Getting Down and Dirty...

...with my running.  Last night I signed up for another race, but this time, it's time to get dirty.

The Dirty Dash on Sunday July 14th at Bechtal Park here in Waterloo, ON.

Since Sundays are my Walk & Stretch days, I decided to just do the 4KM run instead of the 8KM.  I will also be helping two other dirty runners in their first race.  My son and daughter are both very excited to take part in this event.  They will be running in the 1KM Kid's Fun Run.  They are going to get SO dirty!  Thankfully there will be outdoor showers to clean up in or else I'm afraid we would have to walk home, and that wouldn't be fun.

I was able to get my whites white again, 

so I think I will wear them to the Dirty Dash.  First they were covered in colours from Color Me RAD 5K, now it's time to get them DIRTY!!!

Before the Color Me RAD 5K run, I bought my son a pack of 8 white t-shirts, I think he has worn all of them since last Saturday...LOL...well at least 5 of them anyway.  He will be sporting one on those for the Dirty Dash.  And for my daughter, I picked up a pair of white shorts, white t-shirt and white tank top.  I will let her choose her "white" ensemble.  I will be sure to take "before" and "after" pictures and share them with you.  They are going to LOVE IT!

In addition to my 21K training program, I have also started Jillian Michaels Body Revolution again.  This would be Round 3.  My first round was strict and pretty much to a T with the program.  Round 2 was on and off through last fall, while dealing with a nasty cold bug.  After a rough start to the year (emotionally), which continued on for the past six months...YES...we are six months into the year already.  Where does the time go????  Make everyday count!

I had started with Workout 1 on Monday of last week, but with everything that was going on, I decided I would begin it this week. And that is what I did. I started with Workout 1 on Monday and Workout 2 yesterday. Instead of doing Body Revolution Cardio 1, I ran instead. That will probably be the I roll during this Round.  My running will be my cardio with  added cardio on some of my strength training days.

With the heat and humidity that we have had here the past few days, it has made my workouts much harder and sweatier, but I think that's what I needed to get me going again. I am a Leo and I love the sun and the heat.  I wasn't really feeling like running tonight, but I did it!  I got out there and I completed my training run of an 18 minute run, 2 minute walk, 18 minute run. I always feeling like I'm cheating when I get to the walking part of this training night.  

I know that it's all about conditioning the body to rest and then push harder. So I will follow my training and do what I am told.  My training will finish on the 23rd of August so if anyone has any suggestions for a good Half Marathon for a first timer, I would really appreciate the information. 

Getting back to Body Revolution...let me know if you too are doing it again or for the first time. Since doing BR the first time, I have come across some really great recipes that I will be mixing into my healthy diet along with some of the recipes from the Body Revolution meal plan. 

I want to take this moment to thank you for sticking with me through my journey. Your support means a lot to me. I was feeling crappy because I had a real crappy feeling in regards to my Dad. My blog posts had become few and far between as were some of my workouts. I didn't want to write and get you down because of how I was feeling. And without getting into too much of that, I am back now. Yes the next few months may be tough because of the loss of my Dad, but it also gives me a new reason to carry on and to Stay Strong on my journey. My Dad was always there for my entire family and I want to be there for them too. He was strong, loving and stubborn, and YES I am made the exact same way.  So I will not let sadness get me down.  I will remember all the wonderful things my Dad did for myself and for others and I will carry on as I know he would want me to. I will take care of myself so I can live a long and happy life like he did. And yes that life includes getting down and dirty.  

I hope if you live in the Waterloo, ON area you will join me at the Dirty Dash on Sunday July 14th. You can register online at www.runwaterloo.com Sign up for the 8K or the 4K and if you have children get them involved too with the 1K fun run for kids. We have to make sure are children are healthy and strong. They are the future. 

Before I leave you for tonight, I wanted to share with you my dinner, well part of it anyway. 

The salad is all homegrown from my potted gardens. I have planters on my front porch railings and this year I planted vegetables and herbs in them. With a few flowers for some added colour. 

My salad tonight was organic spinach with a touch of basil and some red and green leaf lettuce. So good and so great to know that I grew it all myself. That's thanks to the green thumb that I got from my Dad and Mum.

So good!

Tomorrow I will be getting back to Workout 1 in the morning and then hitting the trail or the road for a 30 minute run tomorrow night. 

Until then...Stay Strong!

And thank you again for your love and support.

Trina

I AM RAD!!! And I AM Canadian and That Means...

The next run with color I do, I want U to join me because the word coloUr includes U. So the next run that involves colour I am doing is, the Waterloo Running Series' "In Running Colour". It's going to be awesome!  The run is a 4KM run with colour stations along the route and it's all for FUN. For more excitement and fun, "In Running Colour" is having a 1KM fun run for the kids.  My kids are going to ROCK the place. 

My husband and our two children came with me today to show their support for me and my sister, and to get totally RAD. And that they did!!!  We ALL did!!!  Even my husband got hit with some unexpected colour. He was dressed for the weather, which was rainy, but he 's English so he was well prepared. Prepared for the rain but not for what our daughter had in store for him. A pink colour bomb!  I was stunned because I knew that he was keeping his distance from the crowds and the many colour bombs swirling around. But how could you escape this little cutie...

She asked me to pour the coloured powder into the plastic bag she got from her RAD glasses that she got, and then she turned and threw it on her Dad. He was covered in PINK powder.  Too funny. I wish I would have snapped a picture. (This took place after the run)

I was supposed to go out in the 10am wave, but SO many people lined up that it was probably more like the 10:30am wave that I started with.  It didn't matter though, I ran with my sister and we hit the colour stations and finished the run together. Here we are at the start line...

All nice and clean and the sun was shining for a few minutes anyway. 

We were closer and counting down for our turn to go. 

Here are a few pictures of me out on the course. 

Coming up to a colour bombing station...

Here we go with some colour...

This picture below is not very clear, but this was a liquid colour station...

They certainly made sure you were not wearing all white anymore. LOL

Yes, I was trying to catch some colour on my tongue. LOL

Coming up to the finish line there were signs letting everyone know to pick up a colour bomb to use at the end. 

Making my way across the finish line...

We made our way to the stage to blast our colour bombs and try to grab some Color Me Rad 5K swag. My son was priceless. He was up at the front dancing and jumping and scored some very RAD swag. 

There he is, right up there with everyone else. I love him!!!

He is SO very RAD!  We had a blast!

My son is now REALLY looking forward to "In Running Colour" on August 24th. And it is taking place very close to where we live. Yay!!! We will be there to party and get crazy with colour, and that involves U. I hope to see YOU there. If you register tonight or tomorrow, you can still use the coupon code "colourful" to receive $10.00 off your registration. That code ends Sunday June 23, 2013. So register NOW!!!!

Here are some more pictures from today's RAD event...

I am sticking to my 21K training, and I thought of running the course twice for my long run day, but I didn't want to miss all the fun my kids were having at the stage.  So once we returned home, I decided to lace up my colour bombed running shoes again...

...and go for another run. 

Still full of colour everywhere. 

It was a good run, but it was HOT!  I was thinking of running the trail, but then a mosquito got me even before I could get to the forest and I stuck to the road. I came back still full of colour and now I was a sweaty colourful mess. 

Time to clean up.  I think I got most of the colour off. I cleaned my ears after my shower and what should appear on the end of the cotton swab...PINK!!!  A little reminder of how much fun I had today. 

I had a wonderful time today and it's just what I needed to lift my spirits after a not so nice week. 

I am looking forward to all my future runs. 

Don't forget to register NOW for the "In Running Colour" run. You and your children will have a blast. 

Plus it will make them sleep too...

She's so cute. LOL Too RAD!!!

Stay Strong! 

Trina

I'm Going to be SO RAD!!!

Well it's the first day of summer. Yay!!!

It is also the eve of my first Color Me Rad 5K run.  

With all that has gone on in the past week, my excitement for this event is a little bit clouded. I have viewed pictures of past RAD events to help get me pumped for tomorrow, and it is helping.

 I know once I'm suited in my white gear and tutu...yep, that's right! I will be sporting my daughter's tutu. Well two of them tied together. I know that I have lost weight and inches but not enough to fit a 5 year olds tutu. LOL It's going to be awesome!!!

It's going to be an early wake up call in the morning for my family. I'm running in the 10am wave and my sister will be in the 10:15am wave. So we must get there early to pick up our race kits and I want to check out some of the RAD merchandise they will have there. 

Something else that has helped to get me back in the game...on Wednesday of this week, Color Me Rad 5K opened up registration for Kitchener, ON. SO much closer to home. Of course I have already registered for it. That event takes place on Sunday October 6th at Kitchener City Hall. 

How RAD is that?!?!?

As of right now, that will be my 3rd run involving Colour. AWESOME! Color Me Rad tomorrow June 22nd in Toronto, In Running Colour Saturday August 24th in Waterloo, ON 

and Color Me Rad on Sunday October 6th in Kitchener, ON. I have also pre registered for Run or Dye and Color Vibe, dates for these two are still not determined. 

I'm not sure if the run tomorrow is a timed race, (I don't think so) but in addition to running that 5K, I will also have to run approximately another 5K. I have been keeping up with my 21K training program, and with the shuffling of training days, my long run will now take place on Saturdays.  I wonder if they would let me run through the course again tomorrow???  Double the run, Double the colour, Double the fun!!!

We shall see what happens. 

Anyway, it's getting late and I need to get to bed. 

Tomorrow is going to be totally RAD!!!

I will be posting pictures on Instagram and Twitter @Phatsoslim, as well as Facebook too. 

I will try and write a post RAD post tomorrow or Sunday. 

Until then...Stay Strong and be RAD!!!

Trina

A Father’s Day Tribute to my Dad

It’s been over a week since my last blog post and much has happened in that short time.

Last Thursday June 13, 2013 my father suffered a heart attack while at home and then another one in the hospital shortly after arrival.  There was nothing anyone could do for him and he was gone.  I got a call from my brother-in-law at 3pm while I was picking the kids up at the school bus stop.  Not the best place to be to  receive a call like this.  But where is????  The call was about the first attack and he was on his way to the hospital.  I phoned my husband and he was leaving work right away.  I had to contact all the parents of the daycare children.  Thank you to all of them for picking their children up early that day.  As we were on our way to the hospital in Guelph, my brother-in-law called again and asked us to meet.  This time there was no good news.  

I know that may sound abrupt and short, but I don’t know any other way of saying it without getting too emotional and then you would not know anything because I wouldn't be able to type.

We made our way to the hospital and it was very surreal.  I saw my father lying there and it just wasn't right. The saddest part of it all was just leaving him there in that room.  I knew for my children's sake and for my own, we could not stay there all night.  There was nothing we could do.  And THAT did not seem right.  But we had to go and that made me sad.  I did work the next day to keep my brain busy with the kids, but that night I had the crappiest sleep ever.  I knew though that I had to get some rest because I still have my own two children that need me to keep going.

Plus...

Last time I wrote to you I told you about me signing up for the 5K run of The Waterloo 10KM Classic.  Well today was the day, and I ran it in honor of my Dad.

I woke up to the sound of rain outside and this Wimpy-Weather-Runner thought…  “GREAT!”  

But since I started the 21K training program, the weather has been mostly crappy for my runs, so I am not really Wimpy-Weather-Runner anymore.  Yes I will still probably cringe at the thought of going out in crappy weather and need a little extra motivation, but once I’m there, I’m good to go.  For today’s race in the rain, my Dad was all the motivation I needed.

Before leaving the house this morning, I copied a picture of my Dad and laminated it and pinned it to my hat.  He was with me the entire way, from start to finish and beyond.

In addition to being a wimp due to crappy weather, I am also a BIG sap, but for those of you that are avid readers, you already know that.  I get all sappy when it comes to races (not that anyone can see these out on the course) (well, at least I don’t think they can).  Today was no exception, of course. 

As the race began and all the runners and I started on our way, I started to get choked up and I had to pull myself together if I wanted to finish strong.  I got it together and recorded a personal best for my 5K.  I had my Nike+ Running app going on my iPhone so that I could track and record my distance and time.  According to my app, my time was 28 minutes 25 seconds for the 5K, but my official time for the race was 29 minutes 39 seconds.  I am very proud of both times.  The race was actually a bit longer than 5KM.  My Nike+ Running app recorded the distance to be 5.29KM, but who is really keeping track.  I AM!  My run today according to my 21K training schedule was to be 30 minutes, so I joked with my husband that I had to run 1 or 2 minutes more.

This was at the starting line before the race.

My husband and the kids are up in the stands somewhere.

I'm in there!!!

In the second picture I'm directly under the letter R in START.  I'm wearing a black hat.  In front of the guy in the orange shirt.  Do you see me??? Near the person taking the picture on the far side.

Getting back to the sap that I am, there were a couple other moments out on the course where I felt tears welling up in my eyes.  Along with the app running, I had a playlist of songs playing with a couple of them my Dad’s songs.  I was kind of hoping they would come on when I was finishing the race, but they didn’t.  They both played after I passed the 5K turned around point.  It was a great feeling that I was heading into the home stretch.  Even with the songs playing, I held it together and finished strong.  If you are wondering which songs were on my playlist…The Twist by Chubby Checker and What a Wonderful World.  You should have seen my Dad dance to The Twist, oh yeah; he knew how to Twist It!!!  A thought came to me tonight…it would have been so great if at the end of the race, I could have got them to play that song over the sound system, and then everybody start doing The Twist, in the rain of course.  Oh well, a fun thought, but a little late.

Here I am crossing the finish line.

With a personal best too!

Here is me and my Dad.  

Post race.

My son loving the rain.

Today’s race was for my Dad.  Next Saturday I have another 5K race that I have been looking forward to for a long time.  My sister and I will be doing that one together and I think that one will be for my Dad too.  Color Me Rad Toronto Saturday June 22, 2013.

The last few days have been long.  I feel like I need to keep on keeping on for my children.  Everyone grieves differently and it will hit us all at different times in our lives, remember the love and the strength that the person you lost has showed you, and pass it on to the ones you love.  Teach them to be strong and passionate about life and your lost loved ones will shine through in the people around you. 

It’s like how my daughter likes to be in the garden.  I got that from my Dad (and my Mum), and she gets it from me.  It’s just like with the running…she sees me run and now she is into running.  I have registered her for her first 1KM fun run coming up here in Waterloo, ON…Saturday August 24, 2013…In Running Colour…put on by the Waterloo Running Series.  Check out the website for more details - www.waterloorunningseries.com

After seeing the race today, my son wants to do a race too.  He is geared up for the Dirty Dash on July 14^th in Waterloo, ON.  I still need to register us for that one.

On Thursday of last week, I noticed some pictures on Instagram of some friends Peonies that had bloomed in their gardens.  I looked at mine and they were still not in bloom yet.  One of the white ones was just starting to open.  You might be wondering why I am telling you all this, well I do have a point and I will get to it.    The next day, that single white peony opened up.  

I told my daughter that it was because of Grandpa.  My Dad was a gardener, and loved planting, growing and selling vegetables at the market and later on bedding plants.  He was always a busy man.  Even at the end, he had been outside enjoying the day sitting on the deck looking over what once was the garden he so carefully looked after many years ago.  His green thumb has been passed on to my own little girl and she told him just last Tuesday evening that she loved planting things.  We went for a visit and she told him all about the garden that she planted here at our home.  He was pretty thrilled to hear that.  With the tragic event that happened only two days later, I was happy that my children were able to spend that time with my Dad, their Grandpa and sharing their gardening stories.  It was a great visit, but I didn’t think it would be our last one with him.  He has been in and out of the hospital a lot this year and when he was in the hospital, he did not look good.  When we were there last Tuesday, he looked good, even despite a nasty fall he had taken that Sunday before.  Whether that had something to do with the heart attack that occurred on Thursday, we will never know.  We just have to remember all the good times we shared with him.

Okay, I will get back to the peony part of the story.  Yesterday, Saturday, we stopped in to see my Mum and she was telling us about the flowers that she had ordered for the funeral.  My Dad wanted peonies.  I almost fell off my chair when she told me this.  She said that my Dad had said (I guess when they were making funeral arrangements a few years ago) that he wanted peonies at his grave.  It’s almost like he knew.  The peonies are in full bloom now.  So my Mum, my sister and my Aunt with the help of some other friends, have gathered together some beautiful peonies to supply to the florist to create an arrangement for Tuesday.  I will also be taking some of my white peonies in honor of my Dad’s wishes.  I never knew that my Dad loved these flowers so much.  That is probably why I love them so much too.  They are so beautiful.

  

I don’t know when I will get back to writing again.  I am going to get through these next few days and see how I feel.  I am going to try and stick with my training because I know my Dad would not want me to give up.  Even if I have to switch up my days a little, I will not give up.  I kind of want my long runs to end up on Saturdays, so I may just take an extra rest day this week.

I would like to thank everyone who have sent messages with condolences to me and my family, it means so much to us all.  Many ask if there "is anything they can do?"... Take care of yourself, that is what you can do.  Start your own journey to become A Healthier Version of YOUrself.  Start now, don't wait for tomorrow.  Tomorrow never comes.  Start today...NOW...take up my Just Push It! Challenge.  Do some push ups, even if it's just one or two.  Do it!  I'm up to 22 regular push ups.  TODAY!!!

I am going to resume my strength training as well this week.  I am feeling rather soft and I don’t like it.  My belly feels like jelly and my butt has gone soft.  Not good.  I want to Stay Strong for myself and for my family.  Because of the health issues throughout my family history, I wanted to be sure that I stay on track with my journey to be A Healthier Version of Me, and I want my husband and our children to be the best they can be too.

I will be back again soon.

Until then…Stay Strong!

Trina

Run Phatsoslim, RUN!

I began writing this post on Friday but did not finish it because my family and I went to the Drive in movies again.  So the first part of this post happened on Thursday and the remainder took place Saturday.

So here we go...

Last night(Thursday) this Wimpy-Weather-Runner was tested with low temperatures, rain, wind and a 60 minute run.

As I stood on my front porch I took the time to snap this picture…

And the whole time I was thinking of all the reasons WHY I should not do this run and stay at home where it was warm and dry.  But good news…those reasons were crushed by the one that pulled my out of the house in the first place.  I had something to prove to myself AND I put this out there yesterday morning on Instagram…

So this was going to hold me accountable for my actions later in the day.  Yes I thought I still could have wimped out, but then how could I call myself a motivator and inspiration to my children and YOU.  As I was getting ready to go out the door, my little girl put a sweater on and her running shoes and she wanted to come with me.  I LOVE IT!  But that wasn’t going to happen.  I asked her if she could run non stop for an hour without whining or crying.  Then I thought to myself, “Could I?”  I told her that we would go out another day when the weather is nicer, and not for so long.  I love her spirit.  If she was willing to run in the crappy cool rainy weather, I had to.  And that is what I did.

It wasn’t that bad once I got going.  The rain had let up a little after I started out, and the wind was not really that strong either.  Yes it was chilly to start out but once I was on the road and the blood was pumping, my body temperature rose and I was comfortable.

This was my after shot...

 So getting back to the present…

When I last wrote to you, I mentioned that my new goal was to run my first 10KM race this year.  Well since then, I downloaded a 21KM training app onto my iPhone and decided to start the training for a Half Marathon…that’s right…I said it, but I will say it again…a HALF MARATHON.  EEK!!!!!!!!  

So that is why that run I did the other night was SO very important to me.  I know that I will get hit with some other crappy weather, but at least I made it through my first challenge.  For all the runners out there…What has been the crappiest weather that YOU have run in and for how long (distance/time)?

So with my new goal put out to you…

Today’s run was to be 30 minutes.  The weather…sun and cloud with higher temperatures…no problem. 

Before I went out for my run though, I drove to Runner’s Choice here in Waterloo, ON and signed up for The Waterloo 10KM Classic.  Don’t get too excited for me for doing my first 10K race, I’m not just yet.  The race is on Sunday June 16^th at 9am and that day is to be a Rest Day for me in my 21KM training program.  

So with the help of the two wonderful gentlemen at the registration, I decided to switch my Saturday run onto the Sunday and do the 5KM.  I am looking forward to this race.  And then the following Saturday, I have another 5K, with the Color Me Rad 5K run in Toronto, ON.  Yay!!!!! 

With signing up for the race, I got my choice of a Saucony water bottle or a pair of Saucony socks (shown in the picture above).  I went for the socks.  Just recently I have realized how important it is to wear good socks for running.  I had bought myself a pair of Under Armour training socks a few weeks ago, (which I showed to you in my last blog post) and they are wonderful, so hopefully these Saucony ones will be just as good.  I will try them for my next run on Monday.

After returning home from my registration journey, I strapped on my Suunto Heart Rate Monitor and hit the trail.  I hit the path to the right and tackled the hills that waited for me.  The trails have hills everywhere, some big, some small, but the path to the right has some real crazy ones.  I didn’t cover as much distance in the 30 minutes today, but I know that it because of the terrain.  I will run this same trail again and better my time.  I WILL. 

 After returning home from my 30 minute journey on the trails, my daughter was getting ready to go out for “her” run.  She wanted to go out with me again for the 30 minutes, but I told her that it would be too long for her.  So once she changed her clothes and put on some running shoes instead of flip flops, she was ready to go.  Together we made up a playlist to run to and we were ready.  We stopped on the porch to snap a before picture...

 We were off…as I started with a slower steady jog…she started to sprint, followed by some leaps, skips and jumps.  LOL She wanted to walk then but I didn’t let her stop yet.  We were only about a minute or two into it.  LOL As we went along the smile that you see in that above picture started to fade and was replaced by some whining and a frown.  Instead of stopping, I told her to slow down, she did and we made it through to reach our goal of 1.2KM.  She was glad when we were done running and we were walking, but then she began running again.  Crazy little girl!  

Here is our after picture…

The smile did return shortly after.  

And I’m glad it did.

We will keep running together to build our distance and better our time and maybe soon she too will be running her own 5KM race.  I’m so proud of her.

Well that’s enough of my babble for tonight.  Tomorrow is a rest day, but you know what that means…cleaning, gardening, grocery shopping and more cleaning.  Not much of a rest day.

Stay Strong!

Trina 

 Inspire your children to be healthy...

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