YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A BEST FRIEND WHEN...

...she supports you and attends all of your races
...she is willing to dog-sit your pooch for 4 days when you're away racing with your BF
...when you broke up with that BF, she decides to come to the race and dog-sit your pooch while cheering you!
...you can call anytime of day to talk, cry and bitch about that ex
...you feel understood even when you're not speaking......

Thanks Flashy, you're the Best!!!

I love you =)

BIG DECISION

Now, that I have so much free time on my hands, I've decided to register for the Forest City Marathon in May. I think this will be the best way to focus my energy while going through this break-up. All these emotions can keep going towards something positive like running =) YAY! I am very excited to run another marathon!

IMPROMPTU TRIP TO MONTREAL...

When my brother offered me to pay part of my train ticket to Montreal and spend some time with my family there, I couldn't refuse... I thought it would cheer me up a little considering the circumstances. I decided on Wednesday morning to leave and I was gone with the first train on Thursday. I thought this would be a good time to reflect on "things"... not sure if there is still anything to reflect on but the running has been good. I missed speedwork on Wednesday but I ran Thursday (3 mi.), Friday (4 mi pace) and Saturday (9 mi.). I'm overall very happy with my runs as I braved the -30 oC cold to do them. I wasn't expecting the chaffing from my neck warmer so I'm stuck with this red patch on my neck... looks like I've been beaten up! Oh well, that will be gone very soon anyway.

Happy Running everyone

RUNNING AND HEARTACHE...

8 mile to think about a relationship that might be broken is not that long. I think I would have needed another 8 mile to get some answers and see clear in this. Well, 1h27 later, I was home, wet and cold and still unsure what to do with my problem. Thanks for reading.

GETTING BACK INTO THE GROOVE!

I am back full force now! Speedwork on Wednesday, 40 mins at 9:40 min/mile. A nice 3 miler at recovery pace on Thursday, a well deserve break on Friday and another 3 miler on today but at pace (9:57 min/mile). We went to the Detroit Auto Show today and saw some nice cars, I guess I don't have much to say, but I finally signed on for the Chilly Half-marathon I've been training for since before Christmas. So, it's offficial now =)

Have a good running week-end all!

SLOWLY GOING UP THE HILL....

The bad thing is that I still have some remains of cough and chest congestion but the good thing is that I feel better enough to resume my training schedule (I'm at week 6 now). I missed 4 runs out of 5 last week which is not the end of the world but enough to worry me about improvement on my half-marathon time. The problem that I'm having right now is to do my easy and long runs slower. I'm always running at 10 min/mile except for the speedwork where I push to 9 min/mile..... I thought I'd figured out which were my optimal speed but now I'm not sure if this is right since I can do my long runs at 10 min/mile....

Speedwork = 9:00 min/mile

Tempo Runs = 9:30-9:40 min/mile

Pace Runs = 10 min/mile

Easy Runs = 11 min/mile

Long runs = 12 min/mile

I guess I'm that type of runner who just goes out there and run, trying to run at a certain pace appears to be really hard for me! I might be challenge!! =) Tomorrow is a 40 mins tempo run and I hope the weather will be as beautiful as it was today (even thought it was -11oC with windchill!).

Happy Running everyone it feels so good to be back at this!!

SICK LIKE A DOG....

There has been no running for me since Tuesday's 4 miler. I caught a cold, a very nasty one, I don't sleep well, cough and blow my nose every 2 minutes. Not a pretty sight.... I'm getting worried about miss my week-end's long run so hopefully I'll be up on my feet for Sunday. This is quite a nasty cold, stay warm and I hope you won't get sick!

Happy running to those who can!!

HARD TO RUN 5 DAYS STRAIGHT....

My legs are tired, they can't keep up... I ran 3 miles Saturday and Monday, 7 miles on Sunday and 3.5 miles on Tuesday. So today I was attempting run number 5 in 5 days and my legs didn't want to do it. I ended up cutting short on the speedwork, I ran only 4X 500m at 5K speed instead of 7 times. I ran 15 mins before so I think I gave a good effort so I'm not disappointed in myself !! I will only have to run 3 mile on Saturday with a 3 days break. This break will be great and just in time to give a tour of Montreal to my newfie =)

I went to see the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre yesterday and took the time to give a big hug to Youppi. For those of you who do not know him, he's the only mascot in the world to have represented 2 sports teams in major-national leagues. He was the old Expos's mascot and when they moved the team to the States poor old Youppi was jobless so they recycled him as the Montreal Canadiens mascot. They gave him a new red hairdo and he was ready to be a Montreal supporter! =)

I'll be away for a few days so I hope everyone has some good running time!

BONNE ANNÉE -HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope all of you, my fellow runners, will have an awesome year in running and in everything in between (a.k.a as life!). In late 2005, I turned 25 years old on the 25th of October and everyone told me this was going to be my "lucky year". I wasn't totally convinced it would be but it was indeed, a great year. Since I spent most of this lucky year in 2006, I consider 2006 my lucky year! I worked really hard on myself to change my life, become a happy person and achieve things I had never dreamed of before..... in no particular order:

I lost 60 lbs

I ran a marathon

I ran a half-marathon, a 10K, a 8K and two 5K races

I made peace with myself

I am now a positive and happy person (most of the time!)

I found love =)

I hope you also had a great year and have some great things to look back on. I'm so happy I found the support of a great running family on blogger. Cheers to another great running year! (I think I used the word "great" a little too much in this last paragraph!)

TGIF AND THERE IS NO RUNNING!

Although I am on vacation in Montreal, I have been running steadily 5 days a week since getting here. I don't know if it's the mix of parties and getting up "early" (9AM) to run but I feel really tired all the time!

Tuesday I ran 3.5 miler in the heavy snow, I used my new rubber spiky thing to put underneat my shoes (called Get-A-Grip Advanced from Sure Foot), those have great traction and it seemed like I wasn't running in snow.

Wednesday I did some speed work on the treadmill: 5 times 500 m at 9 min/mile (with 10 mins before and after easy run).

Thursday I ran 3 mile outside with a great sun in 29:50.

Saturday will be another 3 miler and Sunday I'll run 7 mile. The schedule says to run a 5K race this week-end but the Montreal Resolution Run was already full so I couldn't get in... bummer! I'm going to have to do a lot of running until Thursday because I won't do any for 4 days when my newfie/boyfriend is coming to visit.

Happy running everyone!! =)

JOYEUX NOËL / MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! =) I hope you will all celebrate with your families tonight and tomorrow. It's difficult to believe it's Christmas eve with that temperature, 6 oC without snow! Me and my dad decided to play a little prank on my boyfriend who has never been to Montreal and make him believe that we were ready to go for a swim.... hence the picture!! And we were not even cold! =)

This weather feels like we are in the spring!! I'm not complaining because this is great weather to run in! Although it did start only today, yesterday I did 3 miles in the ice rain and ice grounds and today was beautiful like that for my 6 miler. I finished in 1:00:03 must have been my fastest time so far. I've read that the "off season" as they call it should be a time to run slower but I don't feel like I'm pushing myself hard when I run... not sure if I should try and slow down, any opinions from other experienced runners?

I'll leave you on this and I hope you will all have a great time with your families! Joyeux Noël and don't indulge in food and wine too much!! =)

GOING BACK TO MONTREAL TOMORROW!!

I'm finally on vacation!! YAY! I'm leaving with the 6 AM train tomorrow back to nice Old Montreal. I'm excited to see the family and my niece again, she must have changed so much since the last time I saw her in early November!!

I didn't have any time to run today but will definitely do some speed work tomorrow on the dreadmill at my parents'.

I felt so special when I read on Kristi's blog that she tagged me!!! The Good Doctor (a blog that I often read without leaving any comments!!) started this game which consist of going to the closest book and typing the title and author here. Then to turn to page 123 and find the fifth sentence on that page and to let you know the next three sentences...

So here we go, you guys are lucky this is a French book!!

Title: Carnets de Naufrage, Author: Guillaume Vigneault
Quote: Je suis passé au frigo me préparer une sorte de repas, comme je le fais toujours en rentrant du boulot. Du fromage, du jambon, un oeuf dur, un reste de saucisson, et un concombre pour me donner une bonne consistence. Avec une bière, pour les bulles.

Then we have to tag three more people. So I've chosen, Amanda (who hasn't blog in too long!!), Yumke and Liv (who Looooves these chain things!! :P).

Last week before Christmas!! Happy running everyone! =)

FUEL YOUR BODY WITH WINE...

And you'll have a crappy run! I had a couple of wine glasses yesterday and decided to get up early and go for a run....

1- I felt dehydrated to start with
2- Ipod had no batteries (seem the problem is bigger now...)
3- It's freakin' cold

I have no clue how you music-less runners do it, that wasn't the most pleasant run for me, I missed Madonna! Oh well, hopefully I can fix the Ipod and my problems will be solve!

Have a good running week.

I AM FREE!!!!!

I just successfully passed my doctoral qualifying exam today and I'm officially a Ph.D. Candidate!!!! YAY! I haven't run for the past week but that's part of the deal when you're studying so hard! So GLAD it's over and I am not looking back! I will be putting on those running shoes tomorrow and starting at week 2 (yes I missed the first week...) of Hal Higdon's Half-marathon training schedule. Can't wait to run again!!!

Happy Running all!!! =)

FIRST DOUBLE DIGIT RUN SINCE THE MARATHON!!

I haven't been posting much lately because my 2 runs a week are not that exciting! I was trying to get back at long runs on the week-ends since the marathon (Oct 15!!) and always backed-out at Mile 7... For some reason I thought I was out of shape and lost all my fitness... but on a 6h night of sleep with an outside temperature of -2 oC and a wind from HELL (30 km/h). I decided to suck it up and stop trying to find excuses and go for a 10 mile run.

First 5 miles were a breeze, wind was at my back (52:52) but when I switched directions it was painful... let's say I didn't stay near the water for long where the wind was blowing directly in my face. I finished the remaining 5 miles in a less scenic place but buildings are a great shield against nasty wind (55:47)!! I'm overall very satisfied with this run, nothing hurt (knee or legs) and it felt great to be back there for so long. An improvement of 8 mins since my last 10m in training this past summer (1h55).

After reading all about people putting up their Christmas tree, I finally put mine up, I believe Rocky really enjoys the colorful lights (fiber optic one!) That also answers Marty'S question about the size of the pooch... small!!


Now, I really gotta get back at this studying business..... Happy Running everybody! =)

BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!! =)

The sun is shinning, the temperature is mild (10 oC) we can't really ask for more at this time of year!! I went for a 6.5 mile run yesterday at 10:54 min/mile and it was just awesome! =) I ran 1 mile by myself before meeting my now weekly running buddy (aka My newfie) at the beginning of the trail for a 5 mile run. He has made some fantastic improvement in the small amount of time he started running.... (read little jealous!) He hadn't run in years and the first time we meet up for our run, he managed to run continously for 2.5 miles! And now he can run 5 miles without stopping! And I'm not slowing down from him, he can keep up with me no problem! He's already a speed racer, I'm sure his Y chromosome has something to do with it..... After our 5 miles, we separated and I ran an additional half mile... It was already dark when I finished at 5:30 PM!!! I had to walk the pooch.... in the dark, this is the only part of this that really sucks!! Here is a picture of my little Rocky, the first man in my life obviously... =)

Happy American Thanksgiving and happy runing!!

GARMIN IS ACTING FUNNY!!! NOOOOOOOO!

I was/am suppose to study all day for my comprehensive exam on December 18th.... obviously procrastinating. So the apartment is clean as it can be, dishes are done, clothes are washed and I went for a 1h15 long run! I did 7 miles, even though Garmin is telling me it's only 6.55 miles!! I hit the 10K (6.1m) at 1h05 which I thought was pretty good, ran 5 minute more and Garmin tells me I'm at 6.01 mile! WTF! Garmin cannot be broken because that will break my heart!!! I'm praying for a dislexy or hiccup moment... hopefully she'll be back on track next week!! I think that she's still under warranty anyway but I don't want to send her away!! ;-P

On another note, I will keep going to my spinning classes... last Thursday I was so sure I was going to quit, telling everybody that it would be my last spinning class and it turned out to be the best workout so far. I guess the prof sense I was going to quit and gave her 110%... or I'm just not a quitter... you make your own opinion!

Happy Running all!!! =)

p-s Marty I've been trying to get to your blog all week and the page is always blank... not sure what's up with that! I hope the marathon went well!!!!

ALREADY 1 MONTH AFTER!

A month ago, I was feeling on top of the world with the end of months of training and the finish of my first marathon! I can say now that this feeling is gone and that I've use the excuse of just having run a marathon to indulge with food and wine a little too much! I'm now 5 lbs heavier and in desperate need to get back into running seriously! That's why I picked a race, the Chilly Half-Marathon (Burlington, ON) in March. Amanda and my newfie will run this race too, company is always fun! Although the guru Hal says I could start my training the week of December 18th.... I will start now! I need some sort of schedule to follow, a structured training. I HATE, HATE with a capital H my spinning classes... looking at my watch every 5 mins so even though I paid 75$ for these (ggrrr) I'm not sure I will go anymore!! Ok, enough ramblings!

Happy running week everybody! =)

BLOGGER BREAK!

A conference in Montreal and the visit of my new niece (Alice) in Ste-Luce-Sur-Mer kept me away from the blogger world for this past week!! But I got 3 runs in, 3 miles each time... I find it hard to get back at it! I think I'm enjoying this break from running and it makes me appreciate more when I am actually going for a small run and clear my mind.

WHO RUNS TO A HALLOWEEN PARTY??!!

ME! I decided to dress up as a marathoner (I know, I know REALLY original!) but useful as I ran from my house to the party! It was only 3/4 of a mile away but it was my first nightly run and I really liked it! It also put me in character! =) There was even one person asking me if I ran a marathon before coming to the party... :S seriously, I'm not joking!! Obviously, this person has no idea what a marathon is all about.

I went for a 3 miler on Sunday with my first ever running buddy, My Newfie!! It was really nice, way more demanding to run and speak at the same time! I liked it a lot and hopefully this can become a weekly habit!! =)

Have a good running week people!

p-s for those of you who were wondering... I'm still in a non-commitment mood so I haven't decided about a next race!