Mommy On the Run

Pacific Road Runners First Half Half Marathon Race Report

2012-02-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

Phew....that's a long race name.

Photo from here, I'm on the left hand side of the photo
wearing a turquoise North Face jacket

On Sunday February 12 I joined 2000 other runners on the streets of Vancouver, in the rain, for the 23rd annual "First Half" Half Marathon.

You may recall I'd set my sights on going sub-2hrs in the half marathon, I've given myself 3 opportunities to do this in 2012, and the First Half was opportunity #1.

The short version: I did not break the 2-hr barrier this time around, but I am happy with the results of my efforts.

What I did accomplish in this race was getting myself into the mindset that sub-2hrs hurts and that I was going to have to be okay with that hurt. I have a habit of running really fast (for me) for the first few miles, then exploding somewhere around mile 8-9. Running that hard for 13.1 miles is real work and I absolutely am in awe that people can run a half 58 MINUTES FASTER than it took me to finish. *The guy who won finished in 1:04:21, setting a new course record by 18 seconds.

I also got real effing lucky because I broke the cardinal rule of racing: NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY. From the steel cut oats that I've never consumed before to the headband I decided to wear cause it was cute (read: I totally went with fashion before function), I was literally begging for something to go wrong for me during this race. That I ~~hobbled~~ walked away from the finish area with only my calf muscles seizing is a racing miracle if there ever was one.

The race started at 8:30am, and thank the heavens Bundles slept through the night (always touch and go in our house, but even moreso when out of town and staying in a hotel) because I was well-rested for the 6am alarm. And thank goodness I woke up at 6 and got moving because it takes 30 minutes to cook steel cut oats (again, didn't even realize they were different than regular oats until race day).

It was raining on race morning, so I wore my North Face jacket. Being that I run in Whistler I've worn this jacket since opening it on Christmas morning, but I was totally over-insulated after the first mile and was so relieved to see JD and the kids still standing along the side of the course after the loop around BC Place Stadium so I could remove it and hand it off.

I also wore my Lululemon capris that I hadn't worn on a run since October...that was a big mistake. I've lost a few el bees since then and the pants were definitely a size too big at least, only a couple hundred metres into the run and those capris were sliding down. Luckily I found a way for them to settle into place and they didn't bother me for the rest of the run.

This course is nice and flat. And scenic; on a clear day the views would have been spectacular (from my Coho Run race report):

Alas, on race day the course was socked in with Wet Coast-itis but the rain didn't stick around for long once the race was underway (or maybe I was just focused on running).

I started out strong. I really felt great, I knew I was pushing and that my first miles were way out of my comfort zone for pace but in hindsight it worked for me because those first sub-9 minute miles gave me a 1:43 lead on my target pace....which I eventually whittled away to nothing....and obviously ended up finishing behind. I remember the exact moment when I looked at my Garmin and saw that my lead on myself was gone.

The nitty gritty from Garmin:
1 8:32 - as per usual fastest mile in the bunch, handed off my jacket to JD and was a happy runner
2 8:42
3 8:41 - new 5k PR
4 9:08
5 9:02
6 9:11 - took my first gel here, I also noted that I finished 10km in 55:55, a new PR. The thing I find absolutely fascinating about this is that 1/2 mile later my heart rate drops way down (like 60bpm drop) and then hangs out somewhere around 130 bpm for the rest of the race).
7 9:19 - somewhere between here and mile 8 the girl beside me, who I hadn't noticed up until that point, made some comment about "this chick trying to beat me" and when I looked at her like she was nuts she said something like,"We keep passing each other"....so clearly she was talking about me
8 9:18
9 9:21 - still running beside the girl who'd decided we were in major competition and she looks at me and says,"I'm about to hit the wall" at which point I wanted to smack her because I wasn't AND she'd just dumped her "wall" business on me....I hadn't even considered the wall yet....
10 9:26 - took another gel, legs starting to feel sluggish
11 9:43 - ....and then there was the wall
12 9:49 - holding on, holding on....can still pull this off.....
13 10:13 - ....bye, bye lead, officially playing catch up (darn little hill up from the seawall to Pacific Blvd)
.22 1:50 (8:29 pace)

Chip Time: 2:02:09

Garmin Time: 2:02:15

109 out of 162 in my AG

602 female overall

My goal pace to finish sub-2hrs was 9:10/mile. I ran a 9:15. Neat, eh? BIG eye roll.

As is tradition in our house, Monkey gets to run us into the Finish line of a race (where permitted and provided she's not going to get hurt by running out onto the course to join us). Because I knew at that point that I'd been out there past my 2 hour goal, but was walking away with a PR by 10 freaking minutes, I grabbed her little hand and we ran ourselves across the timing mats.

I knew as soon as I crossed the finish line that I needed to keep moving. My legs were already cramping, which never happens. We walked through the food station (OMG they even had soup - chili? - amidst the muffins, bagels, bananas, yogurt, coffee, water, juice, etc) and to the car. I stretched while JD loaded the girls into our vehicle, started eating the muffin I'd grabbed in a lightheaded panic, and watched Mason Raymond from the Vancouver Canucks park his SUV in the stall across from ours.

Back at the hotel I had a nice soak in the bath instead of a shower. I ate a delicious shaker salad from Whole Foods (it had black beans, tomatoes, some sort of greens and quinoa and pumpkin seeds, it was delicious). I put on compression socks and declared the rest of the week full-on recovery....no running, only wine-drinking and chocolate eating and sleeping in.

In a couple weeks training officially starts for the North Face Whistler Half Marathon. For now I'm going to soak up my "running for me" runs, enjoy my laissez-faire approach to strength training and have a little more wine before things have to get serious again!

Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold - Feb 11, 2012

2012-01-31T17:12:00.000-08:00

I've started and deleted numerous openings for this post. I truly feel lost in how to begin expressing what I feel about the story of Sherry Arnold and the little the world knows about how she spent her last moments. I am fearful of knowing the rest. I am, in a word: Sad.

Since first hearing of Sherry's disappearance while out on her morning run, and following SUAR's blog posts in the days/weeks after, Sherry has not been far from my thoughts and I make it a point to think of her while I'm out there on the roads now and dedicate a bit of the joy of running to Sherry's memory. Today was no different, except today Sherry gave me perspective in return for my joy.

This afternoon I got to run for the first time since last Thursday. JD has been out of town skiing, I've been single parenting all weekend, up countless times through the night with Bundles, the list goes on. I got to run today and I set out for 5 miles in the slush and snow.

Sherry was taken 10 minutes into her run. TEN MINUTES. I wonder if she, like me, found those first 10 minutes of a run to be the hardest. It usually takes me that long to warm up, find my pace, find my breath and get that smile that plain and simple reflects how happy I am to be running again today....I wonder if Sherry was just getting into the groove of her run when things took their heinous turn.

At mile 3 of my run today I started to feel really negative about being out there; that I was running through slush, that I was feeling like I was hauling ass but a last glance at my Garmin showed I probably could have moved faster if I just walked. I actually started to think to myself how much it sucked to be out there, that this wasn't the way I had seen my "I get to run today" joy going.....

And then Sherry appeared in my head. As if to say,"Hey, chick, at least you GET to run today. You made it past that first mile, you got to keep going, you are on your way home and you get to see your family. And then you get to plan your next run. You get to stretch, take a shower, you get to eat. You get to live another day. So push yourself a little harder, you know you want to fight through this discomfort. And this isn't really THAT bad. Pick up those knees, smile. You're running."

I smiled. I thanked Sherry for somehow popping up at the right time. I pushed myself home.

There is going to be a virtual run for Sherry Arnold on February 11, 2012 at 9am MST. I will not be running for Sherry on Feb 11, but I will be running for her the following day when I line up for the First Half Half Marathon on Feb 12.

There is a Facebook page set up HERE

Click HERE to print your race bib

There is also a link on SUAR's blog where you can donate funds in support of Sherry's children if you are so inclined

I'm sure Sherry is going to be one busy lady that weekend. She'll be the guest of honour for so many runs, her spirit is going to be spread far and wide. The bright light that we've been told she was is going to get to shine one more time, all of us doing something that she enjoyed so much.

Please if you are planning to run that weekend, do it with Sherry in mind. Let's run the miles that she didn't get to finish.

Seriously, I Love to Run in the Snow!!!

2012-01-26T20:45:00.000-08:00

Today I needed my run. We've been battling sleep (again? still?) with Bundles, and when she's not in some state of needing me I have Monkey climbing into bed to snuggle. I don't turn her down, ever. I know these days have an expiry, that one day she won't want anything to do with me let alone climb into bed and sleep beside me.

Thus my current state of something between exhausted and dreading bedtime.

I might be confused.

I ran 10 on the weekend, in basically a foot of fresh snow. I was told that I am "hardcore" by one guy shovelling his driveway....that was in my own neighbourhood and at the 3/4 mile point of my run.

This week I'm backing off my mileage, I've been building up to this point and I need a week of recovery runs to avoid injury. And since I ran 3 on the treadmill at the gym on Tuesday, today I needed to get outside. I didn't have a plan as to how far I would go but I needed to be out there for a good dose of fresh air. I knew the Valley Trail likely wouldn't be cleared of snow, and there are in fact portions that aren't even being maintained this winter. I could have easily just jumped into the car and driven to the gym and subjected myself to another 3 on the treadmill, but I didn't.

I was nicely rewarded

It would have been warm at the gym, my feet wouldn't have gotten wet, I would have have been in shorts and a tank top instead of the pants, long sleeves and jacket (not to mention headband that covers my ears). Heck, I would have been away from the house for a longer break if I'd driven to the gym.But I wouldn't have had those views. And that is why I know I never could be one of those people who runs on the treadmill on a regular basis. I crave the fresh air. I crave the amazing surroundings here in Whistler. I crave being in charge of moving my own butt down the trail. I've been called "crazy" and "brave" for running in the snow. I just think I'm lucky that I live in a place that practically begs me to.

Running in the Snow - photos

2012-01-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

I had 9 miles on the training schedule this morning. And it snowed last night..and was still snowing when I headed out the door. Nothing me and my YakTrax couldn't handle, though I'm fairly certain no land speed records were set today. I brought my iPhone along for the ride so I could take some pictures.

It snowed through the entire run, and then the clouds parted to let the sun shine through for my final stretch toward home.

Did you run today?
How far?
Was there snow?

All photos edited using the Camera+ app.

Race Schedule 2012 - It's Getting Exciting Up in Here!

2012-01-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

The events are piling up. Well, sort of. I already have THREE half marathons on my schedule for this year!! I have a few other events in mind, but haven't registered yet. With JD fully involved in his own race planning we really do need to sit down and compare "plans"....

So far this is what I've paid for:

Pacific Road Runners "First Half" Half Marathon - Feb 12 (I know, this one is soon!!)

The North Face Whistler Half Marathon - June 2 (this one is already more than 65% sold out, capped at 1000 participants, in case anyone out there was interested in registering and hasn't done so)

Pacific Crest Half Marathon - June 23

Yes, I'm going to run two half marathons in June, just weeks apart. For some this is nothing, but for me this will be a first. Heck, this entire year will be a first as I have NEVER run more than one half marathon in a calendar year so going for three is pretty epic for me.

I have some goals, obviously. I'd like to break 2 hours in one of these races. I have a feeling it might be at the Whistler Half, but could even be as soon as the First Half. If it is at the First Half I'll be surprised, as I haven't done a lick of speed work in my winter training. I've signed up to do the training clinic for Whistler, which includes weekly speed sessions, so I'm setting myself up for the best success there. Having said that, I'm not delusional enough to think it will happen at Pacific Crest, not having just done Whistler.

Imagine if I broke 2 hours for ALL of these events?!! That would be amaze balls.

And the list of events that I haven't paid for yet, and need to negotiate:

Diva on the Run 8km, March 25
Whistler Valley Trail Run 10km, May 27
Squamish Days 10km, July 29
Squamish 50 (as a relay team), Aug 11 - this is a new event and looks absolutely epic!
Run the North Shore Coho Run 14km, Sept 9 - this is the day after the RBC GranFondo Whistler which JD will likely participate in again, we managed the juggling act in 2011 it's just a matter of wanting to juggle again!
Granville Island Turkey Trot 10km, Oct 8 - family tradition, this will likely happen
Whistler 50 (as a relay team), Oct 20 - I wasn't super nuts about this race, but it's a hometown event and fun to do as a team
New Balance Fall Classic (possibly the Half), Nov 18 - I did the 10km this past Nov (and owe a race report for it still!) and it was a good end of the year event

Needless to say, I am excited for the race schedule to fill up. I am excited to plan for and train for races. I am excited to watch JD in his planned events (a few tris, a duathlon, possibly GranFondo).

It's all good. There will be lots of running this year. And core work.

HACKED

2012-01-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Merry Christmas! Hope everyone's holiday season was full of magic, laughter and love

I'm here with a bit of a PSA, brought on by something that I know is common but that I never thought would happen to me, and once it did actually turned my last few days upside down.

On New Year's Eve I woke up to a text message from a friend telling me that she thought my Facebook and Hotmail accounts had been hacked. She was chatting on Facebook with "me" and "I" was telling her that the On the Run family had taken a last minute trip to London (so last minute that I hadn't mentioned it in our chats the day prior, not to mention the fact that another one of my friends was engaged in a similar conversation with the hackers....and she lives in London) and that "we" had been mugged. It went on to say that the hotel was demanding we pay our bill before we could leave London, please send $1800 via wire transfer to XYZ place and I'll pay you back when we're home.

At the same time as I was learning about this I was also getting alerts on my iPhone telling me that I was no longer connected to Hotmail. Which meant my password had been changed. I was also locked out of Facebook.

The scrambling had begun.

Luckily, I had another hotmail account that was not affected (I don't use it for much, whereas my other account I used for EVERYTHING) and I had added that account as my "just in case" for those handy password retrieval emails that I never thought I would need to use.

Turns out, "never" was happening.

I regained control of my accounts, changed passwords and security questions. I added my cell phone to my Facebook account as another layer of security (you can get texts to your phone to authorize log-ons from new devices). Then I changed my passwords again. Because I was officially paranoid and I had no idea, still don't, how they got me.

The hackers were actually live on both of my accounts. Chatting with friends. Replying to emails that my friends were sending to me saying,"FYI this email is going around from your hotmail" and telling my friends that the email was, in fact, real. I've seen some of the conversations that were taking place on Facebook chat. Thank heaven I know a lot of smart people and no one fell for the scam.

JD and I received so many calls and texts that I wanted to send out a mass email just to let everyone know we were safe and not in London, but the hackers actually erased my entire contacts list in Hotmail. So the person I sat on an event organizing committee with five years ago got that scam email, but I have no way of telling them that I don't need their $1800. A major bummer, but likely part of the tricks used to hack - they now have a few more email addresses in their database to go after (sorry everyone who was on that list and is just realizing that now, but it's true).

I deactivated my Facebook account. It remains deactivated, possibly the longest stretch I have gone without Facebook access since I opened the account. I am not scared to go back, but I am kind of enjoying not being so "connected". I even deleted the app from my iPhone.

And then, on New Year's Day, they hacked in again. I received an alert on my phone that, again, I was no longer connected to hotmail.

This changed everything.

HOW did they get back in? I changed my password not once, but twice. I upped security measures on my account. I was doing everything right. How was this happening again, not 24 hrs later?

They must be on my computer. Having read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and having a few friends in the industry, I'm pretty well versed on how easy it is for that to happen.

Full panic mode launched, I began systematically deleting everything in my hotmail account. Everything. Every saved email. Everything in every folder. Every sent item. I deleted the browsing history on my computer (my new MacBook Pro that I got for Christmas). From JD's computer I began changing passwords on every site I belong to. I changed so many passwords that I would change a password and promptly forget what I changed it to.

I became a further slave to my iPhone and its connectedness. Constantly watching it for those alerts to come up again. I made JD change our wifi configuration and passwords. I think we did that six times. And then I turned wifi off on my laptop, and shut the thing off.

I didn't touch it until this morning when I brought it into Burnt Stew Computers to have them scan it for malware. Malware would allow the hackers to track what I was doing on my computer through keystrokes.

There is no malware on my Mac. Everything that should be running on it is there, the sites I log into are true sites, there is nothing running in the background that shouldn't be.

I consider myself a smart surfer. I don't open links that people send or post on Facebook; if there is a funny video I'll go to YouTube and type it in the search engine myself. My passwords are not the same for every site, and they do contain the recommended characters (punctuation, capitals and lowercase, numbers). I don't go to weird websites. I don't download music from anywhere but iTunes (so I pay for it, at that!). I also don't download much to begin with.

And yet, there were some lessons to be learned:

Make sure you are logging into a secure site - for some sites you can change the URL in the browser bar to read https as opposed to just http.
Those fun little apps on Facebook, or linking a site to Facebook (Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Blogger, Word Press, Hoot Suite, etc) - limit those or don't do it at all. Or only link them when you really need to.
Have a "throw away" account connected to your log-in sites, an alternate email address that can have alerts sent to it if a password reset request is submitted...especially if you're not the one requesting the reset.
Find the security features on your profile and USE them.
Change your passwords often.
And this one I already knew, but it is worth repeating - limit the amount of personal information you put out there.

Tonight I type this post from my Mac with a heightened awareness of what I do on the Internet. I am seriously considering shutting this blog down. To say that I am a little bit scared still would be putting it mildly. I am shutting my hotmail account down. I don't know if I will go back to Facebook. I feel exposed and I'm a bit nervous by that because I realize just how much of that I can't control.

Stay tuned as to whether this blog sticks around. Maybe I'll go private. Maybe I'll just shut 'er down altogether. I can't promise that I'll give notice, either. Yup, I'm that scared still. Other than feeling totally violated, I feel the most upset by the fact that these people actually were THAT close to my friends and family; talking to them, seeing anything that I would normally have permission to see on their Facebook profiles because the hackers were "me", I am not offended at all that some blocked me that morning.

*I did report the hack to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and the local RCMP (police). I have a file no. in case anyone did end up sending money.

Looking For a Few Good Bloggers...Oh, and we're in Maui

2011-11-23T11:58:00.001-08:00

Living in Whistler it's a given that we experience winter for maybe a little longer than most folks. Heck, it's kind of what the town lives for. I'm constantly thankful that I get to enjoy all four seasons, even if one of those seasons seems to abbreviate the lengths of the other three. I'm not complaining, I love where I live...and summers in Whistler are pretty much as good as the winters.

Summer of 2011 was late in arrival and seemingly early in departure. It finally got hot (ish) in July, and before we knew it Fall was creeping in. You could feel it on the breeze, that "chill" that signals a change is coming. For The Mommy it was too soon.

So being that we had less of a Summer than usual, and that winter has already arrived, Whistler mountain opened last Friday, one week early, and the snow hasn't stopped falling since, the On the Run Family set a holiday to Maui. For two weeks. We arrived Monday afternoon and the hot sun is EXACTLY what this family needed! Whistler loves Maui, I know two other families (at least) who have been here within the last month. We all stay in the same area when we visit (Kihei), some of us even stay in the same condo complex....and rent out the same units! It's never a surprise to run into someone from Whistler, so this morning was a pleasant run-in (literally) for me!

This morning, while out for my first run since arriving, I came across Dave Clark, Race Director for The North Face Whistler Half Marathon! *I have no photo so you'll have to take my word for it, Dave was representing and sporting his race shirt. We stopped and chatted, discovered we're staying in neighbouring complexes which means we are sure to see each other again, especially since both of our families are pretty active.

Seeing Dave reminded me that I wanted to spread the word that The North Face Whistler Half Marathon is looking for three volunteer bloggers of varying running abilities (beginner, intermediate and advanced) to post weekly blogs about their experiences with running.

If this sounds like something YOU might be interested in doing, if you can commit to a weekly post of about 250 words and you have some writing experience, then get on over to the website and apply! You don't have to live in Whistler. There is a possibility of a free entry into the 2012 race, which is likely to sell-out again, and while the race entry fee isn't that steep to begin with...free is free. And since you'll be running anyway (right?)....

I'm considering applying, I just haven't been keeping up my blog on a regular enough basis thus feeling like a schmo who doesn't "deserve" to apply, so maybe this is what I need to get some more action on this page.

For now, the sunshine is calling me!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Whistler Food Bank 5km Race Report

2011-11-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, October 23 I ran in the annual Whistler Food Bank 5km fun run. I did this event last year at around 11 weeks pregnant with Bundles (which I didn't elude to in my race report, but fun to look back on it knowing) and was pretty happy with my time of 32:01.

This year I was running while pushing Bundles in the stroller. I have no pictures, mainly because this race took place on the morning we left for Vegas for my sister's wedding so my camera was packed in my carry on bag already and I did not want to mess with my packing! And this event is straight up fundraiser so no photography companies out on course to take pics.

The Splits:

1. 9:27 - Not bad pace for a stroller!
2. 10:30 - Big hill along the backside of the course, tough to push a stroller up but I ran the whole way
3. 10:08 - Back on track, but a stop for Bundles (adjusting pacifier and toque) put us over 10:00
0.12 0:08 - Literally screaming through the finish line, Bundles had had it with the stroller and was making her displeasure known!

Total: 30:15

I enjoy this race for so many reasons. It's a fun run, the running community in Whistler is pretty spectacular and we've got some really speedy, accomplished racers who come out and it's a bunch of laughs and jokes at the starting line (a line of chalk drawn across the Valley Trail, marked by two soccer cones). While there is no formal timing system, Coach Christine (race director) keeps tabs with her stop watch and reports your time to you as you cross the finish line. The guy who "won" the race finished in 19:03, so I was literally just behind him.

This race also wrapped up my major month of racing. I ran three races this month, all within 2 weeks of each other. I've never done that before. Ever. I am pretty excited about the fact that I'm strong enough to be able to go out and do that sort of thing, within reason, and so early post-birth of Bundles.

Diva on the Run Half Marathon Race Report

2011-11-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Back in March I registered for the Diva on the Run Half Marathon. At the time I was at a want for a goal, something to plan for, something to make me get out and run when I could (if I could) after having Bundles.

And then in September I started to realize that my training was getting the better of me. Or maybe it was the lack of sleep entering its fourth month combined with the training that was taking a toll? Anyway. I decided to back off. I decided that maybe the half marathon wasn't doable, at least for me. And I was definitely okay with that. I really was.

I kept up my training, in that I repeated the prior month's mileage so I wasn't completely backing off, but I also dropped one day of running from my four-per-week routine. I think my runs started to turn into being more about quality once I did that.

Then the On the Run Family did the Granville Island Turkey Trot and I felt really good. With a full six days to go until the Diva on the Run half I made the decision: I was doing it.

On October 16 I woke up in our hotel room and started my pre-race routine. Water, start coffee, do some evacuating, eat two slices of toast with PB and banana slices (seriously). All in the bathroom of our hotel room.

The Splits:

1. 9:34
2. 9:44
3. 9:41
4. 9:38
5. 9:46 - passed the chick I was using as a pacer, I should have stayed behind her cause I saw her again at mile 9...and watched her increase the distance between us for the rest of the race.
6. 9:48
7. 9:57
8. 10:13 - starting to slow down...passed another girl and made it my goal to not see her again - I didn't.
9. 10:11 - took a gel hoping it would give me a kick of energy, I don't think it really helped.
10. 9:57 - somewhere around here I think is where I saw the winner crossing the finish line, nothing like being witness to that to motivate you to move faster....except I didn't.
11. 10:16
12. 10:42 - DO.NOT.WALK
13. 10:42
0.22 2:20

Total: 2:12:35 (a new PR so nothing to complain about)
6 in AG (out of 7 - woo!)
41 out of 67 overall

Going into the race, and really through some of the race itself, I still needed to remind myself that I wasn't out there for anything more than to see the Finish line; that I was only there to complete a half marathon, even if that meant taking longer than my worst ever half time (I realized within the first 10k that that wasn't going to happen so I stopped being so dramatic after that). Even if I had started it and didn't complete it I think I would have been okay with at least the attempt.

That's a lie, I would totally be pissed at myself.

I am truly happy with all that I accomplished. In my usual habit I had my fastest mile first and got slower from there. I will improve this, and am going to make pacing a big part of 2012. I achieved more than just crossing the finish line:

1. I did not walk once during the half - I have never not walked at least once, usually taking a gel or water, but I usually always walk.
2. I set a new PR.
3. I broke an hour for 10k (again!!!) and held my pace in the 9-something min mile range for 7 miles, which I also have never done before.
4. I had my fueling DOWN. Pre-race, during, and post. Recovery on this race was phenomenal and I'm pretty proud of that.

It was a beautiful day, the route was a double loop (which I've never experienced and am pretty sure I officially am not a fan of), there was so much on-course support and lots of people cheering. And, as always, I got to cross the finish line holding hands with Monkey! *I am currently waiting to see what kind of race photos they end up posting to their Facebook page, but considering their July event's photos just went up please no one hold your breath for an update with more pictures.

My Girls

2011-10-30T12:14:00.001-07:00

*yes, still working on a race report for the half marathon, life keeps getting in the way....

Just had to share this little moment I caught last night before Monkey went to bed and Bundles began her nightly fall-asleep-for-45-minutes-then-cry-and-resist-sleep-for-3-hours routine:

Seriously, is there anything more sweet than sisters?! I didn't think so.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Granville Island Turkey Trot 10km Race Report

2011-10-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Granville Island Turkey Trot 10km race has become something of a family tradition in our house. Since the Fall of 2008 when I ran with A, one (me) or all of us has participated in the annual event. This year was no different.

On Monday October 10, Canadian Thanksgiving for all you Americans out there, the four of us made our way to the start line for this year's event. It was raining. JD and I were pretty convinced that the entire race was going to suck but that was not the case. The rain let up shortly after the first mile which coincided nicely with the fact that we were heading out into the open for the rest of the race (the first mile is through Granville Island, which is under the Granville Street bridge).


Two little riders bundled and waiting for the race to start

I didn't take any photos on course, aside from a super awesome one for a certain bird-shy blogger and that is coming up. Let's get back to the race!

The Splits:
1 9:57 - We started at the back of the crowd with the strollers, and had to do some crowd dodging (and were berated by an older lady who told us we were supposed to be "at the back", to which JD said,"We were, we're just faster than you!")
2 9:08 - Not bad considering this was on the bridge
3 8:57 - Cruising
4 9:19

5 9:22
6 9:08 - Really pushed it here because we knew we'd be going sub-60 at this point
.25 2:27
Total time: 58:22

We started a race ritual last year at the same event, and we do it where other races allow, for us to cross the Finish line with Monkey holding our hand. She LOVES this and even though doing so might prevent us from achieving a PR (i.e. I ran with her this time and if I hadn't I would have set a new 10km PR) it is totally worth it to see her face and hear the cheers that are directed toward her from the spectators.

Back to that "super awesome" photo. Since the construction of the athlete's village for the 2010 Olympics, there has been a landmark along the race route that I have been meaning to capture on film. It's the craziest thing ever, totally out of place in my opinion because I have no idea what the story is behind its location or why it was chosen as the "artwork" to be on display....but I knew that I needed to be able to share it with my dear friend.


Trailmomma's nightmare come true!

Is that thing not the most ridiculous spectacle you have ever seen?! Anyway, we see him around mile 5-5.5 on the race route, here he is with the jogging stroller there for perspective. HUGE.

Happily across the finish line, Monkey and I grabbed some much-deserved Gatorade and some water. We then posed for a rare family photo, taken by a fellow racer who sadly managed to get us in a blurry shot, but at least we've got something to mark the occasion!


On the Run Family

Post-race we headed to my mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I've been vegetarian (or I should say pescatarian because I'm still eating fish) since June so this was my first meat-free Thanksgiving. I earned my calories though with this race, loaded up on extra yams and vegan nut loaf .

13.1 Done!

2011-10-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

That's right, I DID complete the Diva on the Run half marathon this morning.

Five months and three days post-partum (c-section at that), a new PR, and seeing my two girls at the Finish line - not too shabby for this momma!

More to come! For now, CEP Compression socks and my Lululemon pants are calling my name.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

GO CANUCKS GO!!!

2011-10-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

And so it begins.

If you know me, you know I'm a diehard Canucks fan. Yes, I missed posting anything about the playoffs this past Spring, but most of that was because I also had a newborn in the house....she enjoyed watching the games with us.

She also got to witness Mommy bawling her eyes out during the end of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. And it wasn't even silent tears, we're talking real shoulder shaking, shuddering sobs.


Watching Game 6, lots of hope on this couch...and yes, I was in uniform as well

Today is the first game of the season. And while I still carry the pain and immense disappointment from the way the most epic season ever ended, I am again sparked with the belief that THIS season is the one.

First, a look back at the 2010-2011 season. Seriously, epic. Awesome season to be a Canucks fan.

I *might* be crying again after watching that. It really was such a great year.

Anyway. Let's look ahead, this is our year.Stanley will come home to Canada. And the Canucks will be the team to do it (it certainly won't be the Toronto Maple Leafs who will do it).

GO CANUCKS GO!!!

The Future Looks....Hot

2011-10-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

I don't care what anyone says -

Photo from here

The Canucks look H-O-T this year!!

One day until hockey season starts. Hope yer jersey is clean!

For those who can't recognize a hockey player without their name on the back of their uniform, this here is Ryan Kesler #17 from the Vancouver Canucks. He also played for Team USA in the 2010 Olympics, but we won't hold that against him...I can think of other things to hold against him instead.

Fall Fun

2011-10-01T17:19:00.001-07:00

Some happy moments from the last few weeks...

The marriage of some good friends

Swinging at the coffee park - even in the rain

A morning in cozy jammies while playing trains

Fabulous shoes that hurt my feet by the end of a much-needed date night with JD

And, failing all of that, cupcakes from the Cupcakes store in Park Royal

On with Fall!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Backing Off - the "O" Word

2011-09-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Did you feel it? The shift?

Almost like a switch was flipped, the big picture of my running goals for the final months of 2011 came into a clearer focus. More to the point it was the training and maintenance required to safely and happily (v. important) meet these goals became clearer.

In the coming months I have endeavoured to complete the following events:

~~Coho Run 14k - Sept 11~~
Granville Island Turkey Trot 10k - Oct 10 (our family tradition since 2008)
Diva on the Run Half Marathon - Oct 16
Whistler Food Bank 5k - Oct 23 (the morning we leave for Vegas)
Whistler 50 relay team (12k leg) - Nov 5
Maui Turkey Trot 8miler - Nov 24 (something to do while we're in Maui!!)

The highlight of all of these events being the half marathon mid-October, the one I registered for back in March when I was in the midst of longing to run again and coming into the final two months of carrying Bundles.

I knew setting this goal was important for my sanity, so I did it. I got the go-ahead from my Dr at my six week post partum check, and had already started short run/walks in the interim. I've been running and enjoying myself. Despite the odd schedule juggle here and there I've maintained a pretty consistent four runs per week and even started throwing in some speed workouts (I know!).

"It won't be a PR-type goal, it will be a finish a half marathon while maintaining great milk supply and staying healthy goal. Crossing the Finish line will be icing on the cake if I end up so lucky as to even hit the Start line." - what I said when I signed up for the half marathon

Then I ran the Coho Run. And my recovery wasn't that great. I felt sore for the first time post-long run. And it lasted a few days. Not like "injury" sore, but just tired muscles. The following weekend I ran 10miles for the first time post-partum, and again had soreness that lingered for a few days.

In addition to the soreness, I've been exhausted. Bitchy. Cranky. SUAR wrote about it (the dangerous area of "overtraining") and if I'm honest with myself I've been teetering on the edge of overtraining.

So I'm doing something about it. I'm actually going to NOT train like I'm running the half marathon. I'm going to cut my running down to three days per week and only run four days if I absolutely feel like it. I'm also going to go back into my training schedule and repeat the previous month's worth of mileage as opposed to the continual build that I should be doing currently. Case in point: this weekend I am due to run 10 miles again, but I'm only going to do eight.

Convincing myself that this is the right thing to do when I had a goal is the tough part. A big part of me really really REALLY wants to just forge ahead and get to the half marathon and do it. And then I think about how I've been feeling and how running was starting to lose its sheen for me, and I know that reigning myself in is the smarter way of finishing the running season this year.

Can I still run a half marathon if I feel like it in a few weeks? Logic says since I've already completed 10 miles in training I most certainly can. The half marathon isn't completely "off the table", but it's just not the centerpiece of the meal anymore.

Wolfpack Will Take on a Whole New Meaning

2011-09-14T16:16:00.000-07:00

There's a little place, out in the desert in the state of Nevada. It's called Las Vegas....you may have heard of it.

Chances are you have been here. Maybe for a 30th birthday...maybe for a 40th...maybe even for a 21st (I'd say 19, but it's only in Canada that you can legally drink yourself silly at that age).

Maybe you went for a bachelor party....

Hopefully it didn't turn out like THIS bachelor party....*name the movie

Maybe you got drunk and got married there....

I've never been to Las Vegas.

I didn't go when I turned 21, I got a tattoo instead
I didn't get married there, we got married in Mexico
I live in a town where bachelorette parties travel to - even my own was here
And I just turned 30 this past Spring, but I was pregnant so that would have totally missed the point of a birthday in Vegas

At the end of Oct my sister and her fiancé will finally be tying the knot.

So far not a lot of people have committed to going, but we definitely will be there. I just booked our trip.

Monkey and Bundles will be along for the ride. Yup, I'm taking kids to Vegas. Not just kids....preschooler and infant. I'm not even worried about them; I'm more worried about JD in a town built on gambling.

He has a thing for the Roulette table....

Bets we'll come home ahead?

Collages aka Totally Addicted to Photo Apps

2011-09-12T21:33:00.001-07:00

Seriously, I may have a problem...

Or a new way to make awesome personalized gifts for everyone!

*yes, obviously one of my first attempts, I promise to obsess more and produce something better in the future.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Run the North Shore Coho Run 14km Race Report

2011-09-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

I ran my first PP race this past weekend! I really wasn't racing (when am I ever?), this was more of a gauging my progress on the road toward the Diva on the Run Half Marathon that I AM running on October 16. I'm fairly happy with the results here, in that I am actually faster in the 14k distance 4-months post partum (not to mention recovering from a c-section) than I was last year on a regular training run at the same time. Yay me.

About the Coho Run (from the website):
This is without a doubt the most scenic race within BC's Lower Mainland. Join us on this one of a kind 'beach to bridge to beach to bridge to beach' run.

This incredible point to point 14 km journey starts from Kitsilano Beach, takes you through Vanier Park along the seawall, then over the Burrard Street Bridge along the English Bay seawall to Second Beach in Stanley Park, and finally, over the Lion’s Gate Bridge and into Ambleside Beach Park to the birthplace of the North Shore Coho salmon.

The 14K distance provides a great challenge for the 10K runner and a fabulous training run for the ½ marathon trainer.

At the finish line you will enter into the Coho Festival site where you will have the opportunity to participate in this annual festival celebrating the return of the Coho Salmon to the North Shore. Festival activities include environmental displays, visual arts exhibitions, entertainment by local and visiting performers, and of course the famous Salmon Barbeque.

All net proceeds of this event help to support salmon enhancement projects including stream stewardship.


Kitsilano Beach start line


The crowd at the start line - not a large race at all


Just past English Bay


A shot of the British Properties aka The Wealthiest Postal Code in Canada


Stanley Park seawall


Coming up Merilee's Trail to Prospect Point in Stanley Park


Crossing the Lions Gate Bridge


Lions Gate Bridge from Ambleside Park - almost at the finish line!!

Because this was a training run, I didn't really keep track of how I felt throughout the race. I just went with it, didn't try to kill myself, pushed if I felt like it. End result was just an easy run.

The nitty gritty:
1 10:22
2 10:01
3 9:57
4 10:07
5 10:20
6 12:25 - this had the Prospect Point climb, where everyone around me started walking...and I got stuck in the crowd
7 10:40
8 10:04
.42 4:04
Total: 1:28:00

I'm happy with all of this. And yes, it IS faster than I would normally run 14km during a training run so I know I can push a bit. I finished with a little in the tank, which means I could have pushed a bit harder - oh well. Saving for the half marathon isn't a bad thing, right?

10 Years...

2011-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

10 years ago today our world changed.

It is a fine line between saying too much and not saying enough on this day, but over the past 10 years I've come to learn that the words will never be "just right". Nothing will make right the horrors of that day.


Photo from here

"As for those that carried out these attacks, there are no adequate words of condemnation. Their barbarism will stand as their shame for all eternity."
- FormerBritish Prime Minister Tony Blair

Have Double Jogger, Will Travel

2011-09-09T16:36:00.001-07:00

But mostly "Will Run"!!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Me and my girls

2011-08-31T21:21:00.001-07:00

My friend Kelly snapped this photo of me, Monkey and Bundles in the Village last week. I was sporting unwashed, un-styled hair and possibly hadn't showered...was kind of meh about having my photo taken in the first place....

But I kind of love this picture. Try as he might JD just can't seem to get a good photo of me and my girls to save his life. So I'll happily accept a random shot that turns out this great.

PS - I might be obsessed with photo editing apps now, this is redone courtesy of good ole Photoshop.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Today

2011-08-11T13:02:00.001-07:00

Making yucky cupcakes (her words, not mine)

Self-portraits (I love that the camera flips around on the iPhone 4!!)

Napping on the dock

Now it's Mommy's turn

I love holidays - thank goodness we still have 3 days left!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Fun With Dynamic Light

2011-08-09T22:15:00.001-07:00

I was bored on the dock today (I know, life IS hard!) so I started taking pictures and playing with some photos apps on my phone.

It makes me feel artsy and talented.

The view

The essentials

Not bad for a Tuesday.....

She likes to push the buttons and turn the dials

Silly girl

What did you do today?

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Bumbo

2011-08-09T03:37:00.001-07:00

Already strong enough for this contraption....

Three months old in no time flat - too fast, too fast!!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

A Preview

2011-08-07T11:50:00.001-07:00

We're on the road for a week-long holiday on Vancouver Island, but here is a preview of an upcoming post....about camping.

Little girl in her element - looking for crabs with Mommy.

My camping team!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone edition

Copycat

2011-07-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

I'll have to get a picture one of these days, but in the meantime I have a copycat.

Nurse your baby in front of the big sister enough times and eventually the big sister will start to do same with her own babies, bears and Curious George stuffies. The other day we sat side by side on the couch, nursing our babies. I knew we were doing some serious bonding when A asked me to pass her the burp cloth.

Tonight we put newborn diapers on her babies before they went to bed....in her room....beside her bed (which is where Miss E sleeps in my room).

Monkey see, monkey do - eh?

Running!

2011-07-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't written much of anything in recent weeks (I apologize to my whole 24 followers who are probably about to delete me from their lists any moment now) I thought I would at least pop in and announce my return to running. It's the least I could do, being a running blogger and all.

I've been running lately.

Backtrack a bit: I had my 6-week post partum check up about two weeks ago and got the all-clear to return to regularly scheduled activities; utmost of importance for a post partum athlete GET DR'S APPROVAL ON YOUR RECOVERY. I kind of already had returned to some activity, but a little more cautiously than what I would constitute "regular" activities. More run/walks than anything, a little bit of strength training in there (not anything that involved using my core) and a lot of looking up races for the Fall so I could start ~~getting ahead of myself~~ focusing on some goals.

I also got in touch with Coach Christine. I have a list of short and long term goals, including some scary stuff like triathlons and marathons (finally) and losing the remaining baby weight and then some. I know that I, of all people with my weak core and terrible ankle/glute strength on my left side, need to be given a proper assessment and some real instruction on how to get into the right shape for all of these goals. A quick hour long session with Christine and I left feeling right out of shape and horribly weak (not her fault, I am just that much in need of help), but with a plan of attack to remedy the situation.

The good news is I've learned to take it slow. I started out looking at Hal Higdon's Spring Training Novice Plan and backed some of the longer runs off a bit (i.e. the first week had a long run of 3 miles, I think mine was somewhere around 1.5) because I was starting before I got Dr's approval. I walked when I felt like walking (still do) and try to focus on keeping my hips forward and driving with the knees and keeping my upper body solid and upright.

I also registered for another race. The Run the North Shore Coho Run. From the website: This incredible point to point 14 km journey starts from Kitsilano Beach, takes you through Vanier Park along the seawall, then over the Burrard Street Bridge along the English Bay seawall to Second Beach in Stanley Park, and finally, over the Lion’s Gate Bridge and into Ambleside Beach Park to the birthplace of the North Shore Coho salmon. I won't be racing. Not even close. I'll be using it as a training run/how am I doing in my training for the Diva on the Run Half Marathon on October 16.

So I've been out on the Valley Trail, getting myself back into some sort of running routine. It feels great.

PS - I have no idea how you girls with large chests deal with that on a regular basis. Running with boobs larger than I'm used to gives me a new level of respect for all y'all who have to pin those babies down for every.single.run. Mine will be gone one day (not to mention pancake flat thanks to the wonders of breastfeeding), and wow am I kind of looking forward to that!

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

The best country in the world turned 144 today.

I know that most of you Americans are probably thinking that the US is the best country in the world....but that's only because us Canadians are nice enough to not destroy that for you. Today, though, we get to flaunt it.

Happy Canada Day!

10 Days Old....and Sisters

2011-06-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, Miss E is already a month old so these photos are a bit late but OMG they are worth the wait you guys.

Photos by Anastasia Chomlack, she is beyond awesome and if you're looking for a photographer for ANYTHING you need to contact her. Friendly, so easy to work with and just look at what you get in return!

Hat and blanket handmade by my aunt in Nova Scotia

Literally this is one of her first smiles

Burrito Baby

I die. They are so cute


A loves her baby sister


Little feet...adorable

Don't Be Such a Baby....Mom

2011-06-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

I realise I owe some photos, but someone of the three-year-old variety got into my camera case and faster than you can say,"Hey, what's she got?" my memory card stick that I use to upload to the computer is gone...stay tuned.

This morning I had a moment of clarity.

I've been struggling with the adjustment of having a person who is completely dependent on me entering my life again. Not so much in a bad way, no PPD here, but in a "I'd like to have a routine down already" sort of way.

It's hard for a person like me who is used to being able to get up (rested), go for a run, come home and shower, eat, play with A, go out and run errands, come home/have lunch, naptime for A, quick playtime before dinner, make dinner, eat, A goes to bed, hang with DH and go to bed. That's been my day, give or take, for a good couple of years now. Routine, easy to follow, no real surprises unless we've planned them.

Now we're adding a baby to the routine. And babies, in case some of you haven't experienced them yet, make their own rules. Babies are difficult. There is no middle of the road or compromise with their needs, and I forgot that somehow. They don't consult anyone else on whether their rules might contradict or interfere with rules that might already be in place. Oh, and they make you play by those rules regardless of any conflicts between your rules and theirs because none of their rules are up for negotiation - yours, in their opinion, are.

In the past 24-48 hours whatever sleep pattern we might have established in this house with Miss E has gone out the window. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, except for the fact that the sleep patter was a good one. We were all gelling with the schedule, even A. We were mostly rested, we could sort of plan our evenings....it was all going so very well.

Which means, inevitably, that the other shoe was bound to drop.

This morning while Miss E fought her first nap and wailed away in her bed, and I watched the minutes tick by on the clock (yes, I went up to check her and re-swaddle her and change her diaper and snuggle her), it became apparent that our day was rapidly about to become all about napping - me insisting on her going to sleep and her either struggling to fall asleep or not wanting to. And only one of us could change the course of our day.

Me.

I went upstairs, pulled my little bundle out of her bed and brought her downstairs to the couch. We started with a feed on one side, did some burping and made faces for a bit, then we switched to the other side. I let go of any and all notions that she might fall asleep in X number of minutes, I let go of any and all plans to have some sort of structure to how things would go. I just let go.

Miss E ended up falling asleep eventually, but by that time it didn't matter to me if she did or didn't. I had pushed away what I wanted from the situation and only focused on playing by her rules.

Because there is no getting around it. Part of becoming a parent, even for a second time, is that without a doubt your life will change. And just when you get used to the new way of life, that beautiful baby will flip the switch so things change again. And again. And again. I've been fighting the change, without even realizing it.

Now that I realise it I can make efforts to not fight so hard. Since really, it's a battle that I can't win at this point. I can battle later, when it matters who she dates and what outfit she thinks she's walking out the door in - right?

Once again I am learning. Evolving into a person who is less all about myself and my own needs and more about playing better with others. Essentially, I'm becoming less of a baby and more of a grown-up.

That, my friends, is what being a mother is about. Being less of a baby.

Time Flies!

2011-06-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

Good golly time flies when you're ~~sleep deprived~~ having fun!

I'll provide a quick sum of what we've been up to in the past few weeks.


The newest runner in the family!

A ran her first race last weekend as part of the Whistler Valley Trail Run event. The Teddy Bear Trot is a short, fun run for kids under 10. The race grab bag consisted of a bucket of sidewalk chalk and a little baggy with some gummy bears and a sucker. A was stoked.

Wiping ice cream face, no pain she just doesn't like having her face wiped!

Later that morning A had a bad spill at the bike pump track. She went face first into the dirt at high speed on her run bike....and knocked out three of her top front teeth. I wasn't there, but DH was. He scooped her up and ran her to the medical clinic. One week later she has pretty much fully recovered; we overhear her toys discussing how they've fallen off their bikes and how brave they all are when she plays with them, so we know it's still top of mind. We thought for sure that she was changed forever, but she has already been back on both of her bikes and is as active and rambunctious as ever.

Future Ironman?

DH participated in his first-ever triathlon, the Whistler Try a Tri sponsored by the Whistler Tri Club. He placed 4th overall and FIRST! in his AG (let's nevermind that there was only one other participant in his AG). He was the fastest athlete from Whistler. This was his practice/see how I like it before tackling the Squamish Triathlon in July, an Olympic distance event. His training is going well and he's enjoying his newfound athleticism.


First PP run!

Yesterday I ventured out with E in the BOB for a walk/run. I managed 2 miles, very slow. I basically walked the uphills and ran the down plus as much of the flats as I could handle. It was pretty warm outside (we're finally having sunshine and seasonal temps) so I was pretty slow and just took it easy. Seen as how I'm not really supposed to be running for another couple weeks I am just thankful to have no pains or anything short of a welcome feeling of stiffness in my legs this morning.

I started planning my half marathon training using Hal Higdon's plan coupled with his beginner's 5k program to build a base in the coming weeks. I'm still not putting any pressure on myself to do anything spectacular as far as the half mary goes, and if I can't run as much in the coming weeks/months as I'd like then we'll adjust accordingly.

There is a part two to this update - I'm waiting for pictures from the North Face Whistler Half Marathon (DH and many of our friends participated in this over the weekend) - so stay tuned for more of what we've been doing.

Me and E hanging at the end of the North Face Whistler Half Marathon

Crazy to think that amidst all of this we're still dealing with sleepless nights, and the joys of getting to know our beautiful little baby girl!

11 Days

2011-05-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

She has been in our lives for eleven days already.


First bath at home

I'm enjoying a state of "I didn't know it could be this easy" shock right now. A was an easy-ish baby, for a first baby. E takes the words "easy baby" to a whole new level. She's sleeping 4 hour stretches already and nursing like a champ right from the first latch. She hardly fusses, unless she is hungry, and is otherwise just a pleasant little girl already.


Lots of moments spent staring into each other's eyes

A continues to enjoy every moment that she gets with her sister. E sleeps a lot, which is just such an adjustment when you're used to a three-year-old who is busy all the live long day. Because of E's sleeping schedule A was starting to feel ripped off of all of this awesome playtime she kept hearing about before E arrived. We've made a concerted effort to keep A around the house for the moments when E is awake; letting her stand beside us at the change table on her stool so she can look at E and talk to her, having them do tummy time together on the living room floor and granting A every opportunity to hold E when she wants to. It's working, A loves her baby sister and is overjoyed and super proud of herself every time she gets to interact with E.


Tummy time!

Our family is changed. We're one larger and it's the most amazing change to experience. We're adapting together and making room for each other in ways that we never would have without E's arrival into our lives. We hold each other closer and we are taking the time to be together more. It's the best part of having a new person in our lives - the physical expansion in our home has expanded our hearts just a little bit further.

She Has Arrived!

2011-05-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

Baby E (no first names here, I should make up nicknames for my girls and DH - stay tuned) was born on May 13, 2011 at 8:29am via c-section. She weighed in at 8lbs 4oz, a full pound and a bit smaller than her big sister.

We've been home since Sunday, and I cannot believe that a week has already gone by in this little girl's life.

This photo makes my heart soar - look at the love between them!!

A is adjusting well. Her biggest gripe so far has been that E sleeps a lot and she would like to play with her more. She also kind of gets agitated when E cries, but does her best to try to entertain/distract her baby sister from whatever is making her cry - dancing, singing, playing a song on the toy A picked out special for E.


Heading home

Welcome to the world, baby girl. Welcome home. We're so happy that you're here.

When You Are Four Days Overdue.....

2011-05-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

....parts of your home that haven't been cleaned in a while all of a sudden get a bit of attention.

Today I dusted and cleaned the blinds. If we lived in a huge house this would sound like I really attacked a big project. In actuality this amounts to eight windows worth of cleaning. Not a lot.

But it's done. I won't admit to how long it has been since the last time I've cleaned them.

Next up - baseboards.

End Point

2011-05-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

I will say, having dealt with false labour FOUR WEEKS AGO I've struggled ever since with reaching the end of this pregnancy. And by that I mean that I want it to end naturally and it's not happening that way. It's not even happening a little bit. Having false labour like that was like passing the Finish line of a race but then looping back out onto the course without knowing when you'd see that Finish again.

I am now officially 3 days overdue. Yup. We're on the same path as we went with A, except this time around my end point isn't an appointment to induce labour but an appointment for a c-section. Another disappointment. *I can't induce labour with a VBAC because of the stress that the hormones/medications would put onto the scar from my c-section with A, it could rupture which would result in an emergency scenario that could end badly, for me or baby girl. Yes, this could also happen if I had labour naturally occur but the risks of that are lower because my body would be doing the progression itself as opposed to drugs doing the grunt work.

While I knew that I would be attempting a VBAC and it might end in a c-section I never really let myself broach the topic of "what if I don't get to do labour at all?". I just didn't think it would work out that way. And now, with three and half days until my c-section appointment, I am actually looking at going down that path....emotionally, mentally. It sucks.

So on Friday morning (the 13th by the way, though I'm trying not to let superstition cloud my feelings) we'll be having a baby. Whether she's ready to come out or not, we're going in after her. We have an end point. I'm excited and nervous - who looks forward to surgery....that they'll be AWAKE for - I also can't believe that I'll be done this time next week.

I'm still out on the course right now. But I can see the Finish line again. It's not exactly how I pictured it, but I'll be crossing it soon. I'm pretty certain that once I've crossed it I'm not going to care how I got there, or how things went a little differently than I'd planned, but that I'm finished.

Not to mention the fact that the race medal will be pretty spectacular.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

It's an interesting thing, the relationship between mothers and daughters. For some I know it takes a few years to figure out exactly how much our mothers have given to us, without actually "giving" us anything.

I'm happy to say that the relationship in the above photo taught me and prepared me for the gift of the one below.

I know so many wonderful, amazing, talented, intelligent, fabulous mothers - I hope that you all enjoy being the star today and are being showered with the love and respect that you deserve on this day and every day. It's the most difficult job in the world because it's the best job in the world!

Happy Mother's Day.

Giada's Mascarpone Mini Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze

2011-04-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

I feel a bit evil sharing these with you all.

Photo from here

Food critic I am not, but I can say without a doubt that these are what I will imagine if ever I read the words "pillow-y lightness" in a food review. I've been a fan of Giada de Laurentiis for a while, but I've never made one of her recipes. This one comes from Giada's Kitchen , I purchased it from my mom last summer after she'd bought it for my sister who already had the book...and then let it basically waste away in my cupboard until this morning.

In an effort to make something that isn't the usual birthday cake or cupcakes routine for A's birthday I wanted to find her something fun - and I'm always a sucker for frosting that isn't from a tin. Bonus points if I can make it coloured without food colouring.

The recipe says the yield is about 48 mini cupcakes, but I used big cupcake papers so ended up with somewhere around 24. If you choose to make large cupcakes add about 5 mins to your cooking time.

Ingredients

8 ounces mascarpone cheese (about 1 cup), at room temperature
2 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 box white cake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and drained
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar - I used 2 cups and reserved the liquid off of the strawberries to thin out the glaze

Directions
Special equipment: 4 mini muffin tins and 48 mini muffin paper cupcake liners OR your own regular muffin tin and large paper liners.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl combine the mascarpone cheese, egg whites and vegetable oil. Using a hand mixer, beat the ingredients until combined and creamy. Add the cake mix and water and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Fill the mini cups to just below the rim and bake until puffed and golden, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly in the tin then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack.

Meanwhile, purée the strawberries in a blender or small food processor. Place the powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Pour in the strawberry purée and whisk until smooth. Top the cooled cupcakes with the strawberry glaze. Let the cupcakes sit for a few minutes for the glaze to firm up, then serve. Sidenote here: when I let A taste test the glaze, she instantly deemed it "Mmmm - num!" and asked for another taste.

Photo from here

A and I could hardly wait to put a couple together and devour them at the kitchen table. In the end I did use some of the liquid from the thawed strawberries for the glaze which I think was a great idea because the flavour was pumped up to a whole new level.

A definitely approves, and honestly I don't even care if the other children at the party like them - I'll happily take the leftovers home and ~~devour them myself~~ share them with people who will appreciate the goodness that is these cupcakes. I have no idea how I'm going to make them last until A's birthday party on Saturday.

One more thing: Giada is beautiful and she makes such delectable food - how is the woman so thin? My guess is that she eats only a bite or two of everything she makes, has a fabulous trainer and doesn't eat as much Italian food as she claims.

The North Face Whistler Half Marathon Has FIFTY Spots Available!!

2011-04-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you missed your chance to get into The North Face Whistler Half Marathon, fear not my friends.

THIS MORNING at 10am PST registration is re-opening with FIFTY spots just added to the registration cap. They are sure to go fast based on the high number of inquiries regarding extension, so if you had your heart set on this one and think you've missed the boat this is your chance!

Get going. Register. See you there.

Will you run Whistler?

38 Weeks

2011-04-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

And counting....hopefully not for much longer.

PS - GO CANUCKS GO!!!

Still Here

2011-04-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yup, nothing doing. I'm still here. Still pregnant.

I went for a 3 mile walk around the Whistler Valley Golf Course yesterday. Average pace of 19:06 - YESSS! That is some fast pregnant walking. Totally kidding. My hope was that something would kick start, but all I really got were some regular contractions for around an hour or two a bit later in the afternoon.

Today I did my yoga DVD. Not having someone here to tell me if my form is correct is a bit of a pain, and more than likely my form is NOT correct, but I'm feeling strong and more flexible even after this short period of regular yoga. I think yoga will stick around, but in class-form, once I'm back into the swing of things post-baby.

Our 38 week appt is on Wed in the city. I don't know what I'm expecting. I'm trying to not expect anything. I'm driving myself nuts starting to wonder if a VBAC is even going to happen.

Waiting. Not necessarily patiently, but I am waiting. I'm fielding emails, texts, phone calls on the daily now that everyone knows we had an "almost" incident. It's fine. Believe me, NO ONE is more excited for this little person to come than me.

I'd love it if she could at least show a little more enthusiasm toward meeting us....

Practice Run

2011-04-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

I went into labour on Tuesday night.

Having never been in early stages of labour before (when I was induced with A things went from zero to 100 really fast) I wasn't actually certain that it was labour/contractions or just discomfort. Looking back on it the pains started when I was reading in bed, but really picked up after lights out at 10:30.

Around 2am (which was so shocking to me, I felt like I'd only been feeling the discomfort for maybe an hour) I woke DH up and told him that I might be in labour. We started to pack. Ya, I so wasn't ready to be in labour at almost 37 weeks.

At 3am we headed into the Medical Clinic here in Whistler. The clinic/hospital isn't a full hospital and nobody delivers their babies in Whistler - well, obviously the super fast L&D scenarios do but then you get sent to Squamish General Hospital for recovery. There is a doctor who is on call inside the closed clinic and you have to call-in from a phone just inside the doors where the ambulance pulls up.

I was checked and was dilated 1cm. Big whoop. However, because our end point is actually a hospital in Vancouver we were told to not waste time and start making our way down for the 1.5 hour drive. Plus, we needed to drop A off at my mom's house on our way.

At my mom's house we decided to have a bit of a rest. Nothing really was happening contractions-wise and since we were now in Squamish with a hospital 10mins away if we were in dire straights we figured we were fine to lay down on the couch. Not 10 mins into that relaxing scenario did I start feeling very intense contractions. I actually cried out from the pain which I hadn't done yet. DH jumped to his feet and declared,"We're going. NOW!!"

We made it to the city. My OB was the OB on call at the hospital. I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and we watched the contractions come every 3 mins. They didn't feel like anything to me though. I was checked again, 2cm this time but still long and thick AND 3D was still high. Which basically means that nothing productive was happening; part of the job was being done but the other side wasn't.

Discharged at 9am. Told to go for a walk and hang around for a few hours but if nothing picked up then just head home.

We've been home since Wed afternoon. And nothing has picked up.

Because I'm attempting a VBAC my OB won't give me anything to encourage contractions for fear of causing my C-section scar to rupture....resulting in an emergency C-section scenario. I truly believe I can go into labour and stay in labour when the time is right, and I also know that I have 2 weeks or so to go....and a history of babies showing up another week later than that WITH help! Haha

I guess this was our practice run. I have a feeling that the next time I go into labour we either won't make it all the way to the city OR we will but my OB won't be the OB on call. This was our time to have it all click together.

If only 3D had been in on the plan.

Sunshine and a Walk

2011-04-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

That's right - a walk!! I haven't done any real walking of late. Yes, we go occasionally after dinner as a family but certainly nothing strenuous and definitely not a long distance (max 1 mile), so not exactly walking for exercise.

Today the sun is shining. DH and A were going skiing. I didn't want to spend a glorious sunny day inside cleaning - you don't even want to know what my floors look like, so I decided that I was going to get some fresh air.

A few weeks ago my Dr had advised me to start taking things easier. I was having some serious Braxton Hicks contractions and a lot of cramping, too soon for it to be "okay" that I was experiencing such labour-like symptoms, after many of my walks and so I switched walking for some swimming and more recently yoga.

Now that I'm almost full-term, and attempting a VBAC, I figure those symptoms are probably going to be a good thing. No, I'm not out there furiously pounding out mile upon mile in the hopes that my water will break. I went for a 2-mile walk in the sun. Trust me, an 18-minute mile average pace is nothing to get all sweaty about (and I didn't).

The sun was beautiful. The views of Whistler were priceless (and you'll have to trust me because I didn't take any pictures). I enjoyed the fresh air and being outside. I wistfully watched runners as they went past me, and with The North Face Whistler Half Marathon just 9 weeks away, I'm sure many of those runners were on training runs.

It was still cool in the shade, I definitely needed my jacket! There is one additional wardrobe item that deserves some recognition: I wore my capris today!!! I've been in long pants since Oct/Nov, today I wore capris. I realized today that it is Spring, no matter that it snowed earlier this week, and capris were suitable for the weather.

After I got home I updated my Logrun. I hadn't entered a single run/walk/workout since October. I had some work to do!

Just a Photo

2011-04-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Thirty-five weeks and six days

Did You Get In?

2011-04-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

The North Face Whistler Half Marathon is officially SOLD OUT!!

Nope, not an April Fool's joke - 100% legit fact. If you're not in for 2011 we'll see you in 2012!

Did you get into the event this year?

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Yoga. On a Clean Floor, Please

2011-03-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

If you know ANYTHING about me, you know that I hate carpet. Seriously, the word 'hate' is absolutely the feeling I have toward carpet; I don't just dislike it, I actually hate it. I don't care how comfy it is under your feet in your bedroom on a cold morning, how it's nice to have the upstairs done wall-to-wall in shag, that it's a nicer cushion for the kids when they're learning to walk (and how absorbent it is when they're potty training?) or how hardwood floors just seem so 'cold'....carpet is gross. Full stop.

Don't even get me started on the fact that the in-laws have carpet in their bathroom.

Since DH and I bought our first place we've ALWAYS replaced the carpet with hardwood flooring. This is only twice, but we're two for two in this situation and so long as I live it will be de rigueur if we continue to buy bigger homes.

My reasoning behind replacing someone else's carpet when we move in is two-fold:

It's someone else's carpet - BARF
Have you ever seen how dirty hardwood floor gets? Imagine that dirt embedded into carpet - you can't convince me that a weekly vacuum session is going to take care of that crap, especially when people have pets that run around outside and piss and crap and barf on the floor in the house, I don't care how awesome your vacuum is....and don't get me started on the people who wear their shoes in their homes, you might as well just dump your garden (or the dirty floor from any place that you wore your shoes) into your living room, or bedroom, or wherever you have carpet in your home

Rest assured, I am no germ-a-phobe, and I am not judging people who have carpet, I merely have realized how much cleaner our lives are without carpet. And I say that with as much seriousness as one can muster when discussing carpet.

Which leads me to my pre-yoga routine. And maybe I am a germ-a-phobe....or at least a little OCD. This morning I found myself with a free window in which I could do my prenatal yoga DVD and so I jumped on the opportunity. I rounded up my blanket, a pillow, changed my clothes and pushed the furniture as far to the side as I can in this tiny living room/dining room/kitchen. Then I noticed the floor (gotta love hardwood).

Crumbs, Cheerios, toys, misc bits of other food that gets consumed on the couch when the kitchen table is literally right.there to eat at, etc all emerged from under the ottoman coffee table - proof positive that I am the only adult in this house who knows clean up time also means moving larger items around so as to ensure that all areas of the play area are tidy. I headed for the cleaning closet to grab my broom.

No, I didn't just sweep the mess up from the area where my mat was going to be put down. I swept our entire downstairs (which isn't really THAT big an area to cover), even under the stove and the fridge, and deposited the mess that I'd collected into the trash. Then I laid out my mat and got to practice.

You may be thinking that that is some extreme level of OCD going on right there, sweeping before a yoga workout, but I did exercise some restraint.....

I managed to ignore the fact that the floor needs a thorough mopping. Desperately.

LAST Chance for Early Bird Pricing on Whistler Half Marathon Registration

2011-03-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

AND less than 100 spots left for the event itself. ETA: As of 1pm PST there were 63 spots left.

The North Face Whistler Half Marathon is filling up FAST. Today is the last day to get in on Early Bird pricing of $75, which is inclusive of ALL fees and taxes, and gets you a SA-WEET tech race shirt from The North Face (I've seen them, trust me when I say you want one) rumored to be coming in a pretty sweet swag bag also from The North Face. Just saying.

If you need further reason to get in on the cheap (registration goes up to $85 after tonight at midnight), you'll also be entered to win a VIP race weekend for the 2012 event. The weekend includes a free hotel stay for two, free carbo load dinner tickets for two, free river rafting trip for two, free Peak to Peak Gondola tickets for two PLUS TWO entries into the 2012 Whistler Half.

Anyone who has registered prior to tonight's deadline (March 31 at midnight PST) has not only guaranteed their spot this year and saved $10 in registration fees, but is already entered in the contest.

I've been saying I have run envy. I will happily bestow forgiveness upon anyone who registers for The North Face Whistler Half Marathon today. Time is ticking, spots are being sucked up; if you have been considering this one for your race calendar this year what are you waiting for?!

Cause really, you don't want to miss out.

I Couldn't Take it Anymore

2011-03-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

As I stated in my last post, I miss running. I have the worst case of run envy at the moment, and it is only getting worse as I hear of more and more people training and signing up for events.

So I did the only rational thing I could do. I signed up for the Diva On the Run Half Marathon in October.

Early bird registration was $40 - WOW - and I figure worst case I try to downgrade to the 10k if I can't handle training for a half. Absolute worst case I DNS, which wouldn't be a first (Chicago, RNR Phoenix Half, to name a few).

So now I have a post-baby goal. I feel like amidst all of this awesome change that is about to take place I will have something I can hold onto that will be just for me. I won't need a reason to return to running, but I may need a reason to carve time out for myself each day.

It won't be a PR-type goal, it will be a finish a half marathon while maintaining great milk supply and staying healthy goal. Crossing the Finish line will be icing on the cake if I end up so lucky as to even hit the Start line.

Feeling like I might be a runner still.....under all of this baby business.

Random Thoughts on Pregnancy

2011-03-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided a few things about where I'm at in this journey:

1. Please, if you see me, tell me that I LOOK pregnant. At this point, 34 weeks in, I'd like to know that I don't always look 30lbs heavier than I am. The weight gain has finally become something I am accepting of (I know, with 6 weeks to go) and I'd like to just know that if you're noticing it it's because I'm actually bigger than you are used to me being.

2. I miss running. I have run envy right now. Snow is melting, races are being planned and paid for, people are training and posting about it on Facebook. I want to be doing that. I'm not even walking anymore now, so I have a serious ache for a good run.

3. If I let myself I would eat chocolate all day. This does not help in the weight gain area, I realize, but right now a generous helping of chocolate chips would suit me just fine. This might be why I have plans to make banana bread chocolate chip muffins later with A.

4. I am totally blown away at how big A is now. Since having gone through her tiniest of baby clothes (and she wasn't that tiny at 9lbs 7oz at birth) and seeing her trying to dress her baby dolls in them, I am just amazed at how big my baby girl has grown in almost three years.

5. Three years down the road we will (hopefully) be at this easy stage again. 3D will be able to walk, talk, hold hands, play and explore on her own. I can't believe we're about to start the hard work again!!!

Surely there will be more of these random thoughts in the weeks to come. As I lay in bed every night and feel more and more Braxton Hicks contractions combined with 3D's movements being further down in the belly than they were even just a few days ago, I hope that this family is ready for the official expansion that is literally just around the corner.

A is excited to meet baby sister, DH is already thinking about schedules and time off work, I continue to ask for patience and the ability to give equal parts of myself to everyone in my home while still having enough left over for me.

The times they are a changin' .....

Making Room for Baby

2011-03-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

Also possibly known as "Spring Cleaning" but we're really making room for baby.

DH is currently off to the dump with the following items, from our spare room and from the playroom downstairs:

Treadmill - we discovered this puppy doesn't work anymore after having been unplugged for over a year
Table - it was a small craft table that was originally our kitchen table WAY back in our first apartment together
Mattress and box spring - second hand from old neighbours, nobody comes to stay at our house anyway (and we offer all over the place) so it's going
Bed frame - well, the parts that you sleep on are going so the bed frame may as well go, too
Sad, old picture frames - all falling apart in some form or another

We realized about a week ago that not only do we need somewhere to put all of the baby clothes that are about to come out of the crawlspace (have I mentioned how affordable this child is in the clothing department? Our due date is A's birthday, and baby is a girl), it probably also won't be a super awesome idea to be busting into A's room in the middle of the night to change diapers seeing as how the dresser we use for A's stuff is also the change table. 3D will sleep in a bassinette in our room for the first while, but we will be setting up the crib and change table in the spare room, probably the glider will go in there too.

Setting up the crib means that we need the crib mattress off of A's toddler bed, which means A will be getting not only a new dresser but a new bed and mattress set as well. WOO!! I love furniture shopping.

And so operation "Make Room for Baby" was launched. We're clearing out the spare bedroom (maybe we don't need to move so soon after all....no, our place is not for sale) and baby-related items will be going in there.

I'm glad for these Fridays when A is off at school for the day. I knew that in the weeks leading up to baby time there would be preparation involved, but it's almost like my brain totally forgot just how much needs to be done when a new person is joining a household. I still have to sort clothes, linens, wash EVERYTHING, get the carseat ready for installation. Oh, and buy some nursing bras because the ones I had with A got absolutely trashed.

We will be ready. We will.

Everybody Into the Pool!

2011-03-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

I love to swim. It's a great workout and I always feel really good about myself after having completed a good amount of time in the water. I grew up spending pretty much my entire childhood in my grandparents' pool, from age 3 months and up, so I'm a water baby for sure. And I'm a Pisces so it's a part of who I am as a fish to be drawn to water.

Of late, when I walk I've experienced some crazy groin pain in the days following each trip around the neighbourhood. I'm kind of getting annoyed by it because the pain is making getting out of bed to go pee during the night difficult....which, OMG has ramped up to a ridiculous portion of my sleep time; seriously, when you spend 10 minutes on the toilet not because you have to do some other business but because each time you want to stand up a little bit more pee decides it wants out, that's when you know you're super pregnant.

But I digress. Long story short, Mommy on the Walk is now Mommy in the Pool.


Photo from here - none of these swimmers is me.

Right now I am merely looking at time spent in the water, but it's nice to keep track of how far I'm going as well....which isn't "far" at all. Today was my longest workout and I only went 600 metres. But it was enough for me to feel like I got in a good cardio workout, complete with the resistance challenge that only water can provide.

At eight months pregnant (!!!!) I definitely am not sporting my TYR bathing suit anymore, and at that I am also not super confident in how my body looks in anything that leaves little to the imagination (which is ironic considering my only suit that fits is a bikini I bought for the cruise we went on when A was six months old), but as soon as I get in that water and start moving I am back to pre-pregnancy confidence (as far as that went). I can glide through the water, I don't feel heavy, my joints are "free", I know I won't be putting any additional strain on my groin *eye roll*....

Swimming definitely gets my heart rate up, so I am careful to take lots of rests and allow myself complete recovery after each set of laps. I have to remind myself for next time to bring my water bottle out to the pool deck so I don't have to hop in and out of the water to get a drink from the fountain.

Today's workout:

200 free
200 kick
200 free

Not a lot, in fact it's the warm up that the Masters slow lane uses, but it was enough for me today. I'm hoping to work my way up to 1000m each workout, over the next few weeks.

And really, anything that makes me forget the 30lbs I've gained so far is something I need to be a part of.

Cut Throat

2011-03-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

Who knew registering your children for activities was so much of a lesson to the rewards in being first in line?

When I signed A up for her Creative Play program during the winter, I just happened upon the program and there was plenty of availability that time around. During the winter here many kids (most likely all kids age 3+ by Dec) take ski school lessons up to 3 days per week (the mountain is very cautious of allowing parents to use ski school as daycare, especially when there are tons of families from all over the world coming to access the ski school as well) . That leaves a lot of leeway, empty space, as far as other programs goes. For Spring/Summer, not so much I guess.

This weekend Spring/Summer recreation program registration opened at midnight Saturday night. The Recreation Guide came out last weekend so parents all over Whistler have had one full week to build their "wish list" of things to keep the kids busy during the sunny months.

Not knowing what to expect, but knowing that I have a busy little girl who probably won't much enjoy hanging around the house with me and 3D while we work on building a routine, I kind of figured I didn't want to miss the boat on any of the programs that we had in mind for A....so I stayed up until midnight last night to make sure I got her in.

Within three minutes of online registration opening I had A signed up for all of her planned programs, and with plenty of room to spare in each class. Successful registration complete, I hit the hay.

When I woke up this morning I decided to check out which programs had filled up already, just to see if I'd wasted my time. Sure enough, the programs I signed A up for are ALL FULL. As of 8:30 this morning I would've been S-O-L if I was just signing in to register her or phoning the recreation office to register by phone (do people even do that these days?).

Thanking my lucky stars that I had the brains to stay up and sacrifice a full night of sleep so that my little girl could maintain some semblance of a social calendar (har-har, someone in the house should have one!) when her little sister joins us. I can only hope that some of my friends had the same outcome!

Wondering why DH didn't stay up and do it for me? Well, for one he had a race this morning, and for another - how many husbands out there are the ones who sign their kids up for ANYTHING?

Yoga, Baby!

2011-03-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

Photo from here

I bought this yoga DVD yesterday. It was on sale at the pharmacy, and after one use it has paid for itself; I don't know about yoga drop-in rates anywhere else in the world but Whistler's are ridiculous expensive ($15-$20/class, seriously).

While I definitely realize that nothing beats in-person instruction, I don't have the time (nor the money) to actually get me to a class on an on-going basis. Oh, and for whatever reason prenatal yoga classes are not on regular rotation in Whistler, nor are the sessions (when a special class is offered) ever advertised. I know I don't HAVE TO take a prenatal-specific class, but it would be nice to not be the only huge one in the room and have a practice that is modeled specifically for pregnancy so that I don't have to modify the entire class.

Lucky for Shiva Rea, this DVD covers the bases for me. I popped it in the player this morning and set my intention (haha). I had a blanket, a block, a chair and a mat all set to go. I don't have a large living room so I had to break focus to move things around at various points in the practice so that I could actually do the poses whilst avoiding a collision with the couch/kitchen table/ottoman (I'm not lying, we live in a tiny space).

I got in a good stretch. That's what I wanted and what I've been looking for. I should take a Yin yoga class or two to get the hip-opening exercises but at this point I may just settle for my DVD.

My hope is that I am making more room for her to begin progressing. I am attempting a VBAC this pregnancy, and one of the reasons we ended up with a c-section with A was due to a failure to progress into the birth canal. I'm not here to debate the whys and the hows and the medical system and its "priorities", and I fully acknowledge that I had a major role to play in the outcome of the first L&D, I just know that this time I really want to try for a vaginal birth.

Hopefully some extra hip stretching and relaxation will put me in a better position to achieve the goal I've set for myself. I have done so many things differently this time around, and I remain realistic, but I am also optimistic that I can do this.

Anyway. Yoga, baby! I feel pretty Zen today. It's nice. Another effect is that 3D is wiggling up a storm. The extra oxygen must be kicking in - girl is rocking out!

Now, if I could just talk myself out of that Snickers bar that's sitting in my purse.....oh, you know what I'm talking about!

10 Ways I Break the Rules

2011-03-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

I was going to post about how I have just rediscovered swimming as my go-to cardio this week, but we'll save it for another day because Beth at Shut Up and Run had a better idea for a post and also probably a way to see how many people consider her the leader and themselves the follower. I will follow her. Have you seen her abs?!

Here is a list of just ten of the ways that I break the rules. You know, the things that "they" tell us we should do or not do - whoever "they" are....

1. I floss MAYBE 3-4 times/month. I know it's bad, but I use an electric tooth brush and haven't had any cavities in years. My dentist thinks I floss 3-4 times/week....and never calls me on my bluff.
2. I type with the laptop on my lap.
3. I still am eating sushi during my pregnancy. I know, there are warnings. I also eat my steak medium rare, have dippy eggs and eat the dangerous cheeses.
4. I never wear gloves to wash the toilets. But I always wash my hands right after I finish. Yes, I realize this one may cause me to lose friends....or at least never have anyone shake my hand again.
5. I only wash my workout clothes one time each week.
6. I get my eyebrows waxed above the brow line. Always have, don't understand what the issue is with having those brow hairs removed also....
7. I don't always wash my feet and dry between the toes afterward. And I was surprised to have a mild case of athlete's foot last summer.
8. I always put potato peels, banana peels, etc down the garburator (food waste disposal). Apparently there are a lot of things that we aren't supposed to put down them, the list is so long that I wonder what exactly is considered okay to put through the grinder.
9. I never change the water filter on time. Our fridge water dispenser's filter has needed changing for probably a year now.
10. I let A still sleep with a soother at almost three years old. We're working on losing it, hopefully when baby sister comes she'll realize soothers are for babies and she doesn't need one. The dentist and her Dr aren't concerned though, so neither am I.

Alright, peeps. Fess up. Post on your own blog or comment here. What are some of the ways that you break the rules?

A Thought

2011-03-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Wow did I have a lot of traffic to my blog yesterday! Thanks Peanut Butter Fingers! Amazing what a little nod on a super popular blog does for us teeny tiny folks out there. If you're new leave me a comment, thank you for stopping by. I hope I'm not a huge disappointment! Haha

So, this past week I've been sneezing, stuffed up, tiny bit of a sore throat. No good. It has come on completely out of the blue, and while I don't feel like I'm battling a cold we all know that those symptoms can't help but make one feel terrible. Definitely not fun to have to have a pack of Kleenex always at the ready. Nevermind the looks you get from people when you just.can't.stop.sniffling.

What brought this on? Why do I have such watery eyes? What is wrong with me?!!!

Then I looked around our house. On my birthday I received FOUR bouquets of flowers. They are all displayed within the tiny area between kitchen/living/eating area. They are all in the part of the house that I spend much of my time.

Flowers have pollen.

Allergies? Ya, I think so.

Funny how one can feel free and clear of allergies because outside we still have so.much.snow and yet, as soon as you bring some Spring into the house it all goes to heck.

At least I know I'm not contagious.....

Kindle - Page Turning be Damned!

2011-03-16T07:49:00.000-07:00


Photo from here

I asked for only one thing for my birthday this year; I make it sound like I normally ask for a lot more, usually I don't even ask for anything. I asked for a Kindle.

Yesterday, that Kindle arrived (yes, three days after my birthday but I'm not complaining). It is quite possibly the most awesome present I have ever received for my birthday.

Set-up was super easy, and it only took about three hours to fully charge - though, I can't exactly be trusted on that time estimate because I was too busy reading and playing around with it.

I got the Kindle that is pictured in this post, the 3G version (the one that costs slightly more than the basic) with Wi-Fi connective ability. And I wanted it in white, but for whatever reason the white version isn't available in Canada yet. Totally fine by me, now that I have it really I realize I was just being extra picky about the colour.

Plug in for charging, slide the "wake up" button on the bottom and I was set to begin exploring. First thing I had to do was change the registered account holder from DH to myself (since he ordered it for my birthday it was just automatically registered to his Amazon account). Then I was ready to get some books.

So far I've purchased the book that my bookclub is reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and all three books in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, and the new Jodi Picoult book. I gotta say, even though I've recently been purchasing books from Costco cause they're just so cheap, buying books on Kindle is even more affordable. BIG thumbs up to the pricing! HUGE.

I love books. Love holding a book. Love flipping through pages. Love everything about books. I thought I would miss holding a physical book, but I totally don't. Maybe because I have the leather cover that makes it feel like I am holding a book anyway? All I know is I enjoy clicking a button on the side of my Kindle to turn the pages - page turning be damned!

Don't get me wrong, I will totally still buy books (I think). I have a fantasy of having an actual library in my home when we're able to actually have something larger than a shoebox to live in, and that certainly isn't going to die with my Kindle. I have boxes upon boxes of books that are waiting to be unpacked and freed from their crawlspace dungeon, but nowhere to keep them.

I'm kind of relieved that the next time we go on holiday I won't have to worry about taking up valuable bathing suit space with a stack of books to read on the beach. I rarely buy a book on holiday, I always have three or four waiting in the wings to be selected for beach reads or what have you, but this means packing them along. Now I have it all in one spot, by the thousands if I want.

And, with the whole 3G/Wi-Fi thing going for me I can also download a book whenever and wherever I want/need to.

Online shopping just took on a whole new angle.....

It's Only Hard Because It's Worth It

2011-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

I know most moms can relate to this: those days where it seems that all you're doing is saying,"No" to your children, your patience is severely lacking and you feel like you're just doing a terrible job of being anybody's definition of "mother" - nevermind a good one. We don't talk about it, but we all know that we've had those days.

Today was one of those days for me.

A and I are having some struggles lately. A lot of them revolving around her not listening to me, many of them involving me getting smacked in the face by her (I don't know where she gets it from), me raising my voice, and many many tears on both sides of the coin. I feel like I'm raising my voice not only far too often, but far too quickly in any given scenario. I can tell that she's having her moments of just really not liking me as her mommy.

That last bit is what made me break down tonight when I was tucking her in to bed. I was trying to give her a kiss and a snuggle, and she shoved my head off her pillow. I leaned back in to give her a hug and she pushed me away saying,"Mommy go. Go downstairs". The look in her eyes just ripped my heart out and I started to cry. And not just tears rolling down my face; ugly, sobbing tears.

I know she's only just about three, and a lot of what we're going through is her testing limits and pushing buttons because we're together all the time, or saying something just to get a reaction, but I have such a hard time convincing myself that I'm not doing something wrong and that this too shall pass. It's happening all the time and I struggle with the knowledge that difficult days (weeks?) are just part of our relationship, that we can't always have positive and joyful moments - the teen years are still to come, right?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an ungrateful mother. I love my little girl. I love everything about her - even when a lot of our morning is spent doing time out after time out. She is the best thing I have ever done, the best gift I have ever been given. I never forget that or take that for granted.

We have another life joining us soon, and I'm starting to worry about how I'm going to manage TWO children who need me nevermind having to explain to A that sometimes she isn't going to come first, even if baby sister just had her turn with my attention. I can feel myself changing emotionally to make room for this other person, figuring out how to have enough to give to her while not losing anything that I already have with A. I spend a lot of time with A explaining that baby sister is going to need a lot of hugs and love, that we'll all need to help her and do things for her because she can't do anything herself. I emphasize that A is a big girl, a big sister, and that her baby sister is going to really need her, A, to be helpful for Mommy and Daddy. I also emphasize that A is still going to get all the love and attention that she needs.

The struggle is within myself, mostly. I'm not one to usually admit this so openly, but I'm getting scared. I want to do a good job with BOTH of my girls, I want us to have a great time together. I so look forward to spending each day with both of them - how lucky am I going to be?! Days like today make me scared because I know there are more to come and with two it's going to be twice the patience required and twice the effort to be the one who isn't stomping her feet because things aren't going her way! Being a mommy is hard.

Nobody talks about this. These things that us mothers beat ourselves up about and lose our minds over. These days that push us and challenge us to be better and dig deeper. This thing called motherhood. It's a daily effort. It doesn't end at 5pm. Hell, it doesn't even end at midnight. It's constant and always there. I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

As my tears dry right now, I know that it's only hard because those are the days that make it worth it. I wish I could be easier on myself about when I struggle in my most important role.

Thirty - a new AG!

2011-03-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

That's right, today I turn 30. I'm not really scared of turning 30; maybe because so many of my friends are older than me I feel like I've already been 30 for years, or it could be because I have a child already that I feel like the age/number thing isn't really that big of a milestone anymore - unless they're hers, of course.

My sister and I on the set of "After the Promise"

I think one of the things that I will miss the most about being in my 20s, though, is seeing the shock on people's faces when I tell them my age - pretty sure once you hit 30 the reaction is more,"Oh, you're old like me" and less "Holy crap, seriously?!". I've always loved the fact that others thought I was older, especially with the five-year age difference between myself and DH. I still look back with fondness at one Christmas party we went to, years ago, when someone asked me how old I was (I think I was 22 at the time) and him being absolutely flabbergasted at my age - I think I even had to show him my DL to prove I wasn't lying.

What I look forward to the most now is getting wiser, better. I'm definitely not comfortable with the age/death thing, let's not get too ahead of ourselves, but I am excited to see what my 30s will hold. If you ask me now, yes, 40 looks scary (sorry for those friends of mine who have just hit that milestone, I definitely don't think you are old!). I think because at 40 there really is no room for excuses anymore. You've either got your sh*t together, or you don't, but you're definitely not able to use your age as any reason for the delay. At 30, you still are given some grace surrounding being a grown-up.

And, of course, there's that whole "moving up an AG" thing. I'm now at the bottom of a new AG. My next race I will be in the 30-34 category - perhaps I'm more scared about that than anything else! Haha. I've never been an AG-winner, not even close to being a contender (unless it was a really, really small race), but I think with racing/running the experience that comes from age is more of a benefit than a hindrance. Hoping that I can fall into that "faster with age" trend that is common among women - what a gift that would be!


My sister and I in our backyard garden - my brother was probably a baby

With that, let's move on to a brief list of 30 Things About Me - hopefully I'm not repeating any from this post.

1. I was obsessed with Rainbow Brite when I was a kid.

2. A "10-years later" book for the Sweet Valley High series is coming out this Spring, I've already pre-ordered it.

3. I never could decide if I wanted to be Jessica or Elizabeth.

4. I asked for a Kindle for my birthday. As of 10am I still don't know if I got one.

5. Paper waste drives me nuts. That I used to work in an office where every.single.email was printed off for the executive to read while on his business trip flights (don't ask why he couldn't use his own computer to read them) pretty much boiled my blood.

6. Other than roasting marshmallows, my favourite camping activity is playing cribbage by lantern.

7. I've been told I look like Kate Hudson. I'll take it.

8. My mom gets told she looks like Goldie Hawn.

9. 30 years ago, March 12 was sunny and hot enough for my mom to get a nice tan on the back deck at my grandparents' house. Today it's snowing.

10. I wish my hair was still as naturally blond as it was when I was a kid.

11. I've always wanted to go to Capri, Italy. I don't know why or where the interest was sparked, but it's still on my list.

12. I've only been to a few concerts in my life.

13. Those concerts? Faith Hill, Iron Maiden, Dave Matthews Band and Third Eye Blind.

14. I really want my closet to reflect how into fashion I am. I just can't afford it!

15. My biggest fashion obsession? Boots. OMG I could look at/shop for boots until the cows come home.

16. Speaking of boots, I'd love a nice pair of cowboy boots.

17. As much as I'd love to see a Vancouver Canucks game on my birthday, they are NEVER in town on the actual day. Tonight - in Calgary.

18. I considered breaking up with Facebook for my birthday. But then I saw all the birthday wishes from people....

19. I've only had half of my wisdom teeth pulled. I still have the ones on the right side of my mouth.

20. I've never worn braces or a retainer. All of my teeth have come in straight, even my wisdom teeth.

21. I don't think I could ever live in a city. I like to visit them, but I can't see myself living in one. Not even beautiful Vancouver. Too crowded.

22. I met Summer Sanders during the Olympics last year. I didn't know it was her until many months later when I bought her prenatal workout DVD.

23. I'm really starting to realize how much I dislike clutter and junk.

24. I was born at 6:30 pm.

25. Is it bad that I'm running out of things to say?

26. I would love to live somewhere with a beach, in a hot and sunny climate all year.

27. That being said, I do enjoy living in a place that has all four seasons. I know that I live in one of the truly most beautiful places in the world.

28. I hate carpet.

29. Having a child has made me a more considerate person. Maybe also getting older has had something to do with it, but I know I was a little bit more selfish 10 years ago.

30. I guess this means I'll live forever now, right? ;-)

Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes

2011-03-10T21:11:00.000-08:00

Oh my stars. You need to stop whatever you are doing and make these Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes.

I've had my eye on them for a few days now, since seeing the recipe on How Sweet It Is. I am a sucker for all things chocolate and peanut butter (and almost 8 months pregnant), and it was all I could do to not continue to shove them into my mouth. I could not even wait long enough for them to cool, I slapped on some peanut buttercream frosting and went to town.

All told, I had two; one with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - which is exactly the right way to eat them!

Photo from here .

The North Face Whistler Half Marathon Course Is Now Available!!

2011-03-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

This is pretty exciting, and a long time coming. I've been sworn to secrecy for months and finally can share with you all the course for the North Face Whistler Half Marathon!!!

Go to the website to get more details on the actual ins and outs and how to follow the map.

Exciting news today. Very exciting news.

3D Baby

2011-03-03T11:46:00.001-08:00

Here is Baby Girl 3D (remember, nickname has zero to do with the 3D u/s). 31 weeks gestation, she does sort of resemble her big sister already!

In case you have trouble deciphering where everything is in this shot: face is on the left and both eyes and her nose are visible. Her arm is coming in from the right and comes down just below her nose. You can also see a bit of the umbilical cord by her hand/cheek (it looks like bubbles).

Because baby girl wasn't much more cooperative than this - she moved both arms AND legs in front of her face - we'll be going back for a free session at the end of the month.

And here's what is going on on the outside as well!!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

ABCs of Mommy On the Run!

2011-03-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

This little survey is floating around the blog world, and while I usually poo-poo these things, I am in dire need of something to post about and this is giving me something to say....at least until after tomorrow when we go for our 3-D u/s.

(A) Age: 29 - for eleven more days!
(B) Bed Size: Queen
(C) Chore You Really Dislike: Washing windows
(D) Dogs? We don't have any right now, but I've had dogs in my life; my mom has a wire haired fox terrier named Talia and when I was young we had a doberman pinscher named Sheena.
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Glasses! As in, I'm blind without them.
(F) Favourite Colour: Yellow
(G) Gold or Silver? White gold
(H) Height: 5'7"
(I) Instruments You Play: I took a lot of lessons as a kid (guitar, piano, sax) but none carried over into adult life
(J) Job Title: Mommy
(K) Kids: A, going on 3, and the little girl who will be referred to as 3D (not because of the u/s) until she makes her arrival in May
(L) Live: Whistler, BC Canada
(M) Mom's Name: Patricia
(N) Nicknames: Aim, Aimus, Babe
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? When A was born and I had pneumonia when I was 8
(P) Pet Peeve: People who don't pick up after their dog - seriously, what is wrong with you people?! And misuse of the apostrophe.
(Q) Quote from a Movie: "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time. " - Old School
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right
(S) Siblings: A sister and a brother - I'm the oldest
(T) Time You Wake Up? 6:30 during the week right now, on weekends it's whenever A comes in for her snuggle. Cause I'm not training for anything I don't need to be up super early to get in long runs, structured workouts.
(U) Underwear: Up for debate
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: I actually don't think I dislike any....
(W) What Makes You Run Late: It seems everything these days, which I am sorry about.
(X) X-Rays: Chest (pneumonia), dental (doesn't everyone get these?), foot (stress fracture)
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: DH likes my Souvlaki and roasted potatoes
(Z) Zoo, Favourite Animal: I don't like animals in captivity (and yes, I currently eat meat. I know, I'm a big contradiction from one moment to the next).

First Valentine's Card

2011-02-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

Since January, A has been attending a twice-a-week program called Creative Play. The kids get two hours without Mom and Dad, playtime with children they may not otherwise know, a friendly environment with two awesome teachers, and a chance to learn some new things.

At the start of her program we received a calendar that tells parents what the kids will be doing on any given day. A theme of the day if you will. I was beside myself when I saw that A would be having a Valentine's Day theme during this week. I knew it would mean her coming home with some sort of sweet card for us - and sure enough she did!

I have proudly displayed this above on our fireplace (and by "on" I don't mean on the mantle, I actually mean that it is hanging on the stones). It will stay there for as long as we like.

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In other news, I was notified last night of being a "Featured Resource" on treadmillreviews.net - how nifty is that?!

The Hand Twins

2011-02-16T19:17:00.001-08:00

In our home it appears that when it rains, it pours.

Almost three weeks ago, DH broke his thumb skiing. He'll tell you he was rescuing people on a cliff, however the real story is that he fell on a cat track (aka flat part of a run) and also doesn't know how to properly hold his poles. The fall resulted in a break AND the need to reattach a ligament to the bone via surgery.

Surgery took place on Monday. His hand is wrapped in the most monstrous dressing I've ever seen for anything thumb-related.

Today, A and I were baking cookies while also boiling up some noodles for her late lunch (wasn't feeling it at the regular time). I had just turned off the stove and was at the sink with the hot water and noodles, A was right beside me....the next thing I heard was a shriek of pain and "Owie my hand!!"

A had climbed up on her helper chair and was trying to reach for a cookie. She placed her left hand on the burner, the one we had just turned off not moments prior.

Second degree burns along the base of her fingers (on her palm) and along the tips of each and her thumb, first degree burn on the base of her thumb, also the palm. I treated it right away and then we went in to the clinic to be sure we weren't dealing with something more - and they have better supplies than I do!

She was a star patient and walked out with a fresh dressing and a sticker for being so brave. DH and I took her out for sushi, where it only seemed appropriate to snap the following photo:

Now I have two patients, both of them very easy to manage - they're a team now more than ever!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Mommy on the....Walk?

2011-02-14T14:40:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to finish this post for a few days now, it hasn't been a successful effort.

The time has come, I believe, to surrender to the growth of this baby belly (into our 29th week now) and admit that it has become taxing to run even the shortest of distances.

My last few runs have seen a heart rate that is all too eager to zoom up into the 160 range before I've even made it a respectable distance away from the house. I'm not sick, I feel great (aside from expanding discomfort related to expanding belly), and I have the energy to be out there. I'm not watching for a specific number on my HRM but I know that 160-something is far too high for a pregnant woman just looking to maintain some semblance of fitness.

And thus, Mommy on the Run is converting to Mommy on the Walk....for the next 11 weeks or so. OMG only 11-ish weeks to go!! When I feel I can run during a walk I will. But really, what I've been doing lately can hardly be even classified as running anyway - I'm pulling 13 min miles....usually going downhill. I am just happy to be out there.

I can happily make this change because I didn't expect to make it this far to begin with, running through pregnancy that is. A far cry from my experience with A (literally I walked a handful of times in the course of 9 months, no wonder I gained 50lbs!), I just wanted to run for as long as I could this time around. Suffice to say, without having anything to train for aside from impending labour my motivation hasn't been the best at times but I did get out there for a decent 6-10 mile weekly average. I'll take that. I even ran 3 races in the Fall (Terry Fox Run, Food Bank 5k and Turkey Trot), so I've had a great run of being a pregnant runner.

And I'm not hanging up my running shoes completely. Though walking does nothing for me in the category of "what gets me excited to lace up" I still need some source of fresh air, and it's definitely not bike riding season here in Whistler!

Walk with me?

Tahoe Baby!

2011-01-22T23:03:00.000-08:00

The last time we were in Lake Tahoe, A looked like this

Now, she looks like this

Oh my how time flies!

DH, A and I made the journey from Whistler to Lake Tahoe to meet up with Trailmomma and her family during Martin Luther King weekend. Odd to go from the number one ski resort in North America to a significantly smaller resort, but we enjoy seeing how things are done in other resorts and Tahoe is just a beautiful place. Plus, Trailmomma and family are good company!

Before we made the drive from Trailmomma's house to Lake Tahoe I got in some snuggle time with both girls.

Northstar at Tahoe is very different from Whistler Blackcomb. While our hometown hill boasts over 200 trails, Northstar at Tahoe rings in at 93 (still impressive). WB has 38 lifts, Northstar has 19. WB is bigger, so I realize I'm comparing watermelons to canteloupes here but it's fun to see the differences in stats alone on paper. One thing that Northstar has that Whistler doesn't is an outdoor skating rink - what a hit, and seriously our powers that be need to get on that.


Northstar - look at the little hill!


Heading up the gondola to The Ritz

It was lovely weather while we were in Tahoe. I recall feeling very much like we were overdressed for summer come mid-afternoon after the above gondola ride. DH says the ski conditions were along the lines of Spring skiing - not a bad thing, nothing wrong with "ego snow". And I enjoy the whole being in California and also at a ski resort! Such an oxymoron in my mind.

A and The Peanut were reunited, this time finding themselves sharing numerous plates of french fries, toys, a love of playing in the snow, building snowmen and sledding with their daddies. The following photos are borrowed from Trailmomma.

Fries and sushi

Getting a tow up the hill

Playing in the snow on the patio at The Ritz

Catching some air!

The Peanut and the scariest snowman ever (courtesy of DH)

After a fun-packed weekend, over way too soon, we all headed back to Trailmomma's house for our last night in Cali. Delicious stir fry for dinner, a few last-minute Sierra Nevada beers for DH and Vans, a hilarious blast-from-the-past screening of home movies starring Trailmomma and Vans, and we were all of a sudden heading back to Whistler.


One last round of Curious George before bed

Thanks to Trailmomma and family for hosting us, again, in Tahoe. We hope to return the favour sooner rather than later and show you around Whistler.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

2011-01-09T15:42:00.001-08:00

I realize that to a newcomer or anyone reading my blog for the first time it would appear I've sneakily converted this blog from a runner's blog to a foodie's blog. This is not so, I'm just baking and cooking way more from scratch and excited to share some successes - ones that come from other people, but still successes in my own kitchen.

I am also running/walking around 9-10 miles each week, but I'm not training for anything (besides labour) and I have literally no variety in my workouts. I will include more stuff about running (like how much I love Yaktrax) and continue to remind everyone to register for the Whistler Half Marathon in June, but for now a link to some delicious cookies that I would argue are perfect for a road trip/camping/hiking experience.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies from Eat, Live, Run

I followed the entire recipe word-for-word (except for the part where I accidentally turned off the oven for the entire second batch's baking time and didn't notice until the timer went off) and my word if these aren't the answer to Oatmeal Raisin Cookies I don't know what is.

Enjoy!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Food for Thought

2011-01-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

I love the CBC Radio Show, Q with Jian Ghomeshi. This interview was originally aired before Canadian Thanksgiving and follows a popular debate these days - to eat meat or to not eat meat? I caught the tail end of it again this morning in the car after I dropped A and DH off at Creekside and ended up staying.in.the.car in the cold to listen to the final 10 minutes of it.

Jian interviews Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Safran Foer, both have amazing arguments for and against meat consumption. I've dabbled in "quitting" meat and indeed found a change in how I felt within my own body (less "full", lighter, etc), but I also somehow figured out a way to deplete my iron stores in the process so I obviously need to educate myself further on letting meat go and replacing the meat source that provides the much-needed iron and protein in a runner's diet.

Should We Eat Meat?. Hopefully this link works and everyone gets a chance to listen to the arguments and come to their own conclusions; maybe to educate yourself further about where your meat is coming from (as both sides of the argument are well-versed in food cultivation in present times), make some changes as to where/how/when you choose to eat meat, decide to say goodbye to meat eating, and so forth.

A little food for thought.

Spiced Banana Muffins

2011-01-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

I don't know what happened in our house over the past few days, but somehow we ended up with a surplus of bananas. And now said bananas are all ripe. All nine of them. Yikes.

I've been looking for something to do with them, and didn't want to surrender to my usual banana bread recipe from The Joy of Cooking. I have no problem with that recipe, but it was time for a change.

I opened my Food Network Canada app on my phone and typed "banana muffins" into the search field. A lovely list of recipes popped up and I started perusing for something that 1) was easy and 2) used what I already had in the house (I wasn't about to buy MORE ingredients when the whole purpose was to start getting rid of stuff).

Spiced Banana Muffins fit the bill. Exactly what I was looking for and while I couldn't double the recipe like I'd wanted because I only had two eggs in the house, I did get to use up some bananas. And cream cheese for the frosting I decided that we needed to have accompany the muffins.

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1/2 cup bran
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 ripe bananas, peeled
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Whisk together the flour, bran, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
3. Mash the bananas and stir in the eggs, brown sugar, oil and vanilla.
4. Mix well and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined.
5. Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan and bake until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 12-15 minutes.

Photo from here

First Run of 2011

2011-01-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

I trudged out 3 miles this morning around the Whistler Valley Golf Course. I walked the hills (and there is a HUGE one on the backside) and was generally slower than molasses, but I have the first 3 miles of the year under my belt - not bad for almost 6 months pregnant!

Came home and got into a warm bath because up until that run I hadn't showered in, oh, 2-3 days. Gross, I know. Then made a wrap with avocado, spinach, cold dark turkey meat and cranberry sauce. A little salt 'n pepper and I had a delicious meal. I am full in the tummy and happy to have some miles under my belt for the new year.

Hope the hangovers out there are fading by now.....

Making a Turkey

2011-01-01T12:31:00.001-08:00

This baby is my second turkey ever. I have no wisdom to impart on how to make it a success, I am merely flying by the seat of my pants. I may have also called my mom this morning to review my action plan (her advice after a very successful turkey dinner at her house on Christmas Day was to keep a dish of water on the bottom rack to have extra moisture in the oven). I will be covering the bird AFTER I see a nice, golden brown colour to the skin.

We're only 45 mins into the process of actual cooking, but I have already run the dishwasher once and have actually been doing the prep work for 1.5 hours.

Potatoes peeled, Brussels sprouts trimmed, stuffing obviously already in the bird. Cranberry sauce is thawing in the fridge. I'm ready!

Are you eating something special for New Year's Day? Or already embarking on a healthy eating kick?

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Whistler Half Marathon Registration is Now OPEN

2011-01-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

Registration for the Whistler Half Marathon opened at 9am today, Saturday January 1, 2011!!! Happy New Year, set yourself a lovely running goal (or two) and follow the link to their registration page so the WHM can be a part of your race plans this year.

Early bird pricing comes in at $75 CAD and is inclusive of all taxes, fees. It also gets you your race packet, chip timing, and a cool tech shirt (yes, tech, no cotton here). What a deal! It KILLS me that I am missing the first event and at such attractive pricing (even last-minute you'll pay under $100 all in).

There will be a registration cap, please keep that in mind. If you really want to do this one get in there before it's too late!

Happy 2011! Hope to see you in Whistler on June 4!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Finishing off With a Run

2010-12-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

I'm running! My Yaktrax arrived and this week I've been out twice.

It's frigid these days. DH and I took A out with our snowshoes today, it was -12 C! I wish I could tell the Americans what that temp converts to in F, but I have become progressively bad at Math over the years....and once we get into the negatives and stuff I'm screwed. Let's just say for now that we weren't out there long, and it was colder than what MOST of you have been complaining about as far as temps go these days.

Now, what I'm calling running these days mainly constitutes a 12+ min/mile pace and includes some walking once I get over 160 in the heart rate area. I'm also mindful of the icy sections (even with Yaktrax one can never be too careful), and I have a few large piles of snow to clamber over at times. Not complaining though.

One day I'll have photos of myself in action on our adventures. DH being the ~~snap happy~~ non-existent photographer that he is it's a wonder that I haven't shared endless photos of myself up until this point. Seriously, he needs a lesson in volunteering to take photos of me and A, he also needs a lesson in not just snapping away but having patience and waiting for a "cute" candid shot as opposed to ones that end up blurry/ridiculous/poor lighting/make me look fatter than I am.

Case in point. I leave you with a 23rd week of pregnancy shot. Clearly I've taken this one myself.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T13:08:00.001-08:00

Hope you're all sharing the magic and joy of this day with the ones you love!

Merry Christmas!!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Maple Shortbread Cookies

2010-12-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

I need to empty my camera card so I can have all the room necessary to snap away on Christmas morning. I also wanted to share the delicious recipe that A and I found yesterday for Maple Shortbread Cookies on the Chatelaine Magazine website.

These things are seriously addicting, I've already eaten ~~four~~ 10! And DH loves them, so we know Santa will be happy too. They are sweet without being too sweet, the maple flavour of the icing is a nice change from more traditional raspberry or plain shortbread.

We gathered our ingredients - I love a simple recipe. Seriously, and no eggs so I didn't have to lose my mind when A dug into the mixture and shoved a handful into her mouth (we won't talk about how gross it is to eat butter, sugar and flour; I pick my battles).

A made sure that she had her oven mitt (not real and of course I didn't let her touch anything hot with it on), and our cookie cutter. I'm Plain Jane like that and went with a good old fashioned circle. She also took this photo by the way. I can't look away for five seconds without her grabbing the camera and saying,"Cheese mitt!"

My eager helper showing off her apron.

This is where the photos of our actual "work" ended because I soon realized I should be using my food processor instead of the Kitchenaid mixer....the dough was NOT becoming a dough and instead was a crumbly mess. I wonder what other recipes I've screwed up by not following the "in your food processor" step of the method....

I also lost my helper when she decided that she'd rather play with her trains. What can I say? Clean up ain't that fun, I don't blame her for ducking out early.

The finished product. Dressed up all nice because I felt they deserved some special showcasing. It is Christmas after all.

Merry Christmas! If you haven't made Santa cookies yet, these are totally the ones for you.

Crisp Maple Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

* 2 cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling
* 2/3 cup icing sugar
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

FOR ICING:
* 1/3 cup maple syrup
* 1/2 cup icing sugar

Method
1. Combine flour, 2/3 cup icing sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse until just mixed. Add butter. Pulse until a soft dough forms. Gather dough into a ball, then divide in half. Shape each half into a flat disc and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 1/2 hours, or over-wrap with heavy foil and freeze up to 1 month.

2. Position oven racks in top and bottom thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 325F. (Keep discs in refrigerator until ready to roll.) Dust a rolling pin and a large sheet of waxed paper lightly with flour. Roll out a disc of dough on waxed paper to no thicker than 1/8 in. Dip a 2-in. rectangular cookie cutter in flour. Cut out shapes. Transfer to 2 large, ungreased cookie sheets and place about 1 in. apart. Bake in top and bottom thirds of oven, switching and rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are just golden around edges, 10 to 12 min.

3. Remove to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Gather dough scraps and form into a disc. Chill until firm enough to re-roll, about 10 min.

4. Whisk maple syrup with 1/2 cup icing sugar until smooth. Lightly brush tops of cooled cookies, covering the entire surface. Excess icing will drip through the racks. Let stand for 1 hour or until icing is dry. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.

Prep Tip:If dough softens while you’re rolling and cutting it out, simply stop and refrigerate it on waxed paper, and check on it after 5 min.

The recipe says that you should get 72 cookies, I got 32 but I guess it's because they rolled their dough out nice and thin and I rolled mine out thicker AND used a circle cutter as opposed to the rectangle one they clearly used for theirs.

Gingerbread House

2010-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after a quick trip to the grocery store for supplies, A and I got into it. We decorated her first gingerbread house whilst listening to some children's Christmas tunes (mostly the typical songs just sung by kids). Yup, icing/glue and candy.

Obviously child+bowls of candy = child mostly eating candy, but we laughed and had a great time. Unfortunately my timing was poor and candy became what was for lunch, Mother of the Year right here.

I'll admit that we did not build the house, it was from a pre-assembled kit purchased at Costco, but we came up with the design/layout ourselves. I know, you totally want to hire us to do yours for you.

After A went to bed tonight I finished the project. Made extra icing for snow, decorated the tree (totally should have left it as it was), and added Santa! Hopefully she appreciates my handiwork.

Yes, we'll probably eat a little of it eventually - we had ONE gingerbread house my whole life growing up, what's the rule on when it should be eaten? The rest will be sent to the trash.

PS-I realize the "running" side of this blog has taken a dive, my Yaktrax STILL aren't here and I refuse to run, pregnant therefore extra unbalanced, in icy/snowy terrain with anything less than "as much traction as possible". As soon as I have them I will be running again. Or, wogging (walk/jogging) most likely.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

The Secret

2010-12-13T16:17:00.001-08:00

A lucky few have been in on the secret for the past 20 weeks, and now I'm ready to share:

This little person will be making her way into our world on May 6, 2011.

Yes, on A's third birthday. Yes, we're already saving for therapy.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Walking in the Snow

2010-12-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

I am ~~losing my mind~~ patiently waiting for my new Yaktrax to arrive in the mail. It was cheaper to order them online, with taxes and pay for shipping than it was to walk into a store here in Whistler and buy them. Sorry, Whistler.

So, running has taken a backseat to GASP!!! walking. And I'll admit, the lure of a walk is not super strong so I haven't been out there often. I'm a running snob in that regard and loathe a walk almost as much as a run on the dreadmill.

The past two weekends we have experienced what I call Breakthrough weather. There is fresh snow on the ground and the sky is clear and sunny and it's so cold you feel your wobbly bits freeze if you even think about walking out the door. But I'm also a sucker for a photo opp, and seriously in that kind of weather I don't know how to resist. I might spend more time taking photos than I actually do walking around.

View of Whistler Creekside in all its glory. I love how on a clear day you can see all the way up to the top of the mountain, and if you look hard enough on the lower parts you can see skiers and boarders coming down the runs. On the left is the Dave Murray Downhill where the skiing events were held during the Olympics. Possibly the best part about this view is knowing that over those hills is WAY MORE mountain to explore. So much more, it's not even fair to the other mountains.

Self portrait. Despite having just been in Maui I somehow manage to look pale and drab. It's a gift; if I could bottle it up and sell it I know I could make like, $5.

Yes, over my shoulder is A sprawled out on her toboggan. Girl loves a ride along, she was at that moment trying to eat the snow that had gathered in her seat. Girl also loves to eat snow. She's good about avoiding the yellow stuff, but it's hard to get her to stay away from anything else. Even the plowed stuff on the side of the road that is full of rocks and dirt and car crap and all that somehow has a strong pull for her. She's a born snoweater, I gotta say.

Alpha Lake Park has a great little stretch of the valley trail that meanders along the lakefront. I run most of my runs along that stretch, and I never run out of things to look at; bears, birds, ducks in the lake, dogs at the dog park (there is an off-leash section in the park), trees, the mountains that surround us. The list goes on and on.

Looking south. Alpha Lake, probably frozen to some extent. The Callaghan nordic site where the cross-country skiing events were held is on that mountain in the middle background. WOP (Whistler Olympic Park) is fabulous and there is an extensive trail system in there for cross country skiers and snowshoe enthusiasts of every ability level. Trust me, coming from the person who falls down numerous times just leaving the ski rental building, there is something for everyone. They even rent the Chariot child carriers so you can tow your kids along behind you!

My little partner. If DH hadn't shown up from his morning on the mountain we would have carried on walking around for a lot longer than we did. A really enjoys being outside, she doesn't complain about putting on her snowsuit, she doesn't fuss about being cold (and I'm not altogether certain that it's because we do such a fab job of bundling her up, she loses her mittens the second we're on our way), and she just watches the world go by. Is that a benefit from the hours she has spent as a passenger in the BOB? Probably. Give her a snack and a drink every so often and keep the chatter up and A is your happy passenger. Throw in an abundance of snow to eat and it will be more difficult to get her back into the car than it is to stay out there longer!

One more shot from our walk. The same spot as in the photo in this post from October and look at the difference just over a month can make! I am continuously thankful for the fact that we live in a four season part of the world. Seeing the seasons come and go, some lasting longer than others, is one of my favourite parts of experiencing nature. I have never been a city person, I know that I am truly in the right place as far as enjoying my surroundings goes.

Today I went for another walk in this area. It wasn't as pretty as we are having rain and warm (er) temperatures. The snow is slushy in some areas, icy in others. I went 5k roundtrip, by myself and just enjoyed being outside. Not long after I got home there was a major downpour and the wetness continues and gets more wet.

A and I are on our own tonight as DH has a Christmas party for one of the boards that he sits on. We'll keep ourselves cozy and fill our tummies with warm food (I'm thinking perogies) and play some games. A likes to colour lately, and she's even more enthusiastic about it when she has someone to colour with. I'm only happy to oblige.

Win a FREE Race Entry for the Whistler Half Marathon!

2010-12-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

Many of us listen to music when we run, I'm a reformed listener (i.e. I only listen on the dreadmill) but this is such a fun contest and this week's prize is FANTASTIC!!

It's the Whistler Half Marathon Soundtrack of Your RUN contest. Every week, via WHM's Facebook page the call is put out for song suggestions for what will eventually be the official Whistler Half Marathon soundtrack. The incentive to enter is a prize (GCs to local restaurants, t-shirts and hats, etc)....this week it's a FREE race entry into the Whistler Half Marathon.

So, first visit the link to the WHM website to see which songs have already been picked (BTW I won with "Time to Pretend" by MGMT), follow that Facebook link above, "like" the Whistler Half Marathon page and then under the post for this week's contest make your suggestion. ANYONE ANYWHERE CAN ENTER!!!

Whistler Half Marathon will announce the winner via their Facebook page and on local radio station, Mountain FM on Monday morning during The Morning Lift with Rob Michaels. If you are the winner you will be instructed as to how you can claim your prize.

**I am not running the contest and will not have any participation in selecting the winner, I am merely passing the word on.

Ultimate Stocking Stuffer Giveaway

2010-12-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

Ya, as if I would be having a giveaway!

Go to Shut Up and Run and enter the contest! Or at the very least have a read....I SWEAR it is worth your time.

Snowy Comfort Food

2010-11-27T16:25:00.001-08:00

After 24 hours of straight snow, our world looks like this:

And like this:

So I decided we needed to make this for dinner:

That would be Lamb Stew with Pan-Roasted Garlic. I'll post the modified recipe if it turns out.

We also have some dough rising for whole wheat dinner rolls. Another first attempt here.

In the meantime, A and I are chilling in front of this:

If there is one non-outdoor related thing I love about snow days (and by "snow days" I mean, freshly fallen snow to play in NOT "the world is ending because it snowed a couple inches so everything is cancelled") it's cozy fires and cozy food. Both warm the soul and are such an essential part of Winter enjoyment.

What do you love about Winter and/or snow days?

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Welcome Home

2010-11-25T23:22:00.001-08:00

Oh, and by the way, it's officially winter.

We arrived home from Maui last night and stayed the night at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel.

This morning we woke up to the above weather conditions which is absolutely insane for Vancouver this early in the year. And quite the rude awakening to temperature differences. I should have sacrificed the space occupied in my suitcase by two dresses and FOUR shirts that I didn't wear in Maui with a pair of pants, socks, a long sleeved shirt and a jacket for our arrival home.

The snow was falling all the way home to Whistler. It started sometime last night.

I am clearly still on Maui time because it's 11:30pm and I'm nowhere near being tired. I wish I was still on Maui weather.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Don't Shake Hands With a Sea Urchin

2010-11-23T16:54:00.001-08:00

DH learned his lesson yesterday evening while in the ocean just off the beach where we're staying in Maui.

You may be happy to meet the locals, in this case a sea urchin, but they probably just see you as a tacky tourist.

And learn the customs for greetings. Sea urchins don't like to shake hands.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Lest We Forget

2010-11-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae

Remembering those who've given their lives for our freedoms....

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

From yours truly, Rainbow Brite, circa 1986 (I think).

Best costume I've ever gotten to wear, and a dream realized; Rainbow Brite was definitely my idol when I was little, to say I wanted to be her is just the tip of the iceberg on that obsession.

My sister got to be Strawberry Shortcake. She also got to try on the Rainbow costume after having a total meltdown over the whole thing - and the Strawberry costume was too small for me!!

Happy Halloween! We're off to the 24th annual Tapley's Farm trick-or-treat gathering tonight, stay tuned for photos of my little monkey!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Whistler Food Bank 5k

2010-10-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I ran the third annual Whistler Food Bank 5k at the Whistler Golf Course. It's a great little fundraiser, all proceeds go to the Whistler Food Bank. Race entry is a minimum $5 donation and/or non-perishable food items. Donations of $20 or more get a tax receipt in the mail.

Race turn-out was pretty good for a no-fuss-no-muss 5k fundraiser. I'd have to check with organizers, but I'm pretty sure this event continues to grow in participation numbers.

The fun thing about these races is that it's all very laid-back and cool at the starting line (which is a line drawn in blue chalk 150 metres down the Valley Trail from the Golf Course parking lot). I stood beside Jen Segger, Canadian Endurance Athlete and Challenge by Choice Coaching coach/personal trainer, Dave Clark and Ondrea Ross from the Whistler Half Marathon organizing team and a few other local elites. It really makes you smile to get to see such accomplished runners RIGHT.THERE at the starting line chatting along with everyone else.

A quick little pre-race shout-out from Coach Christine (race director) and Whistler Community Services Executive Director Greg McDonnell, and we were off. I'm a turtle lately, so my splits are nothing life-changing:

The Splits

1 10:04 - Feeling great, happy to be in the low-10s
2 11:07 - There is a long hill on the backside of the golf course loop, I blame that. I did pass two chicks who shoulder-checked and started to run again after they saw me coming up behind. It was a nice confidence booster to not see them again until they came into the Finish area. After me.
3 10:24 - The front side of the loop has nice, rolling hills and some good flat (ter) stretches. Nice coasting terrain.
.12 0:19 - How fun to be cheered into the Finish by my coach and lots of familiar faces.

Total: 32:01

Some of my best paces according to Garmin were in the 8s and 7s so I still have it in there, just not able to carry it for any duration (I wish I could see for how long I ran those paces).

Overall, a great little fundraiser event. I'll do this again and again. Nothing like a race in your hometown - even if the hometown crowd are the only ones participating.

Granville Island Turkey Trot 10k

2010-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Thanksgiving Monday (for us Canadians, anyway) October 11, 2010 DH, A and I ran the Granville Island Turkey Trot 10k which raises money for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. A and I have done this event for the past 3 years, her first time when she was just five months old, and it's become something of a tradition in our house.

In previous years I've run in dismal, rainy weather. Poor A has been bundled up in her BOB stroller, weather shield on and not much else to do but try to see out between the rain drops. This year the weather was PERFECT. Sunny, clear skies and air cool enough to still feel fresh at the 8k mark!

The Splits
1 11:21 - Ya, a bit slow, but lots of people to work around and find our own space to run in
2 10:22 - Heading over Burrard St bridge, this is where everyone really spread out
3 10:09 - Downhill, off the bridge and towards False Creek seawall
4 10:29 - Somewhere along this stretch we passed the Team in Training water station and one of the guys there shouted,"Go baby!" to A as we ran past. She clapped and laughed at that.
5 10:39 - My hips started to bark at me around this point, feeling the distance now.
6 10:24 - Passing the race photographers during the most attractive part of one's race. Trying our best to appear as though we're not happy that the Finish is close.
.25 2:55 - This is mostly because we stopped to let A out of the stroller so that she could cross the Finish line with us!

Total: 1:06:22

I can't figure out how to ~~steal~~ borrow the race site's photos, they've eliminated the right click option so if you put your cursor over the photo it does a proper zoom on the image. I'm not really keen on paying $20/digital photo just so you can all see how whale-like I looked that day (and how red, sweaty and just overall haggard).

Love this race. There is just a nice family atmosphere and a great vibe from everyone involved. Ya, there are speed demons who rush out the gates and actually race the race, but it's nice to see so many families and jogging strollers out there. And it's a great way for some to walk off their post-Thanksgiving face stuffing from the night before. Us? We earned our calories - ours wasn't until that evening!

Whistler Half Marathon Ambassador

2010-10-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I received an email confirming my status as one of the eight ambassadors for the Whistler Half Marathon.

Part of my job as ambassador is to assist in shaping the event itself. Since the race next June will be the inaugural race for the WHM I'm beyond excited that I get to have some involvement in what some of you may (hopefully) experience on race day and throughout the race weekend. Our first meeting is in November and already I am making mental notes of what I've enjoyed at other races, what I would do differently, etc.

My other job is to spread the enthusiasm for the Whistler Half Marathon. So go check out the website, watch the video (I posted it for the first time here), and if it looks like something you'd like to keep on your race radar for June 2011 sign up for the informative e-blast newsletters.

Lazy Blogger

2010-10-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

I've been about the biggest blogging slacker ever lately, which surely disappoints my grand total of 15 followers. I'm the kind of blog stalker who tends to "cut" from my list if someone doesn't post/hasn't posted on a regular basis, so I'd understand if all of a sudden that 15 dropped to zero. I'm boring lately, what can I say?

Yesterday I did a nice 4 mile run in the morning. I'm glad I went out yesterday when it was sunny and gorgeous because today is rainy and just yuck.

The run itself was fantastic. I felt strong, I had great pick up in my legs, I kept a good pace (considering there are a few things going on in the background health-wise I'm okay with going slow(er) than usual), the air was cool and crisp, the sun was just poking up over Whistler's peak....glorious. One of those runs where if I had had more time I would've loved to have gone for another 4-5 miles. Love those. Yes, that photo is taken on part of the path I run on.

I have a race report to post soon, from Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. And after tomorrow morning I'll have another to add (I should probably think about writing the first one, eh?). I have some news to share also, but am cautiously holding back. Things are pretty exciting around the On the Run household, I'll say that much.

One more thing: check me out, quoted by Shut Up and Run (I get my mention at the bottom of the linked post).

Fall Is Delicious

2010-10-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

There really is much I could write about, but lately I've felt.....meh....in the blog posting. I guess that's not going to increase my number of Followers from the current tally of 15, and I'm totally never going to make any money off of this thing at that rate so might as well just fall deeper into the pit, right?

A and I have been enjoying walks around Lost Lake lately. In this pleasant (almost Indian Summer-like) Fall weather it's wrong not to; considering that soon we will be locked into dreary, cold, wet, dark, cloudy, gross weather until Spring we make hay while the sun shines (or however the saying goes).

Glorious Fall weather

Whistler mountain in the background

Just a peek at Blackcomb

Out across the lake

Checking for fishies in the stream

Back where we started from - Canine Cove across the lake

Yup, we really live in a four season part of the world. I don't know what I would do without delicious Fall weather - can't you just smell the cinnamon and pumpkin spices somewhere?

Potty Training - Week Two

2010-10-06T14:58:00.001-07:00

Really, we're more well into Week Three than anything, but I've fallen off of the blog wagon (have you noticed that out of nowhere there are TWO posts today?) and this is my update.

Flying along, accident-free until this morning when a #2 crept out at the end of our walk at Lost Lake, so on Saturday DH and I purchased a prize for A. We gave it to her on Sunday night to round out two successful weeks of training and she hasn't given up playing with it.

"It" being the Fisher Price Little People Happy Sounds Home.

Immediately A acquainted herself with Mommy, Daddy and Baby. The house makes sounds; flushing toilet (which only baby seems to use), washer/dryer, telephone ringing, doorbell, and the sounds of a child having a bath.

Another favourite feature of the house is spinning the wheel (where A's hand is in the photo above) to change the time of day from day to night. It doesn't affect anything in the house, but usually we put the family to bed if she changes it to night.

We're pretty happy that A is so taken with the house. I just wish she'd look at me when I try to take photos of her with her potty training prize!

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Pumpkin and Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

2010-10-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

I've never ever made cheesecake anything. Yesterday A and I decided to change that. I had found a recipe for Pumpkin and Chocolate Cheesecake Bars in Chatelaine Magazine and was ready to try it out.

Ever the ready helper A promptly put on her apron and chef's hat (a costume from my sister last year), dragged a chair into the kitchen and found her place at the counter.

We mixed and measured, the extra help is great. She got bored once the second step of the process was underway (i.e. her small portion of chocolate chips had run out and I was in clean up mode) so chose to head off to her playroom while things progressed without requiring her help.

The finished product is a huge hit with DH. I haven't tasted more than a small sliver here and there, but that's about to change - look at them!!! (PS, not my photo. Taken from the Chatelaine website) A has had a small taste as well and doesn't seem to be much of a fan, which is what I expected from the little person who isn't super nuts on sweets.

Finally - the recipe:

Preparation time 30 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
Standing Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Makes 20 Bars

Ingredients
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp each nutmeg and salt
250 g pkg regular cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp whipping cream (35% MF)
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-in. square baking pan with parchment 2. In a medium bowl, stir crumbs with candied ginger and butter until evenly moist. Press over bottom of prepared pan. Bake in centre of oven until edges are golden, about 10 min.
3. Whisk egg in the same bowl (no need to wash). Whisk in pumpkin purée, sugar and seasonings. Cut cheese into cubes. Using an electric mixer, beat cheese into pumpkin mixture, scraping down sides of bowl if needed, until well mixed.
4. Pour over warm crust. Bake in centre of oven until filling is set when pan is jiggled, about 25 min. Cool completely on a rack.
5. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium-high until hot, 2 min, or microwave uncovered on high for 1 min. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Spread over cooled filling. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, about 1 hour.
6. Use parchment paper to lift square out of pan, then slice into 20 bars. Refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 1 month.

Potty Training - Week One

2010-09-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Here we go! A has begun to delve into the potty training extravaganza that it appears EVERYONE is participating in right now. Up until a few weeks ago I couldn't even offer her some big girl undies to wear as an option, but a quick stop in at WalMart and that problem was solved.

A was undeniably stoked over her two packages of big girl undies....the excitement kind of ended there. I would ask her if she wanted to wear her panties, and she'd reply,"No way" (this is the typical response when she doesn't want to do something). Not wanting to push the issue I just let them sit, folded in her top drawer, waiting for her to want them.


Download the Hello Kitty potty chart!

This week a switch went off for her. A decided that big girl undies was IT. No Pull-Ups would do. I had to make it clear that in order to wear the big girl undies she had to HAD TO tell Mommy and Daddy if she had to go pee. No problem.

A little backtrack here: A has been able to #2 on the potty for quite some time. She can also tell us when she needs to go.

Day #1 of big girl undies and within the first hour she had peed twice and not said a word. Resulting in two complete changes of everything below the waist, and calling it quits for the day and returning to Pull-Ups. There was no resistance to the switch back, I think she was realizing it was harder than she though.

Day #2 was very similar to the first. We were in Pull-Ups before 10am. No biggie.

Day #3 we were out at the Dr's office. In undies - might as well get used to finding a washroom in public now, right? A did great. Peed on the potty right before our appointment....then peed in her pants as we were leaving the office. Then peed again while her and DH were at the playground waiting for me to get some other things done. Spare change of clothes sufficiently soaked, we headed home with A in a Pull-Up.

Day #4 found us at a playdate. The two other little girls there are also potty training. So we really had a good focus on going to the potty, seeing other kids go, etc. Successful morning! Many visits to the potty and ZERO accidents.

Day #5 was today. We had a small accident this morning right before baking cookies (the excitement is probably to blame, A LOVES to bake) and that has been it for the day. She ran out of her playroom to tell me she needed to pee ("Mommy I gotta go pee!!") which is a first there - up until now I've just been luckily hitting the potty at the right time, she hasn't been telling me.

We are in this. I'm printing off a tracking chart and we're getting ourselves right into the thick of it. I realize that it's still a long way to go before full potty training is achieved (i.e. waking up dry from naps and sleeping through the night without a wet bed), but as of this moment we're taking the little steps and celebrating the small successes!

Big Girl Room

2010-09-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Recently A made the jump from crib to toddler bed. It was the smoothest transition ever; far smoother than the attempt at quitting the soother, which has been abandoned. She was absolutely, 100% without a doubt ready to be in a big girl bed, or at least a toddler bed.

This morning while doing a routine vacuum of the upstairs I moved her dresser out from behind the wall to get the nasties that gather (and I ask how does it always look like someone was feeding crumbs to squirrels back there?!) when I decided to do some rearranging. Worst case scenario nothing would work out and I'd have to put it all back, but I figured that the furniture all fit in the room already so how hard could it be?

Behold, the finished product (no, I didn't plan far enough ahead to take photos of the before):


Peeking in from the bedroom door


Up close of the big girl bed - with constant companion, Froggie


With the shelf above


Dresser is now by the window


Butterfly decals


Looking out from beside the window


The new reading corner

A was so excited to be in her rearranged room that naptime started a little early today! She enjoys seeing all of her things in different places and was pointing out her books and especially her bed being centre feature in the room. Anything to make the star of my world happy!

Holiday in Photos

2010-09-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

A few favourites from our recent holiday.

Indeed

The Cabin at Honeymoon Bay

Holiday version of the Big Girl bed


Looking for fishies


Got my net - let's fish!


Good morning sunshine - 9:30 am view off the dock


A rare shot of The Mommy


Early morning water skier


Walking in the woods


What's better than ice cream on the dock?


Honeymoon Bay

$5 Worth of Happiness

2010-09-10T16:22:00.001-07:00

A and I found a fairy costume today. It was $5.

Currently she is dressed up and running around waving that wand casting a bunch of spells.

Happiness.

Mommy D on the Run
iPhone version

Honeymoon Bay

2010-09-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

We've been away.

Last Oct DH and I were at an awards night for his job and there was a silent auction. One of the featured items was a one-week stay at a cabin in Honeymoon Bay on Lake Cowichan. Because Lake Cowichan is about an hour away from DH's parents on Vancouver Island, we jumped at the chance to bid on this awesome auction item....and won!

A lot of planning went into coordinating schedules to make sure that everyone would be able to make the trip. We had almost an entire year to plan it and still a few things came down to the wire. But the cabin was cute and had everything we needed, lakefront property is pretty much the most awesome thing ever, and most importantly - A had a blasty blast.

An overnight in Parksville to visit the beach (dig clams, watch kites being flown) and a quick stop at Costco the next morning and we were off!

Despite being there for the rainiest day EVER in August, we had a wonderful week. We rented a deck boat for one day, DH's family came for most of the week, my family came for the last few days we were there and we just enjoyed ourselves.

I will say that I hate how much food gets consumed out of boredom when we're "camping". I feel like I've gained a few lbs in the past week, even though I know that's not really possible. I ran once while we were in Honeymoon Bay and it was a lacklustre run to say the least....and lead to my pulling out of the Nanaimo Half Marathon that I had planned on doing at the end of our stay. Probably not fully rested and recovered, probably just need some more time off. I ate like I was carbo-loading for a half, though, and now can't seem to shake myself of the "habit".

More pictures to come - I'm still sorting. I take 23487934209382 photos and how many do you think there are of me? I guarantee you can count them all in 10 fingers or less.

Here's a beauty shot of our dock. We couldn't use the sailboat, but it was fun to have hanging around. A called it her boat. She appreciated that it was just for looking.

We are currently breaking A of her soother habit and she's struggling to fall asleep at naptime and bedtime. And she wakes up cranky. It's a struggle to not give in and let her have the darn thing, mostly because it's just such a wonderful tool to help her soothe herself. I know there are kids out there far older than she is who still have theirs and use them whenever they want (A's is only for nap and bed), so I know we're not in any sort of trouble here. It was supposed to be her New Year's Resolution, but then she got sick....and we let it slide.

Anyway - one of the last times she used her soother - see how well it works?!

New Mommy on the Block

2010-08-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

A has a lot of "babies". Today, after a particularly emotional incident involving babies belonging to her friends, we added to her babies collection.

Taking her new baby for a walk before dinner was icing on the baby cake. A napped with her new baby and pretty much carried her EVERYWHERE all afternoon.

Baby has no name yet, just "Baby" for now. A is so taken with her that she is asking to bring out her old baby blankets to keep baby cozy and warm.

Watch out! There's a new mommy on the block. I'm sure Baby will be out making the rounds in the days and weeks to come.

Mommy D on the Run - iPhone version

Whistler Half Marathon - June 4, 2011

2010-08-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

This morning I attended the official announcement for the Whistler Half Marathon!!! *website goes live at around 3pm PST today.

The event will take place on June 4, 2011. The race director is currently working out logistics for the route but you can expect a fantastic scenic route like no other.

I am absolutely stoked to find out where exactly they plan to have this race! Those who attended the announcement this morning were told the long term goals are to make it an accessible route for everyone so that a wheelchair division and vision impaired division can be added (which means a paved route). Taking into account that we have an intricate Valley Trail system all fully paved the opportunities are endless! The photo is a map of Whistler, end-to-end, the yellow lines are the Valley Trail routes, click to enlarge.

Organizers are already offering contests to give away a race entry; go to the Whistler Half Marathon Facebook page and "like" their page. BAM! Entered. Official registration for the race will open in January 2011. I can assure y'all that I won't be letting ANYONE forget.

I've always wanted a hometown race. And finally it is happening. I am so very excited to share the news and have another opportunity to showcase Whistler and how beautiful it is here. I hope that some of you out there will make the journey to see where I live and where I run. What a gift.

Kale Chips - A Delightful Snack!

2010-08-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

DH and I are blessed with a child who pretty much will eat anything. A does have her picky moments, and we certainly have had our share of meals consisting solely of noodles or bread or crackers, but overall A eats a pretty well-balanced diet.

The other day I decided to make Kale Chips because we needed to finish off our bunch from the Farmer's Market and I was pretty keen on trying out the whole "how much like chips can leaves of kale BE?" experiment.

Preheat oven to 350.
Cut kale leaves from stems, wash, tear into bite sized pieces.
Toss leaves in EVOO and whatever seasoning you like (I did around 1/2 T of oil and plain old salt/pepper)
Spread out on a baking sheet, use parchment paper if you have it

Bake for 5 mins

Our answer: very much like chips! I advise not trying to store them for next day consuming, they're definitely a day-of snack.

A really enjoyed them too. In fact, she gobbled the entire bowl!

Mommy D on the Run - iPhone version