just a quick update as i'm about to lace up my shoes and head out for a run through the rolling farmlands of southern Ontario. as much as i'm enjoying my family time, i am really looking forward to getting back to running with the team in Virginia.
since i wrote last, i completed the milestone 10 mile run... from here on the miles seem to increase in leaps and bounds, and it won't be long until i look back upon the 10 milers as an easy run! but it sure felt like a long one last Saturday!
gave me a good excuse to eat lots at my sister's wedding that afternoon though :)
***
then we headed to Ontario via the US... stopping for a run in Bar Harbor Maine and Lake Placid NY.
sea level... and 1800 ft above sea level.
at first we could not figure out why we were having such a hard time running around Mirror Lake (in Lake Placid NY).... and then looked at the surrounded mountains and were reminded that we WERE running at altitude.
**
today it is 8 miles /12 km through Mennonite farms in southern Ontario.... how's that for variety??
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Another Running in NS Photoblog
with a very full schedule of classes, family, friends, passport applications, field trips, birthday parties, ordering of wedding band to match engagement ring (just 10 months after the wedding!!)... i've had little time for blogging, though i've managed to squeeze in the scheduled running...
here's a little glimpse of where i've been getting the miles in...
Aspotogan Peninsula
:
Halifax Waterfront:
Chester Connector Trail:
Running Room Wednesday Night Group Run - Halifax:
here's a little glimpse of where i've been getting the miles in...
Aspotogan Peninsula
:
Halifax Waterfront:
Chester Connector Trail:
Running Room Wednesday Night Group Run - Halifax:
Monday, July 6, 2009
letter to my teammates
Greetings from cool and rainy Nova Scotia!
Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July, and that you enjoyed your "free" run on Saturday. I can assure you that I did. It is lovely and cool here north of the 49th parallel... and I ran my 6 miles by the ocean, following the coastline along the Aspotogan Peninsula. Better still, I ran it with my mother.
My mom and I started running together in 1999, when her mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer. In October of that year, we signed up to run the CIBC 5km Run For A Cure, which is a Canadian nation-wide fundraiser and awareness-raiser... It was our first 5km race, and we had hardly trained for it... but we were both fairly fit and felt we could do it. We were huffing and puffing but otherwise feeling pretty good as we came around the final bend in the road, but as we approached the finish line she almost collapsed. Not because she couldn't do it, but because of the enormity of the emotion she was carrying with her. We sat on the side of the road, watching the other runners go by until she had regained her composure, and then finished the race hand-in-hand with tears streaming down our faces. She has run it every year since then, and every year that I have been in Canada, I have run it with her.
When I signed up to run the Shamrock Marathon last December, she told me that she would donate the entire $1800 if that was what I needed to get me to the start of the race... I didn't need her to do that, fortunately! But I was enormously grateful for that support. And then, come race day in March, she was not sending her support from Canada, she there at the starting line with me... she was there at the midway point cheering, she was sending text messages to me during the long and lonely stretch between miles 18 and 22, and she was there at the finish line, full of pride.
Needless to say, being able to share my Team In Training experiences with my mom has been a great pleasure for me. I hope that you too have someone who inspires and motivates and supports you in your endeavors.
Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July, and that you enjoyed your "free" run on Saturday. I can assure you that I did. It is lovely and cool here north of the 49th parallel... and I ran my 6 miles by the ocean, following the coastline along the Aspotogan Peninsula. Better still, I ran it with my mother.
My mom and I started running together in 1999, when her mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer. In October of that year, we signed up to run the CIBC 5km Run For A Cure, which is a Canadian nation-wide fundraiser and awareness-raiser... It was our first 5km race, and we had hardly trained for it... but we were both fairly fit and felt we could do it. We were huffing and puffing but otherwise feeling pretty good as we came around the final bend in the road, but as we approached the finish line she almost collapsed. Not because she couldn't do it, but because of the enormity of the emotion she was carrying with her. We sat on the side of the road, watching the other runners go by until she had regained her composure, and then finished the race hand-in-hand with tears streaming down our faces. She has run it every year since then, and every year that I have been in Canada, I have run it with her.
When I signed up to run the Shamrock Marathon last December, she told me that she would donate the entire $1800 if that was what I needed to get me to the start of the race... I didn't need her to do that, fortunately! But I was enormously grateful for that support. And then, come race day in March, she was not sending her support from Canada, she there at the starting line with me... she was there at the midway point cheering, she was sending text messages to me during the long and lonely stretch between miles 18 and 22, and she was there at the finish line, full of pride.
Needless to say, being able to share my Team In Training experiences with my mom has been a great pleasure for me. I hope that you too have someone who inspires and motivates and supports you in your endeavors.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Running in lovely cool Nova Scotia - photoblog
i'm home for a little while, finishing up my Masters... and am delighted to be training in the foggy cool weather with my mom. today's run was a 6 miler (10 km) along the ocean...
started near home, and ran past the place that we sprinkled my brother's ashes last summer... had a little weepy moment, but in a good way. it was beautiful and peaceful there.
hit the turn around point and stopped for a little photo break before climbing back up the hill.
my mom gunned it to get up the hill, or perhaps she was just trying to get far enough ahead that she'd hardly show up in the pictures, since she'd stripped down to her sports bra...
personally, i found it to be lovely and cool after the Virginia heat.
stopped to check out the flowers growing on the beach around the 6km mark... artemesia...
and rugosa roses
left mom at the car and ran the last 2 km while she drove home, and was thrilled to find that dad had a dinner of fresh fish and veggies (that we had picked up at the market early this morning) waiting for us.
it's been a good day :-)
started near home, and ran past the place that we sprinkled my brother's ashes last summer... had a little weepy moment, but in a good way. it was beautiful and peaceful there.
hit the turn around point and stopped for a little photo break before climbing back up the hill.
my mom gunned it to get up the hill, or perhaps she was just trying to get far enough ahead that she'd hardly show up in the pictures, since she'd stripped down to her sports bra...
personally, i found it to be lovely and cool after the Virginia heat.
stopped to check out the flowers growing on the beach around the 6km mark... artemesia...
and rugosa roses
left mom at the car and ran the last 2 km while she drove home, and was thrilled to find that dad had a dinner of fresh fish and veggies (that we had picked up at the market early this morning) waiting for us.
it's been a good day :-)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Honoured Teammate Picnic
we had our "honoured teammate picnic" on Saturday... a five mile run followed by bagels and fruit and such, and a series of speeches by our honoured teammates (people who have/had a blood cancer and receive support from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society).
there were people there who were treated for blood cancer 20 years ago, and people who were currently in treatment... people who had children who were in remission, and people who had lost loved ones to cancer.
each and everyone one of them remarked on all the amazing things that the LLS has done, from pushing forward on research to helping individuals who are struggling to pay their medical bills.... and they thanked us all for what we are doing to help the LLS achieve their mission.
it's a good feeling to know that i'm literally playing a part in saving people's lives.
Friday, June 26, 2009
tomorrow i'll be a runner
oh, i'm such a slacker!
i've been terribly lax at updating... which goes right along with my approach to training thus far.
i'm blaming it on the heat. i feel sluggish these days.... sweating about the place, leave a trail of slime... feeling legless and limp. not much good for the running!!
however, the mileage is starting to go up, and i really MUST get myself in gear or i'm going to struggle later on. fortunately, i'm going home to cool and rainy eastern Canada for most of July... where i'll be able to run in comfort, and with my mom to boot! what joy!!
**
in other running news, tomorrow is our first DCA Team group training... which means we could be several hundred on the trail together tomorrow morning. it's going to be happy chaos.
and then, it is the honoured teammate picnic. i wish my honoured teammates could be here to see what we're doing on their behalf. but it is a long way to come just for a picnic, clear across the continent and back again for a bagel and some nice speeches...
**
my fundraising is sluggish too.... sigh.
i'm such a slug.
tomorrow, i'll be a runner.
i've been terribly lax at updating... which goes right along with my approach to training thus far.
i'm blaming it on the heat. i feel sluggish these days.... sweating about the place, leave a trail of slime... feeling legless and limp. not much good for the running!!
however, the mileage is starting to go up, and i really MUST get myself in gear or i'm going to struggle later on. fortunately, i'm going home to cool and rainy eastern Canada for most of July... where i'll be able to run in comfort, and with my mom to boot! what joy!!
**
in other running news, tomorrow is our first DCA Team group training... which means we could be several hundred on the trail together tomorrow morning. it's going to be happy chaos.
and then, it is the honoured teammate picnic. i wish my honoured teammates could be here to see what we're doing on their behalf. but it is a long way to come just for a picnic, clear across the continent and back again for a bagel and some nice speeches...
**
my fundraising is sluggish too.... sigh.
i'm such a slug.
tomorrow, i'll be a runner.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
last night on my run...
i have a friend staying with me for a few days, so he's been coming on my runs. he's much shorter than i am so we don't go too fast, and he's much more interested in checking out the scenery than i am... so as we were out for a run last night, here are some things that we saw that i might have otherwise missed if he'd not been along:
ducks swimming in the puddles that remain on peoples' lawns and driveways from last week's heavy rains.
the little house tucked back in the trees (unlike all the other monstrosities that occupy every square inch of their lot) with the lovely gardens has a sign up saying "plants... $1". i might take them up on their offer when the day finally comes that i have gardens of my own to plant.
(live) deer hiding in the hedge... and we are not exactly out in the countryside here in Alexandria!
mushrooms growing in the long grass in front of the gas station... am hoping they weren't toxic, as i only noticed them because he was licking them (he is a dog, by the way)...
the big stone house on the corner near the park that my husband has long coveted is now for sale.
fireflies!! everywhere fireflies! i've never lived anywhere that had fireflies before... and they're beautiful. well, their twinkling like sparks flying from a campfire is beautiful anyway...
ducks swimming in the puddles that remain on peoples' lawns and driveways from last week's heavy rains.
the little house tucked back in the trees (unlike all the other monstrosities that occupy every square inch of their lot) with the lovely gardens has a sign up saying "plants... $1". i might take them up on their offer when the day finally comes that i have gardens of my own to plant.
(live) deer hiding in the hedge... and we are not exactly out in the countryside here in Alexandria!
mushrooms growing in the long grass in front of the gas station... am hoping they weren't toxic, as i only noticed them because he was licking them (he is a dog, by the way)...
the big stone house on the corner near the park that my husband has long coveted is now for sale.
fireflies!! everywhere fireflies! i've never lived anywhere that had fireflies before... and they're beautiful. well, their twinkling like sparks flying from a campfire is beautiful anyway...
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