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Fortunate Friday

Yesterday I spent 98% of my day in bed with the 24 hour flu.  I won the worst-mother award for having my 3 year old watch tv all day.  Said 3 year old who seemed better after his flu on Tuesday threw up 3 times (seriously, if we say that milk makes you barf, please believe us!).  And none of it matters.

I live in a place where, thankfully, that’s the worst that’s going on in my life.  However, others aren’t so lucky.  Obviously those most in need right now are in Japan after a devastating 8.9 earthquake.  

Please donate if you can: https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/donate.aspx?EventID=66175&LangPref=en-CA&Referrer=http%3a%2f%2fwww.redcross.ca%2farticle.asp%3fid%3d38380%26tid%3d001 (Canada) or https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&5052.donation=form1&df_id=5052 (United States).

If you can’t donate, please pray.  

Posted by  |  March 11, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Head Meet Wall, Repeat.

I need to be more self-motivated.  I am perfectly fine to get in runs when I am able to join friends or my running group.  However, I am such a slacker when it comes to doing it on my own.  I can pretty much come up with any lame excuse to not do what’s on my schedule.  It sucks and is super frustrating.  I was so convinced that I was going to put more effort into this training cycle.  I have to a certain extent, but I know I’m dropping the ball on other things (hello, core).  I have less than 2 months until race day. 


Apparently my new mantra needs to be:

Suck. It. Up. Buttercup.

Posted by  |  March 9, 2011 | Categories: motivation | 6 Comments

Monday Musings

Weekend Recap/Ramblings:

Saturday:
  • Finally got to pick up a few things at the mailbox service in Blaine, WA.  One package from BuildASign (still working out some stuff there) and one from Zensah.  Reviews to follow soon.
  • Colin decided Friday night that since we were already going to the states on Saturday that we might as well take Spud to the zoo.  This was fine by me except that the zoo is in Seattle.  We told Spud we had a surprise for him, but wouldn’t tell him until we got to the doughnut store (Krispy Kreme) in Burlington.  While we were waiting at the border (a surprisingly efficient US side had us through in 25 minutes) we saw an Amtrak train waiting.  Spud asked if that was his surprise which I thought was cute.  Colin ended up telling him about the zoo in Blaine and he was pretty excited.  The drive was fairly uneventful.  After getting all hopped up on sprinkles Spud crashed for over an hour!  When we got to the zoo he looked at us and said, “See?  I told you it didn’t take long to get here.”  
  • Walking around a zoo for 4 hours (and carrying a toddler for parts of that) was probably not the best idea when there was a long run planned for the next day.
  • We rushed to Costco on the way home (6pm closing = not helpful) for cheese and butter and then went to Target.  It sucks to go into those places when the dollar is at par and not have enough to buy all the fun stuff.  That said, we got what we came for.  Cherry Coke for my sister-in-law (babysitting payment on Sunday) and Cherry Coke Zero for me.  I would have gotten the regular stuff, but the store only had one box of each.  Not sure how that happens in a store that big…
  • If you haven’t had a Five Guys burger you should.  Now, I don’t eat many burgers – it’s kind of a running joke with my family – but these were fabulous.  Unfortunately I try to avoid beef before a long run so, when Colin came back with my cheeseburger, I opened the foil wrapper, realized what I’d asked for, and burst into tears.  I hedged my bets and ate it anyways.  
  • Canada Border Services is so unhelpful.  I get that it takes awhile to ask everyone the standard “where are you from, where did you go, how long were you gone, what’s the value of your purchases…”  But it took us an hour to cross the border.  The distance from where we started to the window was 1/2 mile.  Yup, that’s a 74:32/km or 120:00/mile pace.  Thankfully Spud was asleep. 
Sunday:
  • Long run!  It was a beautiful day – sunny and cool.  Since I’d picked up my Zensah calf sleeves on Saturday I wore them with shorts.  I was surprisingly comfortable.
  • Our schedule called for 29km/18mi.  It was an out-and-back-ish route that was fairly familiar however, there was a little bit of trail at the turn around point that was rolly hills.  Thank goodness for hill training!  
  • The two friends I was keeping pace with were great company and we definitely had to lean on each other for this run.  Not only did we have to deal with hills, but none of us were totally loving the run.  It was hard physically (hello HUGE hill at 22km/14mi) and mentally (it was just a long way to run).  Upset stomachs (and other things) and one fall kind of rounded it out.  We were slower than usual, but got it done.
  • I still need to work on fueling.  The gels were fine, but I was super hungry by the end.  I’ve been using dates and my friend uses arrowroot cookies so I think I’ll stock up on those before next week.
  • Running for 4 hours really takes a chunk out of your day.  By the time we finished, went home and had showers and got back to Spud it was almost 2pm.  Thank goodness that we were staying at Colin’s brother’s place for dinner.  It was great to be able to just sit and visit.
Monday Musings:
  • Call it superstitious, anal-retentive, OCD, crazy or just a weird quirk of runners, but I could not just leave my watch at the final distance.  Since I hit 29km a couple blocks from the store I kept running.  When I hit the last traffic light my watch said I was at 29-1/2ish km.  Did I stop there?  Of course not! I ran in circles like an idiot until my watch hit 30km.  I didn’t need to go an extra kilometre.  But I wanted my watch to hit that one last lap.  I know I’m not the only one out there (Colin did it too…) – what would you call this behavior?  

Posted by  |  March 7, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 6 Comments

What To Do On A Boring Friday Night…

Colin’s out working for a friend (yay extra money!) and Spud’s in bed.  TV has a craptastic selection and Netflix in Canada is great if you are a kid or you’re up for a slightly lame older movie.  So what’s a girl to do when it’s far too early for bed?

Apparently explore this:

It’s amazing what random crap blogs come up!  I get all sorts and I’m not sure how it’s decided by Blogger.  It doesn’t distinguish between active blogs and ones that were abandoned over a year ago.  I understand the ones that have some sort of fitness theme, be it running or multisport.  However, I don’t get why it got stuck going between 3 woodworking blogs…

I can’t possibly be the only person who has been bored enough to click that link.  So what weird blogs does yours connect to?

Posted by  |  March 5, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Three Things Thursday

1.  I finally get to go down to the states on Saturday and pick up a few things that I won/got for review.  I have to pay about $30 to ransom them from the mailbox service, but since I didn’t pay anything in the first place that’s okay.  I’ll post next week about my loot!  This will also serve as a cherry coke run.  The powers-that-be in Canada didn’t think enough of us like it up here so I have to cross a border to get my fix.  I may be convinced by Colin to buy the cherry coke zero, but I really seem to like my HFCS.

2.  Darren, if you’re reading this please skip this point.  I’m actually enjoying hill training.  They suck and make me hurt (sore abs last night), but I feel so much better for doing them.  Yesterday we did intervals rather than repeats and it was great to mix it up a little.  The schedule said 7 x 600m repeats, but instead we ran 1min/walked 2 min for +/- 4km.  I ended up doing about 10 repeats.  It helped that I had my iPod with me and listened to My Chemical Romance the whole time.  Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) is extremely catchy.  Thankfully the weather was perfect.  The downhill hurt the back of my leg/ankle a little, but I think it was from my shoe hitting it when I was trying to slow myself down.  

3.  I am so thankful for family and friends who are willing to support our running.  I know that marathon training takes a lot personally, but when you have kids it’s just that little bit harder.  Since Colin and I both train for the same events it’s necessary for us to farm Spud out every Sunday.  We are extremely blessed to have people who will watch him for ridiculous amounts of time.  You know who you are and you are greatly appreciated!

Posted by  |  March 4, 2011 | Categories: clinic, family, hills, long run | 5 Comments

February By The Sub-Par Numbers

I blame it on the short month.*  I finally took a good look at my printed schedule and was kind of shocked to see all the red x’s marking the work-outs that I didn’t do.  I’ve had bad weeks before during training, but I think this is the first time I’ve had a bad month.  I will be very happy when Daylight Savings Time starts so that there’s more light!  

Total Kilometres/Miles: 144.96/90.07


Long Runs: 4 (every Sunday; lengths ranging from 14.5km to 26km)

Runs Missed: 7 (3 of those I consider optional runs, but the other 4 really should have gotten done.  Ugh.)

Core/Strength/Stretch Planned/Completed: 16/5 (31% – geez that’s horrible!  Guess what I’m focusing on this month?)

Push Ups: 230 real.  Proud of myself, but at the same time should have been 568 (see above).

Time Spent Running: 17.35 hours.

Here’s why March is going to be so much better:  

  • I finally figured out how to get to group run on Wednesday nights which means that I’ll be getting all of my hill training and speed work in this time around.  
  • I need to get back up to 4 days/week so that I’ll have a remote chance at making my mileage goal for the year.
  • My birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day!  And I get to celebrate it with a 10km run since it’s clinic night. ☺
  • I don’t want to have a post like this at the end of next month… 60 days until marathon #2 so I’d better get my butt in gear.

*I know full well that I had an off month.  Probably best to admit that it was laziness brought on by a lack of desire to go out in the rain, dark, or with Spud.  Apparently I can talk myself out of ANYTHING!

Posted by  |  March 1, 2011 | Categories: monthly stats | 5 Comments

ABCs Of Me

(A) Age: I’ll be 31 on St. Patrick’s Day.
(B) Bed Size: Queen.  King would be lovely, but we bought fancy grown-up furniture so we can’t up size.
(C) Chore You Hate: Any and all.  I’m a pathetically useless housewife.
(D) Dogs? None, but if we lived somewhere with a yard we would most likely have a lab.
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Tea.  Specifically English Breakfast.
(F) Favourite Color: Blue.
(G) Gold or Silver? I like the look of silver, but it gives me a rash.  Platinum is too expensive so all of my jewelry is white gold.
(H) Height: 5ft 6-1/2in (I don’t actually know if that 1/2″ is legit, but I’ll claim it).
(I) Instruments You Play: None.  Took piano and flute lessons in school and could play the recorder with my nose (probably still can). 
(J) Job Title: Mum.  Also part-time shipper receiver, but I seriously only stick around there for the discount.
(K) Kids: One 3-1/2 year old.
(L) Live: Vancouver-ish, British Columbia, Canada.  
(M) Mom’s Name: Mum.  Or Shirley, but I have no reason to call her that.
(N) Nicknames: Like I’m giving you that ammunition.
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? Yes.  4 nights when Spud was born.  They didn’t kick us out because he had jaundice.
(P) Pet Peeve: Phrases like “my bad.”
(Q) Quote from a Movie: Most of the movies I watch now are for kids so I’ll go with Spud’s favourite of the moment: “No tires, just gas” – Lightning McQueen.  He says it as he runs around the house.
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right.
(S) Siblings: One older brother.
(T) Time You Wake Up? Whenever the short tyrant does.  A few nights ago that was at 3:30am.
(U) Underwear: Yes.  Usually comfortable, but known to wear uncomfortable ones if I’m dressing up – VPL and all that…
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Artichokes, avocado (like only in sushi), zucchini.  Probably more, but can’t think of them… oh wait, eggplant.
(W) What Makes You Run Late: Genetics and Spud.
(X) X-Rays You’ve Had Done: Dental.  Regular check ups and when I had my wisdom teeth removed. 
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Mac and cheese from scratch, apple crisp, banana bread, snails.
(Z) Zoo, Favourite Animal: Any baby animal or the cute ones like chinchillas, koalas and polar bears.

Posted by  |  February 24, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Haven’t Posted In A While

Good things have happened, but it’s the bad things that make them seem inconsequential.  There was a horrific hit-and-run by my house on Friday night and all I knew about it was that it rerouted traffic while I was trying to get to work on Saturday morning.    I watched the news Saturday night and found out two women were killed when they were side-swiped by an intoxicated driver (one was trying to assist the passenger in the car).  On Sunday I found out that the Good Samaritan was an acquaintance of mine.  She taught my boot camp class last spring and I was facebook friends with her.  We were not at all close, but it really made the accident more real to me.  She was my age (30), had a husband and 4 kids, and was just a beautiful person.  I’ve been questioning a lot of things right now and posting just hasn’t been at the top of my list.

Posted by  |  February 22, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Book Review – Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Source

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand is a biography of Louis Silvie Zamperini.  Although it was featured in the January 2011 issue of Runner’s World it is not a book about running.  It is, however, a book about a phenomenal runner.  Unless you are an avid reader of running history it’s likely you’ve never even heard of him.  

Louis Zamperini was born in 1917.  Hillenbrand’s book starts with his childhood move to Torrence, California and his struggles to fit in.  It wasn’t until he was almost held back in school that he discovered track and field.  He was able to turn his life around and became a star athlete in the 1930s.  Zamperini held the NCAA Mile record for 15 years.  He ran a mile in 4:08.3 (no runner had yet broken a 4-minute mile) and that was despite being spiked in the shins.  Zamperini also competed for the United States in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

At this point in the book most of the talk about running stops.  Mainly because Zamperini signed up to fight in World War II.  For much of the remainder of her book Hillenbrand delves into Zamperini’s wartime life.  After signing up to fight Zamperini was trained as a bombardier in a B-24 Liberator.  He was stationed in Hawaii and flew missions over Nauru and Wake Atoll in the Pacific during the Allied conflict with Japan.

In 1943 the plane Zamperini was flying in crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a search and rescue mission for another downed plane.  The only survivors were Zamperini, pilot Russell Alan “Phil” Phillips, and tail gunner Francis “Mac” McNamara.  They spent 47 days at sea although Mac died before they reached land.  Despite surviving shark attacks, rough seas, dehydration, and starvation they did not find themselves in the best of circumstances.  They were apprehended by the Japanese.  The men were treated well for a few days, but then sent on to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands which had been nicknamed Execution Island by the US Forces.  Zamperini found himself a prisoner of war (POW) although he was never identified as such by the Japanese.  

After Kwajalein he was moved to Ofuna, a secret interrogation centre, where he was physically and emotionally abused and starvation was commonplace.  Between 1943 and 1945 Zamperini was also located at Omori and Naoetsu POW camps.   At these last two camps he was tormented by an officer he called The Bird (Mutsuhiro Watanabe).  It’s hard to describe here what Zamperini went through.  Hillenbrand goes into fairly particular detail of the torture he experienced.  If you haven’t read a lot of historical non-fiction it can be a hard part to get through.

In 1945 Zamperini was liberated at war’s end.  However, coming back to the United States was not an easy transition.  He turned to alcohol to numb his pain and suffered flashbacks and nightmares in which The Bird haunted him.  Zamperini’s life was changed when his wife took him to see Christian evangelist Billy Graham.  He remembered that when he was lost at sea that he had made promises that if he was spared he would devote his life to God.  Zamperini became a Christian speaker.  Post-conversion he worked with what would now be termed “at-risk” youth.  He still received accolades for his survival and ran the Olympic torch both in Los Angeles in 1984 and Nagano, Japan in 1998.  There he ran past the site of his last POW camp.  Although Zamperini was able to meet and forgive his ex-captors he was never able to do the same with The Bird.  There had been the possibility of contact, but they would not meet before Watanabe’s death.  Zamperini is now 94 years old.

I really enjoyed this book – it’s so much more than my very brief review.  I need to be upfront and say that I have a History degree so this is my kind of book.  It’s a biography and historical non-fiction.  In fact in the cataloging of the book “long-distance runners” is the last one listed.  I found it pretty easy to read and, even though it has a lot of facts (I’m nerdy and read the acknowledgements and footnotes too), it isn’t boring.  It’s a little hard to get through at points, but that is because it was.  You can’t really, nor should you, sugar-coat war.  

I guess my conclusions would be: read this book if you like history or biographies.  Don’t read this book if you are expecting much about running.  For that you can find the excerpt at Runner’s World.  

Posted by  |  February 19, 2011 | Categories: Book Review | 2 Comments

CSN Stores Contest Winner

The magical and all-knowing wizard in the computer at random.org picked #22 – Danielle and Scott – as the winner of the $35 gift certificate to CSN Stores!  Congratulations!  Thanks to everyone who entered. ☺

Posted by  |  February 17, 2011 | Categories: CSNStores, winner | Leave a comment