TIME FLIES.... AND I CAN'T KEEP UP...

It's been 1 month + since I've checked in here. I feel like I can't keep up reading what others have to say anymore so I feel bad just posting and not replying to my blogger friends.

I've been cycling commuting for 2 months now, only missing a few days and I'm totally loving it! I'm doing 100-125 miles a week. The days I had to take the bus/subway were horrendous and I don't know what I will do come the fall when it gets cold... snowy and they close the cycling path. I'll probably be heading into a depression ;-)

I've lost 22 lbs and I feel great (only 15 to be back in marathon shape!). I remain pain free when running, I still have to pinch myself once in a while... It's so hard to believe!! I am not going crazy and will only run half-marathons in the fall and keep on with the stretching, icing and cross training. I'm up to 8 miles LSD and having a big grin in my face the whole time =)

Training for Niagara half starts at the beginning of August. In the meantime, I'm running a 5K race tomorrow to celebrate father's day with my Dad. Next week, I'm running 10K on the sea floor. And I've got one or two sprint triathlons in mind.

I had tae-box classes on Friday at lunchtime and I LOVE it. It's over for the summer but I've been thinking of registering somewhere since I loved it so much.

Hope you're all enjoying the summer, I'll try to be better ;-)

RECOVERY WEEK

I took Monday off and my legs weren't that sore, it was quite surprising =) Foot is feeling medium so I am going to take advantage of my job insurance (yippee!) and try a new physiotherapist for cold laser on my PF.

Tuesday: 1K lane swimming in 21 mins

Wednesday: 1h25 on the bike

30 mins easy

20 mins 30s out of saddle every 2 mins

20 mins 30s hard every 2 mins

10 mins 30s out of saddle every 2 mins

5 mins cool down

Thursday: 3 mile run, beautiful 15°C and sunny. I LOVE SPRING!!

Mile 1 @ 12:12 min/mile (with Dad until 0.62 mile)

Mile 2 @ 10:57 min/mile

Mile 3 @ 10:34 min/mile

Near 2.5 mile a little boy about 8 years old was trying (and succeeding) at out running me. He was doing 9:30 min/mile pace!!! I was getting quite annoyed.... I mean its one thing to outrun me but he was turning to see if I was still following and giving me a big smile while I was huffing and puffing.... great a kid can beat me LOL

On a positive note, my fall races are decided!!

I registered for this half yesterday, going to visit Laurel and Flyers26

And I'm waiting to register for this one since I'm hopeful I could fix the stupid foot and run the marathon on my birthday!!! Crossing the bridge plays a big role on my desire to run the full too... But if it's not meant to be than I'll be happy to run the half =)

I'm getting some minor surgery tomorrow so will have to take it easy over the week-end.

Happy running to those who can!

MY DAD'S FIRST RACE!!!!

All of you know that since I moved back home, I started a 5K program for my Dad and Aunt. Early in the training my Aunt started to have leg problems and had to quit but my Dad was committed and he was/is doing SO WELL.

We run together about 2 times a week and he goes once by himself and can now do 5K consistently. He averages 42-43 mins and is improving his time almost everytime he goes out. =) I'm definitely very proud of him for keeping at it. So to celebrate his achievement we're going to run the Oasis 5K at the Montreal Marathon on Sunday September 14.

He's pretty excited and already decided we have to wear the same colours shirt to match. My Mom and Aunt are going to come and cheer him on too! And what he wanted the most what to get a medal!

I just wanted to tell everyone how proud I am of my DAD =)

P-S I'm off to Quebec city tomorrow, finally decided to be reasonable and run the 10K... Well, my foot hurts a lot these days so the decision was rather easy. I will be racing this with a good friend of mine coming down from Halifax and we will be wearing 'costumes'.... I'll post pics when I come back!

THE DAY AFTER...

Thanks to everyone for their comments on my last post, I feel a lot better today, in a much better spirit about the fiasco race. I was pretty sore when I woke up this morning, surprisingly, not my legs at all but my upper body (shoulders and neck). As expected my foot was pretty sore but nothing that I can't handle. I didn't wrote it yesterday but it did bother me a little in the run part of the race....

I did nothing today and it was fine by me. =)

I am trying really bad to convince my Dad to do his first 5K race on Wednesday night!!! He's afraid it is going to be too hot but the weather says 20°C (and rain) but this can all change in a matter of split seconds. So, we're going to wait and see, and he told me that if it is nice out he'd love to do his racing debut there! YAY!

Moving on to preparing my revenge...

THE CURSE OF THE INJURED ATHLETE IS...

To not feel ready for any race that you enter... yeah it sucks real bad!! Tomorrow is going to be my first sprint triathlon, after taking care of lots of pain and ache this week, I really don't feel ready for this. I ran 5K with my Dad yesterday, it went well BUT my foot is really sore... at least my back seems to be back to normal but I don't think I'll be able to swim as fast as my first/last TRI. Oh well, it's all for fun, right?!

Have a good week-end everybody =)

RUNNING IN QUEBEC...

So, people on the cycling lanes are not too friendly with runners here. I almost died due to a motorcyclist who was in the bicycling lane!! Seriously?! Then, two bicycles passed me so close that Rocky got afraid and almost attacked them to protect me.

One thing that really surprised me is that other runners are not saying the casual "hello, morning, etc."... I smile and say "Bonjour" and receive nothing in return! I guess I'm used to my old Windsor running crew who are all pretty friendly to strangers... did I become a small town girl after living for 5 years in Windsor?! ....pondering.... ;-)

On other more exciting news! My next 2 races:

1-10th on the 10th: Cave People Unite (virtual race organized by the lovely Nancy). I will actually have to do 5K on Saturday and 5K on Sunday since I'm limited to this for another full week....

2-Cabot Trail Relay Race in Cape Breton (Nova Scotia). This is a 24h race with 17 legs that I will do with my "internet friends"! I was suppose to do leg 14 that starts at 3:30 AM (!) but since it is the longest leg of the race and that my foot is not up to do 20K right now, I had to bail. A team member switched legs with me, so I am now running leg 7 which is 13K but it starts at 5 PM. I was really looking forward to the nightime run, something that I would never do on my own... that'll be for another year I guess!

Leg 7 is described as:

"A rolling leg but the first 8 km climbs steadily 90m
and then falls quickly to finish 0.2 km past the Dingwall garage"

This will be lots of fun and I can't wait to go =)

Congratulations to Yumke who PB'ed at the Pig marathon (+0.25 mile!) and Jelly who ran with her sister for her first half! Great week-end guys!

WHAT ABOUT 3 RACES IN 3 WEEKS??

So, I'm leaving Windsor in 3 weeks and to celebrate this and the fact that my best friend has followed in my runner's steps (she likes to call it "Run it forward"), we decided to run as many races as possible until I leave! Now, what a plan, right?

We started with Around the Bay last week, 30K for me and 5K for her. Tomorrow, we will be running The Miracle 5K race together, I will go at her pace, its a challenging course with several hills so we're not expecting PBs there. Next week-end we're driving to London (ON) for the Run for Retina 10K where I will pace her in her first 10K race! How exciting to be there for my best friend on her debut at the 10K distance! =)

Last week's in Review:

Wednesday 3.1 miles @ 11:46 min/mile (still sore from ATB)

Thursday 4.1 miles @ 11:41 min/mile (PF hurt......)

My pictures from last week's race are pretty good. Here's one running alone and being super Orange!

The one below is my favorite! Jaime and I celebrating after crossing the finish line together!