Christmas Crazies

The kids are coming down with the Christmas Crazies.

Every year they are given the "Wish Book" in which they are asked to choose a select few Toys to ask Santa for. In years past there wasn't much that they were interested in. But now they want EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING.

The Boo seems especially worse this time around. Every page. Every Barbie, Disney Princess, etc. She ask if she can have it. I tell her maybe. She hears YES.

But I think I finally came up with a way to calm her gimmes down:

The Boo: Mama can I have......list off several different items.
Mama: Tell you what Boo, Santa will bring you every toy you ask for, but then there will be none left for all the other girls and boys. 
The Boo: Oh. I guess I don't need everything then!

She is a smart cookie.

Dance A Thon

Well this morning was the annual Dance A Thon for Con Man and The Boo! They dressed up in their Halloween Costumes (Belle for the Boo and Iron Man for Con).

 They did there own little dances!  It was a lot of fun.

I am sure the kids won't want to take their costumes off for the next five days!

Finding the Time

Is there anyone else out there that seems to never have time for themselves? And I don't mean in a "I need to have an afternoon to myself" kind of way.  I mean in a "can I not SHOWER" kind of way.

This morning began like most off school day mornings.

6:00am - Hubby gets up for work
6:45 - Con Man comes into our room and climbs into bed with me
7:00 - Syd Boo climbs into bed with Con Man and I
7:07 - Cam Man wakes up with his usual morning chant "MAMA MAMA MAMA"
7:45 - Eggs and Cheese Toast are served for breakfast
8:00 - Mama tries to take shower.  And is joined by three munchkins in the process.

This mornings shower time conversation was all about Halloween and whether or not Syd Boo would be going as a Princess - or as something else - which is news to Mama.

Sigh.


School days are a little better.  We walk to school, and then I take Cam Man on a Run with me, come home and put him down for his nap.  Then I can shower alone.  But I often find myself peeking out of the shower, expecting to find someone standing there smiling a goofy smile at me.


I guess at the end of the day I enjoy that time with the kidlets. And I think they do too!
 

The Muffin (Wo)Man

Do you know the Muffin (Wo)Man?

Tomorrow night Mama gets a night off from being a Mama and gets to spend the evening with some amazing ladies.  In my time at work I have met some incredibly strong and funny woman that have become very good friends.  We are all different yet the same. Even though I spend a lot of time at work with these ladies, I very rarely get to see them in "the real world". So one of them is arranging a "Twilight" night.  It should be a blast!

I agreed to bake something to bring, along with the movies.  Since I am busy all day tomorrow, I bit the bullet and made the cupcakes today while Con Man and The Boo were in school.  While Cam Man was napping I set forth to make "Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing".

If you know me well, you know I LOVE TO BAKE. Christmas is an especially awesome time of the year. So I wasn't really worried when I began.  I am not sure I will be making this recipe again though.  But there are a few things I will do differently if I decide to try again:

• Wear clothing that you would never wear in public.  Because Red Food Coloring leaves a nice permanent mark.
• Also remember to turn OFF the electric mixer.  Do not turn it UP, as that creates a red MESS all over the place
• You are not Martha Stewart, so do not attempt to ice the cupcakes like her.

I swear, they will taste better than they look, I PROMISE!

The Boo's Birthday

Not so long ago, The Hubby and I were never sure we would be able to have kids.  Now we look around and see we are blessed with THREE beautiful children.  And in less than 5 years!  We count our blessings everyday.

The Boo will be turning 4 in October.  I can hardly believe it.  Seems like just yesterday she was born, out like a champagne cork!

Hubby and I always agreed that we would never be those parents that spend a ton of money on parties and things for our kids when the time came.  Just a nice quiet party, maybe a few friends and family.

The Boo began school this fall.  And she came to us last week.

The Boo: "Mama?"
Me: "Yes Boo"
The Boo: "Can I have a party for my birthday this year?"
Me: "Of Course Boo, what would you like to do?"
The Boo: "I would like to have all my friends from school come. Please!"
Mama: "GULP"

So Hubby and I are going to be having a party at a local kids gym for The Boo, her siblings, cousins and 19 of her CLOSEST friends.  Because we can't leave anyone out.

Wish us luck.

Adventures in Halloween Costumes

Well Fall is upon us.  Thanksgiving here in Canada is right around the corner.  And then comes HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Even more than Christmas.  We decorate the house up and have even been known to have a Halloween party or two!  And with The Boo celebrating her birthday before and I the day after, it makes it even more festive!

This weekend the hunt was on for this year's costumes.  We had done a little research online first.  Cam Man was easy: Thomas The Tank Engine.  He is on a big Thomas kick right now.

Con Man was a little more of a challenge.  He wanted to be a Superhero.  But which one? He finally decided on Iron Man, with a Mask and all. He is going to look pretty cool.

The Boo..............

She was another story entirely.

The Boo wants to be a princess.  Ok, no problem.  She has A TON of princess dress up clothes that would suit just fine.  But of course, she doesn't want to be a PINK princess.  No.  She wants to be Belle from "Beauty and The Beast".  YELLOW Belle.  So after two stores we were finally able to find the costume she wanted.

Why do I have feelings of dread when thinking of Prom Dress shopping.............

Once More With Feeling

I was lying in bed last night thinking to myself:

"Sarah, you haven't updated your blog in so LONG".

There is always so much going on in my brain.  What bills to pay when? What will I do at the gym tomorrow? Do I have to pick up anything for the kids for school? It never really stops. 

Then I thought about it and decided that this blog would undertake a makeover of sorts. Gone are the days where I can spend hours pouring over what races I am going to be running, how much weight I want to lose or which clinic I am going to be teaching next.

I have somehow managed to become a full time Mom overnight.  Con Man and The Boo are both in school now, which brings with it a whole new aspect.  And twice a week (and alternate Fridays) its just me and the Cam Man.  So yes, I am still running and yes, I still love it.  But so much happens outside of that, and I wanted to share it with all of you!

And the adventures we have on a day to day basis!  So I decided I would use this blog as a way to help me through the joys and hurdles that I seem to encounter.  And to talk out the things that are keeping me up at night.

So I hope you will all continue to follow my adventures.  And the adventures of the family!

Wednesday

So one full week into my half marathon training and I feel ok! I have managed to fit in all my runs, and even did my long run. I really wish we could afford to buy a treadmill for our room, since we managed to clear out a lot of crap in the last few weeks! Sometimes running in the cold is sucky!

And I lost another 3.6 pounds this week and a 5% total so far! So I am aiming for my 10% and hopefully will see it sooner rather than later!

This week has another 3k, 4k, 3k and a 7k long run on Sunday morning. I am also running with my Learn to Run as well. The cold this weekend was brutal, but I think its over for the most part and we can move onto warmers days (if you feel like -5 is warm!)

So Far So Good

Apparently yesterday was the most DEPRESSING day of the entire year. Being the 1st Monday of the first full week of a new year. I wasn't particularly depressed myself, but I can see how some people would find it to be!

I have had success again at Weight Watchers. Two weeks in and I have already lost a total of 10 pounds! I am very pleased.

My Half Marathon training is about to begin, which is making me a little nervous. I have a goal and I hope to achieve it!

This past weekend was tough in our Running Room Family. A friend and colleague of ours passed away suddenly. It was a reminder to me that life really is a gift that you can't squander away or take advantage of. He lived everyday to the fullest and was an amazing person. RIP Shawn.......

HAPPY 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

So after some requests (Hi Jason! Hi Connie!) I have decided to make a better effort to update my blog again! I didn't mean to stay away for so long on purpose, but last fall was an insane time around here. Colin SMASHED his Marathon PB by almost 54 minutes (!) at the Toronto Marathon! And I became the Assistant Manager at the store. Which pretty much meant I worked ALL. THE. TIME.

So now here we are! 2011. When did this happen. A few things are going on, that I think I should mention:

I started back to Weight Watchers in the new year. You can go back and read all about my past exploits with WW, but for me it was the only thing that EVER worked. And I find with the amount of exercise I am doing right now, I am better able to keep track of what I eat. The new PointsPlus system is marvelous, especially since ALL FRUIT IS 0 POINTS! Woohoo. Now I will definitely reach for that apple or banana! I am keeping my Monday Weight In, since it keeps me on track over the weekend, especially at work (HELLO STARBUCKS and South Street Burger!)

I am also teaching this rounds Learn to Run. I love teaching this clinic, but especially at this time of year. They are all so eager to Learn to Run.

My half marathon training begins January 27th. Its on the fridge, calling to me. I am so excited about this one. Its going to be a blast!

I hope everyone still enjoys reading. I promise to keep it up more often!

Run for the Cure

Yesterday was the official Goal Race for our 5K Clinic. It was the Run for a Cure in Richmond Hill. This is a fantastic run that happens at sites all across the country in Support of Women's Cancers. I ran on behalf of my late Aunt Jacquie, and good friends of my Mom who have died from Breast Cancer, Anne and Gwen.

It was freezing! I love races where its cold, except for before and after. When you aren't moving. We met the group and headed to the start line. We had a ton of support from both our store manager Bev and Newmarket and Thornhill's managers and Assistants: Jayne, Patricia and Ed. Plus our area manager Hayley was there too! It was a great time. I knew early on I wasn't going for a PB, since I raced so hard last weekend and I was very sore still.

Thank you to everyone that supported me and donated to the cause!

So I finished in 42:51 which is still under my previous PB. So I was really happy with it. Up next is the Run4Rett. I hope that I can race it tough, but time will tell.

Foto Friday

During my 5K! My first RUNNING PHOTO LOL!


The finish line! Also my first finish with others :)


Close UP Finish!

Some of hubby too! Thanks for the idea M ;P

Run for the Cure is this weekend. My foot has been bothering me all week. So its going to be an intersting race!

Scotiabank 5K Race Report

(Let me just preface this by saying this was a CRAZY day!)

We got to the race site EARLY so Colin could race his 1/2 Marathon. The Marathon Instructor from our store, Angie, came with us to cheer on her Marathoners. After using the bathroom, finding everyone and taking lots of pictures, they all lined up into their corrals. Angie and I ran down the line to catch the start. And off they went! I managed to spot Marlene at the beginning, but she was running too fast to call out ;)

Once the final racers crossed the start, Angie and I ran a few blocks west to catch a cab and get to The Prince's Gates at Exhibition Place. It is located at the 7 and 17 mark of the race, give or take a few metres. We saw everyone there and back including hubby and Marlene. She looked so STRONG!

Then it was back up to the finish. Once I saw Colin and got a good luck pep talk, and got a good luck hug from a very sweaty Marlene :) I jumped onto a bus and headed BACK down to the Prince's Gates and Exhibition Place.

For whatever reason, everyone had to be at the site an hour before the race even began. It made for a lot of standing around and waiting. And more waiting. At this point, all I could even think is "just let me run already". We ended up lining into our corrals and soon enough, away we went!

1K

The first K of this race is so tough. You loop up and away from the gates, run around the parking lot and to about 500 metres to the Gates. There are always a lot of people and not a lot of room. I was so busy running past people I didn't notice my pace.

2K

From 1 to 2k I started to feel tired and couldn't figure out why. Then I looked down at my pace and saw a 5:59. Um, that's a bit fast for me. I brought it back and took my first walk break.

3K to 4K

This part of the race is entirley under the Gardiner and on Lakeshore. I was getting a whole lot of messed up messages on my Garmin and new I was by myself for the remainder of the race.

4K to 5K

Once you turn off the Lakeshore and up on Bay it is entirely uphill. Training where I do should help me with that, but this is where I lost my Sub 40. I knew I ran out too fast and I had nothing left in the tank. At 600 metres I actually tripped and almost fell! But I caught myself and just kept running. I saw Marlene at the finish along with her hubby and some friend P and U. High fives and I kept going. I finally saw Colin about 200 metres from the finish. He kept saying "Run, you've got this". But I already knew I was going to be about a half minute short. Once I saw the finish I think I managed a smile and went through.

I collected my medal, met hubby and we headed home.

Overall I am happy with my time. But I still have a lot of work to do. If a 2:30 1/2 Marathon time is in my future, I need to speed things up.

Mission Accomplished (B)

Sarah Macdonald - 41:32.2 Gun Time (40:31.4 CHIP)
Avg. Pace: 8:19
218/446 W 30-34
1261/2868 Overall

I am VERY pleased with meeting my B Goal. A was SO CLOSE. But I now what I need to do to get my sub 40 5K!

And congrats to Hubby who got his new PR by almost 5 MINUTES! He finished his Half Marathon in 1:48:04! WOOHOO! He is primed for his Full in October.

I will post my Race Report tomorrow! But now its time to sleep!

Foto Friday's and A/B/C

Three years ago I completed my first and ONLY 1/2 Marathon at the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon. I will be completing in the 5K this year, but I plan on tacking the 1/2 again next Fall!

And speaking of my 5K, I do have some goals for this race. And here it is:

A GOAL) Sub 40:00 minutes (a pipe dream, but hey, a goal none the less!)

B Goal) A new PR and a Sub 43:56 (which I have done in training, so I feel good about it)

C Goal) Sub 45:oo minutes.

Anything else will be VERY disappointing. See you all there on Sunday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three Things Thursday

1. Last night at Run Club we had our first foray into speed training. It was fun! I think I like speed and hills. This makes Week 7 almost complete. We have our longest distance so far this weekend 6.5K. Next Sunday is one of my first three races in the next month! Wow! Then its onto the 1oK Clinic. FANTASTIC
2. I said I had some news in my last post. Well, I was recently promoted at work! I am now the Assistant Manager at the Aurora Running Room! This is HUGE for me and could not have come at a better time for me and our family. So sacrifices will be made (working most weekends and a few more shifts a week) but in the long run, it will be so worth it. And I love my job. Its perfect for my lifestyle, our family and my life. I just could not be happier and I hope to make our store the BEST!
3. Speaking of races, I am seriously considering doing a 16k Trail Run on Halloween. It's the Tom Taylor Trail 10m. Its local, has a ton of great loot and the price is right. So we'll see what I decide. Plus the fact I turn 31 the next day makes it even more exciting!
   

Time Flies

Connor started school today. I cannot believe it. It seems like yesterday he was just a baby and now he's going to school? He had an amazing time, but Mommy still isn't so sure she likes this!

And my training is flying as well! Completed 6K on Sunday and then headed out to do 4K last night. Both runs went great, but I am still having a hard time finishing on the bI&*h of all hills! No race will ever finish on a hill like this, but it still pi$$es me off to see my pace drop so badly! At least I know I am going to be able to kick it once race day comes!

I also have some news.......BUT........I cannot share it right now. Soon, but not now. And no, I am not pregnant again.....that seems to be the guess that everyone has. So far from it! I should be able to let you all know by the end of the week!

Three Things Thursday

1. Tomorrow we are taking the kids to the Jays Game! Connor is SO EXCITED. It took some explaining that he wouldn't be playing, but he is still very happy. Although, he keeps asking if Thomas the Tank Engine is going to be there (!)
2. I ran 3 hills with the clinic last night. The distance wasn't that far (3.65k) but it felt good to get my running legs back. Both Colin and I have been sick, so he will also be testing his sea legs tonight. With a 35K run for Sunday, he needs to get back out there! I will "just" be running 6K, but its the farthest distance so far in the clinic. Here's hoping it goes well!
3. There has been a lot of stress here in the past few weeks, so I am hoping that running helps me to alleviate some of it. I am also working quite a bit in the next few months, which should also help. Here's hoping the fall turns out better than this summer has been............

September

So here we are: September! Wow, time flies when you're having fun.

Only four more weeks until the end of the clinic. Two races coming up and I have to say, I am not at all ready! We were on vacation last week, and between looking after three toddlers and a nasty head cold (which I still have eight days later) I managed to run ONCE. The entire time I was gone. So needless to say, tonight's hills (3) and Sunday's 6K(!) are going to be VERY tough.

But we got a nice surprise in the form of FREE baseball tickets this week, and let me tell you, the kids are going to have a blast at the Jays Game this Friday night! Thanks C!

Connor also starts school next week. Staggered starts means he doesn't have a full day until next Thursday. But he went to meet his teachers yesterday and he was SO EXCITED. And it made it all too real for Mom as well............

Three Things Thursday

1. We ran 4K last night in our 5K clinic for 34 minutes. I am faster than I used to be, but not as fast as I would like to be. My dreams of a sub 40 5K this year are slipping I think. But I am going to try my darnedest to do it. Still 4 1/2 months to go! Plus, if you look at the finish of all of these run........no race ends on hills like THESE!
2. I've been drinking a Protein Shake before every run and it really seems to be giving me the energy that I need to kick it up a notch during my runs. Its really easy to throw together and it's delicious. When it comes to running under 5K, nutrition can sometimes be a real struggle, because you really aren't sure what to eat. You can't eat too much, because you aren't burning too many calories. But if you eat too little, you aren't properly fueled and your run ends up being pretty much a giant fail!
3. I was looking at my schedule and saw that the weekend of Road2Hope (which hubby is running the Half Marathon) I will be running 13K. Well Road2Hope has a 5/10K challenge. Its only 2K more.............