The Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2011

October 9th 2011- The Chicago Marathon!!! I will be there with several of my running friends my dad and my brother and 45000 runners in total. I have heard only good things about this race and hear it is full of spectators and tons of support.

I am super excited to do this race as it will be my dad's 50th birthday a few days after the run and it was his wish that he run a marathon with his kids, so we are making this happening and doing it BIG! Although he usually runs the Detroit Free Press Marathon (a really great race) but we thought it would be fun to go away to run and have some fun along the way.

And so the journey will start again! A summer full of long runs, tempo runs, hills and speed work. I hope this summer is kinder than the winter we have had. I know this summer I will be stronger, more confident and hopefully even a little faster. BRING IT ON!!!!!! Chicago here we come!

Gasparilla 15k Run in Sunny Tampa

It has become almost natural now for me to add a run on to any vacation. This year my friend and I decided to run a 15k Gasparilla Race along Tampa's waterfront.

The weather was perfect and such a relief after the hellish Canadian winter we have had this year. It was a really nice run, completely flat, great scenery, plenty of water stops and an awesome expo. We both really enjoyed ourselves.

This race was a really great ego booster for me. As I have focused on getting stronger and faster since the Marathon in September 2010, it was nice to see results. My time was 1:36:47, which is definitely a PB and it rocked my already ambitious goal of 1:40. My pace was 6:27 which is really good for me. I hope to see more results like these in the weeks to come. Our pace has been slower because of the massive amount of snow we have gotten this winter so it is awesome to see numbers like this. The Garmin was also really helpful. I love knowing my pace and how far I am in the run, it makes pacing a sinch!!!

Spin Class & Body Pump

I just have to say that I LOVE spin class. I am a member at Goodlife Fitness and in January I decided that I was going to start doing Cycling class to cross train. I didn't expect it to deliver so many results. I am in-love with the intensity and the fact that the sweat just pours off you has to be a good sign. I leave feeling awesome! The results I see are the fact that hills, (which have always been a struggle for me are getting more bearable and I see physical results as well- BONUS!!. I like to do the Spin classes in the morning (6am) so I can still run in the evening.

Also added just before 2011 is Body Pump which is a class with weights. Since I have a back injury that I need to be careful about and I am not supposed to lift anything over 10lbs. Body Pump is perfect. It is low weight and a full body workout.

All in all I am trying to do two Spin Classes a week and 2 Body pump classes combined with my normal running routine. So far so good!

Goodbye 2010... Hello 2011!

As the new year approaches it is a time to reflect on the passing year and look forward to hopes and expectations for the upcoming year.

I am really happy with the progress I have made in 2010. My times have come down considerably and the high light would have to be running the Scotia Bank Full Marathon. But running has also given me great friendships. I can't imagine my life without my running girls, our friendship started with running and blossomed into much more. I feel blessed and fortunate to have them in my life.

As I look forward to 2011 I have decided that I need to have goals. I won't do as many races this year but definitely want my times to come down. I have successfully given up the headphones when running with others and I believe this has made me train a little faster and a little harder. Besides was missing out on all of great conversations.

So here it is...

My Goals for 2011:

• I want to run a total of 1000km in the year


• I want to run a 2:14 Half Marathon


• I want to run a 5:25 Full Marathon


• I want to run a 1:00 or less 10k


• I want to run a 0:30 or less 5k

I plan on doing some cross training this year and really getting fit. My cross training will include Body Pump for strengthening and cycling in a spin class for cross training cardio. I also plan to continue to run 3-5 times per week. And of course like millions around the world I resolve to eat better this year!

So here we go, bring on 2011!!!

The Turkey Trot 2010

This is my second year doing the Detroit Turkey Trot. It was a tradition that my dad has shared with my brother for the last several years and now I have joined in. The Turkey Trot is on Thanksgiving Thursday and it is a really fun run. There are lots of people and lots of costumes.This was a fairly good run for me 1:01 again! I really need to get my 10k to an hour or less, definitely a goal for 2011. I only walked at the water stops and felt great the whole way.

This year we must have left later because getting into the parking took forever. My dad ended up dropping us off and he went to park. he missed the start and started with the walkers and just ran on. My Garmin worked fine this time and it was nice to see my pace.

The Detroit Free Press Half Marathon

Ok so I am a tad behind in keeping up with my blog.

However, October 18th, 2010 I ran the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon with my dad and my brother. It turned out to be a great race with a PB but it didn't start out so great.

It was a very early start to the day with a 4:30am wake up call and a 7am start time. Having completed the marathon just a few short weeks ago I was not expecting much from this race, other than a really neat experience. My dad has ran the Detroit Marathon for year and more recently it has become a tradition of running something at the Detroit Marathon. Last year we ran the relay and this year the half. One of these years I am sure it will be the Full. Anyway, I had just bought the Garmin watch and I was super excited to use it to help pace myself, something I have never done. However, at the start line my watch froze I could do nothing and i was mad. I was mad that I didn't have a thing to use to time my walk breaks or anything to keep me on pace. I was also mad that I had spend $300+ on something that didn't work. My dad kindly handed me his watch and said he didn't need it.

I didn't run with my dad or my brother as they are much faster than I am. I had in my head that I wasn't going to get a PB today because of the congestion on the bridge. The bridge was down to one lane and at some points were were walking. I knew this ahead of time and skipped my first walk breaks. I also decided that I would run only at the water stations. It was a really nice run, the weather was perfect and it was awesome to cross the bridge and then the tunnel. Crowd support was also great on both sides. I couldn't believe that when I got to the 12th mile I realized that I could easily make it under 2:20. I actually thought there must be something wrong with my watch, but there wasn't I ended up finish in 2:18 a 6 minute PB!!! Very happy!

There is something to be said for going in with very little expectations and when everything is going wrong, sometimes it just turns out right. I honestly think that I would have slowed down if I saw my pace on the Garmin because I would have thought that I couldn't have maintained the pace. Sometimes it's just meant to be!