Tag Archives: 5km

Apr24

A reframe, per say.

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Hello.

Yes. I still exist.

Life is funny. And busy. And not linear.

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?

Dec30

2019…the new normal

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You can take a look at my 2019 race result link to see the events I did this year. And then, if you feel like it, you can click on 2018, 2017, 2016…and you’ll soon realize how few events I did this year in comparison to other years.

This was the first full calendar year that 1.) I was back at work full time after maternity leave and 2.) we would be now parents to our son Andy, who turned 2 in October 2019. Before a child, I could run whenever I wanted and sign up for any race I wanted (obviously within reason). There were really no constraints! Even when I was pregnant, I kept up the running and shorter events. During maternity leave, I actually did have lots of time to run and train because I was off of work and I was willing to take Andy with me to any daytime boot camps he was allowed at. We still could travel lots and my schedule was flexible. Coming back full time to work with a child at daycare and trying to manage your own activities is not for the faint of heart.

Race medals from my 2019 events

I barely remember the winter and spring of 2019, but it was me focusing on just running in general. I did start a run streak during that time to get myself motivated for the season, but stopped in late March due to just being worn out. My husband never understands it, but Moonlight Run in March is always stressful for me. The first race of the year! I ran alright, and now looking back at that 45:17 I don’t know why I was that down. Then Rita’s Run 5km in May and Woody’s Half Marathon. The half was frustrating for me because 1.) Dan beat me and 2.) my time was actually about a minute slower than the year before while on maternity leave. I just felt down about my decline.

2019 race swag

As summer hit, things got better. Switched over to trail season and I had a lot of fun. This was my first year really giving trail running an honest try. Dan and I did a two-person coulee cactus crawl team and actually placed in the mixed division, even beating teams who had up to 5 members. We also did Lone Wolf in Fernie as a 2 person team and had a blast with our friends and Andy that weekend. In July, we travelled way West to Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, where I ran the full marathon. What an experience that was! It was a small field of runners, but I was honoured to place 2nd female with a pretty respectful time. With little recovery time and still a busy summer, I had to stay prepped for my first trail 50km Ultra. And I did the Lost Soul Ultra in September, even beating my goal time and placing in my age group.

Special awards

I had one more half marathon race lined up in October before the NYC marathon would come in November. That race never happened, as my world was flipped when I got a phone call late September that my Uncle Ed had passed away. This was my dad’s only sibling. I was shook. I travelled to Longville, Minnesota, for the funeral and to see family. When I came back, I could never get back into a groove. I forced my body through the NYC marathon, thankful that my only goal that race was to run with my husband and our friend and have fun. And since after NYC I’ve just lost motivation.

Am I going to stop running? Hell no. But I need to be a little easier on myself and get back to the root of running—-to stay healthy. Dan reminded me that about two days ago. That is the number 1 reason to run. And now, our number 2 reason to run is to spend time as a family and with our friends. That is something that has changed a lot in the last year or two and I am forever grateful for our running friends. Not just the ones we see at marathon club or races, but the ones we hang out with while in NYC…at beer miles…on our patio…our friends who hosted us while we ran in Haida Gwaii…the ones who cheered me on and crewed never at Lost Soul…the ones we are running with in New Years Eve for a group pub run. The last thing is to be competitive. That may have been a higher point to me in the last years. But it shouldn’t be now. It still matters to me; I’m still going to be competitive. But I gotta remember what is more important.

So 2020, what will you bring? I am registered for the Lost Soul 50km and hope to better my time. Dan and I are also doing Lone Wolf again, and our friend and his daughter are going to come and camp with us! We also plan on having a group of us go down to do the Whitefish Half Marathon in May and making it a fun long weekend with friends. 2019 may have been different compared to my other years, but now after reflecting on it, I’m looking forward to what my running future looks like!

Goodbye 2019…hello 2020!

May9

Spring

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Well, Spring came late with winter never seeming to end. I *think* we can finally say that all the snow is behind us…even though a snowfall occurred last Saturday night and left the trails wet and muddy for the local 5km Rita’s Run this past Sunday. All of it is melted and now we can move onto Spring and Summer, right?

It’s been 3 months since my last post. That’s the longest, by far, I’ve ever had between postings. Anytime I have an idea to write, I am either busy with school work, busy with life work, busy with parent work, busy with wine-work….I just don’t have the energy to make it up to my laptop in the evenings to write a post. When it’s my ‘down-time’ I now just want to relax on the couch. So with that, I never even did a post about my Moonlight Run results from March, haven’t updated anything about how my training this Spring is going, my latest race this past Sunday, and what the next coming months look like.

Moonlight Run 10 km was held on March 23, 2019. Weather was great for this race, and there wasn’t any crazy snow or crazy cold. My overall goal for it was to do better than I did last year. Now, my husband thought this was a stupid goal because he said it was a no-brainer. Last year, I was 5 months postpartum. Of course I would be faster. But, my training had been all over the place since going back to work that I didn’t want to hold my breath.

The race went as well as it could for me. I finished with a 45:17 and was 1/52 in my 30-34 age group, 6/246 in female and then 38/455 overall. Claiming my age group award was the best feeling in the world. Last year I was 3rd with a 47:13. So shaving close to 2 minutes off is definitely on the right track for a comeback!

I opted to not do a lot of races this spring mainly to save money and to also focus on just getting the training in. Having no races in April was probably a first for me since 2012????!!!! Crazy, huh? I also during that time decided to stop my run streak. I made is 135 days straight of running at least a mile a day. I had had it in my head I would streak for a year, but I think it was running a toll on my body. I have bigger goals for this year than just running a mile a day, and getting rid of the streak will help with that.

This past Sunday I ran in the 5m Rita’s Run, which raised money and awareness for Mental Health. It was the first year this race was put on, and they had an awesome turnout for both the 5km and 10km events. there were 231 who completed the 5km and 67 who did the 10km. I think there were more registered, but the unseasonal weather that came through may have caused some people to just sleep in that morning.

The course was in the river bottom and while it was a pretty course, it definitely was not a course to get a personal best on. It started very narrow, had lots of turns, and then ended up measuring over 3.1 miles (3.24 miles on my watch). I hope they can sort those things out for next year. It made it more challenging for myself as I was running with Andy in the stroller. I’m glad I only did the 5km with him because all the sharp turns and narrow pathways did prove a challenge. The extra distance was also not fun with the stroller when I wanted to just be done. We did manage on finishing 2nd overall! 24:07 was our chiptime, and we placed 2/63 in age group, 2/169 female, and 6/231 overall.

So now what? Well, the big task this month is the Red Deer Half Marathon. That’s really what my training has been building towards this winter and spring. I would like to run a decent half marathon time for myself. I feel confident I can get under 1:40, as I ran a 1:37 and change in late September. However, I was training for Berlin right before that and had had more time to get quality training in while on maternity leave. Maybe I can run my ‘best’ Woody’s RV Red Deer Half time? 1:42.28 is the time to beat for it.

I’ve also started doing trail running during the week in preparation for my summer and fall events. I’ll have to do a different post all about my trail running trials and tribulations….hopefully that gets written in less than 3 months!

Feb10

2019 Race Plans

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The kid is napping, I finished my Sunday chores, so I am going to try to push out a blog post!  It’s early February, and I will say that the last month has been tough on me for running.  With the holidays and the year end of 2018, I was getting my daily runs in for the December Holiday Run Streak that our local store puts on.  But other than that, my physical activity was going downhill.  Work has been tough, and managing work with being parents and wanting to still do the same level of running and training I did before Andy is even tougher.  And it’s not even the ‘before Andy’ that is the most challenging.  It’s the now being a working parent.  Maternity Leave was a godsend and I was probably close to the best shape of my life by mid July and August of last year.  I ran my best 5km ever, was feeling strong AF and also felt like a pretty bad ass mom.

Now, I just feel like a mom trying to swim upstream.

I am still doing the Runstreak, and have been running at least a mile a day every day since December 1st.  My first 2019 goal is to continue the RunStreak for one whole year.  It’s not a mileage goal, or a race time goal, but it gives me something to focus on every day and it something that I know can be attainable even when I am feeling overloaded with work and everything else.

As 2019 creeped into existence, I knew I needed to get back in control of my diet and exercise.  It wasn’t awful, but in the last months of 2018 I started buying chips and salsa again for at home.  And I was drinking more beer than my ‘lack of running’ body should be consuming.  The husband and I both went in for body composition appointments at Kinetic at the beginning of January.  My weight was actually better than I expected.  But, weight is a funny thing.  It’s a number to not take too much to heart.  I weighed in at 135 lbs.  The measurements for the body composition though, however, were frustrating (but expected).  I didn’t completely fall of the wagon, but comparing the results to what I had back in June at the end of the Mommy “Time 4 Me” challenge was frustrating.  My body fat percentage had gone up and my measurements had increased in total inches.

This was all expected because I 1.) Wasn’t running as quality of workouts 2.) It’s winter and not race season so I wasn’t in the training mode for anything in particular 3.) I am not able to go to boot camp anymore (damnit, I wish I was still on mat leave!) 4.) our diet had started to creep back into the higher carb amounts.

Husband and I have decided to tweak our eating habits, using the tools I learned during the Time 4 Me challenge.  Lower carb, higher protein.  We’ve also greatly cut the beer intake, and have generally switched to red wine (except I am drinking a beer as I type this……).  I’m not making myself go crazy with this, but we are going to do another body composition early March to see what has happened in two months with some small changes.

The bigger thing is that I have my second goal of getting back into racing shape and loving to run.  I contacted Dean Johnson, who did my race training plan for Vancouver in 2015, and asked him is he’d make a plan for me for this year leading up to my big race in September (more on that later).  If someone makes me a plan to follow, I automatically make it work in my day.  It was also key that I gave him which days work best for me to fit in quality workouts (Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and then have the other days as just my minimum mileage for my runstreak.  I started this Thursday with his set workouts and even though the cold and snowy weather is absolute shit, I have to say I’m already feeling better about myself and the race season ahead.

I know I can’t necessarily have crazy time goals for my races this year, but I need to have some goal.  If I just register for random local races but don’t have a new big race or plan in sight, I’ll get into a rut.  My 2019 race schedule is shaping up to look like this:

-Moonlight Run 10KM in March

-Some local 5km races (possibly with Andy in the stroller) in April and May

-Red Deer Half in May (goal of sub 1:37, depending on how training goes!)

-Lots of trails in June (Coulee Cactus as a relay, Lone Wolf in Fernie as a relay with the husband)

-Haida Gwaii Full Marathon in July (would like to run at least faster than Berlin, with the dreamy goal of sub 3:30…but its a very small race and it’ll be mentally challenging for me).

-Lost Soul Ultra 50km in September (My first trail ultra….more on that in a much later post)

-Police Half Marathon in October (would like to beat my time from this years’ race which was 1:37.39)

-New York Marathon in November (run with the husband and just generally have a blast)

How the next two months go will determine how those 5km’s and Red Deer half goes.  Will I be competitive with the field, or even with my own times?  I’m sure as hell going to try.  When June rolls around and I start playing with trail races, I have the hope that this ignites a new fire in me.  I am really looking forward to July and August, as I will have off of work and Andy will still have daycare Monday-Friday.  I can use those days to follow a trail training plan in preparation for Lost Soul.  As that approaches, a reasonable goal for the race will be determined.  Or maybe not so reasonable.  I have one in my mind, but it may be a bit lofty.

Anyway, with second semester in full swing and a new training plan to follow, I have high hopes for the coming months of running.  And bonus—kid is still napping!

Jul22

Wisconsin Race Recap

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From June 30-July 17th, I was back in my hometown visiting family and friends.  During that time, my husband and I were able to participate in a four mile race, and then I was also able to do a 5km race.

Firecracker Four

Firecracker Four is a 4 mile race held in Hales Corners, Wisconsin.  This is a suburb of Milwaukee, very close to where I grew up.  I had done this race years ago, and was excited to do it again.  It would be an 8 am start on the 4th of July.  I couldn’t think of a better way to start off this holiday!

It was HOT.  that is an understatement, actually…it was HOT AS FUCK.  The humidity was ridiculous.   I believe the “feels like” temp was in the 90s by 7:30 am.  Both Dan and I weren’t sure how we’d do since this felt like a large sauna.

We ran into my college friend Matt before race start, so it was nice to see a familiar face!  He was with his buddy Kevin, who also went to the same college as us.  They grew up in Hales Corners and always do this race every year.  They think it was the biggest turnout this year, with over 1100 people doing the 4 mile run (there was also a walk portion that had people too).  It was also the 40th anniversary of this event so that’s pretty cool.

Once the race started, I knew I wanted to just push as hard as I could.  This isn’t my normal race distance, so really I had nothing to lose.  One crazy thing was that before we even ran half a mile an ambulance had to come through.  Dan and I thought it was part of the race, but if you weren’t in the front pack you got stopped to let the ambulance through.

This route went through neighborhoods in Hales Corners.  There were a ton of people in their front yards and driveways cheering us on.  And these kind souls also had sprinklers going and hoses spraying us.  Seriously, I don’t think I would have ran as well as I did if it wasn’t for all the water being sprayed.  They also added a third water stop because of the weather.

I was able to hold on and finish with a time of 27:54, beating my goal of running 28 minutes!  I placed 99/1124 overall, 14/546 in female and 4/81 in my age group (just missed a medal!)  My splits were 6:35, 7:05, 7:11, 7:05.  And in true Wisconsin fashion there was a variety of beers at the finish line for us to enjoy.  8:30 am beers on the 4th of July is pretty damn American if you ask me!  USA!

Travelling Beer Garden 5km Race Series-Grant Park

Photo Credit to Jeff Crosby

Continuing where we left off at the Firecracker Four…..I did a 5km at one of the Milwaukee County Parks Travelling Beer Gardens.  Oh Milwaukee….you are amazing.  This park is located in South Milwaukee, right along Lake Michigan.  While it was still hot out, it wasn’t nearly as toasty as it was on the 4th.  And being so close to the lake helped because of the breeze.

Take note I had been eating like shit and drinking too much by this point in my trip.   It was July 12th and my body had been going through hell and back.  I really didn’t know how this would go, considering all the damage I’d done to my insides.  This race was a 6:30 pm start, with the “highlight” being that once you finish, you get a ticket for a free pint glass and beer at the beer garden.

I started out strong and felt like with this smaller field I would have a shot at being near the top.  The interesting thing about running races in a location you don’t normally run is that you don’t know your competitors.  When I am in Lethbridge I know who I should be pacing off of and who I am trying to catch.  Here, its a crapshoot.

I ran mile 1 in 6:30.  Alright, this is an epic pace for me.  If I kept this up, I would have a shot at a personal best.  The field had started to thin out, but there was one girl right in front of me.  I decided to draft off of her and hope for the best.  It was an out and back course, so at the turnaround I saw that I was comfortably in 2nd place, within reach of the female leader.

Mile 2 split was slower, at a 6:44.  I got my head in the game and knew I needed to push for that last mile to see what I could get.  I wasn’t sure if my body was going to give up and get another 15 seconds slower or if I could hold on.

I didn’t get slower, in fact, I got faster.  Mile 3 was a 6:36!  Holy Shit!  I kept pushing and pacing off the lead female and was able to come in right behind her with a chip time of 20:50!  The course measured 3.16 miles, so a little long, and other people also agreed that their watches measured it longer.  My time at the 5km point was actually a 20:30, which would be a personal best for myself!  I was extremely satisfied with my performance, placing 1/21 in my age group, 2/74 in female, and 8/156 overall.

The great thing about this night was that my mom and Andy came to watch (Dan had already flown home).  And while we were there, we saw a bunch of people who I knew…Mike & Christina with their kids, Lindsey who I ran with in high school, my friend Amanda and her husband Nathan….this is what is great about coming “home” to run.  I get to see people who I don’t normally see on a daily basis up here in Alberta.  I look forward to the next time we are back in Wisconsin and hope there’s a race somewhere that I can do!

Jun3

May Days

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Having a kid puts a damper on being up-to-date on my blog posts.  So, since I did three races in May (a trifecta!  5km, 10km and a half marathon) and haven’t written about any of them, I am going to do a post on all three.  This may become a new way of doing things…!?!

3rd Annual Lakeview Superhero Run 5km

I have actually done this race all three years and this was my fastest one yet!  This race is always a Wednesday evening, and the past two years it was hectic getting there because I would have been working during the day.  This year it was even worse because I was trying to deal with stuff at home with Andy before Dan came back from work and  then I had to rush over to the race start.  After parking I got to the start area with less than 10 minutes before the beginning of the race.  Close call.

The weather had been gross all day long and thankfully it cleared up in the evening.  While I would not have minded some rain while running, this is a 2km and 5km race geared towards children and I know they would have been miserable had it been raining.  The 5km runners started first, and the 2km would begin shortly after.  It’s a quick loop from Lakeview School down the green strip towards Bullys, then around the east end of Henderson Lake and back.  I don’t know my splits, because in the rush around the house before heading here I realized my watch wasn’t charged.  Rookie mistake.  But I do know that I finished in a time of 21:57!  I am super proud of this as last year I ran a 25:57(albeit I was 15 weeks pregnant or so) but back in 2016 I ran a 22:16…I beat that!  This sub 22 time that I ran was my goal for my July race in Wisconsin, so now my goal for that 5km will be to beat this time!

20th Anniversary of Woody’s RV World Half Marathon in Red Deer

Dan and I often go and do this race because his family lives in Red Deer.  This would be my 6th time running this half marathon. More notably this would be Dan’s first full marathon!

The weather was the best I’ve ever experienced for this race.  The race starts and finishes right near Dan’s old high school.  I had originally made a lofty goal of running a 1:40 for this race.  When I started, I had some trouble with my legs.  They just felt heavy.  I really thought that I would be able to shake that feeling after a mile or so, but the heaviness and tightness persisted.  I ended up getting pretty frustrated at the 10km mark, but after I hit 9 miles I had a second wind so to speak.  My last four miles were very consistent and back to where they should have been all along.  Here are my splits:

7:26, 7:45, 7:46, 7:48, 7:50, 8:12, 7:54, 7:45, 8:09, 7:51, 7:50, 7:52, 7:53

My final time was a 1:42.28.  So, not in the 1:40 range like I was hoping but still pretty good.  I hope to get down into that 1:40 range or lower by the Lethbridge Police Half this fall.

6th Annual Fort Mcleod Willow Creek Wilderness Walk & Run 10km

The weekend after Red Deer was this little trail race.  My friend Angela and I headed out to Fort Mcleod in the morning.  She would be doing the 5km while I ran the 10km.  While it was advertised as a “Wilderness Walk & Run” I guess I didn’t really take into consideration that this would be a trail race, and not on paved paths.  Surprise surprise!

I would say about 90% of the route was either on gravel, pebbles, mud, dirt, or grass.  I was the leader of the 10km for the first two or three miles, which was col, but very mentally challenging.  With no lead bicyclist, I was starting to lose focus and drive to stay at my normal 10km pace.  My feet just kept sinking into the stones and I felt my pace getting slower and slower.

One guy did pass me and he stayed ahead of me for the duration of the event.  But having him in front of me helped me push a little more and get back on track.  Given the terrain of the race (and my loss of focus) my splits were all over the place.  (6:43, 7:36, 7:53, 8:05, 7:57, 7:46)  I was happy to see myself get my last mile back down a bit.  In hindsight, I probably went out too fast and had I known what the terrain would be like maybe I would have been a little less ambitious to begin.  My final time was 47:48, which was good enough for 2nd overall and 1st place female.  I got a sweet handmade ceramic mug as my prize!

So that was May!  It is already the first weekend in June, and originally I thought I only had one event this month.  But yesterday I joined a relay team for a local trail race last minute.  So who knows what else I’ll decide to do last minute….

Dec30

Final Thoughts on 2017

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To say that 2017 was a crazy year is an understatement.  I started the year off in Walt Disney World with my mom and best friend.  I was pregnant and participated in the Marathon Weekend events.  Then, shortly after coming home, I found out I miscarried.  An immense amount of anger took over me.  But things have a funny way of working out.  No less than 6 weeks after my D&C I discovered I was pregnant again.  We had many early ultrasounds and blood tests to confirm the pregnancy.  We went for the 1st trimester screening test and were able to see a clear image of our growing baby.  At 20 weeks we found out we were having a baby boy.

All during this time I continued to run, using it as a coping mechanism from when I first found out the bad news, and then as a stress reliever to help keep some normalcy in my life. How much did I run this year?  Not as many races as I had in years prior, but quite a few.  I did three 5km races, three 5km virtual races, one 6km, one 4 mile, one 8km, two 10kms, a half marathon relay, two half marathons and one full marathon.  I am most proud of the 10km I ran at 35 weeks pregnant, which I completed in 1:02.50!

It was shortly after that race that I found out I had pre-hypertension.  This was discovered at my 37 week appointment.  I was done with work immediately, and one week later I was induced and gave birth to our son, Andrew Allen Pottage.  Labour was the most pain I’ve ever been in.  It was worse than any race I ever competed in.  But making it to this finish line was oh so sweet.

I have now pretty much fully recovered from not only the pregnancy and delivery, but also from my surprise appendectomy that I had at the beginning of December.  Now that I am ready to take on 2018, I have some big plans.

I will be joining Runners Soul marathon club for my 6th season.  I will be training for the half marathon distance, where I’ll run the Red Deer Half over May Long weekend.  Before May Long, I will do Moonlight Run 10km, 10 mile road race and the Walt Disney World Star Wars Half Marathon weekend, with both the 10km and half marathon events.  That will be an exciting trip, as it will be our first time on an airplane with baby Andy!  I can’t wait to take him to Disney World, and even though he won’t remember a damn thing, the memories  and photos will be ones to cherish.

The biggest running news for 2018 is that my husband and I will be heading to Berlin, Germany, in September to run the Berlin Marathon!  The opportunity was presented to us through our local running store Runners Soul, and there is a group of us heading out there to run in this World Marathon Major event!  And did you notice I said “my husband and I”?  YES, Dan will be running a full marathon!  He actually will be doing the Red Deer Full Marathon in May as his first full, in order to figure things out and see how much pain he is in afterwards.  But this is going to be such a memorable race-cation for us!

I’ll still blog in the new year, though, it may not be as often as I used to.  With the baby and all, things are a little different.  I will always do my race recaps, but also hope to talk about how training postpartum is going.  I am sure there will be some frustration as I try to get back to where I was before baby, and I hope to share how it is all going.

2017 started off really sour.  But it ended oh so sweet.

Nov15

Getting Back in the Game

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Its been 5 weeks since I was told I needed to stop running and 4 weeks since I was admitted to the hospital to be induced.  I will admit, that one of my biggest concerns going into labour was “when would I be able to run again?”  I know, that’s a bit selfish.  But, running is part of my identity.  I don’t plan on losing that piece of me now that I am a mom.  I need it for my health, sanity and well-being.  My husband if 100% behind me running and working out again as soon as possible post-partum, however, he was nervous because he didn’t want me to go out there too soon and do something detrimental to my body.  Fair enough.

When we took Andy to his first doctor’s appointment on October 25th, Dan wanted to talk with him about when I would be able to start running again.  Dr. Galbraith is not only Andy’s doctor but mine as well.  He is also has a sports medicine clinic here in Lethbridge.  He is well aware of my running background and what I did as far as exercise during my pregnancy.  After talking with Dr. Galbraith, he informed us that it would be safe for me to go out and run after 2-3 weeks from the date of delivery.  This obviously is not the same for everyone who just had a baby.  He took into account my previous running experience before being pregnant, how active I was during the pregnancy, and any trauma my body may have went through during the actual labour and delivery.  My labour was painful as hell due to being induced, but my delivery went very smooth.  He made it key that I needed to listen to my body when I start running again, which was something I was doing all throughout the pregnancy.  I was very happy to hear this from the doctor, and it was enough information for my husband to feel confident that I would not be doing harm to my body once I started working out.

On November 1st, I ran my first single mile since week 37.  I felt great out there.  I was cautious with my running, did not overdo myself, and was listening to the changes my body had taken.  This was just the start of the next chapter in my life as a ‘mother runner.’

My plan for the rest of 2017 is simple:  For November, I will be running 4 days a week.  Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.  The distances on those days are not set in stone.  They will often be between 1-3 mile runs, working up to maybe a 4 miler by the end of the month.  I will go to Runners Soul Run Club on the Wednesday nights it is offered and do their route.  I also registered for my first post-pregnancy race on Saturday, November 18th—The Claus Cause 5km.  I am also adding in other components to my exercise regime on the days I am not running.  On Tuesday & Thursday, I will be attending Kinetic Fitness and taking the Baby Mama Boot Camp class, which I can take Andy to!  It is a great way to meet other mom’s and get a great workout in.  And on Fridays, I will attend the free Kinetic-On-The-Go HIGH Fitness class that they hold in the morning.  I can also bring Andy to this one, as it is in the gym of an LDS church and kids are welcome.

Every day has some form of exercise scheduled in, with also room for walks (weather permitting).  Having three fitness activities that I can bring Andy along with is key, as it gets us out of the house!  And being able to run those 4 days a week helps get me back at building a base.  In December, I will continue the classes at Kinetic but I also plan on participating in Runners Soul Run Streak, where you commit to run at least 1 mile a day each day for the whole month.  There are prizes each day, so there is that extrinsic motivation.  I also hoped to get on at least one 6 mile training run before the end of the year.  Once 2018 rolls around, Half Marathon Club begins and training for  local 10km, 10 miler and the RunDisney Star Wars Half begins!

I think it’s safe to say all new mom’s long to get their bodies back to where they were before being pregnant.  Yes, I am one of those mom’s.  But, more so than worrying about a number on the scale, I long to get myself back into the running shape I was in before.  I know it will take some time, and I also know it’ll take some work.  But it is important to me to get back to the level I was at pre-baby—I worked so hard to get to that point that I don’t want it to just be a distant memory.  I hope in the near future to re-qualify for the Boston Marathon…that will be the true signifier that I’ve done it.  But until then, I will put in the time and try not to get frustrated if it takes a bit longer than I hoped.

Oct8

Lethbridge Police 10km Recap

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Saturday, September 30th, marked the day of the 5th annual Lethbridge Police Services Run.  They offer three different race distances—half marathon, 10km and 5km.  I have now participated in not only every year, but every event!  The first three years I ran the half marathon, and in two of those years I even placed in top three and was awarded prize money!  Last year, I ran the 5km with my cross country kids—-it was my first race after my foot surgery.   And this year, I ran the 10km.  More specifically, I ran the 10km while over 35 weeks pregnant.

All our race bibs for race morning!


I had kept up with my training all summer, and most recently I had done two separate 6 mile training runs on Saturdays in late August and early September to make sure my body was prepared for the distance.  As the race date approached, I knew I was feeling heavier (duh) and would have to just take the race with ease.  I had set in my mind to have a goal of an 11 minute mile, which if I could manage this would get me in at under 1 hour 10 minutes.  This would be very reasonable, considering my personal best in this distance is 41:30.  However, I understand that every day could be different in this pregnancy and I wasn’t entirely sure how my body would feel come race morning.

The race day came, and I was very happy with not only the cooler temperatures, but that the smoke from forest fires had been long gone.  I knew cooler weather would benefit me.  The half marathon started first, with the 10km and 5km participants following about 5 minutes later.  When our race began, I knew the first 5km would not be an issue—-cool weather, along with race adrenaline and the long downhill to the riverbottom, would all be working in my favour.  If anything, I knew I had to be cautious and careful as I wasn’t sure how my body would feel the last 5km.

My first 3 miles were a lot faster than the 11 minute pace goal—-9:09, 9:39, 10:31.  At this point in the race, the 5km runners had split off from us and the crowd of runners thinned.  We wound through the river bottom and made our way to the bridge, our past Helen Schuler, and back.  With less people out there, it was mentally challenging to get through mile 4 and 5.  I was able to hold on pretty close to my third mile split, running mile 4 and 5 in 10:35 and 10:32, respectively.

Now with only 1 mile to go, it was mind over matter.  I pushed my legs the best I could, all while still watching my heart rate.  There as a point in this final mile where I knew I could go faster, but my heart rate would spike.  I had to hold back a little bit.  Mile 6 was 10:32, and I was able to close out the last 0.2 of the race comfortably.  I finished my 6.2 mile run in a time of 1:02.50!

Coming in to the finish!


Finishing when I did was perfect—my mom and mother in law had just finished walking the 5km and were able to see me come in to the finish.  There were friends of mine who had done the 5km race that were watching the finishers—their words of encouragement helped a lot!  I was able to grab a bunch of food, which I normally don’t eat but figured baby needed, walk around to stretch my legs….I eventually went to the bathroom, but it was funny that I didn’t need to immediately!  Baby presses down on my bladder, but I just have to try and block that out of my mind when I race because I know I really don’t have to go to the bathroom!  I then was also able to catch my husband finish his third half marathon, with his second best time—a 1:42.56.  I am still so amazed at the times he can run given that he only runs once a week….ONCE A WEEK!  And it’s just speed work with Runners Soul Race Team.  Imagine what he could do if he took it seriously!

Mom and I


Overall, this event was again fantastic.  I had a great run, my family had a great time participating in it, and the event itself was put on so smoothly (like always).  I always enjoy this event, but this year will be extra special as it fell on my 33rd birthday weekend and baby shower.  This is a 10km to remember!

Aug27

Taber Cornfest 5km Recap & End of Summer Wrap Up

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It’s Sunday, August 27th.  Tomorrow is the first day back to work for teachers, and students start up with mini-schedule on Tuesday, September 5th.  The first full day of classes will be on Wednesday, September 6th.  That day also marks that I will be 32 weeks pregnant.

This was a summer like none other, first and foremost because I have been pregnant.  There were many things that did not occur this summer that usually would.  For instance, drinks on patios.  Sure, Dan and I were able to make some of our evening outings the same with trips to Telegraph Taphouse, but having an ice cold alcohol free Erdinger doesn’t pack the same punch as a Lagunitas IPA.  Right now, I am drinking a club soda with grenadine and cut up peaches.  I’ve got to cool off somehow!  I also did not travel much this summer.  Figured it would be wise to save money and really didn’t want to deal with the potential pains of flying or driving long distances while pregnant.  Since I didn’t travel, I was able to teach summer school in July.  I was very happy I did, as it kept me busy and earning the extra money was awesome!

“Adaptation” has been key.  That’s really the best word for how I’ve dealt with summer 2017.  Because of my ever-changing body, I needed to adapt my running.  Notice, I adapted.  I did not quit.  I am proud to say that I ran 4 times a week all summer long.  I golfed in ladies league on Mondays.  In August, I added in a baby bump boot camp on Thursdays and a cardio class on Fridays.  All of these things kept me busy, and most importantly kept me sane.  I knew I needed to keep my running up this summer, because it really is a key part of who I am.  Other summers, I would have signed up for races in Calgary or Edmonton during July or August but this year I held off.  I knew driving up there to do a race would not be the wisest idea.  However, I kept an eye out for events local that I could do.

That brings me to yesterday, when I ran in the Taber Cornfest 5km.  This event was celebrating their 25th year, and would be offering a 5km and 10km option.  Taber is a small town 50 km east of Lethbridge.  It would be an easy drive out on race morning, and while I was not going out to break any records or place in any divisions, I was going out to race the best that I could at that given day.

With summer being so hot down here in Southern Alberta, my paces for training runs have not been anything crazy.  I had come to terms with that in the past month, knowing that just getting out there and completing the training runs during the week was what mattered…not how fast I was going.  I had a goal in my mind to run around a 33 minutes 5km in Taber, roughly a little faster than an 11 minute mile.  Based on how my running was going in August, I knew I could attain that goal.

Race morning was nice and cool.  It had gotten quite tolerable the night before and this carried on into the morning.  By the time the race started at 9 am, it was only around 59F.   I went out and held a pace that came naturally to me and felt comfortable.  I kept checking my heart rate during the first mile and it was always under 150.  My breathing was in check and I was feeling great.  Suddenly, mile 1 came and my watch hit 8:39!

I was WAY ahead of my 11 minute mile pace.  For a brief second I thought about really slowing it up.  But, my heart rate was good, my legs were feeling strong….so I stuck with my gut and just kept on going.  Mile 2 slowed a bit, but it was still a 9:03.  OK….if I can hold the final mile around this pace and watch my breathing I can definitely finish under 30 minutes!  

The last mile was harder than the first two, as my heart rate did climb up a bit.  I kept watching my FitBit and whenever the bpm got into the 170s I would try and focus on my breathing to bring it down.  Mile 3 clocked in very close to the same time as mile 2, with a 9:04.  I did let myself go a bit the final stretch, wanting to close the gap on the women in front of me.  When I crossed the finish line, my watch stopped at an unofficial distance of 3.16 miles.  My official chiptime would be a 28:02!  I placed 4/23 in my age group, 11/98 in women, and 35/158 overall.


Running 5km races are not really my thing.  They are hard for me!  Call me crazy, but I’d much rather run a half marathon.  It took me a really long time to get my personal 5km best of a 20:42.  The fact that I am about 7.5 minutes slower than my personal best all while being 30 weeks pregnant makes me super happy.  Why does it make me happy?  Because it shows that my hard work this summer is paying off.  I have been reasonable with my running this summer, with the overall goal being to remain healthy while progressing in this pregnancy which should then make it easier to get back to my racing form after the pregnancy.

With being 3/4 of the way through my pregnancy, I know every week will pose a new challenge.  I am also mentally preparing myself for the possibility of having to stop running any day.  There are a variety of things that could come up that would put my running to a halt.  If my doctor told me that it was no longer safe for me to run, I would stop.  I mean, come on…I am not an idiot.  If something I was doing was putting the baby and/or myself in danger, I would quit it.  But, I have been having a fairly low-key pregnancy with no issues so my doctor has been very supportive of my choices to continue running and working out.  I am very fortunate to have an OB who supports my running, as she knows it is something I did not just start overnight.  Before being referred to my OB, my family doctor was also very supportive of me continuing on with my running, as long as I didn’t have a high-risk pregnancy.  I actually had an appointment with my family doctor last week to just confirm that he would be able to take the baby on as a patient and his words of encouragement meant a lot.

I am also very fortunate for the support my family and friends have given me this summer.  They are pretty well adjusted to the fact that running is a part of my identity, and it doesn’t seem to surprise them at all that I have continued.  I think this is one reason actually that my husband sometimes seems to forget how far along I really am in this pregnancy, because I have still gone about my running as I normally do.  He doesn’t seem me out there training in the summer, but he knows I’m out there doing it.  And he knows it makes me happy.

So what are the two next two months going to be like?  For running, I will still continue with my 4 times a week running.  I will be joining my cross country kids on their runs during the week, and will likely be the caboose of the group.  I also am considering doing a 4-week session of the Baby Bump class at Kinetic, as it is offered on a Friday at 4:30 pm.  This will keep me active and help burn off the energy from the work day.  My mom comes to visit near the end of September.  She will be a huge help around the house getting things set for baby, and we will be having my baby shower.  There is also the Lethbridge Police Race on September 30th, where I will be doing the 10km, my mom will be walking the 5km and my husband will be doing the half marathon. When she leaves in October, I will have just had my 33rd birthday and I will surely start to feel the nerves and anxiety attached to becoming a family of 3.  Baby is due November 1st, which may seem like a far way away from August 27th….but we all know it’s closer than you think!  I can pencil in a lot of things, but I know stuff could change in an instance after one doctor appointment!