Another long bike outta the way

The kids are back home and life is back to normal. I sure miss the munchkins when they are not around. They had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa who took them to the Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller, AB. The last time we took them there Simon was just 2 weeks old, so it was quite an adventure. Kamden was only 17.5 months, so I am not too sure what we were thinking.

Today it was long bike day. Last week (I believe on Sunday) Trevor said "you should do Level 10 of training...same as me". I thought about it for a bit and decided since it was only about 15 to 30 minutes extra of biking or running I thought sure I'll give it a go. So today I had a 3 hour and 30 minute bike. I achieved the goals which I wanted to on the bike, so I am happy about that. Then it was a run around our community for 35 minutes. It was a little brisk out today. When I was running the temps with the windchill were -9 degrees Celsius...not too pleasant. I managed a 3.52 mile run. Now I am just going to relax for the rest of the day...I am tired...Tomorrow is our "long" run at 1 hour and 40 minutes, which actually doesn't sound too bad : )

So much to do...

I managed to sleep in almost (7:45 am), which is just great. The kids are at Grandma and Grandpa's till Friday night, so today my main goal is to take my Exercise Physiology assignment done. It is my last assignment for the course until I have my final on April 9Th. I can't believe how fast this semester went. It honestly feels like I just wrote all my finals from last semester. During my summer semester I have 2 courses. I usually have 3 courses during a semester so hopefully the workload won't be so bad.

Last night when Trevor came home from work I was craving a burger (I am not sure that my "road to six-pack ville" will be a successful trip as I seem to be eating too much goodness---Christine, we might have to make it a 60 day event). So Trevor took me to a place called "Tommy Burger", which had gourmet burgers. So I had the Tommy Burger and I ordered some sweet potato fries and honestly I am not much of a burger person, but it was so yummy. Probably the best burger I've ever had.

Yesterday was my first run since my final run challenge run on Sunday and I had a 50 minute run followed by 6 x 20 sprint intervals. Can you believe that I was able to take up my sprint to 8.0 miles per hour. That was a first for me. Of course it was only for 20 seconds at a time (40 seconds rest in between), but I am pretty sure I could have held it for a while and by a while I mean 2-3 minutes. It felt good. I feel much stronger now even on the bike. I was actually able to bike the same distance and same resistance as Trevor on Tuesday (although he did do his bike at 4:30 am). So today I have a brick workout 1 hour 15 min bike followed by a 30 minute run. I am going to go this morning, so I can get it over with....I guess I better go get ready...

There comes a time when you have to say...

It was time for me to look at the big picture and try to figure out if what I was doing was actually benefiting or hindering me. Ironman training has been in full swing for two weeks and as you know while we were training we were also continuing on doing our "Run Challenge". During IM training you have two actual days where a bike is followed by a run which is scheduled on Thursdays and Saturdays, but with this challenge the only day that you don't have a Brick Workout was on Monday (which is technically supposed to be a rest day) and Sunday which is a scheduled long run (no biking). So that's where this whole run challenge was kind of not working for me. Would I be training properly if I had 5 out of 7 days being brick workouts??? Probably not. So...today is the day that I finally put an "END" to it. My run streak ends at 205 days and now it is time to take a well deserved day off and focus specifically on IM. (Althoungh I am thinking I should've have gone to the gym today as I probably over-indulged in chocolates the past few days.) Having said that once I have done IM Canada on August 24th, 2008 I have full intentions of starting the run challenge over again as I have never had such a good base going into training as I have now. My bikes have been incredible over the past few weeks and I think it is primarily from not taking any time off. So here's to the run challenge...I am hoping, come next September, that some of you will join me as it was a fun experience.

Easter Bunny 2008

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Some fun Easter Jokes

Why does the Easter bunny have a shiny nose? His powder puff is on the wrong end.
Is it true that bunnies have good eyesight? Well you never see a bunny wearing glasses, do you?
What is the difference between a crazy bunny and a counterfeit banknote? One is bad money and the other is a mad bunny!
Why did the Easter egg hide? He was a little chicken!
Why did a fellow rabbit say that the Easter Bunny was self-centered? Because he was eggo-centric!
Why is a bunny the luckiest animal in the world? It has four rabbits' feet
What do you get when you cross a bunny with an onion? A bunion
What did the bunny want to do when he grew up? Join the Hare Force.
What do you call a bunny with a large brain? Egghead!
What does a bunny use when it goes swimming? A hare-net.
How do you make a rabbit stew? Make it wait for three hours!
What did the grey rabbit say to the blue rabbit? Cheer up!
What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole? A hot cross bunny.
How do you post a bunny? Hare mail
How does the Easter Bunny say Happy Easter? Hoppy Easter

Mommy on Strike

With the kids being out of school till March 31st we thought we'd take this time and have them spend some quality time with their grandparents, so I get a mommy break for a couple of days here and there. Yesterday we went over to my parent's place for lunch and then we hung out at their house and went to church together for Good Friday service. Afterwards we dropped the kids off at Oma and Opa's where they spent last night as well as tonight. You'd think that Trevor and I would have done all these "fun" things without them, but our days was actually pretty uneventful. We headed to the gym for our workout in the morning. I had a 1:15 bike followed by a 30 minute run----everything went well with the workout. After washing up, eating, and cleaning up we headed out doing what we do the best and that is going to the mall and walking around. I am not sure what has happened to me over the years, but I have become a pathetic excuse for a shopper. Trevor said I could get whatever and the only thing I left the mall with was a new eyeshadow from MAC (I love M.A.C. cosmetics). Then we thought it would be a good idea to check out the Foothills Home Lottery Show Home. They had two houses and both were pretty nice, but the Grand Prize home was incredible. It's hard not to walk in there and just start imaging that you won and imagine yourself entertaining your friends in your new home. They have a virtual tour here. Then it was off to Montana's Cookhouse for some Nachos, dessert, and a mug of beer for me. Now we are just relaxing at home and just enjoying our time without the kids. It just so weird not to hear them running around and playing. Tomorrow is a big day with Easter Sunday (Church), Easter Egg Hunt, Visit the in-laws for Easter Dinner and, of course, a trip to the gym for an hour long run.

What Easter means to me...

One of my favorite songs that we get to sing at church during our worship service. During this Easter time it really means so much to me, so I just wanted to share it with you all.

Above all powers above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kindgoms above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasure of the earth
There's no way to measure what You're worth

Crucified laid behind a stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Sleepy Sleep

You can't even imagine how much I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Now having said that I am sure that I am almost 100% sure that I'll be up before 8am. Tomorrow we are off to the gym as a team. Trevor and I have power intervals to do on the bike (1 hour and 20 minutes) followed by our 20 minute run, of course. The one bad thing with doing the run challenge straight through IM training is that everyday kind of feels like a brick workout. On Tuesday my hip was a tad tender from Sunday's race. I was hobbling a long a bit, but it was manageable. Then as I was changing into my workout clothes and I put my foot on the bench to get my socks on and my foot slipped off and my right hip twisted in a bad way and man---it was bad. It was tough just walking never mind running. I had a steady bike to do on Tuesday which wasn't one of my best rides so I knew that my run wasn't going to be good. I hobbled over to the treadmill and got on and I put up the speed and got to about 4.8 mph and had to keep it at that speed for about 4 minutes until I was finally able to do a little bit of disassociation and block out the pain and sped up a bit to 5.2 mph and kept it at that pace for 25 more minutes. As soon as it was over with I knew it was going to be painful when I got off. Needless to say my last two days of running have been not the best. I decided to pull out my stretches, which I received from my chiropractor last year and just do that in hopes for a speedier recovery. It has been two days since that incident and it has improved somewhat, but still needs work. It'll get better...positive thoughts!!!!

Another Milestone

It sure doesn't feel like day 200, but it is. 200 days straight of running every single day since September 1, 2007. I have developed a happy relationship with running now. I understand that it's okay to have not so good days as long as at the end of the day you are still happy about your attempts and you know you've put a good effort in...that's all that really matters. So now that my monthly miles are down do to lack of time, as I need to ride bike and swim as well, my biggest goal is to make every run a "good" run and from now till the Calgary Police Half I am going to focus on my form. The one thing I need to really work on is picking up my knees and driving them back. My running form kind of looks like my legs are swinging pendulums. Also....stretching...stretching...and more stretching...I don't like to do it, but it must be done. I can definitely feel when my form is off and, unfortunately, it seems to be more often than I'd like. So...here is to another 100 days....

Diakonos 2nd annual St. Patrick's 10KM-Official Results

Okay, so by the looks of my official results posted on the Running Room site, it looks like the timing chips didn't register at the crossing of the start line but it registered at the finish line...so based on that...here are the results for the Diakonos Retreat Society 2nd annual St. Patrick's 10km run:

Rank

65/236

Clock Time:

56:52.2

Pace/Km

5:42

Gender Rank

28/149

Division Rank

9/51

Diakonos 2nd annual St. Patrick's 10K run

I knew after listening to the weather forecast for the last few nights that today I wasn't going to be having ideal conditions for the race. I went to bed fairly early last night around 10pm, which I guess really isn't that early as far as my standards go, but all night I heard the wind howling. As much as I wanted to look out and see what was going on I decided to hold back as I thought if it looks bad I am just going to lose sleep over it. The alarm went off at 7am. The first thing I did was look out the blinds and this is what I saw...


We got some snow (about 7-9 cm), but that wasn't the worst part...the temperature had dropped to -13 degrees Celsius (8.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and with the windchill the temperature felt like -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit). My biggest concern was what I was going to wear. I had laid out my clothes the night before and didn't really make to many changes except that I ended up putting on an additional long sleeved dri-fit shirt and I brought along my ski pants just in case. Trevor, after sitting around and contemplating the idea, decided that he wanted to come along with me to the race with the kids and cheer me on. Don't I have the best man ever?? By the time we got all the snow swept off the van and warmed it up for a bit we were off downtown. We arrived shortly after 8am and I went and picked up my timing chip and then it was time just to chill and wait for some instructions and wait for the start of the race. They informed us that due to the snow fall and the very cold temps that the paths that we'd be running on were considerably icy. The race director said that if you were planning on doing a PB you may want to reconsider as today the conditions are not so great.


The crowd headed out the door at around 8:55 am. We had the HAWK (police helicopter) hovering over us and they were doing the countdown...10...9...8..7..6..5..4..3...2...1...and then the sirens started and we were off. As soon as I started running I could tell it was going to be a challenge as every step I took my shoes would slip on the ice. At the beginning of the race the path had been swept and it was particulary icy. Later on at about 3 km the path was not swept and there was snow on the path, which actually made the path less slippery and I had better footing. I kept looking down at my Garmin to see if I was on pace, but found that it was kind of becoming an obsession and quickly decided that I am going to limit the time I look down and just focus on my form and make sure my breathing is in check. For some reason I started out at the beginning of the pack, which is something I never do. Here is a picture of me crossing the start line...notice the time of 9 seconds....


I did end up passing quite a few people and not too many people ended up passing me, which is something that rarely happens. I tried to stay around the same group of people for the majority of the time and just to enjoy myself and push to the end. I wasn't going to let the temperatures and the conditions be a factor in my race. As soon as I started my run I put my music on and all was good (Madonna..Confessions on the Dance Floor was my pick for the race).
That's me coming across the finish line at 56:51. My Garmin recorded my time at 56:42, which corresponded to the Start Time at 9 sec and Finish at 56:51...It all added up. Which meant that I actually had a Personal Best 10KM time of 56:46. My PB before this was 56:50, so it's not by much, but I am happy with it. Actually I am thrilled. The official results are yet to be posted on the internet, but they were posted at the event. You want to hear something funny. My official time, which was posted, was 58:32---how does that work when the time I past the start sign was 9 seconds and the time I crossed the finish line was 56:51...oh well...I guess someone forgot to push the start button. I placed 82/232....can't complain about that : )




Following the race we stayed around and had a hamburger provided by M&M Meat Shops, which was one of the sponsor. I took one bite and I couldn't eat it anymore. For some reason it just didn't taste that great. The kids and Trevor were more than happy to help me eat the rest. We stayed around for the door prizes, but walked away empty handed. By the time it was over we noticed that they were still handing out burgers, so the kids and Trevor decided to go and get one, so I thought I would try another thinking that maybe the first one I had was just a bad one. The second one actually tasted a bit better. Then off we headed for home. I took a quick bath at home and then off we all went to my parents place for lunch.

So...Great Start to the 2008 season...

Phew...I got through it.

Well today was the first "long" bike I had in quite some time and I am happy to say that I survived. Since we do live in Calgary we had to do our workout inside on the computrainer. Trevor started his 3:15 bike at 5:30am. I am thankful that Trevor happily volunteers to bike first as I don't think I would be able to get up that early. In fact, I was supposed to get up at 7am to get to the pool this morning, but opted out as I have been fairly sleep deprived since Thursdays concert and decided that I will make up the swim and put in a week with 5 swims rather than 4. Following my 3 hour bike I quickly got changed and headed outside. Last night it snowed a little and it was a bit cooler, so I had to layer. Sport Bra, Dri-fit tank, long-sleeved Dri-fit, Under Armour hoodie, hat, gloves and some Under Armour running pants and I was out the door. It felt nice to be on my legs after being on the bike for so long. I managed to get in 3.13 miles in 30 minutes, which is just fine with me.

This afternoon we went to pick up my race package for tomorrow's 10km run. I am number 5693 which just happens to be my lucky number---okay my lucky number is actually 2, but we'll make that number work. I got a fancy shmancy new gray technical shirt. Tomorrow the race starts at 9am, but I have to be there just after 8am to get my timing chip...not sure why they didn't hand them out today. I was hoping that Trevor and the gang would be able to come and cheer me on, but it is supposed to be a rather chilly morning, so they will most likely stay home:(

Well...off to enjoy what left of the evening...

Avril Lavigne Rocked the Saddledome

To be completely honest with you I think that may have been one of the best concerts I have been to. Avril Lavigne is so unbelievably talented that I am completely blown away. Not only does the girl write her own lyrics and music, but she plays the guitar, piano and drums. If you can handle going through all the pictures there is some video at the end with her playing the drums. You can fast forward the pictures as well. Kamden and I made sure to arrive at the concert one hour to the start time. As soon as we walked into the Saddledome we headed straigth for the t-shirts and stood in line for almost 30 minutes and finally purchased an over-priced shirt for Kamden, which she'll grow into eventually. Then it was off to find our seats. I knew that we were on the floor and our ticket said row GG. It didn't take long before I realized that GG meant that there was only standing room. By the time we got to the floor it was about 1/4 full already. I knew if we just stayed at the back Kamden wasn't going to see a thing, since she was probably the smallest and perhaps youngest person there. So I told her to politely say excuse me to everyone and we'll attempt to make our way to the front. Can you believe we actually made it right out to the front...after all who can resist a 7 year old that has wonderful manners. The only problems was that I was about 2 feet away from Kamden the whole concert as I didn't want to stand right behind her and cut of the view from other kids that were just a tad taller than Kamden. Everyone was very protective of Kamden and kept and eye on her. The opening act was a band from Boston called "Boys Like Girls" and they were actually pretty good. I knew as soon as Avril stepped on stage the shoving would start and there was a few times were I was visualizing some people getting trampled, but surprisingly everything was fairly calm. Avril played for about 1. 5 hours and really I can't say anything bad about the concert as it was fabulous. I took a lot of pictures and I mean A LOT...284 pictures. However, I deleted the fuzzy ones and the bad ones, but still have a pretty good colletion of shots. My goal was to get as many as I could so that Kamden will have memories of it forever. So be patient when Smile Box downloads...it'll be worth the wait : )

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Decide and do it...

"The route to success in any area of life can be summed up in a simple, easy-to-remember formula. Decide what you wish to do, and then do it.

That may seem entirely obvious, and indeed it is. Yet even though the path to success is so clear and simple, many people have great difficulty following it.

The decision of what to do can be greatly hindered by doubts, fears, insecurities and worries, as well as by confusion over priorities. To get past all that, remember that every doubt is a creation of your own mind, and deep within you is an authentic purpose that can transcend any challenge.

When it comes to taking action, there can be all sorts of justifications and excuses for not doing so. To move forward anyway, it's important to keep in mind that every moment is an opportunity to create value for your life and your world.

When you choose to do nothing with this moment, the opportunity it contains is gone forever, never to return. Choose instead to invest yourself in effective action, and the potential value of this moment is transformed into real, actual, lasting value in your life.

Decide how you can best express the values and dreams that mean so much to you. Then take step after step to successfully bring your decisions to life"...Ralph Marsten

I think if we can teach our kids one thing in life that would be it "Decide and Do It". Ultimately you are responsible for what happens in your life. Sure things will arise that you can not control, however, you can control how you handle every situation. When ever I hear the kids say "I can't" I tell them that whatever you say to yourself you will believe, so it's important to be positive. We have even told the kids that the words "I can't" are not allowed to be said in our home. Obviously, this is a lot easier than said.

Competition is on

Well it looks like I have another competitor for the "30 days to a six pack challenge". Christine is definitely going to be difficult to beat as she has a few things going for her #1. She is 10 years younger than I am and #2. She hasn't had any kids yet (therefore her stomach hasn't been stretched out like mine has). That's okay though...I am always up for a challenge...you know me and my competitive ways. I think my biggest challenge in the next 30 days will be staying far away from any sort of snacks and desserts. I am kind of wondering why I chose to do this challenge over the Easter holiday, but I think when it comes down to it there really is never the ideal time to do this sort of thing. The competition is on!!!

Training for Ironman is on as well and I have been giving 100% in all of my workouts so far. I am not sure if it's the daylights savings time, but I am tired. I really wanted to get my swim workouts done during the day (at least 2 of the 4 per week). Today I was super excited because a nearby pool had lane swimming from 9:00am - noon, but when I got there they informed me that the schedule was wrong and they only had a lane open from 9:00am -9:20 am. Well I am not going to get in the pool and just swim for 20 minutes...I need to get my full workout in. So it looks like I am back to 4 swim workouts a week from 9 pm -10 pm....Yuck...I am so not a late night person...Yup...I guess I am old..9 pm...Late Night??? I think the worst part about late night swims is that when I get home I am starving, but have decided not to eat after 7pm anymore as this hinders me from winning the six-pack competition.

The weather here has been a little strange lately. It has been very windy the last few days and it just feels like something is brewing. I have my first 10km race on Sunday and I am just hoping that it won't snow or rain. We are off on Saturday to pick up my race package after my first long bike (3 hours) followed by a half an hour run. I must be crazy because I look at those times and I am thinking "that's not too bad---3 hours". I know what is to come in the near future and 3 hours seems like a walk in the park. Anyways...back to the race package---I just read today that we get a technical shirt and some yummy food after. Also, the race is chip timed, which I was completely not expecting. I was thinking that I'd have to start at the front of the pack and risk getting trampled by the super duper quick runners, but now it's all good..I'll just line up in the middle where I usually do and give it 110%.

Simon's first time rollerblading---It's a video not just the usual pictures : )

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Make a postcard - it's easy!

The Road to "Six Pack Ville"

As many of you know Trevor was kind enough to get me "The Bean" for Christmas, which I had begged for for many months. I am ashamed to tell you that the first and last time I used it was the day after Christmas. However, I have not gotten to the stage where I am tossing laundry on it, but if I don't start using it now that stage will soon follow. Today (well actually last night while I was having problems sleeping) I decided that I am going to do The Bean for 30 days straight. I've watched the infomercials hundreds of times at the gym and was amazed at the results and I am going to get my six-pack back (we'll see if this thing really works). So here is my starting off picture and every week (Mondays) I will take another picture and compare it to todays picture and see if this thing really works.

Day 1 of "The Bean Challenge"
Waist 28"
As you can see there is no visible sign of a six-pack
Will I have a six-pack in 30 days??????

What's the story behind the tattoo??? Well I don't really have a huge story. Growing up I felt that I had to please everyone. I never really did anything "bad", but then I moved out on my own when I was 20 years old and kind of let loose and thought it would be great to get a tattoo and rebel. I have always loved sunflowers and to me no flower can lift spirits quite like they can and they are bright and cheery and that's what I want to be to people. I want to be the one that can lift people's spirits when they are down. So---now you know the story behind the ink. I was actually supposed to go and get it touched up a week later, but it hurt so bad that I never went back. I would like to get it touched up probably at the end of the year after I am not in the pool as much and perhaps add to the collection of tattoos---we'll see what happens with that.

If you feel like singing, sing

So tomorrow I am off for my first swim of the year, which will kick off my Ironman training (24 weeks today till Ironman Canada). I am not a night person, so I was checking out three different pools around the city, which are in reasonable driving distance for me. One huge dilemma which I face is that I have to pick up Mr. Simon from school at 11:25 am, so I have to be sure that I can get back to his school in time to pick him up and I must drop the kids off at the bus stop at 7:50 am. In the ideal world there would be lane swimming from 8:30am -11:00 am at a pool nearby, but as you probably have figured out this is far from a perfect world. Despite all of this I think I figured out a schedule that will work for me for the time being...Mondays lane swimming at Acadia from 7:30 -9:30, Tuesdays at Bob Bahan 9 pm - 10 pm (yuck---I don't like that time, but it's the only way that'll work), Wednesdays at Bob Bahan 9 am - 11 am, and Fridays at Bob Bahan 9 am -11 am. I can't say I am looking forward to getting in the pool, but I am sure that once I get through my first few sessions of swimming I will be a die hard swimmer---yeah right!! In April there is a new Gold's Gym opening up in the SE, which has a swimming pool and our current Gold's membership is transferable to other Gold's gym. The only thing with that is that it is at least a 20 minute drive South from our place and if I went in the morning everyday I'd finish up there and have to drive a good 30 minutes North to pick up Simon from school, so I am a bit confused at what the best option would be right now. I am kind of thinking that it may be a better option to just get a family pass to all of the City of Calgary Aquatic Centers for a yearly pass. Never-the-less, we must figure out everything soon.

This weeks training schedule for me:

Monday:
Swim
(2100m)
run
20 minute moderate

Tuesday:
Bike
1 hour steady ride at Moderate
run
20 minute moderate
Swim
(2100m)

Wednesday:
Swim
(2150m)
run
45 min (steady run @ mod intensity)
2 x 20 sec relaxed sprint (40 s rest)

Thursday:
Brick Workout
Bike
1 hour moderate
Run
20 min moderate

Friday:
Swim
(2100m)
Bike
1 hour 10 minutes with
7x20 sec in hight gear @ speed intervals w/2 min recovery
run
2o minute run
moderate

Saturday:
Bike
3 hours (moderate)
Run
20 minute recovery

Sunday:
Run
1 hour 20 minute (moderate)

Things that make you hmmm....

• Why do sleeping pills have warning labels that state :'Caution: May Cause Drowsiness?

• Why do you put two cents in when its only a penny for your thoughts?

• Why is it said that an alarm clock is going off when really its coming on?

• Why does Donald Duck wear a towel when he comes out of the shower, when he doesn't usually wear any pants?

• Where in the nursery rhyme does it say humpty dumpty is an egg?

• What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?

Okay...enough of that...I am sure that you all have a bunch of things that make you go hmmm..I'd love to hear what they are. So this morning when I woke up I had no motivation to go to the gym. Trevor, of course, was trying very hard to get me motivated without luck. We had a bit of running around to do prior to getting to the gym at 11:00 am. It wasn't until the time I stepped on the treadmill and ran for about 30 minutes that I decided that I am going to keep going. An hour was up and I put stopped and thought 30 more minutes. So, one hour and half later and 9.07 miles later I was done. I was quite pleased as it definitely was not what I was expecting to get done today...especially with my last two runs consisting of fairly low mileage.

Tomorrow I have to get up at 7am, but with the clocks being turned forward it'll be a very tiring morning. I believe I am going to have to start off with a few cups of coffee just to get things rolling. I really wish they didn't do this daylights savings bit as I am tired till the end of May, any one else affected that way?? Today is our niece, Reanna's, 2nd birthday and the festivities will take place tomorrow afternoon. It should be a fun time and we are looking forward to going. It seems like we have been celebrating a lot of birthdays in the past few weeks.

The countdown begins till I get to take Kamden to see Avril Lavigne in concert. It was her birthday present from us and the concert is this coming Thursday, March 13th. I think that is one of the best things about having a daughter is that I get to do fun girly things with her. She is looking forward to it. I can't wait till we get to go on trips to the Spa or just go on shopping trips to other cities. I am sure Trevor is looking forward to the day he gets to take Simon on get-a-ways for baseball training camps. Oh the joys!!!

Diakonos Retreat Society 2nd annual St. Patrick's 10K run

I did it...I signed up for my first race of the season. It's the Diakonos Retreat Society 2nd annual St. Patrick's 10K run, which takes place at 9am on March 16th. I am so excited about doing a race that is going to be nice and short. My goal is to push as hard as I can and see what I can do. My last 10km run was in 2005 (World Airline Road Race) and my time then was 56:50.7, but I was a little lighter as I was in the middle of dieting for my first bodybuilding competition and I was somewhat carb depleted. Actually that day after the race they had a huge pancake breakfast, which I was unable to partake in as it wasn't part of the diet. My goal for this race is to beat my 56 minutes. The best part is that Trevor is not going to be racing as he has opted out so that he can look after the kids while I race and possibly be a spectator and cheer me on. Hopefully it is warm enough for them to come out and watch.

Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.

Today was not a good run day for me. I was able to do just over 3 miles. I don't know if it was lack of motivation or just the fact that my muscles were feeling rather sore today, but never-the-less it wasn't good. Part of me isn't too concerned as I know that starting next week things are going to change. I think the biggest change will be getting to the pool 4 times a week. Getting all of my Ironman swim training is has been a struggle in the past, but this year is going to be different. My goal is to get in all of my training---no excuses. Yes, I know that I start off every season with the same goal (get in all the training) but that is just the way it is.

Today I managed to finish my Anatomy and Physiology Assignment on the Heart, which is due Friday. It feels so good to be done early. I have been neglecting staying on top of household chores and really need to work on getting some things done around here in the next few days. Now that my schedule is cleared up and I don't have to volunteer at the school tomorrow I might actually get something done.

Give to every day

There will always be a reason to give up, and there will always be a reason to keep going. The question is, which reason will you choose to focus upon?

Your troubles will get the best of you if you give all your time and attention to them. But you always have another choice.

You can give your attention to the positive possibilities. You can choose to focus upon what's right with life.

There is something you can do in this very moment to create a little bit of positive value in your world. Though it may not seem like much, just one small positive action can have an enormous impact.

Even the smallest step has a clear and unmistakable direction. When you choose to take action, you choose to take control.

Don't allow your life to be defined by the difficulties that come your way. For beyond them all, you have something unique and beautiful to give to every day.

---Ralph Marston

Weekend full of parties

Well we survived all our our parties this weekend. Trevor arrived safely home on Saturday and I think the kids couldn't have been happier to seem him walk through the door. It is really nice to have him home again. Now life is back to normal, which makes everything a lot easier on all of us. Other than that the pictures tell the story of our weekend....enjoy!!!!

Here's a little special treat for all of you...one of my fellow bloggers, Christine, who is pretty new to running just received her very first blister and mentioned that it was not quite picture worthy. Now I am pretty sensitive about my feet, since I am pretty sure that they are perhaps the most unattractive feet (mostly toes) in the whole entire world, but I firmly do believe that on a grotesque level they are definitely picture worthy...what do you think????

Can you tell which toe I am talking about????