Iceland bound...

Hi there! What a run!!! I parked the car at Dundurn Castle and walked to the high level bridge, down to the water & got a bunch of photos of the baby swans (swannabes??)!!! Lucky they were there. I figured it would take awhile to see them again :)

Then I ran to the Valley Inn Road where there's a suitable hill to start "hill training". Ran down it, then up it with a 4 ups 4 downs repeat. Ugh! It was seriously hurting! Actually I was impressed with myself since this is the hill at the Around the Bay race that I had to walk up (crawl up?), it was so daunting.

Then I walked back along York Blvd & took pictures of homeless guys, turtles, cannons facing fences. You name it, I saw it today.

....and half way through, I saw a little crowd gathered on the bridge so I slowed to see what they were looking at and what I saw stopped me dead in my tracks.............

THE SWANS HAVE HATCHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately and predictably, no camera. They are the cutest little off-white fluffballs I have ever seen and the mama & papa are such proud parents!!!! I don't know how anyone could call a baby swan an ugly duckling. They made my day!!!! Possibly my week :)

And now that I'm done fundraising, I feel a little better about spending on me. I got the 20% off coupon from Vector cereal (thx for the hint, Julie) and bought myself a brand spanking new pair of runners. Asics this time. They are very nice & the seller guy thought they'd probably get me to Iceland...a pair of shoes should give 500 miles apparently. yay!!!! My old ones were toast. Picture of Chloe in her princess get up & me in my half work/half running get up (modelling new shoes) :)

Tomorrow I'll try get a picture of the swanbabies!!!!

Went on the long run with team member, Julie... it was really great to meet her. She's going to be a fun room mate, I can tell. She's talkative while running & more quiet when not running (opposite to me!!!). We're up to 19 kms, even though I wimped out for the last half km. There were a few things wrong, some of which I'll share....

Fanny pack. Carrying my camera, water, gel packs. Drove me batty but I ran the whole way with it. Bounce. bounce. bounce. (sooo tempted to ditch the thing)

Was very warm!!! A little too warm & muggy for my liking. I'll have to start the long runs earlier.

AND I NEED NEW SHOES!!! This is the first time I really feel the need for new shoes. Suddenly they feel flimsy on the pavement & that cannot be good.

BUT on the lighter side. The run was soooooooo fast!!! It so didn't feel like we covered that kind of distance. I was proud of Hamilton sights & sounds...proud to show off this little corner of the world :) Thank you, Julie!! (forgot to get someone to take our pic)

I ran out of picture space! that's a first! :)

To all the people who came out last night, THANK YOU!!! First, we had an awesome evening. The first warm night of the season.

The lighting wasn't best, or I need a lesson on using my camera. But I'm sure Rich will have better pictures from the night.

Thank you Rob, Brian, Ken, Jim -- THE BAND. You guys were amazing!!!
Thank you Vera & Jan -- for the door help. For sure, less money would have been raised without your sharp eyes!
Thank you Linda -- for selling tickets with me! That was just fun!
Thank you Rich -- for excellent sound work & for your performance at the end of the night (my camera had run out of batteries by then :( but your songs were unforgettable!
Thank you Alicia -- you sounded great! You're the next Canadian Idol, in my mind...
Thank you Jim -- for being entertaining all around!
Thank you Jack -- for being the shopping network assistant at the prize table.
Thank you to McGibbon's for a very cozy room at JUST the right price!!!!!

Speaking of "price".....the grand total raised from the event is $1610!!!!!!!!!!! This means I've met my minimum fundraising obligation and 2 months early! So now I can stop obsessing about fundraising and start obsessing about training for the marathon!!!!

At one point in the evening, I looked around and thought to myself "wow, I know this many people...." and then I remembered "wait, I don't know three quarters of these people!" So to all the people who don't even know me, but were willing to support this cause......you have my heartfelt gratitude.

...and the grand finale thank you goes to Rob...for having the idea to have this night out in the first place, for continued support in every possible way for the last 14 years. I am one lucky girl (and I know it).

Hi there! Today's the day!!! Fundraising will (hopefully) come to an end, as Music Night is upon us!!!!

Went for my run nice and early....a light 6 km in 40 minutes. Ran into a friend along the way, so I stopped for a few minutes. The new watch works GREAT....TOO great, in fact! I need to find tune the heart rate monitor...it kept beeping -- heart rate too fast -- beep beep -- heart rate too slow --- beep beep -- heart rate just right. Finally I yanked the thing off to disengage it.

And on the way out the door, I saw that some neighbours up the street were having a garage sale. I met a young woman named Hannah (pictured above) who was diagnosed with diabetes at just 9 years of age! I was happy to meet her, because other than my sister, I don't know a lot of diabetics. She's insulin dependent and as you can see from her picture, she looks great!!!! It's great to put a face to the disease that I'm running for!!!!

Hannah, I'm honoured to be running this race for you & other Canadian diabetics. It's a great idea of the Canadian Diabetes Association....a wonderful way to combine an adventurous spirit with a giving heart. I'll think of you when I'm running the marathon!!! :)

Today I picked up my passport & my GPS watch arrived. I'm set for travel AND adventure, now! I was hoping the watch would arrive today, so that when Julie & I run on Sunday we can be a little bit aimless with it and still manage getting the 19 km in. Now we can! Yay!

Also, Rob's car broke down so we had to run all our errands together & I told him to believe the car would start when he got back to it, but not to be overly confident or his confidence would jinx it.....and sure enough, the car started up again! I love it when things self-heal.

There is nothing like a fresh passport....with 24 blank pages to fill up. First Iceland...then Peru....then who knows!?!!!

I'll miss the kids..sniff sniff. We had a party & it was a good crowd today!

After work I ran a quick 8 km and at the end of it my legs stiffened up. I'm glad tomorrow is a day off. I definitely need the rest.

This Sunday will be a 19 km run....gotta prepare physically and psychologically for that one. Julie from Toronto is coming in for that run! :)

This Saturday is Music Night...in case anyone is interested....tickets are still available, though selling fast :)

....and now, the kids are in bed, the house is relatively tidy, and I have the new Sarah Waters book to dig into....ahhhh i love it when a busy week winds down!!!!

YAY
I'm back in business! I put off running because I had a very busy day....so I went for my 10 km run after work, just now, and I gotta say...it felt amazing! I was so discouraged after a couple of rough ones, but today was perfect. I ran along Main Street out to the east end and back. I wondered if running alongside the exhaust was a good idea, but I'm a city girl at heart & I love to look at the shops and hear the screeching tires etc.
PLUS, sometimes when traffic would jam up, I was running faster than what the cars were going. That felt good. And I heard every kind of music you could imagine coming from the open car windows. Bob Dylan. Ditsy Chicks. etc.
Maybe late afternoon runs aren't so bad after all.

I just got back from a hard run. Supposed to be "tempo" but never managed going fast at all. Just sort of started off, carried on, and finished off roughly. On a bad run day like today, I stop and think "can I do this?".

Fingers crossed that tomorrow's run will be more inspiring.

Just got in from the dog park, the dogs are all tired out & so am I.

No running today, lazy holiday Monday. Gonna get the house in order, do some laundry, cook something on the barbie for dinner. Just chillin'. Glad I ran yesterday so that I can have today totally off. Am feeling more than a little done in. Those long runs take their toll.

But tomorrow is another day...

The wind is very angry today. I didn't really feel like being slapped repeatedly by my own hair while I ran 16 kms so I decided (after MUCH procrastinating) to run on the treadmill at the YMCA.

I used to like treadmills. Those days are gone....

First thing I did was waltz in hop on the first one I saw and fired it up. Realized it was only in MILES. Can't complicate things at this stage, hopped off to find one that would give me the goods in KMS. Found one, fired IT up, and started my jog....but when I put the elevation and speed up a bit, my GEL PACK (pudding type energy packet) fell off the display and onto the belt where I managed to step on it and chocolate goop squirted everywhere. No kidding. There's more in there than you would imagine....*sigh*...

So then I cleaned that mess up best I could and started back up. Just like running outside, the beginning & the end of the run is hard but the middle is pretty blissy. So I just coasted along, thinking how much easier the treadmill is in many ways. There's no wind resisitance, no goose poop to weave through.

BUT THE BOREDOM. After the first hour, I started wanting to pack it in. I can handle 5 km, even up to 8...but 16?? nooooo waaaaaaaaay. Can a person die of boredom?? I was starting to wonder.

On a lighter note, it counts calories. 1135 calories bit the dust between 12:35 and 2:20 today. And what do you know....there's an Indian all-you-can-eat just around the corner. I'm so there!

Oh & good news!!!! With my great friend Sophie's encouragement, I managed to buy a Garmin Forerunner on ebay!!! Got it for half retail, including shipping. I was wavering on it a lot but she convinced me that if running a marathon doesn't justify splurging a little, what does? Good advice, Sophie! Now with my GPS, I'll never be lost again (unless I choose to be!!!).

...the most obvious difference I can see in my appearance is FARMER'S TAN, complete with SOCK LINES. Wooohoooo what a babe. It's time for some sun screen or a tanning booth. Or both.

OK....I was out until 2 am drinking red wine with my new writing partner, Quincy. Quincy you really have to stop buying those bags o' wine if you want me to be a productive co-writer. We did get a lot accomplished, though.

OK, from being out until 2 to having already run by 9:30 is what I call worth a pat on the back.

I took my camera, which gave me an excuse to drag my ass slower than usual. Look at how big the goslings are now! And on the island, if you look closely, you can see a swan. She's been there for weeks, maybe a month. Her man-goose swims around the island protectively. I've been waiting to see signs of the baby swans. Today I thought things seemed tense. I felt something in the air. Maybe soon....

Here's my pot! I know last week I said it was HUGE...well it either shrunk dramatically or it had "the fish was t h i s b i g" syndrome last week. Anyway, here it is. Here I am, being all proud. And as you can see, I did chop holes in it so that the strawberries can grow out from the pot. Someone walked by and said "Oh no, you ruined your pot" but I think I like it this way. Too late now!!!!

And here is Anton, potter extraordinaire & a good friend to boot (even though he said he made a decimal error on his donation to me....I think he was only kidding) Too late now!!!! (echo echo echo)

I couldn't live with missing the run, so I got up early & got it out of the way. Now I'm going to go count some fundraising money or something. ka-ching ka-ching!!!!!

Now that I've given the good watch back, I find I'm missing it rather a lot. The good thing about a GPS watch is that you can just set off and run aimlessly and it keeps track for you. Otherwise, it's all about driving the route and making note of km marks. They're expensive though. As Sophie says, I shop at Value Village but would consider buying a watch for $250? Makes no sense. Yet my income tax refund is burning a hole in my pocket. I need to weigh some pros and cons.

Long & busy day at work & then open house at the kid's school. Just couldn't manage it today. I have a bad feeling that it's like a house of cards...skipping this one run will be like mislaying a card and they'll all come toppling down. Or I'll just run in the morning, instead. I'll let you know how it goes.

Growth & Development finally started for Benny today. The teacher had them say certain anatomical words repeatedly in an effort to neutralize the terms. I wish I'd been a fly on the wall for that little exercise!

Meanwhile...last night's group meeting at Emma's Back Porch was really nice! I met some new runners & was reaquainted with some I had met before. Everyone is at different training & fundraising levels...not everyone running the full marathon....some doing half.

I left without paying for my pint of rickards...so thank you to someone!

Rob & his sister Vera & her husband Jim have already sold about 50 tickets to the music night! That's a cool $500... :) Not a lot of exes are so supportive! Rob...you rock... really... you rock. If you ever decide to run a marathon for team diabetes, I'll be sure to return the favour! :)

Tonight the local team members are meeting, just for fun & frivolity :)

I have a roomie for Iceland now (thx Julie!). Phew. Was starting to get the last-picked jitters.

I just ran my 10 km in 60 minutes & 20 seconds. I really tried to break the one hour barrier but I just didn't quite have it in me. Maybe next week! It's warm and sunny out there today, which I'm starting to hate. I don't know if it's my british blood (thrives cool & damp) or that running is harder when it's hot (more likely) but I'm starting to prefer yucky weather days.

I threw on my new fanny pack, rigged up with my camera...my ID...a little pocket money...and my bottle of water. I think I took 5 steps from the car when I thought "NOOOOO WAY" and dramatically yanked the thing off & threw it back in the car. Was hardly gonna manage that thing bouncing along on my waist for 10 kms! I don't know why I bought it. I probably have to get used to it though because I will need to drink on my long runs. Unless I can count on friends agreeing to be strategically placed along the route, holding bottles of water??? C'mon guys...what else are you doing on Sunday mornings? You can be part of a miracle!!! (me getting across the finish line in August being the miracle)...

And I'm starting to hear about people (like friendly library patrons!) who look at my blog and come into the branch and comment on my entries! (Hi Fran & Gavon!!!!). Thank you! I appreciate it! I also appreciate all the fine overpayments you guys have given me towards my fundraising! That all added up!!! :) :)

So I went out for my "tempo" run all energized and set to break some records. I had to give the GPS watch back to its rightful owner so I used a cheaper sports watch thing. I kept running, nice and fast, and I kept glancing at my watch to read "5:16" and I was honestly thinking "wow, what a great pace I'm keeping...and just LOOK how STEADY I'm going"....wow I'm good....look at me go. Wait a minute...I slow down and it still says "5:16"??? Hmmmm interesting....wait a minute, what's the date? May 16th? 5th month, 16th day, otherwise known as 5:16?????

Unreal.

So anyway, I ran 6 km in 35 minutes.... a wee bit faster than last time. AND I passed another runner with a smooth, 'hey, its ok we can't all be gazelles" look on my face :)

Got some new stuff on ebay...check em out...bid like crazy. Outbid yourselves....it's charity!

The kids made dinner for me last night. It was really impressive. The salad especially yummy...but not called "SALAD" but "B-ALAD" (salad made by ben takes on the B)... Chloe helped too, but "Chl-alad" doesn't sound as appetizing.

The front page story in the local paper today is all about the "problem" of the geese at the waterfront! I guess they are a little voracious with the grasses & they aren't very concerned with doing their "business" in tucked away places.

But still.....come on! "Goose management" and "Goose epidemic"??? I must be naiive. I don't mind waiting a minute for the hissing to end....or taking a wide turn around a small family. I don't even mind having to sidestep all their droppings...ok well maybe I do mind that a little. BUT STILL...COME ON!!!!! What's the alternative? Round 'em up....send them packing? Poor little things.

No running today. Just writing thank you notes & taking the kids out to lunch later. Oh & going to work, of course :) Can't forget work!

What a great day so far!

I had a fantastic run...16 kms in 1 hour & 49 minutes. I guess that's a little too fast...but it was cold and I was only wearing a light t-shirt (no jacket). Brrrr. I'll keep working at the target pace...it's really hard though. My mind just drifts & I go into whatever feels natural. Then I look at the watch and realize i'm way off. Oh well! It felt awesome so there.

THEN...we met my Mom and step-dad for brunch! It was reallllllllly fun. My mom gave me 2500 KRONER!!!! Sounds like scads, eh? I think it's enough for 2-3 pints in a pub....after the marathon. It's very cute money. the 500's say "fimm hundrud kronur" and the 1000 says "eitt tusund kronur".

Here's my mom (retired speech & language teacher) doing a new sign for "lame loser". and here's benny doing the same sign. I have no idea what prompted this. But it was pretty fun!!!

It's only 8:30 am and I've already been up for hours! I've done laundry, cleaned up (a bit) & run 6 km!

I ate serious amounts of food at Outback last night. I resisted the "bloomin' onion" (my favourite there but sooo fattening!) & ordered yummy cyclone pasta (chicken, shitake mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, etc). Mmmmmmmmmm PLUS DESSERT.

I have a new batch of donated stuff to list on ebay today, so stay tuned :)

This picture is from pottery this past winter. It ran in a magazine called "in burlington". The unfortunate & slightly embarrassing fact that the article wound up being about how developmentally delayed, clinically depressed, and downright worried adults can benefit from the arts didn't deter me from enjoying the picture. Anyway, nice picture eh? :) I look like I know what I'm doing!

Today at pottery I tripled my usual size of starting clay and made a really nice pot. I mean, really nice. I wish I had taken my camera to shoot a picture of it while it was still wet on the wheel. It is meant to become a strawberry planter & I would cut little slits throughout the pot and bend the clay out so that the strawberries can grow from all the openings.

But I think I like it too much to cut into it.

Bringing a 7 1/2 lb ball of clay to a perfectly centred state on the wheel is a very difficult undertaking. Catherine (fellow potter) had to keep reminding me to breathe. It made my arms feel all muscled up. I guess this is my upper body workout after all the lower body with the running. Dave (my excellent teacher) cheered me on and helped by showing me how to work on a larger scale. Richard (next potter over) brings me good luck...every time I work by his side, my work is better (too bad I have the opposite effect on him).

No running today. It's payday, I'm taking Chloe shopping after school, just the 2 of us. And then Rob & the kids are taking me out for dinner to start celebrating Mother's Day. Yeeehaaaa

Got home from work after 5 and set out for the 8 km run. The GPS thing wouldn't work because of the clouds. So I was just running along, letting my thoughts wander to faraway places, when Kristina caught up with me! What a pleasant surprise!!!!

I ran a little faster than I normally do for a few kms...while I'm sure she was running significantly slower :) I think we ran together for about 3-4 kms and I started wanting to take walk breaks. She was so great about slowing down and going geriatric for me...but I insisted (huff, puff) that she carry on running. Once she was out of sight, I meandered along at my normal slow pace and finished the 8 km in 49 minutes....(not bad, considering I got the first stitch I've had in eons & I wanted to cry at one point it was starting to hurt..I don't think I like afternoon or evening runs. I'm a morning person, always have been).

It was great to talk to Kristina. She's a great runner (boston maraton potential) and a really fun person. This is a great reminder of a big part of what this marathon adventure is all about...TEAM SPIRIT!!! :)

Life is good (as my t-shirt reads)....really good!!!!

keeping up with the speed theme, I managed to do 10 km in 61 minutes & 57 seconds. Ok...we can round that up to 62 minutes. And it felt great. It was warm (hot even) but I just suffered along, didnt slow down because of it, and after awhile I felt sort of accustomed to it.

And the best part? Even though I'm not actually losing weight (Grrr), I'm starting to notice little differences. (well, after all this running, i'd have to really worry about myself it wasn't making any diff at all).

And a special note to any friends who feel neglected lately (i'm behind in my emails, the phone's been ringing a lot and I don't always answer it, and I haven't been out socially in a couple of weeks) I'm sorry :( but with all the extra stuff going on, I don't have time to do much else. Please don't give up on me...I'm still me...just busy (fundraising is like an extra job and training is too, not to mention already having work, and the kids, and the animals...etc.) I know it sounds like a hundred excuses but it's all true. When you get busy & I hear less from you, I promise to understand.

Now off to the post office to mail stuff to ebayers around the world....

Ok...maybe not an actual speed demon but I did take the "tempo" part of today's run seriously and managed to chop off 3 full minutes from my 6 km run. (36 minutes, instead of 39). I felt it! I was inspired by 2 fellow team members, Julie & Kristina. I still don't think there's much hope I'll be able to run Iceland with them (I'll maybe be able to run in their dust!).

But I am starting to think if I can train to run this thing faster, then I won't have to spend as much time doing it. Makes sense, eh? It's not to late to switch from the 4:30 to the 4:00 training schedule.

If this is all greek to you, just ignore today's boring post.
The really exciting things in my life (and there's SO much) can't be reported here ;-) haha

I'm applying for my passport today. How exciting. My old one expired in 1993 or something like that, how sad. From now on, I will keep my passport up-to-date. You just never know what opportunities might come up...especially since my Dad's gotten into literary travel writing. Might as well be prepared (hint hint Dad)...

I've been watching my ebay auctions. I think I've hit the refresh button so much that I've worn it out. It's so cool to watch all the last minute action. Sometimes an item can double its selling price in the last 30 seconds. It's more than a little bit addictive... :) :)

No running today so I took the dogs for a hike and a swim. They are happy (& more than a little smelly).

I did it! I slowed it down so that my average was in the recommended guideline! I ran 13 km in 93 minutes. 3 minutes slower than the last 13 km run. That'll help, somehow.

It helps that it's a gorgeous sunny morning, without any noticeable smog or humidity.

...and now to round up some friends for a trip to the leash-free park (for the dogs, the humans are always allowed off-leash though for some, I am not so sure it's a good idea).

I'm going to do my 13 km long & slow run right now. I'm running along York Blvd towards Burlington today and around all those cemeteries -- just for fun. haha

But I'm going to focus on running VERY slowly, and taking walk breaks. As frustrating as this feels (who doesn't want to get the run over so the lazy part of the day can begin?) I'm going to really try hard, because apparently taking it super slow increases long distance endurance.

Off I go....

What a nice run! The air, light and cool...the sun gradually taking over the cloudiness as I ran along. Heaven! 6 kms only today, and I did it in the 39 minutes as usual surprise surprise.

There's one time when goslings aren't so cute....when they're swaying from one side of the trail to the other, not sure which way to go, while their parents stand protectively on either side of them hissing at runners like me who are too afraid to pass them. That's not cute. At all.

If I want to be hissed at, I can just stay home and poke the cats. Actually, that's fun.

and I can't finish today's post without a huge thank you to Julie for helping me meet (and exceed!) the May deadline! :) I already liked Julie, but now I want to marry her.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Hi there!

Pottery rolls around again. A couple of generous donations this week & I feel compelled to mention that I am $36.62 away from the MOST IMPORTANT DEADLINE. This is the deadline, once met, where all my travel will be booked.

$36.62

So if anyone has been wondering when a good time to make an online donation would be....well I'd say there probably won't be a more significant time! Except maybe the very last donation that puts me at the final goal :)

THANK YOU

That's the only way to get a run in on Thursdays. It's 3 kms to my house & managed to TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME (remember that awesome record?) and stretch a 3 km trip into nearly 7. Only a drunken fool or a marathon training runner would do that. Or both?

OK...just a little personal message to all the runners who run past me like I'm standing still. I could run faster, I just choose not to. Just so you know.

Goslings are growing. Today at storytime, I had the kids get into little tiny balls (like baby animals) and then slowly grow bigger and bigger and bigger until they were all grown up. & the theme was (you guessed it) BABY ANIMALS. They liked it :) I'm looking forward to watching the goslings grow....oh & I'm looking forward to watching the storytime kids grow up, too.

Helllllllo out there!
10 km in 1:10. That's slow & it wasn't supposed to be a slow run. But...my goodness...the humidity is already getting to me! Please someone tell me I'll get used to it. Yuck!
Don't mean to depress any would-be runners who might be reading...but I have to talk about weight gain and running.
WHY????
I've put in a lot of miles over the last few weeks...and before I started writing here & was already running at least 2-3 times a week & have been for a couple of years now...maybe 3?
I know I think a lot about food & eat the calories I burn running & then some. BUT STILL!!!!!!!!!!!!?????
I haven't lost ONE POUND. In fact, I've gained a few in the past couple of weeks. and before you say "muscle weighs more than fat" (cuz when you say it I hear "blahblahblahwaawaa"), I am rounder, puffier and generally chubbier than when I started. MAYBE just MAYBE by the time the marathon rolls around, I'll have dipped down to my ideal weight (10-15 lbs less than right now) but I seriously don't know if it's possible.
I might be destined to be rounded out.

I think I'll take my camera around with me for the marathon in Iceland. I'll get some pictures along the way & post them here.

Today, I was supposed to do a 6 km "tempo" run. I warmed up for the first km and then thought I'd give 'er. Well, I seem to have one speed. My so called long & slow days are too fast and my tempo days are too slow. I keep meeting at the 6:30 pace. I guess that'll be my challenge.

I'd like to thank my new very bestest friend (should I mention names, here?) for the generous donation!!! -- I'll have a card for ya on Friday :) :) :) :) :) :)

No running on Mondays, gives me a chance to recover from that long run on Sunday.

I fixed the "comments" glitch so now everyone can make comments on my blog, one at a time...no rushing...stay calm. ;-)

My mom's friend Adam made me laugh. He said "didn't Jenny do the Around the Bay last year?, why doesn't she just do it again backwards if she's bored? How come she has to go to Iceland?" teeheehee

My son Ben is starting sex education this month so when he looked at the calendar this morning & saw that it was May, he said "this is the month, Mom". Yep. I told him I could tell him all he needs to know on the way to school (2 minute drive). He declined. I guess he wants the extended version.