never have finished it. And then I ran in Montreal at the end of April and then Cleveland last weekend and Toronto today.

So, four half-marathons in four different provinces/states in 50 days. And I qualify at the third level of being a half-fanatic. Which is Saturn. Which is kinda cool. Technically I could have applied last week after Cleveland but a lovely lady I’ve known for years online was gonna qualify today too and we’re so dorky we thought it’d be awesome to get consecutive numbers (AND WE DID!). And I thought it’d be cool to get in at Saturn anyway. So there we go.

My ankle is a little sore though and so are my hips (still, after some good post race stretching). I’ll book a massage for later in the week but I’m definitely going to take it easy for the next couple of days. Instead I’ll review some training plans people recommended and set out my plan for getting ready for my half-marathon in September. I want to see if it’s possible for me to get any faster. Maybe as I lose more weight too? If not, no big deal, I love running and if I get to stay at the back of the pack to do it then so be it.

Oh and a friend told me about running bloggers. Not everything I post is about running but a large chunk of it seems to be so I poked about a bit over there and it looks really interesting and a lot of fun so I joined. I have a little button over on the right there that will take you to the website and you can have a look-see yourself.