Tag Archives: running

Recap: Oceanside 10K with andrew :)

“if it’s raining like this tomorrow, i’m not running” (it was pouring the night before) and “we’re going to be late so we may as well not go” lol from Andrew who was about to run his first race…and 10K!  and the best one: “I forgot my running shoes” <—WHAT!!!, thank goodness he’s the same shoe size as his dad!!!

Thomas, our eldest, paid for my race registration as my mother’s day gift and as you know, running was Andrew’s mother’s day gift to me…best gifts to give me! funny because Thomas is the runner and if he lived closer he would definitely have run with us!

the morning started out great with a hearty breakfast, a cup of coffee and Andrew’s nerves in a tizzy! of course he was nervous! he didn’t really run much lol. on the other hand…my knee was sore and my hip flexor was tight lol. great match we were!

…and we were late! I took the wrong turn and ended up somewhere rural…then I started to stress. I was so close to tears thinking we were going to miss the start. :(   nothing like arriving to check-in less than 10 minutes before race time, begging for our bibs and running UPHILL to the starting line! but we made it :) pinning Andrew’s bib on was like getting him ready for his first day of kindergarten ;) I was so happy and he was so nervous hahaha :D

:D

:D

immediately before the start!

       immediately before the start!

so I kept telling Andrew how slow I run…but he didn’t realize how slow until the start of the race and he looked at me and said “that slow huh?” I laughed and said go ahead for awhile…and I did not see him until the finish line!!! lol which did not bother me in the least by the way. I wanted him to experience the day for himself :)

I had a great run myself, my knee and hip behaved and I even took a couple of pics along the way,005 …called jeff to let him know Andrew would be arriving earlier than me so he wouldn’t miss him and made sure to thank all the volunteers for their time. in my rush to the race I left our water in the car so I was very grateful there was 2 water stations!

coming up to the water station...

      coming up to the water station…

as I approached the finish line all i was thinking about was that Andrew best be waiting to run out to great me and run across the finish line together! and he was. I was so excited to cross the line and hug him for his efforts and for sharing this with me. I was stunned that he did so well and can I say again how happy I was???!!! ;)

Andrew: 1:01 Denise: 1:07

Andrew: 1:01      Denise: 1:07

Andrew managed to do the first 5K in 24 minutes which I thought was quite remarkable for a non-runner! he had a great time and said that he hadn’t been told by so many people what a good job he was doing…the volunteers are so encouraging! ;)

what a great day…this was the first race where I had someone at the finish line. jeff was there as well as andrew’s girlfriend and her parents. they were there to cheer us on at the start and offer their congratulations and share in our happiness at the finish. I have an amazing short video of our finish too that I shared on FB.

I think Andrew really enjoyed himself. he experienced the runners high of completing an organized run and watching the awards ceremony afterward with inspiring men and women of all ages with incredible times right up to the age group of 85-90. :) 012

the best part? Andrew has agreed to do more races with me!

in health

denise

 

 

 

 

mother’s day 10K run…or how to get your son to run with you ;)

well mother’s day is my next race <—I feel foolish using the word ‘race’ considering how slow I am, but ‘organized run’ doesn’t have the same ring to it. :)  Now this race will be different…this time I will have company!!! my 20 year old son has agreed to run it with me for mother’s day but not without some badgering texts from yours truly…DSC04161

hey…ya gotta use the mom card when ya can, right??? I figured he would say no but I had to ask. then I get this…DSC04162

I was very excited when I read that! I mean, any race I enter it’s just me…alone…with no one even at the finish line… :(  so this was going to be FUN!!!

oh and I did not wait the day or two as promised…I did wait 30 minutes though ;) lol PicMonkey Collage1

Andrew’s not a runner and I run very slow so we’ll get along just fine. oh and he’s 6’4″ to my 5’4″ so even if he walks he could probably keep up with me! hahaha

I keep texting him asking if he’s running…ummm…not getting much response to that lol i’ll let you know next week how this all went down…and there will be pictures! ;o)

I on the other hand have been running just enough ;) 2, sometimes 3 times a week. I feel fine going into this run but I plan to up my mileage for the next 10K on June 2nd just to see how it’ll improve my time. ;)

do you run races solo?

have you ever cajoled someone to run with you? did it bomb? lol (i’m afraid!)

in health

denise

juicing for a full day? …yikes!

i was watching ‘fat, sick and nearly dead’ a documentary about joe cross and his 60 day juice fast last night, i turned to my husband and asked him if he was up for the challenge of a one day juice fast. he opted out…though he did drink every juice I made. i juice almost once a day anyway so how hard could this be…for one day that is, i was ready to find out!

i did what any other fast thinking facebook page admin would do when they come up with an idea…I posted this on my page:
“hey, guess what i’m going to do tomorrow…i’m going to do a one day juice fast…just to see if I can :) i will make 4 different juices throughout the day…could be interesting or scary :/”
lol, well that made it real! i immediately got positive responses and i set to planning out my menu.

***to be clear – i was not doing this for weight loss, i am experimenting on myself, for myself. i personally believe that the fastest way to get the maximum amount of nutrients into my system is by juicing.
***juicing is different from blending. juicing extracts the juice from the produce eliminating the fibre so you are left with all the high density micro-nutrients which are absorbed into the blood stream almost right away. talk about getting your daily servings in :)
*** blending retains the fibre and allows for slower absorption but as a result, you do lose some nutrients through the digestion process. <–nothing to worry about though so long as you are using good quality foods.

***i do one or both daily for maximum health and wellness…and because i love them both. :)

7:00 - i started the morning with hot water, lime and ginger. :) **EEEK no coffee? i forgot about that little tidbit!!! well, let’s see how that goes lol ;) 012

8:00 - juice #1 (breakfast) - carrot, celery, kale, 1/2 large beet, knuckle sized piece of ginger, 1/2 lime, pear and bunch of cilantro and parsleyPicMonkey Collage

10:15 - weird how i am not missing my 2 cups of coffee this morning!!!<—that could suddenly change!

10:45 – juice #2 (snack) – carrot, celery, parsley and cucumberPicMonkey Collage2

11:10 - after my snack i went for a 5K run…i was a bit concerned initially as i thought i would not have the energy but i was pleasantly surprised at how easy the it was. it didn’t feel any different from any other run really.
*i usually eat a bowl of oatmeal before my runs…PicMonkey Collage3

1:40 - juice #3 (lunch) - tomato, spinach, red pepper, broccolette, lime and cilantro<–tasted like a v-8 only much better without all the chemicals, high sodium and BPA container it comes in!PicMonkey Collage5

3:10 - sipping on hot water and lime. the thought is crossing my mind of ditching this idea at dinner time and having a big salad. i feel great and full of energy but i suspect that has more to do with the psychology of this experiment than it does with the extra juicing. ;)

3:45 - anyone that knows me knows that i eat a lot of food and i eat often. i’m finding myself with free time not spent eating/preparing!  *when i say a lot of food i mean nutrient dense foods that aid my body…not empty calories that make my body sick…well…sometimes i have ‘junk’ too, but in limited quantities ;)

5:15 - hmmm, struggling now with not eating for the rest of the night. really considering just eating a plant-based dinner to finish off the day…i feel a need to masticate!

6:15 - salad and sautéed veggies it is :D lol well at least i made it to dinner time. ;) PicMonkey Collage6

amazing that people can do solely juice for so long…i suppose if i had an illness, was overweight etc then perhaps my motivation might be different. luckily i am healthy<– at least to my knowledge…who knows what those cells are doing inside–>i juice daily and i eat a predominantly clean diet. so even though i did not make it through the whole day i think i will make this a weekly habit—>a 1/2 day ’fast’ will be a healthy addition to an already healthy way of life for me. :)

*i often get asked what type of juicer i have…here’s mine: Breville 032

i think this type of juicer is best suited for me as i don’t want to spend time chopping everything up into pieces. this one has a large chute to accommodate half apples, whole cucumbers etc. it does have high rpm’s though so the greens are spun through very quickly thereby limiting the amount of juice extraction. i stuff my greens into the chute tightly so that they are densely packed and this helps with the juicing.  if you really want to extract the most out of your greens and/or want to make wheatgrass juice, then you will want to do your research for good juicer with lower rpm’s. the omega juicers have been recommended to me and i may invest in one down the road.

have you done a juice fast? how long?

could you commit to juicing for 60 days like joe cross did? i don’t think i could

in health

denise

my ‘spatula’ experience

yup, you read that right…I have a story about spatula’s…well about spatula running…and walking …and biking! <–un-expected out-of-town trip prevented the bike portion :( SPATULA-RUNNER-RACE-BIB i participated in Ali’s Running with Spatula’s virtual spatula race :) i decided when i signed up that i would do the 10K run, the 10K walk and the 10 K bike ride. pretty lofty goal if you ask me!!! ;) there is also a photo contest to enter so grab your spatula’s and go for a run/walk/bike today and enter. you have until tomorrow at noon EST

ok, so the possibility of winning a prize was a motivator<—she has some . really awesome prizes from great companies!!! :D **fingers crossed**

i did the 10K run last SaturdayDSC04038

the 10K walk Friday with ‘the lily’ :) 007

this was a great opportunity to get my butt in gear and out the door and to force me to do something different. ok, ok, it was all about those damn prizes… ;) PicMonkey Collage2

check out Ali’s blog and facebook page ;)

did you participate in this virtual race?

have you ever participated in a virtual race?

in health

denise

it’s baaaaaccckkkkk! thursday night trail running :D

last night was the return of TNT runs! I truly love the trails around the Comox Valley but I am too nervous to run them alone…we do have cougars after all ;) 94608comox09A2cougar3x2_5cmyk

the weather could not have been better for the 1st night out, sunny and 10 degrees celsius and boy did we ever have a great turn out. I would estimate 70 people of all levels of running. I started out in group two, 2nd to slowest pace, with 12 other runners and managed 2.5K then realized that I was tiring too quickly. lucky for me group 1 was right behind us and I let the leader know I was dropping back<–extremely important that they know you’re dropping out as they do a head count at least once during the run and do not want to be worried/looking for you!!!

group one was a group of 3 men and at first I was a bit intimidated/shy…that quickly went away as these fellas were very nice! we spent a lot of time recapping our various runs/races and memories of those. two of the guys had done half’s and the other just started running this past January. I must say I really enjoyed the run and the pace was perfect for me. we talked injuries<–all runners do that right? ;) and ego’s and how that quickly gets thrown out as you realize your limitations!! ;)

i am very pleased with my time and comfort level. I had a great social after a trying day and released all the stress that was making my body feel like it was seizing up. a run, or any workout for that matter is a remarkable stress reliever!!!002

i so look forward to next Thursday’s run and if you’re local? well, get your runners on and meet us at Nymph Falls no later than 5:45!

do you trail run too?

 

in health

denise

 

Overcoming my Worse ‘Mental Run’ :/

I was tired starting out, I didn’t really feel like going but I laced up anyway…that’s usually how my runs start out. I had done a lot of fitness over the last 4 days and my body really was tired but I wanted today (Monday) to be my rest day. I wasn’t really surprised when I started out that my run felt a bit sluggish. What I WAS surprised at was the intensity of negative self talk that took over the first 2 Kms!!! WOW, thought I was over all that nonsense! I seriously even thought about turning back and aborting the whole run.

Most of my routes start out on an uphill and this was no different. I was trying to distract myself with Jillian Micheals Podcasts as usual but all I could hear was “just turn back…you’re not going to enjoy this” and “if you have to walk you’re weak”. Indeed I did have to walk a little and I DID feel weak! What was going on!!! I was trying to tell myself that as long as I was out here I was doing fine. I walk/ran up the hill knowing I was coming to a good stretch of downhill and it was going to get better from there…nope, it started raining and it was foggy.  003

I was in a serious competition with myself for some unknown reason and I was thinking things like, “why bother”, “I’m so slow”, “I have to walk”, “I’m not a runner” <—-whoa, WHAT!!! I have worked very hard at switching negative self talk to positive self talk but today I really had to dig deep to get this turned around. I used all the platitudes “you’re doing better than those sitting on the couch…or still in bed”, “at least you’re out here doing it”, there’s no shame in walking within your run”, and that’s when it hit me…because I was walking every few minutes to get going I was berating myself.  After all, if you’re a runner, you don’t walk do you? Especially if you’re only going 6K??? Well, apparently, yes you do! 008Another thought that crossed my mind was I felt I wasn’t going to have a ‘good run time’ to share with all of you and on FB. Oh boy, that’s a problem right there that I quickly had to rationalize. I had to re-direct my thoughts to why I was doing this and I realized that I am doing this solely for me. Yes I love to share my successes but I had to convince myself that it really only means something to me.

still respectable!

                    still respectable!

It was a full 2K with all this nonsense rolling around in my head, finally I was able to kick myself in the butt mentally, and I started to have a good run…and yes I did walk a bit throughout. I still had a respectable time and by the time I got home I was feeling awesome. This goes to show you that you really do need to constantly remind yourself why you are doing this…who it’s benefitting and what will you do/say to keep yourself motivated!

feeling happy :) Post run

                        feeling happy :) Post run

I was very happy I was able to push past the negative thoughts and not let me defeat me! Funny thing too…as I was scrolling through FB I saw a few pics and posts about bad runs, lack of motivation, and thought “it’s not just me”. ;) I think we see what we need to see when we need to see it…and I saw this:

yes it certainly is!!!

                           yes it certainly is!!!

how do you keep going during a ‘bad’ run?

have you ever given up?

in health

Denise

January Wrap Up ;)

I am happy to report I have kept up my New Years Resolution!

backbend

back-end

I committed to adding more yoga into my weekly routine and I have done just that. :) I am not the most flexible gal around but I am finding with the yoga practice, my hips are not as tight and my hammies are relaxing!. YAY! I think these two areas need a lot of work mainly because I tend to cut my post run stretch routine short.

I mentioned on my FB page last week that when I do yoga I get a sort of ‘sparkly’ feeling throughout my body when I am finished and thought people were going to think I was off my rocker…nope, comments proved I was right on the money! :) Seems as though a lot of us get kinda sparkly lol. I would compare the feeling to a runner’s high only…different. It’s like a calm excitement :) .

I finally got back into running this month after a month off. I signed up for an awesome 10K June 2/13! It’s the http://victoriagoddess.com/ in Victoria BC which is a double whammy good time as I get to visit with my son and run a race…AND have someone at the finish line to great me! :) This is an all girls run which includes a 1/2 marathon and 5K race as well.

In January I had a back issue which I took care of by resting for 9 days and getting chiropractic care. I tried Massage Therapy for the first time and it was a nice experience…sore, but nice. I learned a little more about muscles and how to counter act muscle soreness with proper stretching. I will go back!

Even though I had the injury I still managed to fit in 22 workouts this month! I sometimes do 2 W/O’s a day…yoga in the AM and a HIIT or run in the evening. Fitness is my ‘drug of choice’ to stay happy and focused. If you read my post from Monday you will understand why I need to exercise! lol

I continued juicing and eating ‘clean’ for the most part this month :) I had a few indulgences which are always worked in to my week! Life is to be lived and as long as you keep portion control and moderation in mind you can enjoy the odd treat!

I have kept up my money plan ;) and have even started a second one for my husband. So far I have sold enough on Craigslist to pay for both. Read HERE to see how I am trying NOT to use our income to save!

I hope you all had a good month and will continue your good, healthy habits into February! Remember to recommit every day to your goals.

have you kept your resolution promise to yourself?

share what you did this month

in health

Denise