Parent

I have been a parent for seven year now as of today. I'm not one of those women who was born for this, good thing Maya is becoming more adult like with the birthday and such.

Oh another note Maya new favorite game is setting up a backdrop and doing pictures. Thanks Erika.

Shopping for EIGHT hours

Yesterday Annie and I went to the One of the kind show cause Annie really likes it and I went along for the ride. Sensorey overload, materistic overload, thankfully not not credit card overload. It was a craft show but in a way it was a art show as alot of the venders were artist. Most was made in Canada by non sweatshop labour so a good place for my money to go.



I got:

Smoked salmon

Indian Spice paste

Something for Luke, Luke don't look !!!!

Wooden Puzzles

Hat

Scarf


I liked but didn't buy:
Dress

Jammies for the kids

Pottery

Pottery

Crab Dip

Bathing suits for kids

Bookbags

Poppies Wax Painting

Tin Huricane Lamp

Postal Bank

Cool kids clothes that I could make

Cool Adult Clothes and yet more

Two Happinesses on Friday

• While sitting on the hard concrete floor with Ever 'enjoying' the entertainment of Christine at the library I randomly pulled The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye off the shelf. Blogged about way back when. Quite happy to read to Maya...wish she would listen. Scary faires at the beginnings worries her and I can't wait for her to settle down I want to read it now.
• Dragged Maya kicking and screaming to Annie. For some reason she didn't want to go. Only to say 10minutes into the show how wonderful it was and I was right she is enjoying it. Brought up about 87 questions about orphans, adoption, and deception.

I would never...

.......drop out of a race beacause of my period.

Ever's "Cooking"

This didn't take as long to sort out as you would think.

Dentist

Went to the dentist today for what I thought was a filling that had fallen out.

Umm nope.

Chuck fallen out of my actual wisdom tooth.

I blame lack of fluoridated water growing up and those damn genetics.... will get you every time.

On another note Christmas is cancelled this year... sorry kids.

A Poem

Trail running at twilight.
Can't see puddles.

SPLAT!

Rant

Is it just me who has noticed that the fashion accessory to own in these parts is a Tim Hortins Coffee cup?

What is it with people? Are they incapable of going anywhere without a cup of coffee? For petes sake I was trail running the other day and along trots a woman with a steaming cup in her hand. Of course she is also caring a purse for the family hike so she is dead to me already.
We don't even have a Tim Hortins in Chesley and yet nearly every visitor to the hospital comes in carrying a cup... even the people who live in Chesley!

Word to the parents.... apparently it is grounds to notify CAS if you come into the hospital with a sick kid and a coffee cup.

Merry Christmas

For the past two years I have gone to a ski swap with the intent of getting cross country skis. Failure.

I went away and thought about it and returned awhile later to Suntrail Outfitters and had a wonderful positive retail experience. The sales person was wonderful, really understood what my needs were, and even though it was a crazy busy day she took the time to make sure the skis were perfect.
I ended up getting a set of Fisher back country skis as they can be used on groomed trail but also plain old trail. Now just hoping Maya will be a tad more positive about skiing this year than last. Ie. When I take her out of school to ski- she does not whine and cry to go back.

So bring on the snow, right Angie?

Hypochondriac

I think I might have compartment syndrome in my left leg.

Ok, I most likely don't... but maybe.

Apple Sauce

Made applesause last week. That is the only productive thing I lave done- other than paid employment in the past two weeks. I said I wasn't going to run but I'm breaking that today cause otherwise I think I will need antidepressants and Luke will divorce me.

Complaints Department

So you get a new puppy...that is not an excuse to bring it into public buildings.
Sorry about that.

I ran cross country with her in high school.
She stopped running and started doing drugs.
She has schizophrenia.
I told her that her father was dying.
I cared for her mother dying of cancer.
I sat with her as her mother died.
I saw on day on the street, pregnant.
I started praying.
She had the baby.
The baby was taken away.
She sees her baby three times a week.

She asked me to go running with her.

Hey Dad, I cleaned the living room like you asked!!

LoL. No, I just threw everything in the corner...

Maya is offcially a Brownie. She really enjoys the program and has a few friends in it too, which is nice.
She didn't like the new orange shirt/blue pants look and got one of the old style brown dresses, which she is very happy to wear.

Halloween

Pictured are how the children dressed to beg for candy at strangers houses. Joining my children are a turtle and a pink cat. Ever is a monster. He refused all offers of a costume made by mom- instead Maya coaxed him into the monster costume purchased at a garage sale several years ago. Maya wanted to be a princess and I refused as every girl is a princess. I told her to be more creative. Her main priority was pretty dress. Thus a wedding gown was purchased from the second hand shop smelling strongly of moth balls and was cut down from what ever size I am- how funny it fit me- to fit a six year old.

Couple added notes:

- This is the singular time I have ever worn a wedding dress.

-Maya says she was embarrassed wearing her costume at school as there are alot of boys. That is the first time she has ever mentioned boys in that manor. Creepy.

Maya has her BFF over for a sleep over and she brought her own breakfast.....kinda reminds me of a time somebody brought her own jar of jam to my house for lunch.

Pinapple Boy

Rally of the Tall Pines 2010

So this years rally is on November 20th. I plan to leave probably the night before or very early Sat Morning. Its about a 3.5 to 4 hour drive to Bancroft, where the rally is.

Who wants to go this year? The entry list this year is really really good. It will be a 3 way battle for the Championship as well. You'll get too see this....

Scary Food

JAWS!!!

FINGERS!!!

BLOODY WORMS!!!

MUMMYS!!!!!

Living the Dream

Standing in the footing of their new home, Andrea, John and Travis.

Toronto FC and a Weekend

A few weekends ago we were gifted tickets to see the Toronto Football Club by bookkeeper extordinar Corey. We were both surprisingly had a great time at the game. It wasn't cold, there was a steel drum band in the background and the sound track of the game was provided by the fans sitting behind us. I honestly could not stop laughing out loud at these couch coaches who knew all the salaries and vital statistics on every player. I couldn't believe the emotion that was shown quite frankly as this is Canada. Loved it. High light of the game was seeing the keeper thrown out of the game for naughty behavior to another player.

The entire weekend was great in fact. Prior to the game we slipped over to the Toronto Marathons Expo for a few deals. After the game after deliberating the reviews on the windows of several Indian restaurants we went to Little India. For desert we went to my new yummy favorite Cold Stone Creamery. On Sunday Luke spent the day at the office and I went running all day on the Bruce Trail. Good times....of course it was nice getting the children back as well.

Horror Hill

Fall marathon vs. fall ultra.
Pavement vs. trail.
Large crowds vs. small group
Endless logistical issues vs. Simplicity
Hotel with potential bed bugs vs. my own bed.
Potential BQ vs New personal distance record.
Faceless race director vs. Race director who introduced himself and suggested I think about his race.
Toronto Good life Marathon vs. Horror Hill 6hour Ultra.

The trail won.

I went into the race with my longest run being four hours, and about a month worth of sleep deprivation related to endless night shifts so not quite prepared for the distance but prepared for fatigue. I haven't had enough time to swim this month and thus my hip has been bothering me and my chiropractor felt I pulled my sartorius muscle, but she just tells me to tough it out for everything. I was worried about the weather and clothing and a little about my pelvic floor but all non issues going into the race. Now I should say that is was not to be a race but a personal challenge.

The course was a 2.5km loop and the goal for the non- runners is to run around it as many times as possible in the given six hours. I wasn't worried about the repetition and figured I would just get into the mental place that repeats. In reality i LOVED the course. The only part I didn't like was about 200metres long, the section around the pond. I just didn't like the un even ground. There was two walk hills, and one semiwalk hill which I always walked just for the break. These were not major hills but enough you knew it would be in your best interest to walk. It was not to technical but an eye had to be on the trail for portions due to roots.

It was absolutly perfect for a first ultra as I didn't have to carry any supplies. I spent much of the time thinking about what I was going to have at the aid station on the next loop around.. and the loop after that. I have become more and more convinced that the key to successful long and fasts is to not stop taking in calories. I brought enough food to feed the entire race flied I'm sure. I was worried that I would stop digesting and get nauseated/sick but I honestly think I gained weight I was eating so much. I had:
-2 gels
-2 packages of Powerbar gel blasts
-10ish e-load caps
-Half a ham and cheese sandwich
- 1-2 bananas
- 1 apple
-1/2 orange
- Several handfuls of pretzels
-Several handfuls of almonds
-1.5- 2L of water

The race is kinda blurring all together. I wanted to chat but the women were kinda quiet/not friendly but the men were all friendly. I find I go faster if I am talking so I tried to stick with the talkers. However every so often I would get scared I was going too fast and would pay for it later so I slowed down. I had some dark moments between two and three hours as my feet were killing me. I tried some Tylenol - no result so I switched shoes, took more Tylenol, had a sandwich, and a gel and started to feel much better by 3.5 hours. There were no actual blisters but my mizenos are tight. I was convinced I needed a AA width but perhaps not. I had fun singing at times- which helped everybody else run faster to get away from me. I didn't enjoy getting lapped so many fricken times by Laurie M. Other people lapped me but she was the only person I knew by name. There were twins, dressed identically, who appartnely didn't speak a word the entire race who kinda creeped me out.

Overall my goal was to run conservatively- start slow and stay slow. To walk all the hills and pace myself. I wanted to break the marathon distance, and I figured that I wouldn't do much more as I would be going slow.
In the end I did 55.9k. I am pleased with my first ultra experience, I knew I had more in the tank and was frustrated when it came to six hours as every step as a new personal best. I don't see a jump into the ultra distance but now I know it isn't that bad

A day later I feel good. actually. Mildly stiff but nothing like the pain I felt after my marathon. I am on a two week break from running... so if anybody wants to go for a walk.......

Urgent Help NEEDED

I am doing my first ultra on Saturday and I need new music!!!!! I know I have asked before and got few answers BUT now I need everybody who reads this blog to respond and let me know what you are listening too. I am interested in music types except Jazz. Kathie- please contribute blue grass ideas.

I will be running for SIX hours... do you feel guilty..... Good.
Email: annelizabeth@gmail.com

Double Podiem Finish!

This morning Luke and I completed the Autumn Colours 5k/10k in Owen Sound.

Luke did the 5k with a goal to complete in under 25minutes.. and he did it with a time of 24:40!! Also earning him third in the 20-40 age category. In the door prize department in scored us two tickets to the Blythe Festival theatre for any performance during the 2011 season.

I did the 10k. Hoped to complete in under 45minutes. Long story short 46:29. Apparently I have lost all my speed. Got second overall to Tracy Greig... she destroyed me by 5minutes I bet. Had had a little hope that I could have won this small race..... cause I actually have never won a race before and I think that should be on my bucket list. In the door prize department, I won a fan.

Beep Test

For the fourth or fifth consecutive spring/fall I have lead a run clinic sponsored mostly by saucony and logistical organized by the Saugeen triathlon club. I usually lead the 10:1 or continuous running... but at other people's paces I usually don't get enough of a workout in. Sure the discounted gear and free stuff is nice but frankly I was getting sick of it. I wanted a break.

But somehow my name was volunteered to run a 10k clinic. For my own sanity I had to make it as different as possible. Thus we did:
- Two weeks of flied trips to a conservation area for trail running on a course I had to mark out prior to every bodies arrival and take down after everybody was done.
- Hill work out
- Track workout
- Fartlek workout
-This week was a beep test
-Next week is a timed 10k run

Does anybody have any ideas on other group run work outs that are challenging and diverse?

I'm Funnier

So i'm reading Sh*t my Dad Says by Justin Halperm, and what really bugs me is that I say shit like that all the time and I don't get offers from media for book deals, No all I get is trouble.

Now I'm going to get trouble for saying sh*t.

On Running

- Rest really does wonders. Thank you nights at work.

-I forget how fast just plain running on pavement is. I did my 5k PB tonight with out noticing the effort and ran 17k with what felt like little effort. In 1.5 hours.

- I am going to do Horror Hill a six hour race- basically see how many time you can run around a 2.5k loop in six hours. I don't think I am very well trained for it, but I figure I can always walk. Really i am really excited for the hamburgers afterwards.

- I need to lose 5 pounds to faster.

- I need to buy new shoes, My mizunos don't feel so well after 20k.

The date...

10/10/10

Best day of the year.

Totally Materialist Post

I love my summer rubber boots, they don't love me. They have become too small. Somehow the area in which houses my calves just don't want to accommodate the girth of said calves.

Thus a search for new rubber boots. I have had a wanting for Hunter boots ever since I saw them somewhere virtual years ago. I even asked somebody to bring back a pair from England. She refused. Thus I recently saw them on my last visit to Barrie EVER and instantly without skipping a beat knew it didn't matter how much they cost... I HAD TO HAVE THEM.......but they will not have me. The sadness overcometh.

Visitor

Tonight while nursing the three year old at the computer there were some odd noises coming from the basement. After convincing Luke that yes he has to investigate we find a squirrel held up in our basement.
"So is there like a squirrel removal person we can call?"

Long story short neighbour Dennis saved the day....but could anybody help us figure out how the damn thing got in?

The run that shouldn't been- The Toad 2010

You know how sometimes you shouldn't make quick decisions? Apparently I don't.

People were talking about Run for the Toad and I got all caught up in the excitement and managed to buy a bib to a the sold out event. Sure it would not be recorded as me but that's ok. What is not Ok is racing the race under somebody elses name and also forgetting to put on the chip. Essentially I felt invisible.
My race progressed something like this:

• Original plan: Gel often, run at a 5:00pace try to practice a novel concept of pacing oneself.
• Stomach felt a little off so waited to gel at the start line. Ran the first two km in 8minutes- realize that I forgot to put my chip on my shoe. Yell obscenity.
• New plan: That's ok, no big deal I will know how fast I am go.
• Get disheartened. New, new plan race the first lap and take it easy on the second. Spend the entire first lap trying to convince myself to keep on pushing- try to focus on the easy fun lap to come. 50% success on that.
• Complete the first lap in 1:02:43. Immediately start going on easy street. Walk up any hill I want, just trotting along, chatting with people. Spend a few fast kilometres running with another girl - lose her on a hill.
• Second lap 1:10:ish. Total: 2:12:48. Took one gel. Didn't want to waste them on what wasn't going to happen.

Started to rain heavy the last 6k of my second lap. Course was just starting to get slippy and muddy when I furnished. Went to the chiro for a full treatment, went for a massage by students. The girl I got does not have a promising future. Stood in front of the heater in the massage tent until I stopped shaking. Ran to car. Could not stop shaking. Changed completely to many many layers. Went ate meal. Good food. Sat with strangers- Thanks Ang and Bodo. Watched awards, few door prises- sooo slow. Left to watch the finish line. Got cold and heated back to the car.

Then I heard my name being called... but that was impossible I thought, I was Barb M?? I was worried that Ron was hurt and gave my name so I raced up to the front. No message for Anne Mccutcheon hmmm that's odd I have never encountered another Anne Mccutcheon runner?? Realise about 10km away from the race site realise I filled out a door prise ballet with my name. Yell obscenity to myself.

Ok the course has potential for fast trail times... but I think I prefer tougher technical This felt like high school cross country. Nice facilities... except for my ever present concern of not enough toilets. There will never be enough.

And the day is here. Family birthday for Ever today! He has changed slightly since 0 days old in the other pic :)

Shhhh

Shhh it is Evers birthday today... but don't tell him. We are celebrating it tomorrow.....deception at its best.

Chilling

I am a reader, I read alot. I tend to always have a book on the go and in fact tend to get rather anxious if I have nothing left to read. As a family we quite often have to make emergency trips to the library.
Now if only I could remember all I read. To facilitate this I acyally keep a list of the books I have read on Goodreads. Now if only I could remember to update it.

So I tend to read .. and forget. Two books of last several years that I do remember and actually give me the hebegebes are:

Under the Skin by Michel Faber, and
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

What do you know... a movie has been made based on Never Let Me Go. I don't want to see it.

Things I Really want to do but probably never will.

I have watched both of these videos multiple times. Both are amazing. Particularly the Proximity Flying. I don't ever plan on doing any sky diving so thats out. But I may get in a rally car yet. And Ken Block started rally racing when he was older than me, so we will see about that.

Watch this one in FULL SCREEN. Seriously, do it.

Lakeside KOS

"Nothing, I don't want to do a post"... as she is running away crying.

Birthday Man

I asked Luke what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He replied" Lasagna please"
"Sure, fine, no trouble" I said. And with sad puppy dog eyes with a look of desperation he said hopefully "With meat"?

The cheesecake is a turtle cheesecake which is the single most yummy thing I have ever had. Luke and I both had tummy aches to pay for eating it... mostly worth it.

Luke is looking all gangster sinister in a bad boy cute style with a hoodie. Nope we actually didn't buy that hoodie, I found it out on the Brant track where teenagers had been parting. Their drunken forgetfulness is our gain!

Tresspassing

I am rather fond of going off the beaten path, I usually try to respect property lines...but sometimes a old tractor trail is just too temping... and I do not think too many people care.
I am not destructive, I am not tearing up any land with a ATV, I'm quiet and the worst I will do on your property is pee.

Yesterday while out on my long run I got caught trespassing. It was an area just south of Walkerton which I thought was owned by the Saugeen conservation authority. Apparently not.
I had already gone 28k and was reaching my limit there would be no backtracking, the path was over grown and I just could not stick close to the river. Earlier in the year I had gone along this area and had no trouble. Not this time. There was a new barbed wire fence I had to cross to get out to the main road.... and the owner of the property caught sight of me before I caught sight of him. There was no turning back and he was not happy.

I tried being very respectful, usually a woman alone has more to fear then being feared. I told him my name( in retrospect I should have given him a name that is close but not quite), apologised, explained that I was tired and could not backtrack, and honestly thought no harm done.

Well Mr. Angry was not listening. Apparently he is a business owner and his business requires please and quiet- a B and B. I was a ignorant person and asked repeatedly if I was connected to the high school of which he was a teacher at. Repeatedly I apologised- I knew I was trespassing and was sorry, and advised him over and over I had nothing to do with the high school. Did he think I looked 18?? I manged to slip away with out being assaulted and without a criminal record.

I still think if I would have stayed close to the river I would have been fine and I have contacted the conservation authority so I will have a better understanding of property lines.....I am trying to think vengeance is for the lord, but ohhh how easy a smear campaign would be.

Birthday Math

This month is Ever's birthday (28th) and Mine (15th)

So I'll be 33 and Ever will be 3.
Its the 9th month (3 squared) and the 15th day is 3 x 5. AND 2010 is 3 * 670
Also, 28 divided by 3 is 9.333333333333333 !

It was just meant to be I tell you.

Hailburtion Forest 2010

On about two weeks notice I decided to do the short course of 26k in Haliburton. That is why I want to keep my weekly long around 20-25k so I have the freedom to do most distances on a whim. I had flirted with the idea of a slow 50k.......and after doing the first 13k I was incredibly happy I wasn't insane enough to attempt a quite frankly not enough training to even consider a 50k.

I drove there the night before and made a rather comfy bed in the back of the RAV, and slept ....unsettled. Woke around 0430 and forced myself to stay in until 0540. Got up and made a tour of people getting ready to set off. Saw my first nakedness of the day- a gentleman lubing up his testicles with his bare bum to the world. Watched people set off, then informed the stragglers that this was in fact the start line and the race went that a way.

Had a really nice morning , borrowing random strangers cook stoves for my oatmeal and meeting awe inspiring people. In particular I met a couple from Michigan who race every weekend year round Saturday and Sunday if they can manage it. The man had raced Western States earlier this year and happened to have no toenails left!!

First Day of School

Big grade 2 year. Maya says that it will be a good year cause she has a good teacher and good friends.

New principal who thinks the most vital piece of information for all children to know is that you should take off your hat as a sign of respect. Respect for what I'm not sure. Really glad there wasn't a person wearing a yarmulke or a hi jab there. Awkward. Another interesting antidote about Maya and the principal was upon meeting the new principal Maya told her that her daddy fixed computers for people who thought she was mean. Ummm really awkward.

Anybodies elses shoes smell like cat pee?

Family day at Kincardine Beach

Back to School

Tonight I am reading the paper, glancing at the want adds cause you will never know what you will find and I note this ad.

Umm isn't that Maya's school, umm her grade, ahhhh should they not have attended to this sooner than September 1st... I mean doesn't school start TUESDAY?

Definitely total crap. Although Maya told me today that you are not allowed to be in a splint class two years in a row. Sometimes I doult her sources.

Ever says...

Pop (Soda) is spicy water.

The Truth

I must apologise but it is true.

I judge and mock you in my head if you are carrying a purse while walking/ hiking trails.

Family Fun

To my utter delight, Ever likes cars, and trucks, motorcycles, and basically anything that moves- except bicycles. Yes that is a sarcastic sentence. Anyways he likes them and to be a good parent, a loving supportive parent I thought that he would love to go see race cars race.
Thus for the low family cost of $24 we went to Varney Speedway to enjoy Hillbilly Racing.

Failure

Ever thought the cars were too loud, protested loudly, and fell asleep. Umm this was for him?
Perhaps I could convince him now to like a bicycle race.

Mount Forest Triathlon

This was a little gravy race, community fundraiser. The organizers were really happy with the response with over 70 racers- a good percentage of those were relays so quite a few people on site.
This was a pool swim which I had never done before... and quite frankly I think I buck the trend and swim faster in open water. They said that the race was 500 metres and I'm sure it wasn't There was no way that pool was a 25 metres. In any event my time was 11:30. Slow any way you look at it. Also the wall wasn't so obvious I kept on running into it.
After you were done the swim you had to run through the change rooms out to the yard to your bikes, and as this was an entry level triathlon, you saw all manner of nakedness in the change room. Seriously it takes time to change, and there is nothing wrong with being wet for a little bit, and you do dry.
The bike was a windy, unexpectedly hilly out and back 20k. Some misery. Could have been faster at around 43 minutes. Wishing for race wheels.
Run was 2.5 not flat route completed twice. Portion of it along hwy 89 which was slightly scary. IF I was race director I would ran the loop in one direction on the way there and the other to come back. Little slower than I would have hoped- 25:30ish.

I had to leave as soon as I got food to get to work so I missed out on the posting of results which would have showed a second place finish. Although I don't know if there were awards or not.
The first place women does well- she has won the K-town triathlon several times- so bet her lead on me must have been at least 15- 20minutes.

Lusting

Challenge

At the beginning of the summer I issued Maya the challenge of riding her bike either to walkerton or home from walkerton and her reward would be lunch at a restaurant.
Initially Maya was completely against the idea, then after going for a bike/run with Maya and realising that she had cycled half the distance of the trip she was ready to tackle the challenge.
Thus yesterday we cycled 15.5km home from walkerton. Pictured is one of the few stretches she walked- she'd rather cycle up the hills???
We went slow and took a couple of candy breaks but she made reasonable good time for a six year old- around two hours.
Around 12k she started complaining about her legs hurting, but perked up after some water. She chose the outfit and foot wear. Something are just not worth the fight.

Her next challenge???? She wants to walk 5km on the treadmill.

Observation

As mentioned I have time to surf the Internet. I still nurse Ever at the computer, less and less, but also kill many hours during the night at work.
So thanks to facebook and other social networking excitement I have looked at some pictures of people I grew with, went to camp with, people I was very close to at one point, people I thought I would never forget about.... and now when I look at there pictures I don't even recognize them.

So if you are lurker and we once met, and you see me, and we make direct eye contact and I act as a snob... really I have no idea who you are.

Pacing at the Dirty Girls

Ron over at WestGreyRunner said he was going to run 24 hours at the Dirty Girls Trail race, so of course I thought this would give me a great opportunity to volunteer to pace him through the night. Just like a tough night shift I thought. A free race experience. Just so there wasn't the appearance of anything not of the best intentions I also volunteered Luke, thus there we were running through the forest at 3am. Awesome good times.

Basically the race is a 10km loop though the Mansfield Outdoor Centre. The 10km loop was surprisingly tough. Although not incredibly technical, mostly good single track, the never ending hills really worn one down. My job was to keep Ron on task, oriented to reality, at a reasonable pace, to keep him company, make him sit and make aid stations go easy, and to point out obstacles. Basically help him not to have to think. Cause your mind can tend to go a little crazy after 12 hours of constant running.

Overall I thought it went ok after I grasped what his expectations were. How fast to go, when to run and when to walk. He kept on repeat some of the same stuff over and over, otherwise he was surprisingly with it. We had fun comparing the ultra race to the birth experience, and the signage got a chuckle at every turn. He was amazingly positive, I kept on waiting for him to get even a little not nice, and that would be ok, but that didn't happen.

Overall he did 120k is roughly 23hours. I did 40k is eight hours and man I was hurting... so I know he had to be in way past rough shape. It was mentally exhausting as well. Intense positive talk- no negatives, putting a spin on everything and being alert to all the dangers and keeping him on the trail... although he had it past memorized by the point I joined him.

Overall it all looked like such fun! I am sure I will be doing one, although Ron you will definitely have to pace me cause Luke said no way he would do it for me. Somehow I do not think my grump's would stay away.

I wonder if I could be ready for Horror Hill 6 Hour race?

Run For Youth 2010

This race into its third year has provided me with two previous third place finishes in the 10k distance. To allow somebody else the joy of third, and frankly because I am sick to death of third place, I decided to shake things up a bit this year and do the 5k stroller roll with Ever. I really meant to practice pushing the stroller and running but somehow that didn't happen...so out I went not having ran with the stroller in a couple of years. Race went by really fast.. it was only 5k after all. Should have seeded myself closer to the start line cause I was kinda jerky saying beep beep wising past people. Part of the race was on railway bed soooo it wasn't the smoothest ride for Ever but he didn't seem to mind.
At the end of the day Luke beat me doing 25:35 to my 26:35. Slightly ashamed.

Sweetness

Last night Maya and I started reading Charlie and the chocolate factory together. She cried when it was time to stop and go to sleep.. she simply had to know how Charlie got his golden ticket. I explained to her that if she could read better she could stay up and read it all night... she seemed to get this and promised me that she would work on her reading and after just one more chapter she went to bed with out complaint.

I woke to her this morning...early.. book in hand begging me to continue.

Next lesson taught, how the amount of sleep Mommy gets directly correlates to how grumpy Mommy is.

July Totals

Swim: 10, 050 metres- The summer pool hours don't really work for me.
Bike: 267km
Run: 109.5km- In my defence most of it has been trail.

Personally I find it a challenge to exercise consistently in the summer due to the out and aboutness of it all.

Maya is going to Camp tomorrow.

She is not packed......however there are three packages/letters ready to go for mail call daily.
Priorities.

On another note... very grateful for a 24hour grocery store.