Monday Bullets

• My Women's Only Clinic started on Thursday night and I have a small, but lovely group of speedy ladies :) So I suppose that's good for me right? I feel bad for them though, that they are sweeping me lol! But seriously, my slowest runner's pace is just under an 8 minute k, so I am going to have my work cut out for me!
• On top of my clinic, I decided to incorporate two more 5k runs a week just to keep my current base steady, at least at the beginning of the clinic. Once we start covering further distances in the coming weeks, I will probably drop one of those, if not both. So right now, I don't run on Tuesdays or Saturdays.
• It looks like we might be finally getting a break from this heat beginning on Wednesday. That would be nice. I am all for summer, but in SUMMER would be nice!
• Lots of friends ran this weekend in various races! Congrats to you all! Especially in the heat!
  

Three Things Thursday

1. Okay, okay. I know that, as Canadians, complaining about the weather is sport. We aren't happy if it's cold, hot, raining, snowing etc. So I do apologize if my bitching about the heat on here or on Facebook is making people hot! But, it's May. Not July. And since it is cold out west, I can only hope that means a cool down is imminent for us too! But in the meantime, I walked out the door last night to do my run, turned around and walked right back in! Brutal. I have a 'fro :)
2. I may have failed to mention, but beginning tonight, I will be teaching the Women's Only Clinic at the store for the next 10 weeks! EEK! This is traditionally a smaller clinic, so I am looking forward to it. It will be interesting to see how everyone does with their 10 sets of 1 & 1's. We all know as the instructor, I am going to smoke them LOL! Just hope I have no fast kids..........
3. If you are a regular reader, you know how busy we can get in the summer. Well, I was looking at our calendar and we are booked solid every weekend in July and August already. How did that happen? And I haven't even gotten my work schedule yet. Killer. I wish I could say once the fall hits it will let up, but you know that is a lie. Plus, Connor starts school in September. Uh, what? When did THAT happen?

It's May 27th everyone. Only 4 more days till June. Yep.

Its Gettin' Hot in Here

So take off all your clothes!

I kid, sort of!

It's hot today. Like my fellow bloggy friend and BFF says, there is an EXTREME HEAT ALERT. I say, WHAAAAAAA!

In an effort to not die when I run, I managed to sneak out and do a 5k yesterday after spending my long weekend working and SICK. Yes, sick. Apparently, I had a random temperature, but it really made me feel awful. And we had house guests so i was just no fun and really anti social. Hopefully the next long weekend won't be such a bomb!

Back to the run: the early morning departure made no matter. It was hot, and I could feel it. May first K was almost 11 minutes, but I did manage to pick it up and finish the five at JUST under 50 minutes, which felt good. I wanted to go out tonight, but, it is so hot. I might die. I probably will..........because I am a running addict now. Who knew?

High Five Friday

Marlene tagged me today on "High Five Friday". I now have to spout off SEVEN random facts about myself. So here we go:

1. I have an irrational fear of being in enclosed places over and around water. So driving over bridges or through tunnels while I am in a car, being on boats etc. If you believe in past lives, maybe I died in a submarine accident!
2. I wanted to be a journalist when I was in high school and I even went to college to do so. But alas, a journalist I am not.
3. I am not a huge fan of Peanut Butter. Unlike some of my friends and family, I have actually had my peanut and other nut butters EXPIRE before I could eat them.....and yes, they do expire lol ;)
4. My husband and I are high school sweethearts. So, as of August 25th of this year, we will have been together for 15 years!
5. As of now, I only plan on running one marathon before my 35th birthday. I have three in mind: San Francisco, Chicago and New York. And I am hoping a certain someone will run it with me!
6. I love hockey and I am a huge Toronto Maple Leafs Fan! Go Leafs Go! I do, on occasion cheer for other Canadian teams (Go Habs Go).
7. I do not know what my true hair color is (but really, what woman really does?).

Have a GREAT LONG WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Three Things Thursday

1. I have managed to get out two more times since my race this week. Both 5k! I feel pretty good too. With the month coming to an end and work ramping up, I will be running home from work a few times, otherwise I won't be fitting running in at all in the next 18 days! This is also sort of a grey area when it comes to running. It is in between plans, so hopefully I can keep it up before my next training schedule kicks in next Thursday
2. I think I may have failed to mention that in the next round of clinics I will be teaching! YES, I will be teaching the Women's Only Clinic starting next Thursday. It is the Learn to Run program, but it id taught by a female instructor (me) and only has female participants. I will also be training using the 5k program as well. So lots of running will be had in the next few months! Phew!
3. Our celebration dinner is tonight! Yay Carbs :)
   

Hazel 5k Race Report

Saturday morning started out very badly. We got some bad news about someone and I spent most of the day in emergency. I was back and forth about whether or not I would even race on Saturday. But at the very last minute and with no time to spare, we managed to pull it together and get me to the start line of the Hazel 5k.

As I lined up to the start, I hoped that maybe the sun would peak out. But it did not, and we began under cloudy skies. Because it had been such an emotionally exhausting day for me, my only goal was to complete my sets of 10 & 1's, run my own race, and cross the finish line. Upright and smiling.

1k- The 1k sign came up fast. It is a flat course, but I seemed to be moving along pretty well. This wasn't the largest 5k race I have participated in (Scotia blew that out of the water) but it seemed the hardest to get out of that back pack. I tried to make sure I didn't go too far in front, not wanting to make the faster runners dodge around me! I had a woman that had obviously signed up on a whim (she was wearing jeans) who kept running past me and then stopping in front of me and walking. I knew I wouldn't be able to race the whole race like that, so when I saw the 2k Sign coming up, I picked up my pace and left her in my dust!

2k to 4k - nothing spectacular. I held on to my 10 & 1's, managed to keep my pace and I felt pretty good. It was cold, but it was humid. I had managed to not drink enough water during the day, and it was starting to show. But as I saw the 4k marker, I knew we were almost there.

4k to Finish - you could HEAR the finish line at about 3.5k because of the wind carrying the sound which was torture. But I picked up the pace and came into the shoot. Near the end, I managed to see Colin and the kids and gave them a high five. Then through to the finish.

Gun Time: 45:50.7
Chip Time: 44:29.9
Pace: 8:53
Category: F30-34
Category Place: 110/116
Gender Place: 753-834

I hit my B Goal! I was so pleased!

Race Day Thoughts - I want to run a sub 40 5k this year. I may even tweek my training to include a 5k at the end of the year instead of a 10k. We'll see.

My hip also held up. It felt pretty sore yesterday, but not sore enough to keep me off the road for tonight! Look out!

Expo Friday

Today I will be going to Mississauga to get my race kit, which will be a lot of fun. I received an email this morning with my bib number:

SARAH MACDONALD: 15347
EVENT: 5K

Someday maybe the Marathon!

So now it's time for my goals!

C Goal - 50:00 minutes: this would put me behind the rolling clear, which would mean that I would be at the mercy of the rules of the road. Plus it is a full 7 minutes slower than my personal best. If I walked the race, I would probably still be faster than this by a few minutes!

B Goal - <45:00 minutes: my training to this point has me running just under a 45 minute walk adjusted pace. I think I can do this. If my hip doesn't act up.

A Goal - <43:00 This would be under my current Personal Best, but I did run it on a local course that was measured a few hundred metres short, so while I would love to get a PB, I am not holding my breath!

Speaking of my hip, it feels ok. I have been stretching like crazy, hoping it works itself out in the next couple of days. I wish I could figure out what it is without making an expensive visit to the chiropractor or MT.

Next up: The Hazel 5K!

Three Things Thursday

1. I want to send a huge "Congratulations" out to my sister Meghan and her husband Dan and our niece Casey! Our new niece Hailey was born yesterday at 3:29 weighing in at 8 pounds 6 ounces! Mommy and Baby are doing fine! Love you Megs!
2. I was supposed to run 4.5k last night, but at about 2.5k, my right hip really started to bother me. So a took a walk break and then threw in the towel at 4k. Better to use caution at this point then to risk injury before race day. I wish I could explain what the pain is, but I can't. It's a pain in my ass is what it is!
3. Speaking of race day, trying to come up with the logistics has been a bit of a challenge, to say the least! It is a one way race, and taking the kids down is going to be a challenge as well. Plus, we want to snag a good finish line spot to get good picture of the clinic members finishing!

Tomorrow I will be publishing my A B & C goals so stay tuned!

Monday Round Up

So this weekend we decided to drive to Mount Forest so Colin could race in a local race called the Trillium 10k.
Me and the kiddies, waiting inside before the race begins out of the rain (it was about 6 degrees, winds from the north at about 25k/h and it was raining. Hard.) Notice the abundance of "stuff" the stroller has. Man, three kids and two adults leave a huge carbon footprint!

Anyways, it was a great day. Colin is preparing to run his second marathon this fall and has some big plans in the next few months. So he is fitting in as many "local" races as he can and is running as often as he can!

And here he comes, in the pouring rain and a new Personal Best of 50:54! Great job baby!

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When we arrived home, I was so inspired by my hubby's performance, I decided to head out for a run of my own. Turns out I was more inspired than I thought, because I ended up running 6k instead of my planned 4.5! But I felt good with my 10 & 1's and actually stopped running because I ran out of road and, well, it was really raining and cold out. Oh, and it started to snow. Yeah. Snow.

I have another set of 10 & 1's for 4.5k on tap for tonight and Wednesday and then 3k of 10 & 1's on Thursday. I am picking up my race kit on Friday and working on Saturday before the race. Not too smart, but I can't help that! Like I said, I will be post my goals later in the week! So stay tuned!

Foto(s) Friday

Sydney and Connor getting ready to run in their "first" race!

Sydney the blur on the left hand side. I had to run my butt off (Garmin said 4:46!) to catch her!
Hey Mama, where'd you come from?
Connor and Daddy displaying their medals! Sydney was not so interested!

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Last nights run was a success! Ran 4k in 36 minutes/9k pace! So I feel good going into next week. I think I am going to TRY and go out tonight to run my 10 & 1's for 4.5k. We are VERY busy this weekend with lots of housework and Mother's Day stuff, so I would like to be able to enjoy it and not have to worry about going out to run!

Next week a will be posting my ABC goals ala Marlene so stay tuned!

Three Things Thursday

1. Best Laid Plans. I was going to try and squeeze my run in last night before Colin had to go to run club (our weekly babysitter is in Las Vegas "HI MOM") but in true Southern Ontario Fashion at 5pm, the skies opened up into a nice thunder and lightening storm. And while some of my friends (HI MARK) inform me they LIKE running in this weather, I am not one of them. So the plan is: tonight I do my set of 8 & 1's for 4k, Saturday afternoon I will do my 10 & 1's for 4.5 and Monday I will also do my 10 & 1's for 4.5. Then I will be caught up for Run Club next Wednesday! Then it's taper on Thursday, cause my race is on SATURDAY! OMG!
2. While I am loving my Adrenaline's, my left foot is still bothering me. So I ordered a pair of New Balance 760's that I am going to give a try. Meh, they may or may not work. But since my mileage has started to climb (12k a week haha) my foot has been bothering me more that just those first few minutes of each run. In fact, since my run on Sunday, it has been sore. But I did run a pretty strange route which included four different surface types (Pavement, Concrete, Gravel and Boardwalk) so that may have something to do with it.
3. I will be working an INSANE amount this month, which I could not be happier about! Our store is going to be having the travelling sidewalk sale, which generally means another whole store is opened up OUTSIDE in the parking lot. It also means that we will be having a lot of deals coming into the store. So if you are in the area you should head on over. From May 19th to the 30th at the Aurora Running Room. And while you're there, look into some of our upcoming clinics (Triathlon anyone ;) )

Have a great day everyone!

Tuesday Afternoon

........I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way
It doesn't matter to me, chasing the clouds away

(Gotta love the Moody Blues!)

To say I was sore after my run on Sunday might be an understatement. And working a 5 hour shift before AND a 7 hour shift yesterday probably didn't help! Buy my legs feel good today and I am anxious to get out tomorrow and get my last set done before we move on to 10 & 1's! EEK! Where does the time go? I mean, really?

After this clinic, I will be doing training for another 5k race this July: The Rebecca Run for SMA 5k. It is a nice local race that has become very popular. It is also the goal race for the next round of local clinics, so it is going to sell out very fast.

After that, who knows what might happen ;)

Almost Here

Good Monday morning everyone! Just wanted to say congrats to all my friends who ran a very humid Sporting Life 10k yesterday! Good Job Guys!

We moved on to 8 & 1's on Thursday and I am actually really liking it. My speed is SLOOOOW but that doesn't matter right? I just have to finish the race! Speaking of which, just under two weeks from now is the Hazel 5k in Mississauga! I am really looking forward to this! A 5k with a medal is a rarity, although now it is becoming a bit more common.

Yesterday after work, I decided to run my 8 & 1's. Instead of before. Not the smartest idea. And the route I chose was not ideal, although around here, many aren't! But I finished in just under 37 minutes, so I am hoping on a flatter course I can kick it's butt!

Happy Monday Everyone :)