Emotional Sap

Yesterday morning my son and I were talking about my upcoming race, the Scotia Bank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half for me as you know.  He asked, "how big is it?"  My reply, "It's bigger than any race that I have run in before."  That got me thinking, I must show him just how BIG it will be.

While the kids were have snack, I went to the STWM website and started watching the video highlights from last year's race. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9SBtVm00bw&feature=player_embedded

I told him to come over and watch.  While he watched in wonder and awe, I got all teary eyed just thinking about the whole thing.  I'm such an emotional SAP.  Can you imagine what I will be like on race day????  LOL <<<oh yeah, I laugh now, but I will probably be blubbering like a complete idiot.  I'll have to get someone to smack me to regain my composure in order to be able to run the full 21KM.  All of my training runs I have gone out by myself, so to be surrounded by thousands of people running and/or cheering will be a totally different experience for me.  Any of you remember how when I ran my first 5K last December first in the 1st Annual Santa Pursuit?  I got all teary when I looked around and saw all us runners dressed up as Santa.  And when a lady in a car gave me a high five, tears to my eyes.  I'm such a sap.  So this will be multiplied by a gazillion.  So please...no pictures...just kidding.  This MUST be documented.  I hope my husband will be able to get close enough to get some good pictures as I start and finish so that I can share them with you.

In 8 days, this will be me...

 

But they will be tears of pure joy, I guarantee.

 

My sister ran a marathon a number of years ago and I remember watching her cross the finish line...yes, I had tears of joy flowing from my eyes.  She gave me some tips a few weeks back and now I am thinking more and more about them as the race approaches.  One of the tips was: Don't wear anything new.  Make sure you have worn it before and that it will be comfortable.  So with that tip in mind, I will be packing my most comfortable pair of running socks and I am still trying to figure out which bottoms and top to wear.  I might try and make myself a running top this weekend and test it out before the big day.  Yes I will be sporting Maus Wear workout gear, but the question is WHAT?!?!

 

In my last post I mentioned about my long run Saturday possibly happening on Sunday...that it will.  Today I had my Halloween Decoration Garage Sale.  I was up early and ready to sell some of my most spooky possessions.  My garage sale ran from 8am-NOON today.  I sold some stuff, but since I have SO much, I still have quite a bit left.

 

Here are a few pictures from today...

 

 

Tomorrow after my run I will decorate the outside of our home with the decorations that I have kept for that purpose.  I am still a lover of Halloween, so I would be crazy to sell ALL of my stuff.  Plus my children didn't want me to sell hardly anything, except for this one...

 

 

 

They wanted this thing GONE!  It didn't sell though.  Maybe it was too creepy for everyone?!?!?! LOL

 

Here is my crazy little daughter acting well...

 

 

CRAZY!!!

I LOVE her!

 

Even though I didn't sell everything today, I was able to organize the remaining decorations so that they will be easier to find.  Plus, I have posted some of the things on Kijiji just in case some of you in the area still are in need of some Halloween decorations to make your home spooky this Halloween.

 

I have a tote full of cheese cloth...

 

 

 

Great for making a room look spooky.

 

At least too with the sale of some stuff and sort things out, I was able to empty 3 totes.  And those totes were originally bought to put Christmas decorations in.  I finally got them back, and my Christmas stuff can get out of the garbage bags they are in and placed into these green and red totes...

 

 





 So getting back to running...

Tomorrow I will get out for probably my last long run before next Sunday.  I'm not too sure how far I will run, but with the weather the way it has been this past week, I may just go for a really long run.

As of today...

Looking forward to it!

I must go now as I about going to make myself a running jacket.

Have a great night!

And Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

 



 

 

Another Run with a Purpose

Tonight's run was with yet another purpose.  Or destination in mind.


My daughter had dance class tonight and since the dance class time changed to an earlier time, my husband is the one to take her most times.  After my last daycare child left from my home, I got ready and I was out the door running.  I set my Nike+ app for a timed run of 40 minutes.  I had 45 minutes until my daughter's dance class was finished.  My plan was to run there to meet her when she was done.  I wasn't sure how far it was so I was taking my chances.   I made it there with time to spare.

It was a beautiful night to go for a run.  We are having fantastic weather right now and it's to continue through this Thanksgiving weekend.  So that means...great weather for my long run Saturday.  I am looking forward to it. 



However, my long run Saturday may just turn into a long run Sunday instead.  As some of you may know I am very big into Halloween and have lots and lots and LOTS of Halloween decorations.  I was thinking of having a sale.  A Halloween decoration garage sale this Saturday.  My brother borrowed my totes of decorations last year and is returning them from safe keeping to me tomorrow.  So if all goes well, there will be a very SPOOKY sale of Halloween décor this Saturday.  So if that takes place on Saturday, I will run on Sunday.

As of today I have...

This picture taken from Runcrs off of Instagram.

The final countdown begins.

 

Now that I am in the home stretch, I need some advice from runners that have done all this before.  My big question is..."What should my runs be like next week?"  If you have some run schedule to share, please share.

 

As busy as I am with my running, my work and my family, and in addition to the workout pants that I am working on, I have also developed this...

 

 

It doesn't have a name yet, but it is very cool...

 

One item, various ways to wear it.

I need your help in naming this product.

 

Don't worry about the fabric print too much, as they will be made of other cool prints too.  So don't base the name on the print shown in the picture.  Just look at the product itself and put your thinking caps on and you could WIN!

 

If you come up with a name for this Maus Wear product, please submit it to me via email at phatsoslim.staystrong@gmail.com  Be creative.  This contest will run until Friday October 18, 2013.  If I cannot pick a name, then it will go to voting and the name with the most votes will WIN.

 

"What am I going to win?"...you ask. 

 

Well for starters, you will win one of these things that does not have a name yet.  So get your brain working and think of something GREAT!

 

Tomorrow is a P.D. Day so I am going to cut this short now to get some extra rest before the craziness starts tomorrow.

Until then...Stay Strong!

Good night

Trina

 

 



My Journey to My First Half Marathon

Back in the spring of this year I set out a goal to run my first 10K race. I started training and one night I ran and ran, and I ended up running almost the full 10K. After returning home that night I felt like I needed more of a challenge. So that night I downloaded an app on my iPhone for a 21K trainer.

 Before starting it, I looked it over to see if it was doable. And what I mean by "doable" is that I needed to know if it would fit into my life without changing things up too much. Don't get me wrong...I think change is a good thing, but I needed to HOW much change in my daily schedule was needed. I didn't want to have to go out running for hours, night after night between rest days.  But the training app seemed very doable and would fit in perfectly. So I began...

I have really enjoyed this new journey. Yes some days were harder than other days to get out there and run. And yes some days I didn't make it out there at all. Once I was out running, whether it be on the road, a trail, a beach or taking part in some races, I loved it. The only time and place I did not enjoy it, was on a treadmill...blah...that's not for me.  I prefer to run outside. Even through the rain.

 

My running even inspired my children to run races of their own.

A year ago I would not have been saying any of this, but I have enjoyed running very much since starting this training. I know I have mentioned this before in a previous post...I actually enjoy my long runs more so than my short runs. Once I get that first 25-30 minutes out of the way, I could just keep running. I'm not the fastest runner out there but at least I'm out there trying.

 

After 69 runs, this is where I am with the Nike+ app.

 

Lately, I am finding that it helps to motivate me if I "run with a purpose" and not just the purpose to train.  What I mean is, that I have been running to places where I have to be.  Like I run to my children's swimming lessons, while my husband drives them there, I run and meet up with them at the pool.  Last week I even ran home again.

My second run which is the top one, was slower but longer.  But at least I got my mileage up there.

Last Saturday, I had to pick up my Color Me Rad race kit in Kitchener.  I decided I would run there to pick it up. 

So I got suited up in my totally RAD running pants by Maus Wear and headed out on the road.

More news on these workout pants to come...stay tuned.

I told my husband that I would text him to pick me up somewhere along the way after the kit pick up.  Well...I ran to Duke and Victoria in Kitchener, ON, which was just over 10km from my home.  I picked up my kit and I was on my way again.  I took a different route home and I made a stop Uptown Waterloo to check out some Zombies doing the Time Warp. 

AWESOME!!!!

I only stopped for a few minutes and then I carried on with my run.  I ran along the water's edge through Waterloo Park and then made my way towards the University of Waterloo.  I was running the paths and then I wasn't sure which way to go so I decided to stop and walk to a point where my husband could pick me up.  At the stopping point I was at 15KM, I figured that was a good long run for the day.  I probably walked another 3KM before I met up with my family.

"How did you feel?"

I felt great!

 

I didn't actually run in the Color Me Rad 5K.  My husband had to work and the kids were with me.  We went down to City Hall in Kitchener to check things out.  I felt kind of sad that I couldn't take part, but I had fun with my children at this pretty RAD event.

After checking things out at the start line, we made our way over to the park to cheer on some of the people making their way across the finish line.  Then...we made our way over to the stage where the party was going on.  My kids are always in for a good party.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

Yeah!  You don't need to run to get covered in colour.  My daughter threw it right into my son's face.  Well...I had to break up a fight that they started getting into.

 

At the end of this movie is when the purple colour bomb exploded onto my son's face.  I was trying to shut the video off on my iPhone while trying to get them from fighting.  That is not shown in the video. LOL

 

 

Last night I got out for another run to rack up some more mileage before the 20th of this month.

 

It was only a short run, but I was glad that I went out.

 

 

 Tonight was a rest night and that is why I was able to write this post.  I hope to keep writing to you rest day or not.  I know things are going to get busy for me over the next few weeks but I hope to keep you posted on what is going on over here with me. 

 

Today I started a challenge on my Nike+ app.  It's called, "Marathon Month".  Starting tomorrow, October 8th to November 9th, the challenge is to run a Marathon.  No you don't have to run the whole thing at once, but rather rack up those miles to equal a full marathon by November the 9th.  I hope you will join me whether you have the Nike+ app or not.  You can do it!  We all have to start somewhere and we might as well start now.  I would say start TODAY, but the challenge doesn't start until tomorrow.  For some of you, tomorrow is already upon you, so get out there and run! 

 

I am going to leave you with something totally unrelated to my journey and fitness and all of that.

 

This afternoon at my home, after putting the daycare children down for a nap.  I heard the screams of my daughter and another older daycare child out in the yard.  I went to see what was going on and before I knew it they were both in the house and could barely speak.  I asked what was going on and they said..."there's are raccoon out there".  WHAT?!?!?!  I went to check it out.  They were right.  There was a raccoon on the other side of our fence in the neighbours yard.  It kept walking back and forth wanting to come into our yard.  Here are a few pictures of the little guy in which the girls named him Chester.  The little guy, Chester, came into our yard and right up onto the deck to the back door.

 

 

 

 

Until we meet again Chester...Stay Strong!

 

 

Good night

 

Trina

 

 

 

 

 

 





Something New...

I know it has been a while, yet again, but I am still here. 

 My Half Marathon training is still on...well it's back on.  I took last week off to make a special gift for a special couple for their wedding.  I spent countless evening and early morning hours working on a queen size quilt for the couple.  I am happy to report that I got it done at 1:13pm on Saturday...the wedding was taking place at 2pm that afternoon.  I ran upstairs, jumped in the shower, threw on a dress and was out the door in a flash.  I just hope I didn't leave any pins in it.  LOL 

 The groom told me that I could have delivered the gift a week later. NO, NO, NO...that is not how I work.  It was a challenge that I set out for myself and I HAD to complete it on time.  I had fun making it and I hope they enjoy it just as much.  I loved it!  But I was very tired.

 So because I hadn't run in just over a week, I felt sluggish last night when I went out for my run.  But the main thing is that I got out and it felt great being out there on the road again.  And to help with getting me out there, I had my husband drop me off somewhere in the city and I had to run home from the drop off point.  I had to drop something off at a friends' home and I thought why not run from the halfway point.  It would have been too late if I would have run from the home that was located in Kitchener.  Maybe another day when it's not so late in the evening.  So from the plaza at Bridgeport and Weber in Waterloo to my home is approximately 8km.  I don't really like running through the city just because of the stoppage at street lights, but I did not have to stop once last night.  I try to watch the lights and time them so that I don't have to wait.  Yes, there were a few spots where I crossed the road before or after the lights when there was no traffic, so it didn't interrupt my run. 

 I like the idea of the "Drop Off".  I am getting bored of running in the area of where I live, so it's nice to change it up and with the "drop off", there are NO EXCUSES for getting out there to run.  If I want to get back home, I MUST run.  Yes I could walk, but what's the point???  I'm out there to run, so RUN I will.

 I must increase my mileage to prepare for the half marathon that is just 19 days from now.  Yes I have already run 21km during my training, but that was at the beginning of September and now I have to build again so that I feel awesome when I cross that finish line in Toronto, ON, on the 20th of this month.  I'm not in it to win it, I'm in it to prove to myself that I can do it.  I know I can do it, because as I said I did do it, on the 7th of September I ran 21km.  So I guess I'm in it to get the recognition of doing it and experiencing the atmosphere of being in the event itself, plus, I hope to better my time a little(or a lot), I'll take either one.

 I had restarted Jillian Michaels Body Revolution and was starting on weeks 7 & 8 last week, but I only did Workout 7 on Monday morning and then the late night quilt making sessions began and that was the end of the early morning workouts.  I know...shame, shame.  What happened to NO EXCUSES?!?!?!  Well lack of sleep and working out with weights don't work too well together.  After last night's run and a good night sleep, I think I have finally caught up on my sleep and hope to resume some strength training workouts again in the morning.

 Now getting to the "Something New".  As some of you may know I have my own little business called Maus Wear.  Maus Wear is hand made gear for babies, toddlers and BEYOND.  And the "NEW" is where the BEYOND is shining through now.  Maus Wear is all about cool gear for cool kids and their parents.  When I first started, I began with making bibs, blankets, burp cloths and aprons.  After my daughter was born, I began making dresses and also started carrying a line of super cool onesies and t-shirts.  Now some of Maus Wear's prints got some turned up noses and some nasty comments, but those same prints were also loved by many.  The prints that I am referring to are the ones with skulls on them.  I have always joked that Maus Wear started the trend of skulls on babies clothing.  When I started with the skulls, there was nothing else but teddy bears and bunny rabbits.  Maus Wear changed all that.  I have heard such comments as, "Who would put that on a baby?", "That's awful!", "You shouldn't make things like that.", and one man told me, "You should go to church." LOL  Well I listened to all the comments made about my products and just kept on doing what I do best...creating cool products for the cool people out there in the world.  Since starting my Home Daycare I haven't spent too much time sewing things for Maus Wear.  I have missed it.  My sewing room is my happy place. 

 

Yes, sometimes it is invaded by my two children(only one shown in the above picture), and then all HELL breaks loose, but for the most part it is my space, my time.  Okay, okay..."why am I telling you all this?" you might be thinking.  Well since I started working out I have always tried to find cool workout gear.  In the past year I have found some cool workout pants here and there and then I thought why not get them closer than here.  I am doing what I do best and that is sew and create cool gear.  Maus Wear puts the FUN in functional!  The last few weeks(well before the mad quilt making week), I have been in the trial stages and testing out different fabrics, styles and sizes. 

I have tested some out on the road and trails with my running, and sold my first pair over a week ago. 

So good news for you is that if you like crazy cool gear, stick with me and in the weeks to come I will show you some cool stuff.  Beginning with these...
 

The Instagram picture compliments of the @CocktailDeeva.com

If interested in ordering shorts, 3/4 length or full length workout pants, email me at phatsoslim.staystrong@gmail.com

I will be posting more pictures in the weeks to come.  More cool prints and the different styles available.

We train hard, so we might as well be seen crossing the finish line or lifting your personal best or getting into that most difficult yoga pose that you have been trying to do for the past month.  With Maus Wear workout gear, people will notice.

 

Here's a picture of my full length running pants worn while learn how to tap dance. 

That's right!  I have tap shoes and I will learn how to use them!

 

I don't know if I will be posting any of my tap dancing skills anytime soon, but you will see more cool workout pants by Maus Wear.

 

Until then...Stay Strong!

 

Good night

 

Trina