Toby turns 5

Five years ago we moved to BC with a little stow-away. Over the past year, Toby has mentioned his birthday every single day. We arrived in Metis the day before so that he wouldn't spend his birthday in the car. He loved the LEGO, book and clothes he got as presents. He spent the day on the beach playing with his friends that he hadn't seen in a year. Rather than having a formal party and giving out goodie bags, we gave all of Toby's friends kites. Even the littest ones could watch their kite fly on the beach.

It's been a While...

There must be a way to flip this right side up... Any advice?

I haven't gotten around to a race recap of the Ottawa Race Weekend half-marathon on May 30th. I have been meaning to do it, but I just haven't given myself a proper amount of time to sit down and write. It has been over a month since the run, and I still feel a sense of pride when I think of that run. It was so much fun! To do my first half-marathon with my brother-in-law, Scott, good friend Sophie, and cousin, Sophie was amazing!
The morning of the race, we were up early. I think Scott was still knackered from adjusting to early Ontario mornings, but he was out of bed by 6am. Sophie came over and we got a few pre-race pictures. We headed out and found a great parking spot close to the start line. That was a fairly significant concern for me. I didn't want to have to walk any more than necessary before or after the run. We hit to most disgusting porto-potties ever. This was when we confirmed that runners are gross! Whew!
We walked around and found Sophie H with her purple Leukemia and Lymphoma shirted team. We watched the kids race and then lined up in the corals with the 9 thousand other runners. There were so many people that Scott wasn't able to start in the appropriate coral, he was just behind me. Once we got going, Scott went by me right in front of the Parliament buildings. I was happy to see that he was able to get through the crowd without too much of a problem. Go Scott!
There were people cheering for almost the entire race. The atmosphere was amazing. I listened to every positive comment and fed off of the energy. I read the signs as I went along and tried to take it all in. The city was alive and beautiful!
I was moving along at a decent pace. I felt pretty good for most of the race. Ian, Holly and the kids were at the 17th km mark and I knew that if I stopped it would be really challenging to keep going. I gave them high-fives and kept going. I managed to swallow the lump in my throat. My the 19th km, we merged with the marathoners. I started to notice people around me were starting to deteriorate. There were runners who looked strong and then others who were literally collapsing. It was disturbing. I stopped to walk for a little while to gather myself together. That was when I heard people in the crown cheering for me using my name. They were reading my race bib. They were saying things like" don't stop now, Rebecca" "Come-on, Rebecca, you're almost there"! So I gathered myself together and pushed my way to the end. The last 450 metres were the longest of the entire race!
I crossed the finish line and felt very strange. Almost as though I was out of my body. My legs moved when I didn't tell them to. I felt nauseous and knew that I needed to take some nutrition and water. I got myself a water and my metal and sat on the grass in my silver blanket to stretch and recover. I took a few minutes and then lined up for some fruit and snacks, then found Scott. What a relief to find a friendly face in the crowd! We headed back to the finish line and managed to see Sophie H cross the finish line! I had enough energy to cheer and jump around for her. She had the biggest smile when she saw me. I was feeling good again. We didn't see Sophie S. cross the finish line, but she met us at the meeting spot and we all reflected on the run.
Overall, I was thrilled with my time, 1:57:??. Scott beat his personal best time. Woohoo! Sophie H and Sophie S were happy with their times and experiences. Woo hoo! I felt like a rock star with the crowd cheering me on for almost the entire race. And I was thankful to have completed my first half with my friends.
It was an emotional experience for me. The 21.1 km was something I had always wanted to challenge myself to do, and I didn't know if I could do it until I tried.
I spent the rest of the day recovering. I lay around for most of the afternoon. Ate a great dinner cooked by my wonderful husband Ian, and went to bed with my heart full of joy. Even a month later, I can re-live those emotions.
The following day, Scott and I managed to take our stiff, complaining legs out to the driveway to play a little hockey with the boys.
The Ottawa Race weekend was such a positive experience that Sophie S and I have signed up for two more half-marathons. We are going to do the Army Run in September as well as the Toronto Half four weeks later in October. I have a lot of time on the paths still to come before the races. My goal is to stay injury free and not necessarily run more, but to run smarter this time. I have learned a lot from that race and I know that the mental aspect is just as important as the physical aspect of running. I know I can complete 21.1kms. The question is, can I do it faster?

Bushtukah Canada Day road race

Happy birthday Canada!
 Today I completed my frist 10km race since I was pregnant with Simon and the boys all completed their first running races. The start was a small sea of red thanks to Bushtukah's red tech shirts. The race felt long and grueling. I didn't feel overly energetic when I woke-up, so I knew I would have to work mentally to get my legs moving. With that being said, I finished in 50:13. Correction! My chip time was 49:55.9! (13/66 age/gender group, 50th female) This makes me feel much better! I have a lot of room for improvement in the fall.
The real highlight of my day was watching Toby and Simon in the Tot trot and Ethan in the kids 1km kids run! Toby came first and Simon came in third. Ethan worked his little legs off and finished his run in 6:19. In the middle of the run, he saw me at the sidelines and said "Mommy, I don't like this". He kept on plugging away. I think I should tell him that no one likes the pain you feel during the race, it's finishing it and the sense of accomplishment that you get from that achievement alone that makes it worth while.
After the races, we came home for a while and then went to Kanata for the Canada Day celebrations. We spoke to a number of firefighters and the kids went into a trailor that simulated a real fire at home. The kids crawled out of the trailor and went to the meeting place as they were told. An hour later there was huge black smoke billowing into the air just a few km's away. We could tell there had to be a huge fire in Stittsville. We went home to see that only one street over, on the other side of the school, there were two homes completely engulfed in flames and the siding was gone from a third home. The damages are estimated to be at the 1 million dollar mark. It made our talk with the firefighters hit home with the kids.
All in all, it was quite a day.

Pictures from Ottawa Race Weekend

The cutest three little kids in my world.

May 24 weekend. Just me and the boys. Great great day!

Three Sleeps Away

I am just hoping that I will get three good nights of sleep before I run for the Ottawa Race Weekend. I finished my last 6km training run last night and to be honest, I felt sluggish. We have had a heat wave for the past week and yesterday was in the 30's. Everyone involved with this run is hoping the weather will cool off a bit. Sunday is expected to have a high of 28. So keeping hydrated will be key.

To prepare for the race, I am going to try a low fiber diet for the next three days. I am hoping that the reduced whole wheat may slow down the system a bit. I'm also going to lay off dairy. I plan to load up on carbs and not too much protein the days before the run. I'll see how it goes. I also plan to remember to drink plenty of fluids the day before the race and use salt a little more freely.  I hope it works. My goal is to have no more than one quick pit stop along the course.

As far as times go, I would love to be in the 2 hour range, but if I'm 2:15, I won't be upset, especially if it's very hot. I am keeping relaxed and I think I will be able to enjoy the experience of the race. I am so thankful that my cousin, Sophie gave me the excuse to do this, my brother-in-law Scott is coming from Kalowna to run in the race with me, my good friend Sophie kept me motivated by training with me, and that I will be doing this event with the support of my kids and Ian. I have met some really nice supportive people at the Running Room. I plan to take their words of encouragement with me to the start line.

I have always wanted to run a half marathon. Here is my chance. Wish me luck!

Tough Training

I have decided that training for a half marathon is very time consuming. It would be more time consuming if I were able to take it seriously. As much as I absolutely love having something that selfishly is just for ME, these days it is more of a compromise with the kids and Ian for Mommy to get some time to run. Most weeks I am able to get the shorter runs in during the day with Simon in the stroller, but Ian has been travelling with work and it has made things a little bit more complicated.

Some training strategies I have tried:

Running hills in the morning with the dog and Simon - didn't go quite as planned. During the warm-up, the dog's leash got stuck in the stroller's wheel. Simon did not enjoy the repeated hills and complained so much after the 6th hill, I let him sit in the car and watch the last three.

Intervals at the soccer field - Plunked the kids in the middle of the field with tennis balls, a soccer ball, baseball gloves and water. I managed to keep an eye on them while I circled trying to do 2 min intervals of fast and slow jog. With three boys, I guess you can't expect them to just play nicely. It turned into more of a yelling and wrestling match for the boys than a nice supportive run for mom. I only lasted about 40 min before I had to stop for fear that one of the boys was going to get hurt.

Biking to do errands - Just so I am not on my feet all the time, I am trying to bike to do errands rather than drive. You should have seen the face on the lady at the dry cleaners when I picked up my nice clean dress and folded it into the bike trailer with the kids.

Post tapered 12 km run on Sunday I chose to join the kids in a game of ball hockey - I felt good. It was a nice relatively short run, so I thought I could get rid of my extra energy with some fun. I managed to tweak my knee when I tried to stop too quickly. Ouch! Now I am being forced to rest and feeling grouchy about it!

I think that if I ever train for another half marathon, I will do it at a time when I can get most of the training done on my own time and I don't have to drag one, two, or three kids some place so that I can run.

Next year perhaps....