Zombie Invasion

So my husband texted me the other day and told me about a zombie 5km this Saturday. Weird. My husband although in probably the most incredible shape I have ever seen him in, really dislikes running. I should know. 7 years trying to get him to run, I have been successful only twice. What's a girl to think?

Well a girl must go home to get the explanation. Eager to give the rundown, he explained, "it's a zombie invasion, Tracey. You get flags and zombies run after you and take them, symbolic of your life. You can either finish the race as 'dead' or alive."

So, my first initial reaction was probably shock. This, in all honesty is one of my worst fears. I mean running and having people jump out at me screaming. Seriously? It sounded like a recreation of the haunted corn maze where I spent a half an hour shrieking my head off. Plus people that look like zombies kind of freak me out. 

But then my partner looked so excited and his excitement rubbed off on me. I told him I was in. I mean how many silly things have I asked him to do over the years and he never fails to show up and have fun. 

He alerted the facebook network and we got two other people to join in on our zombie adventure.  My lovely friend Melissa and her husband John. Both with incredible outlooks. John: "beautiful day to be outside and have fun."  

Now for the honest truth. I am not and have not been in the greatest shape up to this date. The last run I have done was the colour me rad (I think in June?). Yikes. I have been enjoying my leisure work outs of dog walks, occasional hikes, and cruising on my bike. This is slightly a humbling thing for me to admit as there were times I could beat my partner but with his shape where he is and mine where it is he leaves me in the dust. Hopefully in the coming months I can keep up to his pace. 

The race began. All good except in the beginning my belt was too loose and I lost all my flags. Grr. Luckily we had extras so I ran with one for awhile. Managed to escape the zombies. Melissa and I took a bit of a leisurely run/walk...then the intensity occurred. 

Half way mark, the zombies increased. Melissa spotted cookies and a ribbon on the ground. Saying just that. Then my worst fear occurred as a 'zombie' jumped out from hiding behind a car screaming. There may have been louder ones coming from my mouth, as I ran away in terror. 

Continued on and found a few RN zombies. Tried to talk some sense into them (I mean come on, they were me once)! No takers. But dodged them too. Then it happened I died. Someone took my flag about 3/4 in. It was a sad death. I tried to protect Melissa with her two ribbons but some 'zombie children' caught her 100m to the finish. 

Even though we died it was fun. Our husbands were waiting by the finish line for us and also fell victim to the children. Dang it. We all laughed and reenacted our versions of the race. Add soup and muffins supplied by the race and some dogs to cuddle, it was a great day. 

Love

Colour me happy

So after a year of anticipation....Jimi and I finally had our race. And it was fun. 

We headed down to Calgary for colour me rad, 2014. This was all due to last year, Edmonton selling out so fast....then the unfortunate flood that happened during the actual race day. Then their rescheduled race being on August long and me working. Thus them, transferring our race to this year. So, yes, it was long and awaited!

The road trip was fun. Practicing our race faces in the car (and our stride). Listening to fun road trip songs. Rapping like no other. And laughing of course. You always laugh when your around Jimi. 

 

Then to Canadian Olympic Park. We arrived super early, so we hung out by the DJ booth, practicing our Zumba and dance moves. And maybe threw a few colour bombs towards each other. He he. White shirts no longer. 

Actually we bought a pressurized container that was filled with colour. And I had the honors of using while Jimi had the honors of receiving the blue powder. After that the attention came. Smurf, avatar and pictures galore. They were in awe of my brother. Lol. It was hilarious. 

Then the race. The announcer said right before, you know it's running alongside the bobsled track right. Yes, folks. That means up. Ugh. Utter failure for me. Did a bit of walking (okay a lot) up the hill. But Jimi was a champ running quite a bit. He did amazing. 

All in all a fun day and glad I could spend it with him. Good road trip!

Additional bonus, we were lucky to come home to a bomb fire and hot dogs waiting to be cooked. Lovely husband!

Happy summer!

Love

Oh marathon training i.e. motivation where are you?

I had a really good day today. And the day before that and that. I get to spend my days with Mark while he is on summer break. We have been eating good meals. Enjoying our porch. Sitting in the sun. Going for walks at night. It has been pretty fabulous. And I have loved every minute of it. 

But...

I kind of forgot about this marathon that I signed up for in less than a month. 

Now you may be wondering. Well Tracey. You do have the day to train. Absolutely. But then I decided to do a side project with one of our furniture pieces. And what I thought would take a week (oo Pinterest you deceptive site you) is now working on two months. 

Sigh. So I am writing this in hopes of motivating myself for the next month. If not I may not make the marathon alive. ;)

But I can at least say that I have had a most excellent summer being with someone that I adore and love. Wink wink. The other project....the jury is still out. 

Love

A little escapism.

Just had two days off and during that time took a little run around the neighborhood. Must admit I did get lost a bit but enjoyed some of the trails. And my favourite song right now is this one. Don't know many people got to see this show as it did get cancelled but loved it. Might have to do with it being about broadway. He he. Been singing it in my head for the past three days. 

Now on to my day two of six.

Love

Day 5

And lucky me. I had the day off in the city that had the national high temperature today. And what did I attempt to do on the hottest day thus far. Run. May have been a bad idea. But I did it and half marathon training begins again!

Next up was to register online for my RN status. Pay my fees and await the mail for the official news. Next up was do a little kijji surfing for any good deals that may arise...and finally continue a bit of packing. Then off to the respite!

Ahh. Days off are really fantastic. Sometimes mundane as I really don't do that much, although in my head it seems that I do. But I really do love them and must appreciate the sense of non work related stuff I do...although it is on the back of mind and creeps up on me as the days get closer. He he.

Love

First Run of the Season

For Christmas/birthday I asked Mark for running things so that I could run outside in the winter. Basically the cold and I do not see eye to eye. However my body doesn't agree with me when I decide to run the speed I left off in the fall, every spring. I am noticing it now as I get older. Grumble grumble. Lol.

I digress. So for the celebrations I got spikes, running gloves, jacket, and pants. No excuses. So what did I do today. I ran. And it felt really good. Mind you it was probably only -5. I don't know how great I will feel in the -20 or if I will ever consider it a possibility but today it was awesome. Cool air, few stars, clear skies, quiet, and serene.

It was love.

in love with running

yesterday was one of those perfect days for running.
the air was crisp.
the leaves were coloured.
the sun was out.
the clouds were different shades of white to dark blue.
no wind.
just my me and my ipod.

and my memories.
jr. high memories of doing worlds
and beating the boys (wink, wink) 
going to track meets
 
high school memories of running in the hallways.
doing cross country.
running in cities not far off from where i run now.
going to meets in airdrie.
training in the 500km club
having fun with friends.

more memories.
15 years later i am still running.
even longer distances.
that is still hard to believe.
i truly love running.

the half marathon continues

as i look back at this post i laugh a little because i was right. i did do it again. but this time around i felt fantastic. i used the same training program as last year but instead of running four times a week (something i felt i was overdoing and causing unnecessary soreness and potential injuries) i ran three times a week with hills on one day and progressive distances the second and third days. in between i rode my bike to work and did some weight training (plus a monstrous hike) so the strength and cardio were there...

....and guess what!

i felt great. wonderful morning of sun, slight breeze and zero cold. did my warm-up and off i went. this time around i ran solo as jeff was in training for a marathon. so my strategy was to stick to the back in the beginning and do the passing. it seemed to work! PLUS it was flatter than the hillier one i had done previously.

best of all was my friendly supporting team. RIGHT when i was about to walk (seriously) within the last kilometer jeff spotted me. shouting my name he ran right with me leaving me no excuse to stop until he left during the last portion  (and really who walks that part). jeaninne and dj caught the finish this time and cheered me on and mark rode his bike effortlessly to find me (unfortunately to no avail) but he was there for me in the end and that is really all i can ask for! :) thanks guys, you make a girl feel so special, so glad you could spend your sunday morning with me! :)

overall i got my goal time sort of. i had wanted to get under two hours. well my total time was two hours and one minute. ooooo one minute i will love you for ever as i enjoyed my water breaks and small walks in that time! i am actually really excited to do it again....we will see if i can make it happen! ;)

here is a little photo slideshow of the ending with my lovely friends. note jeaninne posing as a pregnant marathon runner! yes she is that amazing! :) lol

have a good night,
love

i cracked...

i was so strong for so many months. four to be exact. but i just couldn't help myself. i have been thinking about it since friday. i came so close on that day to getting it but forced myself to drive away...unsatisfied. but it is study week. so on the way home after working both jobs i had to stop...i couldn't help myself...i bought...

MCDONALDS!

GASP, SHOCK, HORROR!!!  

and guess what??? it was worth every bite! so good. he he he. as i told mark, new years resolutions are meant to be broken. AND this has probably satisfied my cravings for another 4-5 months.

so what does one do after breaking their resolution? sign up for a half marathon of course! yes, i am torturing my body once again (i swear, it is just like hiking, i forget about all the pain once it's all over). august 21st is d-day!. i am going to try and be a little gentler on my body this year focusing more on strength training and resistance with a little less running. by that i mean running three times a week instead of the usual four. however, my ultimate goal to keep my cardio up by riding my bike to work like i did two years ago. hopefully i can keep it up! THAT ladies and gents, is my summer goal!

off to procrastinate...
love

be careful where you step!

hello again!

its been awhile i know BUT i do have the best excuse. i could only type with one hand. yes, that is correct, the other had undergone a sprain/strain. i don't know really, the x-rays just indicated there was soft tissue damage but no (thankfully) broken bones.

so how did this disaster occur? one word: treadmill. yes, i fell victim to a treadmill injury. i have heard of such injuries. AND i am now in good enough humor to laugh about it (the first two days...maybe not so much). what went down was this. i signed out treadmill number 6 (one i probably will never run on again). i got all my stuff ready, put my book down on the floor. stepped on to the treadmill and soon found myself on the gym floor. humiliated, shocked, embarrassed and wondering what the heck happened. one of the ladies at the gym ran right towards me. apparently she was working on the treadmill and left it running but went to go get some things. initially i felt a pain in my wrist but i thought i could work it out. so what did i do? continued to work-out for 40 minutes (was i in shock or just crazy?). the ladies at the gym came over to see how i was doing and i told them i am fine but i will know more the next day if any injuries set in. in seriousness i really just wanted them to go away because i was so embarrassed. i know they were concerned and trying to help but i just felt like a tool. everyone around me pretended like nothing ever occurred and just worked out their stress (although i am sure they had quite a laugh that morning) i think them working out just made me more self-conscience (but really i think if they all stopped i would have cried...lol). as the day progressed and the pain started to set in, in my wrist...i realized that i really did hurt it (and concluded that i must have landed on it). there were other sore tendons the next morning but nothing that a week of rest (i am sure) couldn't cure. but i did start to worry about being able to type AND being able to surf on our vacation two weeks from now.

the good news is i can type again. in great timing too as i really have to wrap up that (never-ending) paper. there is a bit of mild pain but not as bad as the last two days. i can't really move it back and forth or weight bear...but i can get my paper done so as far as i am concerned i am feeling (SO MUCH) better than yesterday and the day before.

plus the bonus sympathy from my parents is always good. times like these i need their comfort! love you both and thanks for being there!!!!

love

the half marathon

well it is done. a run i would like to call: hellish. ah. i really wasn't feeling the run like i have on other days BUT guess what!!??? it doesn't matter. i finished it! walked a bit, ran a bit and jeff stayed by my side the entire time...refusing to leave my side (which i know very well he could have!!). my overall average was about 5:59/km and i am taking it with pride! my personal aim was to finish the race under 2 hours but i really needed those extra 16 minutes! :) AND there is always next year! he he he. as i say this my body is slowly rejecting me but i know in my heart it will happen again. it was too much fun training and i really do have a love for running. who knows maybe some day i will get to the infamous 2 hour goal??!!!

love

the race

because many people have been asking where i am running. here is the info. you will only be familar with it obviously if you have lived in this area.

The Moose is Loose is on Sunday and it's time for a short update.
The route this year is the one we planned for last year before the storm sewer collapse and the wind storm blew down trees.  Because someone has been having fun with the on-line map here is a written description:
The start Finish line will once agin be in Emily Murphy park.  The race for all groups will start and finish here.  the route follows the river side trail around the golf course and Hawrelak Park  (water station here) and into the woods trail on the south side of Hawrelak Park.  This trail will take you along the river until it comes out on Saskatchewan drive where there will be a water station.  All participants then go west along the paved trail and down the hill  along the old Keillor road.  at the bottom of the hill the 10k runners and walkers will turn around and head back the same way they came.  The half marathon group will continue west and follow the trail to the foot bridge over Whitemud creek, and then turn right along the river (water station here).  after passing under the Quesnell bridge as soon as you get to the trees there is a trail turning toward the river into the woods. Take this  trail and follow the r! iver to the west end of Fort Edmonton Park where it goes up a very short but steep hill, and onto a paved road.  follow the road until you see a blacktop trail on your left and follow the trail around to the John Jenzen Nature centre. stay close to the curb on your right and catch the trail again as it goes around the parking lot and then across the access road to the fort. turn right back onto the sidewalk under the Quesnell bridge and follow it back to the foot bridge.  Do NOT cross the bridge but turn right and go up to the road but turn left on the gravel trail going south.  This trail goes under the bridge on Fox drive and then head south through the trees along the creek.  Follow the trail toward Rainbow Valley.  The turn around point this year is about 2km up the valley but not all the way.  There will be marshals at the turn around point.  when you get back close to Fox drive turn left on the foot bridge that goes east to the Whitemud creek! park parking lot (water station here), through the parking lot and back to the trail that takes you to Keillor Road.  Then follow the same trail back to Emily Murphy Park.

tiiiiiiiiired but feeling happy

feeling ambitious today. i woke up at 5:30am to do my last big run before the 1/2 marathon. craziness i know, but i really wanted to get it in before work rather than after as i enjoy the cooler air.

GUESS WHAT?

i finished it! 18.09km in 1 hour 44 min 42 s. it felt good. however it is amazing how my body starts to shut down in the end. so tired. but i know i could get another 3km in. i am already thinking about doing a marathon one year and wonder if my body can reach that state? only time will tell. but let's stay present!

its going to be a big week of parties and food as mark's sister is getting married. very exciting for her and her groom AND all the family. that and a few get togethers (one with my nursing friends, eek haven't seen them in so long) this is shaping into a most excellent week! :)

see ya
love

its a wrap up of the last two days

these last two days have been nothing but the sole loveliness of relaxation. i work, go home and nap (like the old lady i am) and scrapbook. it has been pure bliss.

i am still continuing my quest for the half marathon as its next weekend (YIKES). so i get up at 6 three times this week and go for my morning run. the goals are 6km and 10km. AND, my running partner has cancelled the next big run that we do together. the target is 11 miles or 17.7km this weekend. whatever. he had a lame reason. i mean who wouldn't want to meet up with me at 6am to go for a run on sunday morning...he he he

i finally finished my painting projects last weekend. i painted my mom's beloved brass lamp (gasp) silver and finished the second coat of my cd case: the lovely zesty lime! they are sitting in my doorway at the moment waiting to move to their real home. alas, we must sell mark's 70 gallon fish tank first. know anyone interested?? PLEASE!!!

next up is a couple of reupholster projects...and maybe i will start on some more of my cooking goals like my nan's raison bread...or brown bread that i set way back when. AND of course continue to work.

on the parent front, they are finally settled in at stanley. or maybe i should just say they are finally there. jim's cat jingles has already caught his first mouse. LOVELY! :)

that is it...have a happy tuesday night and wednesday morning everyone!

mentality

i have always loved to run. however, i have never pushed myself to the extent that i have done these last two summers. last year, a torn hamstring. this year (keep knocking on wood) uninjured. i did 16km today. so hard. i was feeling great until i hit the 13km mark. then it was a test of my mind vs my body. who knew running played such a mental game with yourself. i did finish it. in a pretty good time too. but it was hard. i need my running buddy back! :)

beautiful run with surprising results

a wonderful day outside and a run with jeff. i am starting to enjoy our early morning tradition. it is nice because there is really nothing i would do at 7:45am than run and (bonus) i have the company to do it with. we catch up on each others weeks. more him, than me. i am too tired to talk so i  ask the questions (however i did fill him in on the maggots...shudder)

as we were talking, the subject got to training. i went through the km i have been doing and he mentioned that is sounded sort of like mileage rather than kilometers. i didn't even think to check that! i guess that is my ignorance of the metric system. guess what!! he is right...i was suppose to be doing miles!! ha ha ha i am hoping i will be okay. according to the site i am using i should be able to get to 16km by the middle of my training. with some minor readjustments, i will get to 18km. a mild turn of events that made me smile after a great 10km.

love

training

last year i had a goal to run a 10km race.
i trained diligently and slightly overworked my body.
the result: a torn hamstring, a slightly frustrated gal, and no race.

however, my running buddy, jeff, did magnificently. doing a PB on the big day. so the frustration surpassed to elation for my friend.

this year, i have challenged myself again.
i am healed (or as healed as i am ever going to be).
i have enrolled in yoga: to increase my flexibility and prevent any reoccuring injuries that may occur.
i have been (and continue to) strength training to build up my muscles.
and have been training diligently with less overworking my body

all this for:

1/2 marathon on july 18th.

i am very excited and nervous. i have been running with jeff these past two saturdays and am feeling pretty good. i am just hoping with all hope for no injuries. i feel like i am being exceptionally careful, but the journey will only tell me if i am! :)

wish me luck as the days progress towards my race! :)

love