New Year... New Life

Well, well, well, it has been quite a while now hasn't it. lol

I don't want to really give a long and drawn out novel about what happened to me the last while but I will summerize as much as I can. I don't want to give a bunch of excuses either because I must become accountable for what has happened. This is my third attempt at wt loss and I will make it this time. If running is not to happen any more then so be it I will find something else to or try tri's or something... that would really be a feat in itself! I just can't sit back and do nothing as I have always been active. So here it goes.

I was doing great, then bad and all over the place... Between family heart attacks (x2), strokes (x1), attempts of suicide (x1), cancer (x3), pancreatitis (x1), and many other general misfortunes... I let myself down and did not take care of myself. Simply said. Then whenever I had tried to, something else happened.

I tried to keep up my running and that even went to the wayside as my stupid knee just does not want to give up, more like it is prob the IT band but we have done pretty much everything besides surg and I am seeing the surgeon here at the end of the month. Right now I am off of work due to the fact that the pain is now up in to my lower back. Yes, have done the evil roller, stretches, ice, wrap, etc... you name it. I just can't be comfortable in any spot at the moment.

One good thing about this past year is that I am officially a non-smoker!!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO! I will admit that I slipped here and there but as of the end of March beginning of April. I don't have the exact date because I was not trying to focus on it which worked for me - not to mention the Champix! lol Which I will mention, that stuff is EVIL but it worked. I found that if I did not focus on how many days and stuff it was easier for me. Some people want the exact day and I am like what is the diff, I am not smoking now. :0)

So my weight... ah yes... not too pleaseant. I started of the year at 158.6!!!! my highest in such a long time. I gave in to old habits and used food too much as a comfort. So let's just say I did not handle the stress too well.

In other good news, I did take some trips this past summer. My son and I did a driving trip by ourselves in my new truck - yes you read right, a new truck. Not a huge thing, just a Ford Ranger but I LOVE it. It is my third one and my car finally had it... I do wish that I would have bought a 4x4 though... So, yes, my son and I did a mommy/son trip to Jasper and around BC, mainly Prince George and such. We had a great time together and I taught him how to gold pan which was in prep for my next trip that we did in August. Alaska!!!! The three of us, hubby, son and I, drove along with the two dogs (Denver had to be put down - another not fun thing last fall) and off we went. We originally were just going to drive to Anchorage, but we felt that since we were there we may as well see lots more! So we ended up going to Fairbanks, then took the Top of the World highway (not for the sqeemish) to Dawson City, Yukon. It was an amazing trip and I will fill in pics of some of this later.

So, my new plans? 1. get my life back 2. have better coping mechanisms 3. get healthy 4. fix knee so I can run again or start speed walking lol but mainly find cause and see what can be done 5. get physically active again with other things 6. lose wt back to healthy norms again

So there is a brief summary of what is up... oh and by the way - We got a new house and moving in 1 month. Lets see how I can do this... lol

Wii Active: 1:14 hrs (including day 3 of 30 day challenge)

LOVE it!!!

Check out the new template made by Chic & Sassy Designs that was just done!  She did a wonderful job on it!  I think it ties things together quite nicely... :)  Check out her site!

Well, I think I have caught up with most of you and I must say there are some pretty hard working ladies out there!  Way to go everyone! :)  Myself on the other hand has to give myself a big kick in the arse to get moving... I wanted to try to try out my leg yesterday with a small run but my hubby thought it was too soon... he was right I might add... there was still some swelling that has not gone down yet.  Maybe today..... :)  One week left before the half marathon here and now I am getting nervous.  I always get nervous before a race event - I have done this distance many times before, but it is always the 'what ifs' that make me nervous. lol  I know I will do fine - I just won't set any personal best with it this time, that is all.  But it will make it easier to beat this time that I get on my next one... lol

Food wise was a bit better yesterday but on the water front I have to get back in to it.  I have been drinking nothing but tea, coffee, wine, and many other not so good things the past week and water was not one of them - thus with the food and lack of water... no wonder the scale went up! lol

It looks like a beautiful day out here today and I found my seedlings that I had started before I left and I think I may have lost all of them. :(  I forgot to tell my sister and my husband where they were and to water if needed.  They are quite wilted at the moment.  Not too sure if they can be saved.

Tonight, my husband is taking my mom, Nanny, and I out to Red Lobster for mother's day for supper.  I told him that I already had it with the OPA greek meal before I left and me going to England...  He said that it wasn't the same.  So eating wise tonight, I will try not to do too much damage and not gain anymore! lol  That place sure is a weakness though for me... and financially I really don't think we can afford it...

I have not received a call back yet from the hospital where I applied before I left so I am going to drop off another application here in a couple of weeks.  The school year is winding down and there really is never much time for subs to come in at this pt, so I have to get going on getting another job here.  I was hoping to find something that I can either walk to or bike to...  I told my husband that if I can't find anything and have to work at McDonald's, then that is where I will work.  I won't be fussy picking the place - as long as I get a paycheck, it is all good. :)

My son is doing much better here and is still on the oral steroids at this pt trying to get things good and cleared up.  I guess he only made it to the last couple of days at the end of the week for school - not the best time to miss it with all the studies winding down, but his health is more worth it.

The animals gave me quite the welcome when I got home and are following me everywhere!  It is like a little heard going around the house. :)

So, the rest of today, I am maybe going to sneak out for a small run, pick up my one aunt at the airport since she could not get a flight with the rest of us from Toronto, and maybe get outside and do some yard work as I am sure the neighbours are wondering what has happened to me because I usually have things all nice by now. lol

Here are 2 links for a more over all look a our trip in pictures in facebook (don't need to be a member)

     England p.1

     England p.2

Cheers!

PS. - missed you all!

New Hope Dog Rescue Fun Run

Tala was all set, excited and ready to go sporting her new bandana.

It wasn't that big of a turn out as they had hoped but it was a great socializing event for all dogs as everyone got along fine. :)

Tala met some new friends and was the usual social butterfly as usual. :) There were also 2 other sibe's there (one shown in pic above).  The event was shorter than we have done previously as it was only 1.5k as we usually have done 5k in the past with this event.  I am not sure I know why they have changed it...  Tala and I started off walking and then decided we would run it nice and easy.  We enjoyed all the doggie water stations as they were well organized. :)  Tala also enjoyed her treats from the event afterwards and then went home for a good snooze.

So... everything went well up until then... I then went out to finish the k's needed for my long run as I did not manage to get out before sunday to finish it.  I took things nice and easy and made it to about 6.5k and then WHAM!  IT band called it quits... WT*!?!  I stopped, went on the grass, stretched out and had some of my sports drink and tried again... it wasn't going to happen.  I had to stop at 7k and turn around and walk home - forgot my cell...  Luckily it did not hurt while walking.  So I finally get home and then decide to take the bike out for a spin to get a bit more cardio in.  Well 5k in to that I had to turn around as this was not going to be my day.  I went back over things that I did that day trying to figure out what happen as it was a bit purplexing to me as why it did.  Shoes?  Nope.  Stretched? Yep. Overtrained? Nope, actually less here the last week and a bit.  Terrain? Maybe...  I alternated the part of the road that I was running on but there were a few spot that were quite slanted as there was no other place to run.  I did slip a couple of times on the gravel part from the ruts... did not think it was that bad when it happened.  I know now... :(  So... I have been not able to walk after that as I could not bend my knee at all.  Great... what more can happen...  I should have never hopped on to the bike afterwards... but I did not realize at the time the severity of it.  So, for the last couple of days here I have been best friends with RICE, ibuprofen, foam roller, stretches, strengthening supporting muscles, and some contrast treatment - alternating between heat and ice.  I believe I have caught it fast enough here as today things are better and I can bend with little pain.  So, no running as of yet but not too worried about the half coming up as I think it will be fine by then.  I only have one more long distance run left and if I am unable to do it, that will be ok with me because I know I can run the distance already - it just won't be as fast as I wanted.  There are many other races out there that I can aim for in succeeding in my goal. :)  Injuries can sometimes just happen out of the blue even when following the best of plans - I just have to re-look at my journal and see if there are some possible causes besides the terrain.

Thank you again everyone for all your kind words as it was all very much appreciated.  A few things have happened since I have been on here.  My friend and my father-in-law have given me the money to cover the extra cost of the ticket to go to England.  So... I now do not have to worry as much about it financially.  The problem is that my 'great uncle' is being an a@@ about the whole thing and does not want a funeral!!!!  Well, the family here says they won't go and spend the money to go unless there is one.  If there is one thing that doesn't drive me absolutely insane is family fighting during a time of passing.  Enough already and just let us say our goodbyes.  So... am I going to be going to England?  I am still so confused... It is nothing like coming to terms with everything and then basically having the ticket given to me to go.  I know... worse things could happen...

Well, sorry I have not posted lately on anyone's blogs... I have read them just was not to much feeling like a cheerleader at the moment.  So... be prepared cause I am on my way back. :)

Ok... I have heard about things happen in 3s and I am a bit of a believer in this one... My Nanny just called and my grandma's sister passes away last week also and the funerals will be on the SAME day!!! Both in England, BUT in different places!  I wasn't close to her but she is in my thoughts and her family is in my prayers as my grandma will be taking priority.  Now for the final decision with all of this and to see if a plane ticket will be purchased.  The funeral is next week on Tuesday, May 13th at 12 pm.

It's warming up!

Woke up this morning and the sun is shining.  The weather is looking like we are going to have some nicer days ahead.  Today is a rest day for me besides biking to the movie store to return some movies.  My long run of 18k is tomorrow and I should be nice and rested for that one.  It is going to be done probably slower than usual as I just want the distance in and also because I have a a bit of a run race on Sunday.

I was just checking the Roadrunner's site and the time and location has changed from before.  It looks like it may be a harder course with a nice hill on the end of it. :(  So I am not sure if I am going to be able to beat my time on a 5k or not. :( :(

Scale wise, I peaked again and things are looking even better for me.  I had a healthy day yesterday and I hope to continue today so that it stays at this wt or may be goes lower...  only time will tell. :)

My one dog decided that she like to counter surf all of a sudden now. :(  My almost 4 yr old, Cleo, has eaten a few meals on the counter the last couple of days.  I have to make sure that everything is put way far back or she goes in there and helps herself.  Last night I had to make an extra plate because she decided mine was hers.  It's funny because she knows that she has done wrong and goes and hides after she has done it.  I hope she is not revolting because we have not done agility this year yet...  She loves her agility. :)  So I have to work on that with her.

Tonight I have a meeting that is for all parents in the gr. 6-8 of my son's school for a camp that they are going to in the beginning of June.  I will probably be gone all 3 days there since they always request that someone from our family is their because of my son's designation.  So I will be volunteering for a couple of things.  Just don't know what I want to do yet.  The students love when I am the cabin mom because the girls love the stories at night. :)

My husband left yesterday morning for Regina to work and will be back later today.  He is being sent out of town so much that anytime that I want to work, I can't because he is not home for my son in the morning.  I think I may have to come up with some other alternatives now for these types of situations.

Boy I am just rambling this morning... this must be a little boring. :)

For the rest of today, I am going to be working on cleaning up the basement and clearing out and unplugging the fridge downstairs.  We don't have anyone living down there and can't till repairs are done, so the area has been used for games, workout room, study room and such.  I was putting some extra stuff in there, but we all keep forgetting about it.  oops! :)  So I am just going to unplug the old thing and be done with it.

Well, since wi is tomorrow, I am going to work extra hard to make sure that it is a core day, watch the sodium, and up the water.  Let's see what tomorrow brings. :)

Biggest Loser... (spoiler)

... last night was AWESOME!!!  When I saw Roger step on the scale thought... oh no!  I am glad a girl won, but was really cheering for Kelly.  She was such a silent type but hung in there well.  She looked really good after!  I am happy for Ali as she did work her butt off... I guess strong will, strong mind and you can do anything you put your heart into and believe. :)  I guess we could all learn a lesson from her.  I am super excited about Bernie... He is such a cutie. :)  I am so glad that Dan did not win anything and if it was not for Bernie winning, I was cheering for the guy that was up there first that had to lose so much wt so he could qualify for insurance.  I did expect a few of them that were at sent home before to lose a bit more wt though.  And what was with Paul, Kelly's ex-husband?  They said he was sick at home.  Usually there would have been a live feed or something of him at least wishing everyone well or something... Personally, and this is just my opinion here... I wonder if he really sabotaged himself and did not lose any wt and gained.  He turned out to be quite the different character than I thought he would.  It is funny because I was cheering for them and the husband and wife team where the husband (I wish I could remember the names) was the biggest loser of the ones sent home for a bit at the beginning of the show (the health insurance guy).  Other than that, the guy that was Roger's football partner I thought really did amazingly.  Good show though and what a life changing experience that we all go through.  I really liked that last night they actually addressed self-sabotaging, plateaus, and injuries with the finalists.  Their wt loss was finally not so colorful anymore. :)

Well, tonight is a 6k run with the running room and I may actually bring one of my dogs with me, Tala.  It is supposed to be about +10 tonight for the run so my running skirt possibly again. :)  I used some self-tanner on the weekend and it worked out pretty well... I may have to put a bit more on. lol

Last night we did not end up having our eat out Tuesday, so tonight my son gets to choose.  Afters school, he watched an episode of one of his favorite shows and then we went bike riding.  I remembered to buy him a lock so we went to the school and I showed him how to lock it up.  When we got home, it was time for the Biggest Loser... So, no eating out.  He did choose McD's yesterday so if he chooses that again here tonight, I am having my oriental salad. :)

Cross training went well last night too.  The last 45 mins of the Biggest Loser I went on the elliptical and after the show I did my wts.  I love a good evening workout. :)

Today is pretty much the usual again here.  I was this () close to working today and then decided maybe not.  Tomorrow I should though.

Ok...  I just got back from outside here and you know that feeling you get sending your child off to school for the first time by himself? Like the first day of kindergarten or something like that... or how about the first time you let your child do something and you really want to help them so they are not doing it by themselves...  I just watched my son ride off on his bike to school for the first time!!!!  He is in grade 6 and has NEVER done this before, in fact I wasn't sure he would EVER do it!  I was like.. you be soooo careful, watch for cars, stay on the side of the road, make sure you lock your bike... etc... really not the best thing for me to say to a child that only really hears one thing. :)  I guess it is to make us feel better that we said it. :)  I know some of you may laugh but... I am getting my camera out to take a picture of him coming home today from school. :)  Sooooo happy right now!

Non-smoker! :)

run: 6.93km/44:00 mins (slowed down for a couple of walk breaks for Tala after the 5k), avg 185 bpm :( 6:21 mins/km :) sunny and temp of +10, wore running skirt and long sleeve top, felt really good, nano was not charged so no music. :(

Finally Sunday...

Well I took my son to the movie Nim's Island after the unfortunate news yesterday.  My son was pretty upset about Suki and was really focusing on the whole death issue of the other pets.  I assured him that right now everyone is OK but things in life do happen.  We had a good long talk about the whole thing...  I am not too sure how he is now because this morning he was upset with Santa (yes Santa, I told him the truth this year because he is in grade 6, but he still believes).  At x-mass Suki started to get really bad and I thought she was going to die then.  My son had already wrote Santa previously, so he re-wrote another email to Santa requesting that he wanted to take back everything that he wanted for x-mass and have Suki get better instead.  So now with Suki gone... he is pretty much in the angry stage right now, especially with Santa.

As far as how was the movie Nim's Island?  Wonderful!!! We both really liked the movie and I thought it was pretty good for a family movie to all go see together. :)  I only heard one little girl that was about 3 yrs old say that she did not like one part in it because she thought it was scary.  My son is a real scaredy cat at even the slightest scare and he had no problems.  I would definitely recommend this movie for the whole family to see. :)

Today I went out to run 16k.  It is a good thing that I check the weather station before I leave because the weather decided to change things up a bit.  Started off at -2 and plans for 1-3 cm of snow.  Great! :(  Well it is a good thing I was prepared because what a snow storm!  It came up at about 4k in to the run and lasted till the last k.  So it was lots of fun!  *insert sarcasm here* lol

Well it really was not too bad of a run in the end though.  Today I was really focussing on going slow and trying to keep my HR low.  I checked in to some sites that I was referred to and looked at paces geared for me for my different types of runs.  I found myself going a little fast at times and had to really focus on the slow part.  I guess the hardest part is that I am basing all of my training paces on my 5k runs that are on the paths here that are really hilly.  I can't wait for my first event here so I can get a realistic time for one and then go from there.  I had heard once from someone that was wondering how slow to go because they felt fine at the faster pace for their long slow runs.  Their pace was based on what they had done in a race last yr.  Another person replied that maybe this person was not going fast enough when they run their races and therefore their long slow ones would be geared faster.  This kind of struck a point with me.  I know I have improved tremendously in the last couple of yrs from going from a snail's pace to a turtle, but maybe I am better than what I think I am... I figure since I have been running for a couple of yrs now I should start looking at tweaking things a bit while still remaining injury free. :)

I am having a bit of troubles with my garmin and the distance that it is registering that I am going.  It seems like it is saying that I am going farther than I actually am.  My Nike+ actually recorded the distance better than my garmin when I mapped out my run.  For now I am still going to use the garmin stats to keep stats consistent though.

Well 3 people, that I know of, are injured from running with the running clinic.  The one girl that I was running with was having some problems and finally did herself in one night pushing herself a little too much.  I like the instructor in their clinic but I am finding that too many people are going too fast for what they should be and therefore injuries.  Their clinic is for first timers doing the 1/2.  This kind of takes the fun out of running and many lose interest because they are getting constantly injured.  I have done this and learnt my lesson.  The good thing is that I never gave up and found my proper way of getting my mileage in.  So for all you newbies out there wanting to start running...  take it slow!  Please?  lol  Your body will thank you so much more for it! :)  Now unless you are quite physically fit already then fine.  Go at what feels comfortable but remember the 10% rule with distance, time and effort. :)  There, did my little parental nagging for the day. lol

Food wise, things are better again.  After much thought, I am going to move my wi day to Fridays instead of having the 2 wi's on Friday for the challenge and Sunday for the official.  With my 1/2 marathon coming up and some other events always ending up on a Sunday, I would like to be able to eat more on the Saturday night so my body is fueled up properly.

As for my official wi today, my wt has stayed the same. :)

The rest of the day here I am going to do some cleaning and laundry and hopefully something with my son. :)

No Smoking. :)

run: 16.04 km/1:59:55 mins, avg 160 bpm 7:29min/km, temp -2 with snowstorm, wore 3 light layers, felt pretty good except for the snow, tried to remain on the road where I could that would be the same route as the half marathon, ran with the running room group but was by myself at the back taking it slow. :)

Super Easy Run/Rest Day

Well yesterday I ended up mostly laying on the couch and in bed.  I was way too tired and not feeling to hot so needless to say I did not get my cross training in which is all good.  This morning I am up early and feeling better so I probably will get in a really easy slow 30 min run in first thing here before my son wakes up.  Just enough to loosen up and get the muscles moving before my LSD of 16K tomorrow.  Its funny thinking about that distance this time.  I remember when I first started training for a full marathon back in 2005. (I trained for another in 2002 but it got cut short by a surgery)  I would fear and worry so much about running farther and farther and think OMG how am I going to do this! lol Now, it is like 16k and... there are no fears. :)  I actually look forward to running these.  I know I have ran the distances before so it is like... OK, I can do this. This is going to be easy.  :)  Just a walk in the park. lol Well that is what it may look like to the rest of the members in the group that are speedsters as they think I am going super slow...  I actually am doing the right pace for me on my LSD's thank you very much! lol

I don't know whether it was a bug or over working my self too much but I listened to my body and took the rest that was needed.  I did have quite the busy week.... lol

OK... here I go... Suki is gone...  I finally had the courage last night to go take a peek.  Not overly in the best of moods right now, and today I have to finish disinfecting the cage.  I almost just want to throw the whole cage out... but I know I will get another one here some day.  It is just so hard when you really bond to an animal and to hope for the bonding like you have had with the one before.  I have been blessed with the 2 that I have owned.  I am going to miss our times watching TV where she goes to sleep on my shoulder... The questions from people about having her has a pet... the surprised looks after they realize just how cute, soft, and the warm snuggly character she really is.  Last night I was trying to work out her exact age and realistically, she had lived for over 3 yrs which is a great long life for a pet rat.  I have to phone the teacher that I worked with last year here too.  She is retired now but was in love with Suki and let me bring her to the school quite often for regular visits.  I took her over to visit her lots this current year so she could have her Suki fix.  I have not told my son yet... he thinks she is still sleeping...  well I guess part of that is true.  She is sleeping in heaven.

OK... bare with me here as I grab some kleenex.

The rest of the day after my run is cleaning, homework, and I may take my son to see the matinee of Nim's Island.  Tonnes of water today and low sodium before my official weigh in tomorrow... but I am not overly concerned with it though.  I don't think I need to lose anymore wt this wk.  I think I may hear some movie popcorn calling my name..... :)  I have often thought about changing my official ww wi day to Fridays to make life easier, but having these 2 sort of wi days a wk really helps me stay on track more and with the eating on the weekends.  Well, until my LSD that is... lol  After that, I LOVE to eat! :)

Well, time to get moving...

Yes, still a non-smoker. :)

run: 30 mins

ummm....

Please don't shoot me for this... I am down another big number for the week and it is actually worrying me a bit.  Don't get me wrong though... I am taking it and running with it. :)

Down 3.2 from last Friday wi challenge that I am in which makes me 125.4 lbs!  AND I made a 21.2 lb loss thus far!  That makes it 2 wks in a row now though that I have had a big number loss.  Grant it my APs are a big number and yesterday was a steady run for about 1.5 hrs (at a sloooowwww rate :) and hills :(  ) <---- it was a real struggle to finish it.  I have only 10 FPs left and only the last 2 days I have not been able to eat all my APs earned.  Next wk my plan is to eat MORE!!! lol  I hope to eat all APs earned and all my FPs for the week. :)  If I gain a bit, that is going to be OK so that my body will even out a bit.  I foresee a nice treat coming my way... lol  I have been pretty busy which I did not realize until a few have pointed it out.  Thanks guys! *wink* lol  I am going to slow down a bit here too... Maybe that's why I have been so dammed tired here the last couple of days... :s *duh*  lol

There is no movement again in Suki's cage and I am too scared to look.  DH is gone till Tues now....  I am sick to my stomach right now...

I am going to see if I can get a pic on here of my new do today.  I have a couple of self taken pics that day from my camera phone and my camera.  I will load them up and see which one doesn't look so goofy. :)

For exercise today it is going to be cross training with the stationary bike and wts.  I am not going to push myself too hard as I am feeling super tired and a little sore from yesterdays run.  So it is going to be an easy workout.  Any pain and I will be stopping.  I can't wait for tomorrow's rest day....

Food wise today, I am going to have my steel cut oats for breakie with a banana, I have already have had 1 cup chocolate milk, lunch will be a tuna something, and supper will be a chicken oriental salad from McD's with my son. :)  Core snacks to fill me where needed.  So it will be a mostly core day and my FPs will be used up more.  I am planning to rent a movie here with my son tonight so popcorn will probably be in there too. :)

Still no smoking!! :)

Sbike: 60 mins?

wts: 30 mins?

too busy yesterday...

Yesterday was quite a bit crazy and I did not manage to post.  I was having some fun going through some Podcasts for running (Hi Stacey! :) )  I then got fed up with my nail being way to long for typing and they were way over due for my fill (6+ wks) so I went and got them done.  I received a complement from my nail lady as she noticed the wt. :)  As I was there I finally got the courage to go to a hairdresser and get my hair cut.  *gulp*  2.5 hrs later... it looks awesome!!!  I no longer have a hair due that looks like I am still in the 80's/90's!  Just to fill you in a bit, I grew up in a hair salon because my mom used to be a great hairstylist that went to shows and stuff.  Then she had an accident that crushed part of her cutting hand.  That was it.  I have managed to get my hair cut by her on a good day but extremely rare.  I tend to go through about a yr between haircuts as every time I try to find a new hairdresser, I come out crying.  They have butchered my hair (generally my hair has always been long) and they would chop tonnes off. :(  Or, they would just make so many mistakes, the bad thing about growing up in a salon is you do notice them.  I found one good one 2 yrs ago and then just kept forgetting to get it done.  I went back to see her in Nov last yr and she moved and they did not know where she went.  So, I trimmed my own. :)  So yesterday I finally went somewhere that I heard was good and the owner was an old friend of my mom's. :)  A newer hairstylist, out of school a yr and got hired right on out of school there, cut it and she did wonders!  I was too much in a rush yesterday so I will do it up for a pic here soon. :)  The DH loves it!  lol

Well, continuing my busy day yesterday, I got home just in time for my son to get home from school.  My DH calls and wanted to meet up with us.  So my DS and I headed out.  I came home at 5 pm and ate chili then left for my run for 6 pm.  I was so busy... I forgot to tie my hair back or stick on a hat and to drink water!!!  Needless to say... the hair was not a problem due to not much to fly around, received MANY complements, but got sick from being dehydrated and the chili.  :(  My head hurt so badly and my stomach was terrible!  I stuck it out... but it was truly hard!!!  I came home afterward and guzzled water, ibuprofen, and relaxed.  I know better than to do this and that is the part that is killing me... 

Last night I was looking around at some videos of half and full marathons on the web (specifically the Around the Bay, and Nike's Women Marathon {best ones})and I came across some really good ones that were encouraging and truly inspirational!  I found one marathon, the Nike Women's Marathon in San Fransico (SP?) and was instantly in love with it.  about 15 000 people running!!!  Geez, Saskatoon may get 2000...  I so want to run a really big one one yr for all the excitement.  I checked in to getting in to it this year and no luck.  This yr they expect about 20 000!  They receive a really cool tech shirt and a Tiffany's memorial necklace for finishing!  I will just keep dreaming and hope that one day I can afford to do this run... On a good note though, anyone, anywhere in the world can participate on that day for running a half marathon distance (or was it 19.1k... :S. I will have to go and reread) and get a shirt and a Tiffany's key chain sent to them.  The kicker is that you have to have this distance logged on that day with the Nike+ which is the nano, shoes, and nike kit.  My DH has the nano, but I do not have Nike shoes or the kit for running...  So... is it really worth it?  I have bought 2 new pairs of shoes already this yr and grant it that I will probably be ready or new ones by this Oct.  BUT I have never wore Nikes before... Not since high school and those were not for running - along with the good ol' Reeboks. lol  They both have come far though in the past yrs, just not so sure about them.  So ladies, if you have the equipment, run, run/walk, walk the distance on that day (I will post it the exact day), log it in with the Nike+ stuff, and you have done a half without traveling any where!!! :)  Since this is near the end of October, I think it would be cool to have a few of us accomplish this in our own home towns :) and celebrate the success together.  BTW - the run is for Leukemia.  As I said, run, run/walk, walk the distance and you have done it!  If you have the equipment... then even better because you get all the fancy stuff after. :)  I am doing it with or with out the Nike+ just because I thought it would be cool to do this with others around the world. :)  Edit: I just found a little holder for the Nike shoe sensor so I would not have to buy the Nike shoes. :) My DH is letting me use his Nano so the only thing I bought really was a cheap sensor holder and the Nike+ kit which was just under $40.  Sweet!  So I am planning to do this run anywhere in the world at the same time the Nike women's marathon is!  I also was talking to the workers at the running room and they thought it would be really cool to get a group together here and do it together that day!  I was told to bring it up to the manager and see if something could be arranged.  The Nike site has not posted registration fees yet and the registration will open in May for this.  Now how cool is that to participate in something that you do not even have to travel to and still get a super cool reward. lol :) All it takes is to log your miles/km for the distance that day. :)

Oh, some other running news for me... I just talked to the captain of the Banff-Jasper Relay team that I was interested in and he said on the phone last night that it looks like I may have a spot!!! Wooo Hooo!  This will be my first run away from home and I would have someone from toon town to drive there with and share all expenses! Cheap:)  I am sooo excited!

OK... now that I have gotten my running stories out of the way... too excited..lol and update on everything else...

Suki is still hanging in there... very weak though and her breathing is starting to get very labored which I think she may be suffering now...  *sniff*

Eating wise, things have been pretty good but yesterday did not eat enough because of the sitting in places way too long and too sick to my stomach last night. :(

Exercise wise, today I have 6 hills to run up and down with a 3k warmup and 3k cool down.  

After my DS heads to school, I am going out for breakfast with some family from out of town, then homework, cleaning, and take my DH to the airport.  Tomorrow is challenge wi day so water and low sodium. :)

No smoking still!!!!

I will catch up on all's blogs when I get back and add my running diary. 

Thurs run: Treadmill because it was too yucky outside, 10.1 km/1:29:55, 6 hills and took it really slow, used the new Nike+ with the run to see how it worked, struggled quite a bit - may need to ease up the next couple of days.

Wed run: BAD, 5.86 km/38.53 mins, avg 177 bpm 6:38 min/km, outside nice out with RR group, dehydrated and ate too soon before my run (chili).

Suki...

Thanks to all who have asked how she is doing.  I thought yesterday was her day that she chose to go...  I did not see any movement from her out of her hut for a long time and she was unresponsive to her name when called.  I did not have the heart and was not prepared to go in and lift the hut.  Finally at about 6pm I saw movement!  I hurried up and went to her with a nice treat of cheese and called her over.  It was soooo sad because it took her a few times to get the cheese because she kept on missing it.  I think it is only time now....  I am not ready. :(

Well my DH had a good laugh at me last night.  I was reading some posts on the boards and saw that there was an official Wii Fit release date along with price.  So I searched the net for pre-orders in Canada and found it at Toys 'R' Us!  I was so excited and shaking I have been waiting so long.  lol  So I ordered it and was yelling Woooo Hoooo! (with my arms up in the air) Biggest smile on my face.  lol  Yes, I am a little Wii Crazed! :) lol

Today is going to be a cross training workout with the elliptical.  I can't believe I finally made it up to 45 mins on that sucker!  It was not too long ago where I was struggling at 10 mins and had to stop! :)  Wts are also on the program for today.

I am not sure if we are having our eat out Tues tonight since my DH is working.  We have some left over chili from last night and everyone here prefers the chili to anything else. lol

Its -12 right now and they say it is going up to +2 this afternoon.... with no snow or rain in site!! :)  Bike?  You bet!!! lol

I held on strong yesterday with not phoning my ex and not smoking!  Another day down for me. :)

I also came across some running podcasts yesterday and I thought I would share for those that may be interested.  For everyone doing the Couch to 5K, I do not know if you know this but there is a free podcast for your mp3 player at a couple of sites.  For everyone else, there are podcasts on Itunes from Nike and such that are coaching ones.  While the music is going, someone comes in at times and tells you what intensity you should go to now.  I listened to them last night and they would work for walkers too!  A great interval work out that burns more calories. :)  I picked up the Serena Williams interval one and the Lance Armstrong one. :)  I find that this would be a nice change for me on my shorter running days to have a little coach in my ear. :) lol  And to switch things up a bit. :)

run: 4.7k/30:03 mins, interval with Serena, avg 181 bpm 6:24/km, brought Tala, sunny warm and felt great!

Elliptical: 15 mins

wts: 30 mins

A good day so far...

I sneaked a peak at my scale and was totally surprised!  It showed in the 120's!  Now that is a sight I have not seen (officially) in a looonnnnngggg time. :)  Tomorrow is the beginning of the April Fool's Day challenge and I am hoping that it will stick.  I am finding it quite hard to believe though with all the junk stuff I ate and such high pts at the beginning of the week.  I usually do have a higher pts then but not THAT much or that high.  Sunday alone was over 50 pts!  My FP's are gone as of Tues, and I have just been eating my DPs and APs.  I am trying to sort this in my head is that I either completely shocked my body and put it in super metabolism mode, that I may need more food than what I have been eating, that the guy from 'I Can Make You Thin' on TV has a pt about eating what you want (in moderation)  :), or who knows?  I have been increasing my weekly mileage and being strict with my training so that may have something to do with it and not overtraining.  There are a few factor involved in this so it really makes me wonder.  The other thing is, is that I thought things would really start to slow down here because I was thinking that my body would be leveling itself out because it should be telling me here soon that I am close to a goal of sorts.  The other thing that I think it may be telling me is that my original goal is not too far off from what it should be.  I have gone back to eating core after my little spurt of high pts and it is still hard, but I am going to continue to struggle through it.

Suki is still around, very weak right now but still snugly... I had her out on my shoulder around the house yesterday while I was watching some TV downstairs.  I am so going to miss her if this is her time...  

Today I have some hill repeats that I am going to do.  I was going to do them on the TM but I may head out and drive to the river and do them their.  There is a couple of  really good hills here by Broadway and another couple on the other side of the city by Lawson.  I will probably choose the closest. :)

Last night, the running room group did 5 km instead of 6 that I thought they were going to do.  So I did it and had to really push myself last night though.  The 2 girls did not go so I went faster which was good but started off to fast... My Garmin was giving me wonky readings and I could not tell until it was too late.  So, I still did a great time!  The cold wind was horrible though and it sure felt like it was the beginning of winter all over again out there.  It smelled like it. :)  After the run, a few of us went out to starbucks and decided we should do this more often.  It was fun getting to know more people and all there stories.  A good chunk of us gave the running a reason for there wt loss.  It was also good to hear about some of the mistakes we all made when we first started out.  It made me feel more human and not so embarrassed about mine. :)  I guess we all learn from our mistakes!  :)  Slow and steady is the key, especially when first starting out.

Food wise, I have been a good girl again in this area as stated above. I got myself back on track and I am avoiding chocolate at all costs right now... except my after run chocolate milk of course. :)  OH!  I found Nesquik chocolate syrup with less sugar in the store yesterday!  This is great because I can mix it with my skim milk and it is cheaper and better in pts. :) I have found that the lowest pt chocolate milk so far is the Dairyland brand but it is hard to find.  The other Lucern and Beatrice are higher.  So, it was a great find for me. :)  My body after my run's is thanking me too.

I am still not smoking!  And yes, I really have to update the bottom of my post. :)

run: hills x 5, outside, temp -8 and sunny, 9.44km/1:20:35, avg 165 bpm 8:32min/km, very slow pace as I was doing the hills in the middle, 3k warmup and 3k cooldown, I took the hills easy at the same exertion as I felt running on the flats, since I have been running my hills before on the treadmill my knees took not as highly to the downhill running, I stretched, iced and took ibuprofen, I will have to remember to take extra glucosamine for my joints, I wore too much clothing as I thought it would be colder out. (3 layers) It was a steady run with no walking breaks and only stopped 2x for some stretching.  Yeah!  A PB for me in how long I lasted running straight for me!

Quit Smoking:

went picture happy

Well as you can see yesterday I pulled out the camera and took some pics. I forgot to do a 10 lbs loss for myself so it ended up being a 13 lbs loss. I also was trying to figure out an outfit to wear to compare, I have done my marathon outfit and my next one I will probably do the outfit I was wearing in China with my son. I also finally managed to take pics of the rest of my animals here so everyone can see my 'zoo'.

For eating yesterday I ended up having leftovers of the teriyaki turkey burger and for supper I fell in love... I grilled one portabello mushroom and green onion and had it on a blue menu burger first bun toasted with garlic olive oil drizzled on, then one part of the bun I spread laughing cow cheese on... I have never had this mushroom like this before and always heard of people grilling them like a burger. I was in heaven... I have also made another batch of the asian inspired zero pt soup again and have been having that. I really enjoy that one!

Today is going to be quite the busy day. I was hoping for my husband to help out a bit with the schedule but he ended up having to have work plans in there. I really want to go to hot yoga today before my long run of 9 km tomorrow and I have to have my son at a school mate's house for the same time... I will have to figure something out. I will see if there is someone that can help.

My Nanny is looking better. She is pretty tired though so it is a good thing that there are quite a few people at the house for her to take care of things.

I signed up for my half marathon late last night... I almost forgot I was so excited. :) While I was signing up I phone my friend Kerry to see if she wanted to come to the pre-race supper the night before with me. So she is going to come. She is considering now though if she could at least walk the half since she can't run it anymore. I feel bad for her but she is ok with everything because she has ran 2 full marathons already. (plus various other races) When I put the photo of the both of us on this blog, I was quite upset at how I looked, wt wise. I honestly thought I was ok back then. I guess my wt crept back up on me faster than I thought. Since I hardly have any pics of myself and my old scale being so wonky...(I have a new one now) I could not really tell. So I am going to be taking more pics here of the family and myself here from now on.

Oh... I have always heard of these 'turkey bites' for one pt and my husband comes home last night with them for his snack, along with more laughing cow cheese because he decided he really liked the stuff, and oh my god are they good! I did not really plan to eat anymore yesterday but my curiosity got the better of me. :)

For exercises today I am going to take it easy, besides the hot yoga (hopefully), I am just going to do a small walk. I need to be ready for tomorrow's run with the running room group.

hot yoga
walk
Quit smoking: Day 21.

yeah! its Friday!!!!

I am so happy that it is Friday today... I have been looking forward to it all week.

Yesterday's teriyaki turkey burgers went awesomely well. Thanks to who suggested that one in their blog... see, I do read others. :) My husband swears that I put onion in his though... I didn't except mine and it was in a totally different bowl. I even cooked mine after his... he hates onions and I love to cook with them so I separate some of the recipes. :) We had the burgers with the whole wheat PC Burgers first burger buns. They look really weird but they work awesome and we loved using them. They tasted really good too!

My challenge wi went really well today, even with the super late being awake last night deciding that I finally had enough with the see through background in my blog. I had a coffee with my favorite non-fat creamer at 1 am cause I was just a cravin' it. :) The scale showed a 133.6 lbs for my weight! Woooo hooo!

So far the 19 pts thing has not been too much of an issue for me since I usually go into my APs as needed thru-out the week and the same with the FPs. So that is going well. I am finding that I am putting raw bran in everything though... just so I make sure I am getting my fibre in... yesterday I even put it with my scrambled eggs in olive oil... I know... WIERD.

So it took me since I got home on Mon till the last 2 days to finally get my priorities back in order with losing wt. As I said earlier... it payed off nicely.

My Nanny is still doing pretty good. I could never imagine going through that. When I was told back in 1992 that the chances of me walking or walking normally were slim and that I lost the use of my right hand (bad car accident) I was in total shock and was very depressed about the whole thing. Then I became mad and determined that I would prove the doctor's wrong. Well I did it... I will never be 100%, but I can run properly enough ;) and I have my hand back (thanks to the nerve growing back). My Nanny is joking about things right now, I know she is trying to hide her feelings about everything... but she has her life and will be with us longer... ok... now I have made myself sad...

Exercises for today are cross training with elliptical, bike, walking, then challenge exercises and yoga.

As today I am signing up officially for my half marathon for May, I am going to post a pick today of me and my friend in the full I did a few years ago. I am also going to finish putting up picks of my 'zoo' here so everyone will know why I call it 'the zoo.'

elliptical 35 mins yeah!
walking 30 mins
bike 30 mins
challenge exercises
yoga
Quit Smoking: Day 20!

Family Day

Well, for the second year in a row SK gets Family Day. It is minus 23 out this morning but is supposed to go to minus 10 this afternoon. I think I am going to go hunting for the skates and search for a rink with Austin or if we can't find one that is not taken over by hockey, we may go swimming. I am not too sure if Jason will go or not. Swimming is an option too.

I will be taking the two bigger dogs to the dog park though. I can't take Denver because of his dog aggression issues. A common trait for the Chihuahua. Its funny because he was my little star athlete in dog agility for the first year and a half and then one day we went to the dog park and something happened... Don't know... but he started to go after everyone and anything. I have taken him to obedience privately but it still is not getting better. We even have gotten tests done by the vet to make sure everything was ok. I was told it was the chihuahua and at about his age is when the dominance and aggression really can come out and also that dog parks weren't always the best thing to bring a dog to. I understand part of their reasoning but in someways it is hard to swallow. My other two are great. I took Tala, my husky through her first two levels of agility and then decided this wasn't for her. As a typical husky, she did what she wanted when she wanted, but knew it though. Cleo on the other hand is my star athlete. She knows the different parts of the courses quite well and has completed all her levels. The next for her is competition if I have time this year. She loves it. There... now you know more about my dogs.

Yesterday, I had the funniest craving. About 10 years ago I used to make a peanut butter coating for my popcorn and wanted it in the worst way yesterday. So I arranged my points and made what I remembered for the coating. (1 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tbsp the lightest corn syrup I could find, and 1/4 tsp of lite marg) I did it this way so points would not be too much of a shocker. So with 6 cups of popcorn it works out to be 8 pts. I had half and my son had the other. It satisfied my craving. Tonight I am going to try to make the diet coke chicken. I will let you know what I think tomorrow.

Well, things are getting better in the non-smoking department for me. I had some ruff parts yesterday and did not touch one so it is now over a week! :) I can do this.

On the weight loss part of my life, I am happy to see that things are coming off. I know ww works, I just got worried because I am not as young as I was the last time I lost, when I lost a huge amount. I can really start to tell now with my pants. There is only the odd day that I have not planned my food properly and that is when I get hungry.

So today my exercise plans are a walk, yoga, challenge exercises and what ever family day activity we do.

walk
yoga
challenge exercises
Quit smoking: Day 9