Hallelujah! I'm off the 'injury' list

Wow, what a difference a simple foot pain can make in your life! I have a new appreciation for people that are living with chronic, constant pain...  Even though a planter's wart is not a major pain, it affected all aspects of my life. I adjusted just about everything I did around how my foot was feeling on a particular day.

Now that the pain is finally gone, completely, I feel like I could dance and walk and RUN all day, everyday!!  No longer am I making excuses to drive to the bus stop to pick up my son in the afternoon (the whole 400m). It has only been 6 days since my last twinge of pain from my foot - I feel like a new woman!!  Considering I first started feeling some pain last July/August, this has been an incredibly looooooooooong process!!

I could sing from the rooftops, but instead I'm going to RUN my little heart out...  Watch out world, Corinna's back at it with 10 months of weight gain and general inactivity to make up for!!

I did it!

Never thought I would see the sun rise this morning!  That was a nice bonus to getting up at 6:30. I was in bed at midnight last night (earlier than usual!) but had a very restless sleep, knowing my alarm was set to go off at 6:15. I remember tossing and turning, looking at the clock at 6:08...  My husband can verify that I LOVE my bed in the morning - it takes a LOT for me to decide to crawl out of it on a regular day!  This morning took about 12min of pep talking myself before I left the comfy warmth of my covers. Even though I was over-heating (was wearing winter-weight PJs), I could have easily just gone back to sleep, especially since I was tossing and turning all night. I was really tired!

Now it's 9am - I've done a 30min intense workout, ate breakfast, sent my son and hubby off for the day,  listening to some tunes while catching up on email, twitter and updating my blog. Wow!  I don't think I've ever gotten that much accomplished by 9am!! Once I'm done this post, I'll grab a quick shower and get my youngest son up for the day (he likes to sleep in like his momma).  Talk about feeling ahead of the game!  Love it!

Before and after photos from this morning. (finally - notice the time below the TV - 6:32 and 7:12)

I must remember this great feeling of accomplishment the next time I want to get up early for a workout!


Before signing off, a brief update on this week's activities:
Monday - schedule conflict - I'll go swimming on Wednesday instead
Tuesday - Kathy Smith 30min workout, running 20min with Running Room clinic
Wednesday - swimming 45min followed by soccer 1hr
Thursday - maybe bellyfit 1hr...  I must say, I sweat a TON more during the 30min KS workout this morning that I have in any of the bellyfit classes...
Friday - Kathy Smith in the morning again?  Maybe.... It's my son's birthday - still have to plan his party and now I've got the rest of today to do just that!

Who inspires me?

Two weeks ago I went to visit a good friend. She was housebound, in recovery from a major operation and it had been a while since we got together to chat. As is always the case for us, we talked about business - we're both WAHMs, creating websites for clients from our home studios. But what was different this time - we talked about working out, heart-rate monitors and healthy eating - mainly how does she get her boys to eat the healthy choices she includes in her regular meals?

Michelle at my son's birthday party - 2007

My friend, Michelle, has been a huge inspiration to me from the first time we got together with our babies, over five years ago. Back then, we would steal away once a week to Starbucks, indulge in their high-fat, high-sugar, over-priced treats and teas, and talk about life, websites, clients and mostly, MOTHERHOOD and how much it transformed our lives. We only laughed about what we SHOULD be eating, or SHOULD be doing for exercise, not exactly the picture of health. The thing I admired or was inspired most about Michelle was her keen business sense and her ability to focus on her work, even amidst the ciaos that surrounded her on a daily basis (having twin boys can do that!). I am proud to call her a truly "good" friend!

Michelle NOW!

Recently, my admiration for and inspiration from Michelle has come in a completely new package, literally! She has made a huge lifestyle change in the past 2 years. Michelle is a shadow of her former self and looks absolutely fabulous. I highly recommend reading about her journey on her blog: www.uncoveringme.com. Now, I'm not surprised by her transformation - Michelle is a very determined woman - and when she decided it was time to make some changes in her life, those changes happened! She has a lot of support from her trainers, family and friends of course, and she gives them all props in her blog, but ultimately, MICHELLE was the one that made the decision and did whatever it took. And for that, Michelle, YOU deserve credit and my full admiration!

Now I find myself turning to the inspiration of Michelle for my own fitness goals. If you've been following my blog, you'll know I am quite active. I play soccer year-round, softball in the summer and recently added swimming and running to my routine. I've always been active in team sports - it's my preferred form of exercise. But lately I've noticed a shift in my thinking, and a shift in my fitness needs. Maybe it's because I recently celebrated my 35th birthday? Or maybe its because I know this body is done having babies and now belongs solely to MOI again? Stay tuned for future insights into my fitness shift...

All things change, and friendships aren't immune. You can always tell good friends from acquaintances - the good ones are still there to chat, even if it's been months or years. I have to admit, I struggle with keeping in touch with my "good" friends, and I hope if you're reading this, you will forgive me and send me an email or call! :-)

I really dislike running solo - help!

My running partner, Jill, has been away for more than two weeks now and I hadn't been for a run since our triumphant experience together at the Blue Nose event - that is until last night...

OK, here's the scenario - I had hoped to go running on the weekend but it didn't happen. So last night (Tues.) was my only evening this week that was free. So I decided after my hubby returned from his run (his only chance too!) that I would go out. My plan was to run 3-4 laps around the neighbourhood because it would be dark by the time I got out. I had driven around with the car earlier and knew exactly how far I was going.

I decided last-minute to search out my MP3 player to bring along. I knew I had upbeat Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" tunes on it, just needed a battery and I was good to go. (we always have batteries around for the boys' toys!) I headed out at 9:43pm, MP3 player in hand, bud-phones in the ears... First tune was "Hung Up" with a decent beat so I thought, "Great start!". Finish my warm-up walk and about to begin running when the song changes to Enya. If you're not familiar - she has really mellow, almost classical sounding music.  "Crap! How do I change the song?" I had just finished tucking the player down my sleeve and fed the bud-phones up through my top so they wouldn't fall out of my ears. I have a hard time keeping bud phones in when I'm sitting still, never mind when I'm running!  So I yank everything out, while going up the killer hill in our neighbourhood I've complained about before, and figure out how to advance the song - only to discover it's on RANDOM PLAY!!  Randomly selecting between Enya, ABBA and Madonna was horrible...  Plus my bud phones kept falling out of my ears, my shorts (not running style) were riding up between my thighs and by the third lap up that dreaded hill, I felt like I was going to vomit, seriously. I've never had that feeling before...

All-in-all, the worst experience I've had.  Almost makes me want to give it up... Almost!

Tonight I'm working on my revised play list - my library is limited, and I'm going to show my age here, but I used to workout to the VengaBoys - "The Party Album!", in the late 90's - perfect workout CD because all the songs sound the same! lol.  I was surprised that not ONE of the Madonna songs worked for me - I usually love dancing to her tunes.  Maybe I'm just getting old...  Michelle, I need your help with this one!!

I've tasked my hubby with finding me 'running' headphones that don't rely on sticking in the ear for my belated birthday gift. He was going to get me a new heart-rate monitor (HRM), but discovered that the kind that would work while I was swimming is sketchy at best - so we're sticking with the one we have for now. It has enough features - Sports Instruments - has worked well since I got it in 1998 - apart from the chest strap losing it's elasticity - but it still fits.

The only thing left to improve on so this disaster doesn't happen again is proper running attire... Before, I have always worn my yoga pants with long spandex shorts under to keep my thighs from cramping (I learned this the hard way with soccer - never go to a game without them!) It's probably not as important with running because it's consistent motion - not start-stop like in soccer, but after last night, I now know why I will continue to wear them for running as well - they help prevent my shorts from riding up between my thighs.  If you're a woman runner, chances are you've had this experience too (some men too)!  Probably the most uncomfortable feeling while running, next to cramping.  I may have to resort to wearing pants all summer if the spandex doesn't save me!

Have you ever experienced any of these problems? If so, how did you overcome them, or did you give up because of them??  Eventually, I'll need to WANT to run solo, so please, any words of wisdom/encouragement are appreciated!!

Strangest experience...

Halifax Commons ball park where the tournament took place.

This past weekend was my softball league's ice-breaker fun tournament. We do this every year where all the players in the league show up and are randomly divided into teams - no more than 3 or 4 players from the same 'team' are together. It's great fun and this year was no exception. One of the best things about this day is of course the BEER!  Did I mention I play in a beer league? Sponsored by Labatt no less.  

You're probably wondering why I'm writing about a softball league on a runner's blog...?  Well I had the strangest experience at this ice-breaker, my first day of ball since I've started 'running'. After the first game I realized the closest bank machine was 2 blocks away. I didn't stop at one on the way to the tournament and I needed $$ for beer and lunch.  So, for probably the first time in my life, I thought "I could RUN to the bank machine!" - not because I was pressed for time, but because I WANTED to!!  So sure enough, I started off running across the ball field and down the sidewalk for 2 blocks...  After what was probably 3min of running, (felt like 15) I asked myself "Why am I running? This does not feel good at all!"  Soccer clets on pavement is not the ideal running gear, but then another strange thing happened - I kept running!  I didn't stop until I was short of breath (induced earlier than normal mostly due to the fact that I had already had one beer at this point...) and only steps from the store where the bank machine was.

It felt strangely rewarding to have done something that was so OUTSIDE my comfort zone! Another side effect of all this running, similar to my soccer game, I felt full of energy all day - jogging on and off the field between innings, even though we lost every game...

If you're reading this and have never been much of a runner - it's totally worth a try if you want more energy and enjoyment out of life!  Check with your doctor first of course - not that I did though, but I've been involved in sports my whole adult life without checking first...  Right there is another "Ah-Ha" - I've been involved in sports my whole adult life, but never felt so full of energy as I do now after running regularly!!  I encourage you to give it a try - what have you got to lose?

Just a quick hello - in VIDEO!

Check out my short video I filmed yesterday (Thursday) from the trail around Lake Banook. You'll notice I'm wearing my YMCA Strong Kids hat and my Blue Nose Marathon shirt from last year. I was wearing sandals and pushing my son in the stroller, hence the reason I *couldn't* run - even though I wanted to!

This was an impromptu take - the sound quality isn't great because of the wind over the mic and the cars in the background, so you may need to turn your volume up! One of the other Y-Champions had video on his blog and I thought it was too cool - wanted to try it out myself. Let me know what you think below!

Could I actually be turning into a 'runner'??

When I began this journey 4 weeks ago, it was with the intention to go out, train, run the 5km on race day (May 17th) and be done with running for another year.   That's how it went last year (except for the training part LOL!), so why should this year be any different?

This isn't me - I would never wear a green suit like that! ha ha ha

Today I went running, BY MYSELF, for the first time in my life.  Well, apart from the Bluenose last year, but that was part of a team, it was a solo run, but I knew others were waiting for me to finish as I had waited and cheered for them. I've always been more of a team player - gotta have a common purpose, and I really, truly like to cheer and support others in their efforts.  That's my 'high', encouraging others.  Interesting, I've never looked at it like that before - I just had an "AHA" moment!! 
(I'll have to come back to that - it wasn't my planned topic for today...  Check back later this week for more on my AHA - after I've given it more thought!)

Yesterday (Saturday), Jill and I went for our regular run, but because of other commitments during the day, we left at 8am. Our usual 9am start has always been closer to 9:15 because I'm NOT a morning person!  So imagine me suggesting we start at 8am instead! Jill IS a morning person, so she had no problem with the earlier start.  So off we went, 8:05am, for our first timed interval run. I figured we could do the whole 5k in 5 sets of 10-1, for a total of 55min. That would shave a full 10-20min off our past times.  The first 10min was great, we didn't want to stop as it was still downhill, but we did. The next 10 we really had to push to make it, but we did, and it felt rewarding!  The 3rd 10 was the hardest, and we had a steep incline up from the lakeshore at the 3-5min mark. We decided if we made it to the intersection at the top, we would walk after. That put us at 5min.  We were amazed at how much faster we got around the lake and our total time was 1:02!  We were so pleased and felt fabulous!

It was a beautiful day on top of it all - sun was shining and warm!  We got together for a BBQ later in the day and decided we wanted to go out again today (Sunday) - Jill was leaving for 10 days so we wanted to get one more run in before she left.  The plan was to go at 9am so our hubbies could go out after we got back for their run.

Well, morning arrived and Ryan has been fighting a cold all week - woke up really sick and unable to care for the baby - so neither of them were able to get out for the planned runs. I was already dressed to go and debated for about 10min - did I really want to go by myself?

It was a weird feeling - the first 5min seemed so much harder! But once I got in the rhythm, it wasn't bad. I felt my pace was a bit faster than with Jill and so I told myself to slow down so I didn't burn-out too soon.  I decided to try 12min intervals to see if I could shave even more time off the total. That wasn't a good idea. The first 12 was fine, but I couldn't go 12 again after that! Plus my left hip-flexor was really starting to hurt.  So next time I'll stick with the 10-1.  

I forgot my camera again - this isn't 'the' hill, but that's about how steep it looks!

Another thing I really missed of course was the conversation - when Jill and I run, we're chatting the whole time. It really helps the run pass.  My total time was exactly 1hr and it sure felt like it!

One of the other things I did differently - decided to try speed walking up the big hill by the mall (we usually stroll along).  And boy, what a difference! My heart-rate was in the 160s, which is where I like it - optimal fat-burning - and where it usually sits when I'm running along flat.  That's something we'll have to do from now on Jill - until we're able to actually run up it that is!  :-)

OK, so I went running by myself, does that make me a 'runner'?  What do you think?

You can help me reach my goal in support of the YMCA Strong Kids by making a secure online donation using your credit card. Click on the link: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2103855

Thanks for your support!
Corinna

The day after...

Yesterday was the 'big day' - my first run/jog/walk towards the 5km goal. Joined by my neighbour and friend Jill, we started out with a nice brisk walk up the hill. It appears that we are a good match. She's a fairly new mom and I'm still working off my second baby-belly-bulge - and neither of us had gone running/jogging outside yet this year.  Not anymore! :-)

I felt great for the first 10min jog, then we walked/jogged the rest of the way. Each time we jogged got a little harder and a little shorter.  The whole thing took us about an hour - a time I'm sure we can greatly improve on - and we will. The nice thing about running with someone is the conversation makes the time fly by, so it certainly didn't feel like an hour. 

Today - my right hip flexor hurt, my left knee was tender going down stairs and my thighs burned a bit. The joint pain reminds me that I'm getting old and I could do without, the muscle pain tells me I'm building them, so I can live with that.  My feet hurt a bit towards the end of the run, so I'm going to have my chiro check the orthotics and shoes to make sure they're going to hold out. My running shoes are at least 9 years old - I just looked above my head and saw their box - with my wedding photos in it - so they are pre-2000!!  Maybe time for a new pair?  They still look like new though - I've never been much of a runner!  But two pregnancies later - do you think my feet might have changed?

Swimming tonight was great, as usual. It's the beginning of a new session and lots of new faces! It's great to see so many people signed up. The only down-side - it looks like I'm one of the slowest in the group, and I just completed 12 weeks of this program...  Or, I just know how to pace myself better (*you keep telling yourself that Corinna*) But it's a challenge I'm looking forward to. Look out Jill and the rest of the newcomers!

You can help me reach my goal in support of the YMCA Strong Kids by making a secure online donation using your credit card. Click on the link: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2103855

For more information on how YOU can participate in the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon, please visit us at www.bluenosemarathon.com

Thanks for your support!
Corinna