Ya I am still alive.

So I was pretty busy adjusting to a brand new life in the past 12 months and the good news is my husband, son and I are doing well. I have put my own needs and running on hold for my family but am now ready to get back at it.

We have had some struggles with our sons health, totally changed our way of eating and we try to buy organic products as much as possible. Both my husband and I have changed careers in that time as well so everything seemed overwhelming but in the end it was worth every second.

I am a little disappointed that I have to start from square one again with my jogging but at least I know what to expect now. One good thing is that I weigh a bit less than I did last time. So I need your help to get me motivated and share stories with.

Feelin good and lovin life.

Feelin pretty good

Yep you read it right haha. I am feeling pretty good lately. I have been doing things for myself a bit lately. The results are pretty uplifting.

I am not going to make the same mistake as I did after my first 5k, which was not setting another goal immediately, so I have set a new goal and that is a 10k. The first 10k I found in my area so far is in May so I am committing to that race.

This is so weird to me because I never thought I would even be able to run 1km let alone try to run 5 or 10km.

I now know that running is for me, I may not be fast but it sure brings alot of happiness to my life. It helps me to improve my fitness, it alleviates stress, it gives me something that is just for me and it even helps control my weight. What else can you ask for haha.

Run for the Cure

So Sunday was the big day. My second race ever, it still made me nervous. This race was so non competitive it was terrific. It was just about getting out there and supporting people with breast cancer and celebrating life. I felt terrific.

After my first km I chose a random woman in front of me that was going a bit faster than I. I thought if I can just keep up to her and maybe even pass her I will run a great time(for me). I was listening to my ipod but I wasn't even hearing the songs, my mind was wandering and enjoying every second of this run. I found myself reading who people were running for on their shirts. Aunts, sisters, Grandmothers, friends, coworkers, you name it. I thought about my friends and family that have had to battle cancer, the ones who have won and the ones who have lost and was instantly grateful for every second that went by.

By the last km I knew I would beat my time if I just kept my pace, there were a couple hills that sure made me breath pretty heavy but I was determined. I caught up to the woman I was following from afar the whole race and said thank you. (Advice that I got from my online running friend Wayne, Thanks Wayne) She was shocked and didn't know why so I quickly explained to her that she was my motivation through the race. She was touched, I think I might have made her day.

I ended up beating my last race time by 2min 14seconds and was soooo happy. I have decided I am going to train for a 10k in May 2010. Maybe do another 5k in between. It is such a wonderful feeling to beat your personal best.

Feeling grateful today.

I didn't run yesterday, I just couldn't bring myself to put on my running shoes. I would have stayed in bed the whole day if I didn't have to chase around my two year old. I am a little tired and stuffed up today but good news is my body aches are gone.

So on that note I am going for a run today. Not sure how far but I am going. I am going to try to get it in this morning because the afternoon looks like it is going to be pretty busy.

I weighed myself this morning and was down to 152.5lbs which gives me a 6.5lb weight loss so far. Man I can't believe that I gained 20 pounds in such a short amount of time. In December of last year I was 139lbs. It is my own fault though. I let my emotions get the best of me and the emotional eating began, my exercise dwindled and I lost track of who I really and and want to be. I am glad I woke up before 20lbs turned into something more.

I have read some weight loss blogs recently and they inspire me so much. They are so strong yet admit when they mess up but get right back on track again. I admire that so much. It is nice to read about real peoples struggles and accomplishments that is what gives me that little push to try just a bit harder. I thank all of you for that.

I found out yesterday that not only my sister was coming to watch me race but my nephew and brother in law are coming to support me too. I know it is going to be an emotional race for me because I am running in honour of my brother in laws mom. She is just starting radiation. I am not sure if she is going to be there I kind of hope not because I am already weepy as it is and I would be so embarrased lol. I just found out yesterday that my mothers best friend got diagnosed with lung cancer and starts radiation and chemo in a week. That simply breaks my heart, all of these wonderful people getting the disease. This is hard on my mom because she just lost her father to lung cancer 7 months ago. So I will be thinking of them as well.

When it all comes down to it life IS so short. You never know what is going to happen to the people you love ofryourself so why do most of us spend our whole lives not being the best we can be at all times? We have to be grateful for what we have and learn from every experience we can to better ourselves. I definately have to take my own advice and it starts here.

Here's to wonderful days ahead!!!

Feelin poopy

Well I have been feeling under the weather all week but we finally got our new furnace installed and have heat. It was sure cold yesterday morning.

I don't know whether I should make myself run or not with this cold. I ache all over and just feel blah. I was supposed to go yesterday but just couldn't get motivated and ended up going to bed as soon as I got my son to bed.

I only have 3 more days until my 5k and am scared I won't be able to beat my time. There just seems to be so much going on around here these days. My basement flooded so my husband is doing the weeping tile this weekend. I have been cleaning up water for the past couple days. Furnace guys in and out of the house. Appointment for little man Friday, Wedding Saturday night after working on the weeping tile all day and my race on Sunday. If I can make it without feeling to overwhelmed I will be so grateful.

So what do you think, should I run today and tomorrow and rest saturday before the race? Or skip today run friday and rest Saturday? Or not run at all?

6days until 5k

My original goal for my Sunday run was to go a distance of 4.4km. So yesterday I woke up and I simply felt horibble, my whole body ached and I intantly changed my goal to just getting out past the end of my driveway.

I am proud to say that I did my 4.4km, with the help of my running buddy and a little slower mind you but I did it and I felt fantastic for about an hour afterwards and then the aches and pains in my body returned from whatever sickness I had so I ended up laying low for the rest of the day and made a huge pot of chili. Mmmm it was soooo good.

4km today

I feel a little ashamed because I have had to start my running experience almost from the start again.

I have new goals this time around though. I started running in the first place because I admired anyone I knew that ran and I wish I could do it. With alot of hard work, ups and downs, and a great set of online friends I ran my first 5k. It was such a huge accomplishment for me and I felt on top of the world.

My biggest mistake I think I made was not entering another race right away to keep my motivation. Life got busy and I was discouraged and my running declined and my weight went up. I didn't stop running altogether thank goodness but when I started to get more serious I could sure tell I was out of shape again.

So here I am starting over with 5lbs down and 14lbs to go and I am up to running 4km in 31.52min.

I have 9 days left before my 5k race and I hope I can beat my last race time of I think it was 38.35min. If I don't I know it is not the end of the world. The bigger picture here is I am running a race for a friend with breast cancer and this day is all about her.