Mom On The Run

I’m only two days post race and sore as hell so I must be completely and totally mentally unstable because I just registered for yet another 10K.  Yes – this turkey is going to trot in the Turkey Trot 10K in Burlington on October 25th, 2009.  This time I don’t need sponsors – just fans ? ‘cause I’m going to try and break that personal record I set 6 yrs ago.  (Yanno – the one I set when I was a young spunky thing with no kids and all the time in the world to train).  I want to prove that this mom of two still has what it takes.  I’ve also looked into the history of this race, and if I set a new PR I may also finish top 3 in my age group!  I never realized before that with a little speed work and dilligent trianing that I could be the top in my age group.  But that finishing time from 6 yrs ago was pretty competitive and I know I can do it again.

From my research I’ve found that the 30-34 age group is slower than both the 25-29 and the 35-39 age groups because all of the fast racers are probably off having babies and trying to get back in shape.  I’ve got about 9 months left in this age group, so I’ve decided to take advantage of the slower times.  I’m going to work my butt off (figuratively and literally) by following a training plan, doing speed work and strengthening my core.  I’ve come up with a plan that includes 1 long slow run, 2 medium distance fast paced runs, 1 speedwork day of fast 400’s, a strength training day with my personal trainer and 2 rest days.  I hope to also lose a few pounds while following this plan ‘cause I haven’t really seen much progress in that department (though my mom might disagree ‘cause she told me a few weeks ago that I looked slimmer).

It was really fun to “race” on Saturday – I really had the time of my life speeding past everyone and trying to keep pace with some of the younger people.  (Gawd – I sound old!).  I really have no desire to return to ½ and full marathons anymore.  I just don’t have the desire to spend that much training – I can’t stand to spend that much time apart from my family, and I doubt they have the patience to wait at home for me to do the 3-4 hour long training runs I did on Sunday mornings “back in the day”.  That said, I may do one ½ every spring, yanno just to keep up my endurance ?  and for now this turkey is going to concentrate on the Turkey Trot.  Wish me luck!

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This Turkey is Going to Trot

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This is going to be short because I’m utterly and completely exhausted from having far too much fun this weekend (not that I’m complaining).  Amongst all the stuff I did this weekend (girls night out, kids haircuts, visiting friends, going to Peachfest, having a friend visit…) I did remember to show up for the Underwear Affair and run.

And run I did – I ran my little heart out… and set a new personal best – I think… it’s been so long since I ran a race that I can’t even remember what my PB for 10K is.  Ummmm… OK, I just checked the wonderful internet and found that I ran 5 minutes faster 6 years ago in the Nike RUNTO – but that was well before kids. I think have to start a new list of post-kids PB’s – that’s only fair right?  And also, since I’m being honest, the Nike RUNTO was in 2003 and it was a few weeks after doing an Olympic Distance Tri, and also the same year I did two marathons, a 30K race, and a sprint triathlon (when I was in the best shape of my entire adult life) – so blah!  I’m definitely going to have to start a whole new list of PR’s. (Here’s a link to my old racing records)

Anyways I went out fast: 5:20/km (my training pace averaged 5:45/km) and somehow I managed to keep close to the 5:20 pace I started out at for the whole race.  Maybe it was because I had such awesome fans cheering me on:

(Their signs say “Go Mommy Go” and were made as a surprise for me while I was out Friday night for Girl’s Night Out).

Since I maintained the same pace pretty steadily for the whole race, there isn’t much to tell.  The weather was beautiful, the eye candy was amazing, and I felt great throughout the race (and the only 5 fans on the whole race route were amazing!).  I finished in 57:50.   Two minutes faster than my goal, yet five minutes slower than my PB, but like I said – those old PB’s no longer count

Oh yeah – and I raised a whole lotta money for cancer – $560 to be exact!  The race itself raised $780,000!  So that’s awesome too!  (Thank you to everyone who sponsored me – you guys are the true heros!)

I’m not going to post the pics of me running in my underwear ’cause I promised sponsors that those pics are just for them and I’ll be sending out a big thank you tomorrow to them with pics my hubby took, and hopefully more from the race photographers (though if you’re a friend on facebook you can find one pic there).  If you want to see the pics, then you have until the end of September to sponsor me (hint), after that the race organizers will take the site down in preparation for next year’s race.

Thank you everyone for all of your support, sponsorship and kind words!  I can’t thank you enough – You’re the best!

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The Underwear Affair Race Report

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HOLY CRAP!  WE SURVIVED AN EFFING TORNADO!

Last week Thursday I drove home in a torrential downpour.  (I’m getting rather good at driving in downpours because it’s been doing that a lot this summer).  Because of the rain, the kids and I decided we’d rather pick up some McDonald’s from the drive-through, instead of braving the rain to go in and out of the car at the grocery store to buy food to cook.  When we pick up McDonald’s we either:

A)    have a picnic outside at a park
B)    have a picnic in our backyard
C)    have a picnic in the basement.

Because it was pouring, we opted for choice C) have a picnic in the basement.  While we were down in the basement, we could hear the thunder booming and the storm knocked out our satellite and briefly knocked out our power.  Sierra then needed to go potty and went upstairs to go.  While up there she started screaming because of the wind she saw outside.  I rushed up to see what had gotten her knickers all in a knot (it doesn’t take much with her so I never know if she’s crying wolf or not).  Holy Smokes!  I’ve never seen anything like it and I didn’t have to look long to KNOW what I was seeing.  The sky was a god-awful green, the 30 yr old trees were almost bent in half from the wind, and I could hear a horrific howl.  I snatched Sierra up, rushed her back down to the basement and screamed at the dog to come down (which she excitedly did because we had food down there).  I then shut the door behind us.

I was scared, Sierra was scared and the dog and two year old were both oblivious to everything.  In fact my two year old’s biggest concern was her iPod (she thinks my iPod Touch is HER iPod) and the dog was enthusiastically trying to steal the kids’ French Fries.  I called Hubby and my mom to let them know we were safe in the basement in case there were reports about a Tornado in our Town.  Neither one of them seemed the least bit concerned.

I then set up the video “Surf’s Up” on my laptop and consoled Sierra until the storm was over (which was about 25 minutes later).

According to the newspaper I read this morning, an F1 class Tornado touched down less than a KM from our house that night and did extensive damage to several homes and businesses.

Yes – The girls and I can now add Tornado survivor to our list of accomplishments.

Below are images from the Tornado that I found – the majority of these pics were taken just less than a KM from our house:

* There isn’t enough parking at my work so the lowly pylons (like me) have to park at an external lot and get bussed to our building.  If I could get my ass in gear and leave the house at 7 am I could park in the small lot at work AND leave work early AND avoid the traffic.  I’ve been trying for 3 months to do that but have only managed to do it once, so the next time you see me on Twitter at 11 pm kick my ass and make me go to bed ‘cause taking the shuttle really freaking sucks.  THANKS!

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We Survived a Tornado

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…Is the taper week!

I’ve been training very hard for Saturday’s 10K Underwear Affair race over the past 3 months and I’m now in that oh-so-good taper phase.  The phase where you’ve built up a lot of strength, speed and endurance, cranking out a long run takes very minimal effort, and taking a day off of running seems sacrilegious because running seems like a religion – something I do every lunch hour.  But alas, I’m taking Thursday and Friday off to “rest” my legs for my BIG race and I’m going to enjoy it!

Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m almost over-training.  My whole body is in pain with delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), I’m sluggish and tired.  My pace isn’t reflecting how I feel though – In January when I returned to running my pace was averaging around 6:45/km and now I’m closer to 5:40/km.  At my current pace I can finish this race in less than an hour!!

Yes – for most people Saturday’s race will be a fun run, but for me it’s more than that.  It’s my grand return to running!  I’ve only run one 5K since having kids – it was the Frosty 5K when Sierra was 9 months old.  I pushed her in the jogging stroller, then had to nurse her when the race was finished I used to run A LOT – I’ve finished 8 half marathons, 2 full marathons and a whole pile of shorter races including the longest running road race in North America – the Around The Bay 30K.  I fell like I’m finally a runner again! And I absolutely can’t wait to run this ‘cause I’ve done the training and I may be able to set a new PR! (Wouldn’t that be cool?)

Anyways – I’m off now to do the second best thing about racing now … Carbo loading!  Wish me luck in the race Saturday!
(Oh and if you want pictures then you’ll have to sponsor me *wink*).

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This is what I`ll be wearing to run the 10K Underwear Affair race in on Saturday Night.  Want to see the pics?  Then sponsor me – the money is for cancers below the waist such as: cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer and bowel cancer and I’ll only be sharing pics with my sponsors.

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Have you considered how much your morning latte is costing you? How much is your lunch costing you? How much does it cost you to feed the pig?

Well now you can calculate how much over-spending is costing your wallet with this website: http://www.feedthepig.org

Me?  I’m cheap… Cheap, cheap, cheap.  The birds sing songs about me!

• I MAKE my coffee every morning with my Tassimo – mmmmm I LOVE my Tassimo! (Dear Tassimo please give me a machine to giveaway to one of my dear readers so one of them can enjoy it too!)
• I bring toast to work and eat it at my desk (occasionally I bring jam with me to put on it)
• I contribute $5/week to the “Coffee Group” to drink copious amounts of coffee throughout the morning from the work coffee maker
• I bring a Lean Cuisine and a diet coke for lunch
• In the afternoon I drink tap water from a reusable water bottle.

But I’m not completely perfect… I do buy one lunch/week (usually Friday) and often get take-out ALL weekend long!  According to Feed The Pig this costs me $400 per month (probably more).  Ouch!

I love Feed The Pig!  I love the money saving tips that you can have sent to your email, cell phone, facebook, igoogle etc! Check it out and find out how much does it cost you to feed the pig?

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