I am writing this post now close to 6 months after I found out the information. I last wrote about how I found information regarding my dad’s birth mother. And how I am a bit at a standstill finding out more regarding her, as she doesn’t appear to have had any more children other than my dad. And the information I can piece together about a marriage is very limited.
When I spoke with Fanny, who I mentioned was my original counsellor from Quebec, one of the first things she commented on my dad’s file was that it was not common to have both the birth mother and birth father’s names. Now, they couldn’t guarantee with 100% certainty that the birth father name was correct, as they were going on the word of Clothilde when she dropped my dad off at the orphanage. But the likelihood of her making up who the birth father was would be slim.
Let’s just cut to the chase. I have a name.My dad’s birth father is Maurice Cusson.
Want to know the crazy part? I immediately knew who would know who this was. And that person is Fernand.
I wrote about Fernand a bit, starting in 2020. The link to this post is here, and at that time I just assumed that my 23 and Me connection meant that we could somehow figure out the birth mother. He exchanged emails with me during the pandemic and we tried to pin down which aunt of his could possibly have had a child out of wedlock. We got to a point where we MAYBE thought we had who it was, but this person was already deceased and her surviving children did not want to talk to Fernand. Fernand was always very kind and really seemed invested in helping me out. Our conversations and emails lessened in the past 2 years or so, but I did every once and a while check in with him.
When I knew I was getting information directly from Quebec, I emailed him and let him know. I was honestly surprised to keep hearing from him—not sure if he would have gotten sick of me, maybe he was now older and not in the right health to talk…but he acknowledged he wanted to know what I find out.
So, when I got that name….Maurice Cusson….Cusson. That was the last name of Fernand’s grandfather. I knew this from our conversations and seeing things on Ancestry.com. So we were on the right track. So I had to immediately email Fernand and I sent him that name to find out the connection. His response:
Maurice Cusson was my uncle, my mother (Florence) brother! He was a « sailor », I believe I mentioned it, électricien, on a summer cruise ship, river cruise. He and his wife lived in Sorel, Que. Maurice was very nice person. I will dig up pictures and some anecdotes. We are cousin!
So, that means….this man, who is still alive and well in Quebec….named Fernand….is my dad’s first cousin. A cousin of my dad’s is alive and well. HOLY SHIT.
Fernand has sent me numerous photos of Maurice that he has dug up. His older brother, Roger, has also helped with the genealogy quest and is involved with sending me anecdotes. For so many years, I knew so little. Now, my world has opened up.
The main thing worth noting is that Maurice & his wife never had children of their own. We have no idea if Maurice had any idea that he possibly fathered a child. The connection we have made with what Maurice did for a living (sailor) and what Clothilde did for a living (worked on a ship) makes it very clear this was either a one-night stand or affair of some kind. Maurice was born in 1913 and then passed away in 1987. Maurice had many brothers and sisters, along with nieces and nephews. But he didn’t appear to know about his son. When he fathered my dad, he would have been around 40 years old. And with his death being in the late 80s, there was no chance of us having access to the Quebec adoption records at that time. So really, even my dad had wanted to know, he probably could have never found out.
So now I know about Clothilde & Maurice. And I have a smattering of photos of Maurice. And the craziest part…I now have flights booked for myself, Dan and Andy to head to Quebec over Easter. We are meeting Fernand. I am meeting my dad’s cousin. Even typing that is wild and my eyes swell every time, no joke. I am meeting family that I have dreamt about for so long, not knowing if they would actually exist or that I could find them. Wow.
Lets not forget that the tagline of my blog has to do with “Running, Disney & Dad”…so I MUST include a recap of my trip to Disneyland Paris. This trip was part of my trip to do the London Marathon, and was one of the main bargaining chips I used in order to convince Ali to come along to see me run the race. Given how Easter fell this year, I had Spring Break for the week or so before the day of the London Marathon. This allowed for earlier travel to Europe, and what better than just going to London….but to also go to Paris…namely, Disneyland Paris. So here is my quickly done post (frantically doing it during my prep period at work) about an amazing trip overseas.
It is obvious to anyone who has read my blog in the past 10+ years that I am a Disney Parks fan. Growing up going to Walt Disney World, eventually getting to Disneyland & California Adventure…doing many of the RunDisney races on both coasts, going on family trips, friend trips, you name it…I do it. But I had yet to go to an international Disney park. And that changed with Disneyland Paris.
Ali & I both flew in to Charles De Gaulle on the Tuesday morning after Easter. We were flying in from different originating airports, but we were able to manage getting flights that arrived around 30 minutes from one another. We easily found eachother past customs in the baggage area, got our stuff, and headed on out. We had done a little research into the transit options to Disneyland Paris (lets just call it DLP from now on…too much to type), and the Metro seemed potentially sketchy with all our luggage due to pick-pockets. And a long time because if you check a map, it would include a transfer and its all not very direct. There is also a direct high-speed train but it is expensive and runs at limited times. So we opted to book an Uber and chose the option for a female driver who would only drive female passengers. Perfect! Our driver happened to speak decent English also and she was so nice. The drive took around 45min-1hour, and we really just went through some different countryside areas until we happened upon the DLP resort.
Petit RosalieIt’s a Small WorldHotel YEE HAW!
We booked our resort, Hotel Cheyenne, through MEI & Mousefan Travel. DLP does hotel & ticket packages if you want to book at one of their hotels, so we didn’t even try to look at hotels on the outskirts because this just simplified everything. We were on property this way, could walk to the parks, and had 1 hour early entry by staying at a hotel property. In this post, I will mention some differences (good and bad?) that we noticed between DLP and the US parks. First weird thing for us was the check in process. We had our bags with us but they wouldn’t let us into the hotel check-in with our suitcases…we had to wait in a line outside to check our bag with an attendant, then went inside to check-in. When we checked in, we found out that our room was ready early (it was around 1:30 pm I think?) so then we had to go BACK outside to reclaim our suitcases. Anyway, we got to our room early so we could wash our faces, change and feel refreshed (even though I had not slept at all on the flight).
Hotel Cheyenne is themed like the infatuation people have with US cowboy stuff. Ali and I started calling it Hotel YeeHaw. Room was fine and worked for us. Had a double bed and a trundle bed. I slept on the trundle and it was actually the comfiest bed I had all trip. There was AC and a fan in the room, thank god, and we got that going. When looking at hotel options, we had first wanted Hotel Sequoia as the rooms are a bit nicer, a little bigger, and resort theming is better. And initially, the price point was the same. But in about 5 days from when we received the quotes and made a selection, it went up quite a bit more than Yee Haw. So we stuck with Yee Haw.
One positive we noticed at Yee Haw compared to US hotels is how quiet is was on property. This maybe had to do with the fact that none of the hotels have an outdoor pool (Yee Haw had no pool, but Sequoia has an indoor), but then also even though there was themed background music, it was only playing surrounding the main building. Our building area was silent. And we NEVER heard kids running down the hallway, screaming, yelling, etc. It was very peaceful.
The walk to the DLP version of Disney Springs/Downtown Disney is very easy and along a small river. There is a ton of construction right now because they are doing loads of upgrades at downtown, along with Studios Park & Disneyland. So yes, it’s an eyesore. But it was easy enough to get to and get through. We stopped at Petit Rosalie for cheese & wine to make our France arrival official. I am dumb and didn’t read a label on something that I thought was cheese wrapped in foil and instead took a bite out of a stick of butter, but yeah….we headed to Disneyland Park and then were ready to take it all in.
We right away noticed all the beautiful gardens as you were entering DLP. There is so much focus on gardens and nature in DLP-a lot less of a concrete jungle than the US parks. The architecture is also stunning. The castle…wow. WDW castle is larger, but this castle appears to be larger due to how it is built up. And what’s awesome is how you can walk through the castle in many different levels….below to see the dragon, above to see the stained glass. We spent a lot of time taking pictures and just wandering.
Beautiful Castle!Second day, heading back for lunch at Walt’s
I’ll end up blending things from both our days in this post, otherwise it’ll get too long. We did Small World as our first ride and it was fun to see a different iteration of it, especially being North American and how they include our homes in the ride. We eventually made it over to The Disney Studios Park, which many will say lacks in Imagineering…oh, it does. But they are building the World of Frozen so eventually it’ll be better. I was able to get on Remy in single rider very fast going over there, and we got to experience the terrible Cars Road Trip tram ride. Oh, it’s so bad it’s funny. We later on did Pirates (and ate at Captain Jacks) and Phantom Manor. Both iterations of these rides I thought were better than the stateside ones, in particular Phantom Manor. Haunted Mansion is loved by many, but Phantom Manor really knocks it out of the park. We ended up doing it 3 or 4 times over the days we went to the park.
Pirates at sunsetQuestionable Cars Road TripPhantom Manor
We were going to try to stay up for the nighttime show that first night, but we knew we needed to give in and shower and get back to the room. We did early entry the next day and were on Main Street while it was completely empty, albeit raining. We didn’t think through our morning attack, and I had neglected to see which rides were actually open at both parks for early entry, so we sort of wasted time trapsing around. But we got Hyperspace Mountain done (it goes upside down!), Buzz Lightyear and Pinocchio. Did more wandering in the rain. Did the Indiana Jones Roller Coaster (also upside down…who am I?), ate some comical Dorito nachos thing, before heading back to room for me to run and both of us to refresh.
What we started noticing by this point was how different the clientele at DLP are. In the stateside parks, everyone is complaining and pushy and rude–to other park goers and the employees. Here, we notice that European’s have no spatial awareness, in that they are always sort of cutting you off or in your personal space. However…no one is complaining. No one is fighting or arguing. Everyone just exists and goes with it.
questionable snacks….Empty Main StreetCoffee & ponchosReason for this blog….for my dad!
After our little break, we luckily had a reservation at Walt’s on Main Street. This was our special treat for our 40th birthday’s. It was a three course meal and it was fantastic. We did more rides after, some repeat, then were able to check out Hotel Marvel Skyline Bar. It was very cool. When we made it back to the park later we trekked it over to Phantom Manor, again, and then eventually got onto Main Street for the nightime show. I was impressed with the show-it’s a mix of lights, projections, drones and fireworks. There are less fireworks than at the US shows, but we were comfortably able to get a spot on Main Street and see everything well. Yes, you could pay more for a reserved spot near the front, but being right down the middle of Main Street was great for us, and made it quick to exit when the show was done. Show started late-10:40 PM. It doesn’t get dark until very late in Paris, so it has to be this late really.
Nightime showCheers to Disneyland Paris!
Our two night hotel package included three days of park tickets, so before checking out the following morning we took advantage of going in one more time to just soak everything in. To anyone who loves Disney Parks but hasn’t been to an international park yet….do it. I would encourage going to DLP, but maybe wait until all the current construction is done (we were sad when we found out a few months ago Thunder Mountain would be closed…you go in a tunnel under the lake to an island for the ride. Damn) so all the new enhancements are completed. I have spoken about a lot of positives we saw compared to the US parks. One thing that is different and I am not sure if it is a negative (or just something we take for granted) is the lack of good snacks and counter service restaurants. Our meal at Walt’s was excellent. Captain Jack’s was good. But all the other sit-down restaurants were buffets mainly. And the quick-service items were less than to be desired. Maybe North American’s just love their weird snack foods/appetizers/food-on-a-stick/etc…and maybe we are just used to all the options you can have at someplace like EPCOT. So that is different.
Will I go again? I have no clue. But I knew that if I was heading to Europe to do a marathon in London, I sure as hell wanted to try to check going to Disneyland Paris off my bucket-list while there. When we checked out, we took an uber to our hotel in Paris (near Gare du Nord) and had less than 24 hours to explore Paris itself before hopping on the Eurostar the next day to get to London. We had a great time in Paris and the Eurostar was an efficient and enjoyable experience. I can’t wait to get back to France someday in the future, hopefully with Dan and Andy, and take in more of Paris itself.
I am about a week and half post marathon, and I know the sooner I get this post out, the better it will be. I don’t plan to make this lengthy, just want to give an account of what the experience was participating in the 45th edition of the famous London Marathon!
More on this selfie later!
Last year I realized that the London Marathon would fall the week after Easter. This was a jackpot spot for me, as a teacher, as my school division has Spring Break from Good Friday through the following week. This meant I would be able to travel overseas for this event and only have to use my minimal personal days to cover a few days after the race. The entry and cost was the next step, and I found a tour provider, Dream Travel Canada, who I joined quickly. I didn’t care about the cost–I knew this was my way in. If you are curious about the cost, you can easily google it…it is pretty steep for getting a guaranteed race entry into this event. However, with the other option being their “Ballot” (the lottery) and it getting more insane every year (just a few days ago the ballot closed for next year’s race and a staggering 1.1 million people entered) this was my way to assure I got in during the perfect Easter bubble.
Training had been going great all season. I had a different goal going into this race, though—train for a 3:30 time, but know that this will not happen. I had that mindset for a variety of reasons.
1.) The overseas travel and jet lag to take into account. And that I would be landing in Paris the Tuesday before the race, doing Disneyland Paris, sightseeing, Eurostar to London, sightseeing, etc. When I do my recap on Disneyland, I really will comment on how much we actually walked before the race day…and while I had some regret in this about a week post-race, I know that looking back I truly have no regrets on how hard Ali and I toured Europe. I don’t know when I’ll be back there again! I didn’t want to spend my days leading up to the race in poorly air conditioned hotel rooms (come on Europe, that’s the only thing I have a complaint on)!
2.) Other world majors I have done can be very crowded. Lots of weaving, not sure how the corral system would work, etc. I didn’t want to be frustrated trying to weave through people and then ultimately fall short. In the end, I found the flow of the course to go quite well and that was not a problem at all (I think my start corral helped)
3.) I am paying an insane amount to travel here, so I wanted to have fun! I set a dumb goal of really going all out the first half, admitting to my coach I would “most likely fall apart” the second half, but then try to really just take in the sights and enjoy it. That is, in fact, exactly what I did and you can see that with my data on Strava.
The tour group we went with was great with communication. We had a meet up on the Friday evening at our hotel, a Holiday Inn, so we could meet other runners. At this meetup, someone offered me their spot on the bus for race morning to get to the start area. I gladly took this so I didn’t have to deal with transit race morning and it was appreciated. Race morning came, and they started breakfast early downstairs for the runners. It was mainly a cold buffet, and I thought I had eaten enough. In retrospect, I should have taken more food with me to the race area to eat before the event because I was struggling with hunger throughout the race. This has been something I have spoken with my coach about, as this training cycle I seem to never have enough calories. Sometimes, I know I am not eating enough. But other times I am baffled to why I feel empty. We hope to get this sorted out before my 50 km in September.
A group of us from the bus who were in the Blue Wave stuck together during the morning after going through security. We had around 1.5 hours to just sit and wait. Weather was overcast, but it was predicted to keep warming up throughout the day. One really great thing was the number of porta potties. I went, I think, 3 times before we got into the corrals and I never had to wait. This is a nerve-wracking thing for runners! The announcers were clear with directions and they explained when they would start queuing the different start waves. I was wave 3 in the blue corral. I admittingly put an estimated finish time 10 minutes faster than my personal best. But, given how I knew I was tackling this race, I knew that for at least the first 10 km I would be cruising at that pace. What was cool about the Blue corral was that we got to start on the ‘official’ start line. There were two other corrals that would then feed into one another around the 5km mark, and they started in other off-shoots of the main start line. My co-worker, Jeni, who killed the race in a 3:07 and was the 10th fastest female finisher from Canada, was starting in Pink. We were at the same hotel, but we never saw each other on race day due to start area logistics.
It was an exciting start and I do think I teared up as I went across the start line. Music and excitement at these races bring on emotions and I can’t control them. This was the start of my 5th Abbott World Major…now I just needed to get to the finish! I went out fast, like I said I would, and just kept with the pace. Crap-already hungry. I had eaten one pack of my Honey Stingers while sitting around, so I have one more pack of honey stingers and 4 Xact bars, along with Xact electrolytes to get me through. Thank god for the spectators later in the course who had cut up oranges and gummies…god bless.
I won’t talk about mile by mile, but my first half generally went with the plan. Go hard, then fall apart…haha. The point I knew things would change would be as we approached the iconic Tower Bridge. I actually met up briefly with a former math student of mine the day prior-he lives near Tower Bridge. He and a friend were going to come watch race morning. I actually spotted him….Zitong! Zitong! He got my picture. Then the vibe over Tower Bridge was electric. So many photographers. So cool. Such energy. Then I got off the bridge, all hyped up, to then do a double-take….IS THAT GORDON FUCKING RAMSEY??? I turned around and went BACK around 50 meters and basically yelled in his face “GORDON RAMSEY!!!!?!?!?!?!?!” He just started laughing. I think he gave me a hug, maybe a fist bump, I now don’t remember. But I asked for a selfie. That is the photo at the top of the page. He was laughing and I was digging my phone out of my pack. He tells me to hurry up! and I get the photo, thank him and on my way….but not until i take the time to send this photo to a group chat of friends at what would be around 3:00 am. This was a race highlight and if I had been taking it too seriously, wouldn’t have been able to enjoy.
Hi!!!I don’t know that woman, but she looks happy too!
The second half of the race started to get warm. It got to a high of around 22 degrees Celsius, which on paper isn’t “hot.” But all week we were getting emails warning us about it. When you train all winter and pull off outdoor workouts in -40, this is quite the swing. There was also something about the air flow in the second half of hte race….larger buildings around, sun reflecting off the buildings, etc….I was taking the small water bottles every station they had them. I would swig some water, then squirt a bunch all over my head. Rinse and repeat. There was also ice that I grabbed and put in my buff.
This whole time, since race start, my calves were cramping. They actually were like this since Friday morning. I had woken up in the middle of the night with what I thought were Charlie horses. Whatever it was, the cramping never went away. Probably due to the fac that on Wednesday I walked 38,000 in Disneyland Paris…but that’s another story. I contemplated time and again about stopping at an aide tent to get my calves massaged, but I was worried that if I stopped it would be harder to stop again. So I just slowed down and trucked on.
As I got to the final 5km, Ali was able to find me from a spot she was standing on the bridge. I wasn’t aware of this until after the race, but I am glad she was able to spot me in the masses of 56,000 people. She said my tall red socks along with bright yellow vest helped a ton. I knew I could still get a sub 4 hour time, which honestly was the time I wanted in the back of my head when all was said and done, so I kept moving. Running to see Big Ben was awesome! The turn down the finish line in the Buckingham Palace area was also really cool, but I couldn’t really properly soak it in as I just wanted to finish. In the end, I finished with a respectable time of 3:57.26. Of my five world majors, this one is my 3rd fastest—I’ll take it!
Big Ben in the background5th World Major completed!
They only had water and their sport drink to hand out as post-race refreshments. Possibly due to the sheer number of runners, but this was rough as I was really wishing for a bagel or something. I guess if you knew you’d want something right away, you woul dhave wanted to check a bag. But then you’d still have to walk to claim that and all. It was just weird to me as a North American to not get any post race food item. But, I will say that exiting the race was a lot quicker than North American races. In New York, I swear we walked another 5 km through Central Park to help ease the crowds before we were actually allowed out. Here, I just wandered through this wide gathering area to an exit, and then Ali sent me visual descriptions of which alley way to turn down to find her at a pub, where she waited for me with a beer in hand. We then took a slow walk back to our hotel (about 2 miles) and we stopped at a pub that was giving a free burger to all finishers who brought in their medal. There—I got my food!
Do I recommend doing London? Hell yeah, especially if you are on the 6 World Major track. Would I do it again? No. There are too many other races out there in the world to do. The cost for me to get here to do this race was heavy, but it was worth it. I had a great experience and I cherish the memories not only of the race day, but the trip to Europe and all the hard months training. I am really proud of the things I accomplished leading up to this race, and only I can understand how important those milestones are. London 2025….thank you for everything.
Saturday, May 25th, marked the Rita’s Run 5km and 10km to benefit mental health. This race is put on by Kinetic Cycle & Fitness-this is where I go for my cross-training workouts! It is a fantastic spin, row and weight studio and I highly recommend going here for a great workout.
The day was BEAUTIFUL and couldn’t have asked for better weather! Blue skies, no wind, gorgeous colours all around in the river bottom. The race was located down at the Elks Compound in Indian Battle Park and the start and finish would be in the same vicinity. The 10km started at 9:00 am and the 5km at 9:15 am. I am grateful that Dan drove Andy and I down and dropped us off near the starting area, as we just had a short walk to the start. The parking in the river bottom area is very scattered and limited, and it was very packed with this event. We had more than enough time to get to start area and Dan meet us there before the 5km began.
Andy was excited for this race becuase it was a ‘real race,’ meaning he had a race bib and timing. We have always been stressing to Andy that when we do 5km events he just has to try his best and he can’t always expect a personal best time each race. With the temperature outside that morning along with his spirit, I knew a personal best time was possible.
When we run 5km races together, I am his pace bunny. He knows he shouldn’t go faster than mom because he may get too tired. He did a great job doing this that day! What he didn’t do, however, was stop talking! The amount of energy Andy uses trying to ask me questions during a race is so funny. But I know he was having fun.
Another fun thing about the race was that since it was local, there were lots of people running and spectating the race that we knew. Andy likes it when people cheer him on and recognize him. He also saw some classmates from school doing the race too. Whenever we have a race that has an out-and-back component it is really motivating for him becuase a lot of runners will cheer him on as he is heading back. Seeing a 6-year-old’s legs move as quick as his is shocking, so I think he throws a lot of people off when they see him.
Pure joy !Racing with mom
His miles splits were so consistent: 9:54, 9:58 and 10:05. I did tell Andy when we hit every kilometre along with every mile….he sort of understands the difference (miles are where Grandma lives, kilometres are here). So if anything he now knows that 5km is 3.11 miles! Anyhow, telling him where we are at and how much is left to go really keeps this kid moving. As we came into the finish, dad was there with some friends cheering us on. He got a really good video of us coming in and finishing, along with some commentary encouraging that Andy “takes me” at the finish. And what did we have, but another personal best. Time of 30:37, placing 3/17 in the 10 & under male and 78/355 overall! We are so proud of Andy and fully expect him to crack 30 minutes sometime this year, whether it be at Park Run or a registered 5km race. Time to get this kid some new running shoes!
Oh Red Deer. Every May Long, this race comes up and most years, we sign up. Dan’s family lives in Red Deer so it is a relatively “easy” event, in that we can head up on a holiday long weekend and have someplace to stay. I have only ever ran in the half marathon at Red Deer, but they do offer a 10km and full marathon distance (Dan did the full for his first full marathon!) They also have the kids run, which is approximately 1 kilometer. I have had some good results and poor results from this race in the past. My goal this year was to do better than last year, and I figured that could be somewhat easily attainable due to lots of changes. But you never know what to expect race day. And what happened on race day this year, I did not expect.
Last year, they had to cancel the full marathon distance due to forest fire smoke. This year, weather played in our favour. It was cool at the start, overcast, and no wind. The race starts and finishes near Lindsay Thurber High School and follows some great trails in the Red Deer trail system. You head to Kerry Wood Nature Centre, along the river, Heritage Ranch, Bower Ponds….sure, these mean nothing to someone who doesn’t know Red Deer. But really it’s a good highlight real of the nature and surrounding area.
Race start was at 8:15 am (10KM started at 8:00 am). My plan for this race was simple-go out harder than was smart and just try to hold on as long as possible. No, seriously. It was. Would I recommend this to everyone? No. Would I do this all the time? No. But, with the training and progress I have been making along with it being so long since feeling somewhat confident in going into a race, I figured I shouldn’t hold back or approach it gently.
Starting out, the main thing to note at this race is I started strong, with my first mile clocking in at 7:22. Now, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold on to that pace the whole way, but I settled in and felt comfortable and confident. At mile 2, there is a turnaround near the nature centre. At this point, I could clearly see which female runners were ahead of me. There were 3. And they all had marathon bibs.
Ok—I was in first place for the half. This won’t last longer than 6 km into the race….for sure…..
Well. Spoiler. It lasted past 6km. And past 10 km. Past 15km. Somehow, I held on. My slowest miles were at mile 6 (which was definitely the uphill from the river trail to then head towards Heritage Ranch) and then mile 10 (which had another small climb and that is just a tough spot for me at any half).
So yeah, this is the shortest race recap ever because nothing with my positioning in the race changed amongst the other female runners during the whole race. I stayed in the same position I was since the start and managed to win the Red Deer Half Marathon. As I was coming into the finish, I started crying under my sunglasses. This was insane and unexpected. I have ran faster Red Deer Half Marathons before in the past and never even placed top 3. Everything aligned in regards to who wasn’t there….but more importantly, who did show up: ME. My final time was 1:44.37. Welcome back Lammers, welcome back!
Dan finished his half and then we were able to watch and cheer Andy on during his kids race. Andy did really well! It was a shorter race than he was used to, and immediately he wanted to know his time (my next blog post will touch a bit more on his times!) but this was not a chip-timed event for kids. He was happy to receive his finisher medal and some snacks from the tent. We headed back to nana and gramps’ house to shower and clean up. Then, Dan and I had to make it back for the awards ceremony.
There was some live music in the school gym before the ceremony and actually a decent number of people turned up for awards. They demolished the pronunciation of my name, but that is always funny to say the least. I was surprised to get not only a medal for overall winner, but for my age group. Usually they don’t double dip. Along with an additional medal, I received not one, but TWO gorgeous tiles form a local artisan (one for overall and one for my age group) and a $300 cheque! This is the largest cheque I’ve ever received at a race! Again, my mind always keeps looking at this in disbelief because I have ran faster in the past. But, every race is different. This was unexpected but icing on the cake.
That $300 immediately was deposited and put towards my London Marathon down payment I have already made with the tour provider. After awards, we had a great family dinner and an easy-going night. My body also didn’t feel too awful in the days that followed. While I don’t have any upcoming road races this year, it is not going to be trail season. My plan is to keep building on my mileage into this summer and fall so that when that London Marathon training plan starts, I have an excellent base….and a lot of motivation to see what else I can push my body to do!
I can’t promise I will start regularly posting, but I know I am good for at least one yearly post. So here it is. In reverse order.
Disney
Well, of course Disney is still a huge part in my day to day life. Yes—day to day. I feel like I am always thinking or daydreaming about it. It really is my ‘happy place.’ Last August, Andy and I went on a mommy & son trip to Disney with my dear friend Maureen and her son. It was such a great trip and we made so many memories. The memory I want to forget is catching COVID for the first time while there and us having to truck through the trip with that going on. WOW-that took a lot out on my body. Andy had one night where he broke his fever and was a bit of a mess, but he trucked on. My positive test when we came back confirmed how shitty I felt, and it honestly threw off my running for about a month then. At least I didn’t have any big events planned!
Disney 100!Cheese & Castles Grandpa Andy’s favorite character
We are doing another mommy & son trip to Disney this August, with hopefully no COVID, and with Grandma. I am really excited to see what rides Andy is most interested in doing and all the memories we can make. Dan and I have been working with Andy a lot lately preparing him for swimming pools, because he is not keen on his swim lessons. We have him in private swim lessons starting a few weeks from now, so hopefully that helps. I made a fake ‘threat’ that Grandma wouldn’t book us at the nice hotel anymore if he didn’t start to want to learn to swim….hopefully that’s lit a fire!
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party…in hot August
Dad
This month marks the 20th anniversary of when my dad passed away. I turn 40 this year. That’s a lot to take in. I have worked really hard in the recent years to deal with the grief that still was lingering and I feel like I am in a pretty good place. There hasn’t been anything new with the family history/DNA/ancestry area. My one close contact hasn’t talked to me in about two years, and it was sort of left that there may be some family resentment/conflict due to the potential unknowns/family skeletons. I decided to send one more message earlier this week to just touch base and say hi…you never know what things could have changed?
There is also a date I am awaiting, and that is June 8th. This day is the day after what would have been my dad’s 72nd birthday, but it is also a day that Quebec puts forth Bill 2 into action. I will put a snippet below from the Province of Quebec website regarding what Bill 2 entails:
This act amends the Civil Code in respect of filiation, the law of persons and civil status. In particular, it amends the rules concerning the knowledge of one’s origins in relation to adoption so as to broaden their scope. Thus, this act allows the adoptee greater access to information about the identity of the parent of origin by eliminating almost all possibilities that a refusal to disclose would hinder it. It also gives the adoptee the right to obtain, under certain conditions, a copy of their original birth certificate and the judgments relating to their adoption, as well as the names of their grandparents and brothers and sisters of origin, and, if they consent to it, the information allowing them to contact them.
It extends services to new categories of applicants, such as the original grandparents of an adopted person and the first-degree descendants of a deceased adopted person. The latter will be able to obtain the same information and documents as the adopted person.
Lastly, it enshrines a person’s right to know their origins in the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. These measures will come into force on June 8, 2024. Until then, the current provisions on knowledge of one’s origins continue to apply.
Honestly. That statement in bold…that is me. And this gives me so much hope. I read this outloud to Dan just now as I typed it and he paused….and said “I am cautiously optimistic for you!” Hopefully, 2024 can be the year we find the real answers.
Running
This is a year, other than the pandemic, that I have no real big races planned. And I can say that I am at a place in my life that I am ok with that! I started the year off with a quick trip to Los Angeles where I was able to take part in the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend with my bff. It had been since 2017 that Disneyland had races (due to conflicts with the city of Anaheim and then the pandemic, etc) so it was great to be back there in that atmosphere!
Cheese & Castles (mom’s turn)
A few weeks ago, we did the Moonlight Run 6km as a family-this was Andy’s first 6km distance. Even in the late-winter snow, he did fantastic. We finished just under one hour, and that was even with him in snow boots. My race focus this year should have been more explicitly stated-it is to run 5km races with Andy! Up next….Coaldale Family Fun Run. He’ll also have the Red Deer Kids race during marathon weekend, Little Souls, and I also plan to get him signed up for a kid’s race in Wisconsin.
Moonlight Run
Andy and I head to Wisconsin in July, and I will be doing the Dances with Dirt Half Marathon Trail Race in Devils Lake. I am looking forward to my first trail race outside of Western Canada! I am not looking forward to the humidity! I will also sign up for one of the local beer garden 5km events that coincidentally have a kids event too.
Dan and I are signed up for the return of Lone Wolf in September, and Coulee Cactus Crawl in Lethbridge will be our warmup trail race together. Still trying to think of a good team name, otherwise our Lone Wolf original of “Lammers & the Dilf” will still hold on.
One big thing to mention that ties directly in with where I am at with my running is to talk about where I am with my health. Without going into too much, I will say that I am in a much better place than I was one year ago. I have lost close to 20 pounds. My body is not hurting. With the guidance of a doctor, I weaned off my antidepressants that I had been on for close to 12 years (but I think were doing more harm than good the last while). I have now been off them for 7 months. I took time off alcohol. Between the being off the antidepressant and pausing on boozing, I weaned off my blood pressure medication. I tracked my blood pressure off the pills for about 2 months in November and December (some time while drinking, some while not) and it has now been stable since January. And I am not on that pill either. I am actually now on no prescription medication—just a daily multivitamin and collagen because I’m old hahaha. And, I had my yearly echo and my heart function has improved since the last one. And super minor, but I am not consuming even CLOSE to the amount of caffeine as I was previously….living on the half caf/decaf life. The meaningful changes I started making a year ago really have made a difference-the tests don’t lie. I am not going back to where I was before.
Took this photo a few days ago. Now it’s pounding snow.
A week ago, this blog entered my mind during a workout. And I reflected on how great I felt when I was actively posting about my running and training. It was therapeutic. I know it will take some extra effort to make posting happen, but with the upcoming Disney, Dad and Running events on the horizon, sharing the good news could do some good. They will be shorter than this, more often than not, and not very well proof-read. But I know this helps.
I have really dropped off with keeping this site updated over the years. Back to work after maternity leave, COVID and excuses all weigh in.
But, doing this site has really brought me JOY over the years. I would to start writing monthly again. But I am not sure what to focus on.
Yes, I am still running. I actually did the Disney Marathon weekend this January and did Goofy Challenge and had a blast. I’ll share a photo(S) below.
And prior to that , I did my first 100km trail race in September 2022. I never wrote a recap on that race. And I plan to do a second 100km this September.
And prior to that we went to Disney’s Aulani in Hawaii! I didn’t even do a recap of that! Well, we returned and moved into our new house so timing was a challenge.
I’ve gone to Disney world a few times since the Pandemic. We bought a new house. And the 19th anniversary of my dad’s passing is tomorrow.
19 years with him. Now, 19 years without.
I need suggestions on what I should post about below. Yes, the origin story of my dad is still in question and I have some new avenues I need to pursue. Yes, I am still running and doing Disney races and crazy races. Im going to Disney this summer with my good friend, her son and Andy. And we are making our own family memories.
What do you want me to write about if I start up monthly writing?
Well well well….it’s finally time. The time has come. It’s here. WE HAVE A RACE WEEKEND GETAWAY!
I know there have been events happening elsewhere in the last year even during the pandemic. But in Canada, most of our things were still cancelled due to gathering laws. And then the ‘easy’ border crossing by road wasn’t easy because it was closed to traffic until I don’t even remember when…November 2021?
In early 2020, we had chosen the Whitefish Marathon Weekend in Montana as our spring race. Had an AirBNB booked with friends. Going to be great! Well, that got cancelled (obviously) and our race entries got transferred to 2021. The race happened in 2021, but none of us from Canada could go…I mean, unless you flew. We weren’t allowed to cross the road border.
Now its 2 years later. And it’s been about 3 years since I have done a half marathon race (my last was Woody’s RV Half Marathon in Red Deer, May 2019). I ran a 1:43.20 then. After that race, my focus was a full in Haida Gwaii (3:42 and change) and my 50km Ultra Trail Race.
I have trained pretty well this spring….but my base and my ability is SO DIFFERENT than it was since I last toed the start line of a road race. I know I should just listen to Dan and focus on that this race weekend is about travel and having fun with friends….but I am nervous. I would used to thrive on being competitive to myself in road races. I am going to push the best I can, and while I have done the mileage in training, I am not sure if I will just explode part way through. It almost feels like this is my first time doing a race and don’t know what to expect.
We leave this afternoon to do the 3-3.5 hour drive to beautiful Whitefish. The weather for the weekend looks ideal. We are staying with really good friends at an AirBNB close to start and finish. In-Laws are already down there at a hotel and are going to watch Andy race day and then take him on Saturday night so we can have some fun.
This trip and race has been 2 years in the making and we finally get to go. I have no clue what my “Race Report” will be. Maybe I’ll surprise myself. Maybe my legs will give out and I’ll have to walk my ass across the finish. Either way, I just have to remember that this means one thing—RACING IS FINALLY BACK!!!
So, as I look back at 2021…..race wise, I want to forget about it all
No races yet this year. Everything had been cancelled. Notice how on the top of my main page I have result headers going way back to 2013? And the last year was 2019? That’s because 2020 blew up all the races. And then 2021 just kept being disappointment after disappointment of races being delayed and then cancelled. I have said it before–I am not a virtual race person. So I only did one in 2021 and that was the Haida Gwaii Half Marathon. That race holds a special space in my heart from when we went and did it in person in 2019. Once summer hit in 2021, I hit the trails. It was my last hope. Lost Soul 50km WAS going to happen! The 100km and 100 mile racers started on Friday, September 10th. It was exciting that something was actually occurring. I started to get my pre-race, night before jitters and laid all my stuff out.
And then….the rain.
This won’t be a really big recap, but the main thing is rain hit at around 9 pm Friday night. We had been so dry and at risk of wildfires all summer long, and it chose to rain that night. Rained all night long….100 mile runners were STUCK on the course in coulee mud. They pulled the runners off the course starting around 3:30 am whenever they reached their next aide station. At some point in the middle of the night the race directors started making a plan.
When I woke up at around 5:30, everything was up in the air. I believe it was at 6:15 am that a decision was posted on Facebook that YES the 50 km race would start, but it would be delayed to 7:15 am, and at that time all 100 mile racers would also start up again with the 50 km runners. The final catch-wet weather route.
What is a wet weather route for a 50 km trail race in the easy-to-destroy coulees? It is a 10km loop you do 5 times that is on mainly pavement, a touch of shale path, and one 100m stretch of mud.
Now. Today’s date is Jan 6th. This race recap is so soon after the actual race, it’s going to be very detailed…..yeah, no. My New Years Resolution is going to be to get back to actually doing training and race recaps, because 2022 better have some fucking races (more on that at the end). But the main thing about this Lost Soul….we were all just SO HAPPY to have a damn race! If this race had been cancelled due to weather, and not COVID, it would have been a huge slap in the heart. Was my time faster than it would have been on the coulee course? Of course—it was pavement. But was I in more pain than I would have been on the regular route? Of course—it was pavement.
Just look at that muddy shale! Photo Credits above and below-LSU volunteers
I am forever grateful for the lovely race directors who made the decision to change the route in order to protect the coulees and allow us to still have an event. It was very stressful even leading up to race day before the weather hit as there was a chance that it would be cancelled if new COVID restrictions had come in by then. So, the only thing I can thank Jason Kenney for is that he delayed any sort of Vax Passport restriction stuff until after my race. THANK YOU, but you are still an asshat.
My finish time was 5:28. I was sore AF after. I got to run with our son Andy into the finish line. My husband got to see me finish. My friend Tracey helped me at the main aid station whenever I came through. The positive about a looped course was that anyone who was spectating was in the same spot and you got to see everyone anytime you came through headquarters. No, it wasn’t the traditional Lost Soul Ultra. But nothing since March 2020 has been traditional.
So, what’s next? Register for the 50km for 2022 so I can do the regular route again and try to beat my 2019 time? Nah…..how about do it twice? That’s right….I registered for the 100km Lost Soul Ultra. This will be my farthest race ever. The most I have ever run in one day is 70 km during our crazy 100 Point Day event in 2020. This will be a total different race for me, and my main goal is to just finish. I need a different challenge; something to motivate me. I had little motivation last year with everything getting cancelled, so starting 2022 off on the right foot with signing up for races and starting plans is step 1.
While that is the Goal race it isn’t until September. I have also already signed up for the Whitefish Half Marathon and Calgary Marathon (both in May) and Taber Tuff 25km Trail Race in July. We also have a deferred entry to the Lone Wolf trail race in September (that was another last minute cancellation due to BC COVID rules). I am going to attempt to get in to the Elk Valley 50km in July to use as a training run. And I will also keep my eyes open for other races that intrigue me.
This year is about getting back in the habit and reaching some new challenges. Here goes nothing!
So. I have been putting off and avoiding writing a post for some time. I have even had it on my “to-do” list. This week, I made a point to tell myself I would do it by Friday, as I would have some time. When I was heading to work, I decided I wanted to title the post as “Hopeful”. So I find it ironic and a bit funny that my stupid desk calendar at work had this cartoon today:
What are you trying to tell me from the grave Charles?
My last post was bidding 2020 adieu. To fill you in on details of each month, I will begin with January:
January
Biggest thing here was getting my foot surgery. I had a Cartiva Implant put in on January 18th. Leading up to the surgery, I was not nervous about going under…but I was nervous about not getting to. With COVID, if I had been placed under quarantine at all, I would have to postpone my surgery. See, that month we had our last week of a 6 week stint of students being ‘at home learning’ and then all students in Alberta were coming back in person the week of January 11th. I joked that if any of those damn kids caused me to postpone this surgery I would never let them live it down. Good news is they did not let me down.
This is the best I’ve looked post surgery ever and I think it’s because my brows are microbladed.
During surgery recovery that month I discovered I cannot handle the side effects of T3’s. I also got to watch the Inauguration of a decent human being and VP from the comfort of my couch. I binge watched Bridgerton, Blown Away and Bling Empire. Overall, January was pretty great.
February
Foot is healing and I was back to work by the end of the first week in February. Crazy that I was already walking on my foot. This surgery is insane! Second semester started and we were all in person, but the COVID cases in classes were still happening and effecting a ton of random classes and kids. I was trying to do strength and core workouts via the Peloton app since I was not cleared to run yet….it was something at least.
Valentines Day allowed for a fun photoshoot with myself and Andy….so adorable this little guy. We also were able to escape to Red Deer for Reading Week because we felt case numbers were down enough in the province to warrant that….little did we know this province would fucking blow up in the coming months.
March
OK. I feel like this is when the disparity between what was happening in the US vs Canada in COVID started to develop. Vaccines were starting to given places in the states pretty swiftly. My whole immediate family (most importantly my mom) were able to access first and second doses quickly. Rollout was great.
What was happening here? Not a whole lot.
My husband is better at explaining the rollout and why we were so slow to the game….in the end, he just commented that “When the US does something great, they do it damn well. We are just a small fish in the sea” We didn’t have the supply needed to start the rollout fast. Every province’s rollout plan was a bit different, and our Phases in Alberta were moving slow. ALSO-Educators were not included in any of the early phases….we would just be the general public in Phase 3. THANKS JASON KENNEY.
March was nice for weather at least. Very grateful for my friend Tracey who fixed my bike, which is my dad’s old Schwinn from the 90s. And Dan bought a bike off Lethbridge Swap and Buy. Andy is getting a bit too heavy for the running stroller, so we tried our friends’ Thule bike carrier and loved it. Huge thanks to Lexi and Simon who are letting us borrow it this Spring and Summer, as they have a double they now use!
All set to go!
Also, I started running this month. I was first told to wait until mid April, but my foot was healing and I was itching to get out there. I decided to sign up for the Virtual Moonlight 6km as a goal. I ran it in a 35:32 which for being two months out of surgery isn’t too bad. Big thanks to Tracey, again, who was there for me – she joined me as I did my 6km! Felt good to do an ‘event.’
As the month wore on, the numbers in Lethbridge for cases were growing, and our school in particular was having case after case after case. I kept dodging my classes being quarantined, but students were in and out for random amounts. Our district wasn’t allowed to make a change to Scenario 3-Online Learning. The Alberta government must approve that. But our school did get approval finally to go online for the four days leading up to Easter because it was just a hot mess and a half.
April
Holy shit, this month was a different thing each week….
Easter came and went. The highlight of Easter weekend was the fantastic weather and our friend Nick’s 40+1 birthday celebration. Last year, his 40th had to be completely cancelled because it was the start of the pandemic. This year, we did a “Runstravaganza” on a Saturday where a handful of us (still within the restriction guidelines of groups gathering outside) ran and biked around 18km, stopping at eachother’s backyards for drinks and snacks. We had Andy with us and I biked with him as Dan ran. It was an awesome day! Felt a little bit of normalcy, as this is something we would have done in a non-pandemic year!
Dan and I also took Andy on a little mini getaway the weekend after Easter….We went to the Calgary Zoo for the first time. While I have been to many zoos, this was also my first time here! I know it’s a bit different than normal, as no indoor-exhibits were open. It was outside only with timed entry slots and masks on. It was a cooler day, but it was honestly great seeing the zoo in a low-crowd scenario. We then stayed in Mossleigh for the night at Aspen Crossing, where we booked a Caboose Cabin. I had gift cards that had been given to me in December as reimbursement for the Polar Express that was supposed to happen, but didn’t. Andy LOVED being in his BLUE TRAIN. It was a really fun experience!
So, that weekend was approximately April 10th give or take…..we had to come back to school IN PERSON after Easter break, as the government denied our schools request to stay online for one more buffer week. Thanks guys, thanks. On Wednesday, April 14th, I was minding my own business teaching Pre-Calculus students about Quadratics when I got a phone call from daycare….Positive Covid case at daycare, children must be picked up immediately. Quarantine for 2 weeks (became a bit more due to a second asymptomatic case during tests) and daycare closed.
:::fuckkkkkk:
I had been around these school quarantines, kids and teachers being in and out all year. My husband had not. All in all, we are pretty fortunate that this didn’t already happen to us. But we had to be creative from the 15th through the 28th. My principals were super in explaining all the different ‘days’ I could access for being at home, as I took on most of the at-home care since Dan needs to be working in order to be bringing home the money. I did not have to get into my personal days or my co-curricular days, and the fact that I already have a morning spare two days a week helped too. But dear god, taking care of a 3.5 year old for over 2 weeks when you can’t leave your house with them….that is something else. Andy was awesome though….Dan and I keep having to remind ourselves that he took it like a champ. He had three different COVID tests and they all came back negative…Dan was the champ taking him for those, but honestly driving to the testing centre at least killed time.
During quarantine, covid vaccines were starting to go up a bit, but moving on from the stages was not going fast. After doing some more digging, I felt like I could honestly declare myself as eligible in one of the early phases because I looked at my Cardiac MRI results from last year pre-COVID and compared them to something that was listed an a chronic health condition. This is something I plan on discussing in a future post, so we will leave that for another day. ANYHOW, since Kenney wasn’t prioritizing teachers I took matters in to my own hands and got my first Pfizer dose on April 18th. In another twist, we heard about that the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana was holding a vaccination clinic at the Carway border crossing, as they had a surplus of vaccines to share. After looking into it all, Dan drove down to the border at 4 am on Wednesday, April 21st. He was 13th in line. Our friends were number 35 or so, and the line kept growing and growing. Dan crossed the border, stayed in his vehicle, got his first dose of Moderna, waited 15 minutes, and drove home. He received paperwork from both Canada and US exempting him from a 14 day quarantine for going into the US. The Blackfeet Nation did not have to share these excess in shots…but they did.
Dan took a pic of the lineup to the Carway/Peigan border with Cheif Mountain in the back. People form age 18-80 were in the lineup….the gentleman behind him was a 70 year old who drove from EDMONTON just so he could get his second dose since those are now being delayed.
So then, a bunch of our friends were able to get the Astra-Zenaca shot because they opened it to 40 and older…don’t worry, no one has had blood clot problems. But the second dose of that is up in the air because of supply….but they suggest 12 weeks for that anyway….and then just when our school and another high school had gotten district approval to moved to a hybrid-teaching schedule for the duration of the school year in attempt to limit tons of quarantine, Jason Kenney sent all 7-12 students in hot-spot areas online. We literally announced to our students Thursday morning that it would be starting the first week of May, and that night an announcement was made. Could have given us a heads up, huh? Fuck.
May
Well, we are halfway through May so who really knows what’s going to be happening. The two week online for hot-spots now is three weeks because then they decided to move it to all K-12 online. Alberta was a flaming dumpster fire at the beginning of the month….cases are crazy. There are so many people being irresponsible and our hospital admissions are so high right now. And it’s a lot of younger people. Who are being reckless. People hosting Anti-lockdown anti mask rodeos….like seriously. Grow the fuck up. We are all sick of this pandemic but it keeps lasting longer because of idiots.
This was the night all the new restrictions got announced and four of us drank beer in a garage while we read them. We would do this even when it is not a pandemic.
But remember at the start of this page, when I talked about Hope?
I still have hope for this month…and the rest of the year!
Vaccine supply increased…Teachers were given FINALLY given a go to get their shots before it was wide open. Kenney allowed them a one day heads up….but then it opened to 30 and older for booking. And as of earlier this week, 12 and older. Basically, anyone who wants a shot in Alberta can go get it. So thank you!
All our friends have had their first shot. I feel safe at work. Dan feels safe at work. We feel safe about Andy at daycare. Numbers are starting to go back down with the new restrictions. Weather is getting better. Summer is ahead.
We are going to escape to the cabin for May Long. In June, I have a virtual Ladies Fest 8km to do, we have our 100 Point Day event again…..I maybe (fingers crossed) will get to go to Wisconsin this summer (big fingers crossed). We will be getting second doses of vaccines. Fall school year should be more normal. And I scored a 50 km race bib for Lost Soul Ultra in September along with us doing the Lone Wolf as a team.
Je Me Souviens-To Infinity & Beyond! 