Boundary Bay 5K

The Boundary Bay 5K was on Sunday.  I was so relieved when the alarm went off at 545am, to silence.  Yes silence.  No rain beating on the roof as it had been when I went to bed on Saturday night.  I had already packed my post run bag with pants, shirt, socks and shoes.  Just in case it was raining I thought I should have dry clothes for the drive home.  Thankfully, I didn't need them.  It was still dark when my awesome husband and I got in the car at 620 to head out to Boundary Bay.

My wonderful husband picked up my run kit for me on Friday when he was on his way home from work, it took an hour to get the run kit but it was worth not having to drive in any earlier!

Run kit ready to go Sunday Morning.

We were aiming to be at the run site for 730, an hour before start time as I needed to exchange the shirt that I received.  Somehow they had me down for a much smaller size than I wear.  I love dealing with Try Events, they are awesome and so easy to deal with.   We were really surprised when we arrived to see how full the parking lot already was with more than 45 minutes to go before the start of the race.  I had to wait about 20 minutes on site to change my shirt as there were a lot of event day registrants and people picking up their kits.  I was so lucky to get the last shirt in the size that I needed.  When looking at it I thought it may actually fit, so I went into the washrooms and put it on.  Low and behold, a tech shirt actually fit me!  Yeah!

A quick trip back to the car to grab my stuff and I was ready to head to the start line.  There were a lot of people there and I have to admit I was a little nervous as I know that I'm slow and having so many true athlete's around me, really intimidated me for a few minutes.  I had a lot of those "what do you think you're doing here" thoughts going through my head but I quickly overcame my self doubt.   It helped to have my husband there for support,  before it was time to get ready to go.

Wearing my Boundary Bay shirt, ready for warm up.

At the start line, a lot of runners at this race!

After warm up it was time to get in line to start the race, the race was full marathon, half marathon, relay marathon, 10K and 5K.  They asked us 5ker's to stay towards the back of the line to let the others get away.   After the start gun it probably took about 2 minutes to get to the actual start line but before long we were off.  It was a gorgeous day and the trail is along the bay, the tide was out but there were still some beautiful views to be seen.

Yep, just me on the trail, with a few people walking behind me.

As I started out at the back of the pack, and I always walk the first five minutes or so it wasn't long before there were just a handful of us on any section of trail at a given time.  There were a couple of ladies in front of me that I managed to pass but I was still at the back of the pack, which is fine with me.  I'm not running the full races yet, although I figure I ran about 1/4 of the way.

Heading back, still the only one on the trail with a couple of people behind me.

It was great to see quite a few people in the community out cheering people on, especially when we reached the end of the trail and were on the road for a little bit.   The energy of the crowd as you got closer to the finish line was great and as some of the 10k runners were passing me towards the finish line there was a lot of energy to carry you through.  I crossed the finish line and saw my wonderful husband standing along the finishers chute cheering me on, it always gives me such a sense of accomplishment to hear my name as I cross the finish line.  My Garmin Finish time was 54:29,  my chip time was 54:16  a new Personal best for me  I'm going to work on getting that time down some more as I really do want to do the BMO 8K in May.

Love my finishers medal for this race!

Next up is the Santa Shuffle on December 7th.  I'm working on getting some friends to join me, so it should be fun for everyone!

Non Scale Victories

I am loving how active I have become and I'm loving the results I'm seeing.  This past week was a week full of activity and non scale victories.  I didn't have a scale victory this week though. Those pesky 6oz came back again.  I had a good talk with my new WW leader and she thinks I'm not eating enough.  She wants me to eat either all of my weekly flex points or at least half of my daily activity points.  I'm having a hard time doing this as I've never used them before unless it was for a special occasion but I'm going to give it a shot this week to see how it goes.

Let's start with the Activity part of the week. 

Monday: 5.81 km Walk   30 minute Beginners Yoga - Yes me and Yoga!  Who would have thought that one!   100 squats

Tuesday: 5.22 km Walk with the dog in the morning.  1.77km walk to lunch and back with a friend.  Had a great walk, great sushi lunch and fabulous conversation.  105 Squats.

Wednesday 3.75km Walk with the dog, beginners Yoga...yes, tried it again, maybe eventually I'll be able to do the downward facing dog instead of the playful puppy but I'm trying :) 110 Squats

Thursday 3.88km Walk with the dog.  No Yoga and rest day from the Squat Challenge, my legs needed the break!

Friday 3.32km Walk with the dog, 130 Squats and a 30 minute kickboxing session on a new dvd I picked up called Punch! (Thank you to the ladies at work who gave me a gift when I left to use towards my weight loss, I used some of that gift to purchase this!)

Saturday - Walking around Vancouver with my husband including a mad dash for the skytrain, and walking back to BC Place. 15,325 Steps for the day.  135 Squats.

Sunday - A variety of activity with no true way to measure it.  Volunteering at the Abbotsford Triathlon - set up and tear down of the Transition area including the fencing and bike racks, walking around the area and assisting the public and athletes.  Arrived at 630am and left at 1230pm.  My feet are crying so yes I'm counting it as activity, according to my pedometer I walked 13, 219 steps.  140 Squats.


Non Scale Victories for the week

Tuesday - walked to the restaurant for Sushi with my friend and slid into the booth, something I couldn't have done 7 months ago.  Wahoo!   Did I mention WALKING to the restaurant...not something I would have considered doing 6 months ago!

Wednesday - I did Yoga, for the 3rd time.  I'm not the most flexible person in the world and I worked hard at it and I stuck to it.  I didn't pause it, I didn't modify it, I did it!

Friday - Kickboxing DVD.  I worked hard in that work out, doing the steps, doing the hand movements, bobbing and weaving.  I didn't pause it, I didn't fast forward it, I stuck with it.  I sweated what felt like buckets but it felt so good to accomplish that.

Saturday - This one was HUGE for me.  Truly only someone who has had this predicament in the past may understand why it was so huge for me but for some other people it's probably a no big deal thing.  I went to a White Caps FC Match with my husband....I sat in the seat...I FIT IN THE SEAT... I wasn't crammed in with my sides spilling over the arm rest.  I was COMFORTABLE in the SEAT!!!!   I FIT INTO A STADIUM SEAT!!!!!  This was truly huge for me.  It made me feel so good and so satisfied that I'm making progress. 

Sunday -  This one honestly made me want to cry.  I volunteered at the Abbotsford Triathlon today, the largest size shirt they had was an XL.  I haven't been able to wear an XL t-shirt in probably 15-20 years.  In all seriousness.  I took the t-shirt and when I got to my area with my husband I decided to try the shirt on just to see.   Well hot diggity damn IT FIT ME!!!!  An XL shirt fit me, on top of the shirt I was already wearing.  My husband gave me a high five, a hug and a kiss and told me how proud he was of me.  I have to say...that t-shirt fitting me....made my day!

Big difference in the little things.

I've noticed lately a big difference in the little things that I do.  I walk every day now, a year ago that wasn't the case, yes I walked the dog, but it was a short little fifteen minute walk around the block.  Now we go for almost an hour at a time.  Better for me, better for the dog.

The week I started at my job,  there was a welcome lunch down at a restaurant on the waterfront.  I wasn't able to keep up with everyone else although I felt like I was walking as fast as I could.  On the way back to the office, it was uphill and I was out of breathe and trying not to let the others see that I was huffing and puffing.  Now that hill is part of my daily walk, I walk it purposely so that I remember how out of breath I was walking it that first day and how easy it is for me to walk today.

I used to have a hard time keeping up with my friend and co-worker on the way to work from the train station, again up hill and I didn't want her to see me huffing and puffing.  I started taking the skytrain so that I wouldn't have to try to keep up with her.  The skytrain pops us out behind our building.  No hills and no huffing and puffing.  If you didn't count the stairs we had to climb, which would leave me out of breath.  I walk to work from the train with the exception of really wet days, if I do take the skytrain, I do those stairs with ease.  The best part, I'm able to keep up with her now!

Take the dog and my husband and go for a 6km hike the same week I did a 5km race.  Never would have crossed my mind as I simply wouldn't have done either.

Around the 3km mark, and still going strong.

Except I do that now!  I did the Canada Day Rock on the Rock on Monday and on Thursday, took the day off to spend with my husband.  We didn't want to sit around the house, so we took the dog and off we went looking for some trails to walk.  We eventually ended up at Hicks Lake, just east of Harrison Hot Springs.  There is a mountain trail that is 6km's around.  The guide book suggested it would take 2 hours to do.  We did it in just under that.    I felt really good doing it, there were sections that were quite steep and I wasn't huffing and puffing my way up the hills.  My husband didn't have to slow down for me or wait for me.  We kept a good pace on route and the dog had a great time.  

At the 4km mark.

The big difference I noticed, how happy I am in the pictures, I'm feeling better, and clothes that were too tight to wear last summer, are actually too big on me now.  That's a big difference in the little things.

Back at the Car 6km later.

Elliptical Intervals

Thursday was my regular gym night.  I head to the gym after I get off the train, to get in what my husband likes to call, my last chance workout.  It's my last kick at the activity can before my Friday weigh in. 

I decided to do something a little different this week other than the usual Elliptical/Stairclimber routine.  The Garmin my husband gave me has a setting for intervals.  I figured why not try it.  I'm in a controlled environment, if I go full out and fall off the machine, at least people will be around to help pick me up off the floor. (This is a consideration, I have been known to fall off Stairclimbers and Ellipticals in the past!  Stop laughing!  It's not funny, it hurts!)

My original thought was to actually do the 30 second bursts of energy on the treadmill, but there were just too many people around and I'm still very conscious of how my body may flop around as I try to job/run.

I hoped onto the elliptical and hit the button on my watch for intervals, warmed up for 10 minutes and then had at her.  When I was warming up, my average pace was 88strides per minutes, when I kicked it up for the intervals, I hit over 200 strides per minutes.  I was killing it!   I was feeling the burn in my legs when I was done the 3o second interval and then was just feeling better when the reset period ended.  When I was done my workout and it was time to get off the Elliptical, I can honestly say I was worried about falling off.  My legs felt like they were made of rubber! 

I think I did a great job for my first time doing intervals.  It made the 40 minutes go much quicker, and I really felt like I got something out of my workout.  I was feeling quite proud of myself as I was wiping down the machine when I was done and as I stopped to grab my bag, one of the muscle guys on the machine beside me nodded at me and said "good job on the intervals...keep it up."    I said thanks and headed up the stairs to leave and I have to say, that one line, from that man really made my evening!

Split	Hours:Minutes:SecondsTime	KilometerDistance	Kilometers per HourAvg Speed
Summary	40:00.    0	3.60	5.4

Fabulous Weekend

Happy Victoria Day!  It as been a fabulous extended weekend which is closing out all to fast, but I managed to jam it packed full of activity!

On Saturday my husband had a White Caps game to go to and I decided that I would go into town with him and while he was at the game, I would walk around.  I often walk the same loop during my mid day walk from the office so I was excited to get out and explore a little bit.  It was a great walk!  I had a great time and I managed to get 8.37k's in.   I had to add a couple of loops in as I was walking because it didn't take me as long to walk from the waterfront to the Stadium as I anticipated.   Along the way, I took in the sights and sounds of the city

The tourists watching the sea planes leaving from the Convention Centre

The lovely fluffy clouds above the buildings.

 A Church Steeple high above the street

Terry Fox Plaza outside the stadium where I waited for my husband

The game is over as the crowd starts to fill the plaza.

Once my husband found me we decided to walk down to Gastown and go to a restaurant that I had gone to with my co-workers.  We enjoyed the Chef Selection tapas menu and then headed home from a long day of activity.

On Sunday morning, I wanted to get out and get another long walk in, the 8k's from Saturday wasn't enough so I got ready and headed out with the dog.  About 20 minutes later my husband came along and picked us up.  I guess I didn't tell him I was doing a long walk...oops.  We went for our Sunday morning ritual to Tim Horton's for his treat and headed back home.  As we were driving along, I asked my awesome husband to let me out so that I could finish my 5km walk.  I watched as he and Angus drove away with Angus barking out the back window at me.

I started out at a pretty good pace and was moving quickly along when I noticed the sky got a little darker than it had been.  I glanced up skywards to see the rain coming, and here I was without a jacket.

The rain cloud was hovering over where I was heading to, so I quickened my pace and set out to see how quickly I could get home.   I lucked out.  I made it onto my street just as the rain started to fall.    The rain didn't stick around long and after dinner we headed out for what has become our after dinner ritual.  A walk around the block.

Today I was heading over to my parent's house to plant some stuff that my mom had gotten for mother's day.  They live about 7.5km's from our house, my husband that may be a little too far for the dog to walk so he dropped us off at the half way point.  We made it to mom and dad's almost 4 km's away in 41minutes!  I was happy with that considering we had a monster hill to walk up!

All in all, it was a great weekend with almost 15km's walked.  I'll take that!

Out 6th Wedding Anniversary

I woke up this morning and posted this on face book "Six Years ago today, I married my best friend, my confidant, the love of my life.  Happy Anniversary, I love you more than words could ever say."

I married my wonderful husband 6 years ago.  It has been a great six years.  He took me out for a lovely dinner last night.  A little restaurant here in Abbotsford that neither of us had been to but a friend had recommended.  We went to Antonio's Italian Restaurant on South Fraser Way.  If you live in the valley and are looking for excellent food, good prices and wonderful ambiance, this is the place to be.  It's a small family owned restaurant, where everything is home made (or so I suspect) the pasta was fresh pasta, the sauces were amazing.  It was a great night, and when we were planning to leave the house my husband asked me not to worry about my points, just have what I want.  I did just that, but the accountable side of me did have to count them.  My total points for dinner was 38 points, I did dip into my weekly points for the first time, but it was very well worth it!

I started with an appetizer of Mozzarella Cheese in a red sauce.  It was delicious!  It was one flat piece of mozzarella, coated and fried sitting on a red sauce that was heavenly.   It smelled so good and looked so good that I forgot to take a picture of it.  Oops.

My husband and I then split Bruschetta.  It was to die for.  The bread was so fresh and the herbs and tomato were fabulous. (Again, I forgot to take a picture, I'll practice more I promise!)

For my entree, I ordered a Chicken dish (I can't recall the actual name of it) but it was a roasted chicken breast with peppers and onions served with fresh vegetables, and pasta in a red sauce.  It was so delicious!  The pasta was  angel hair pasta, fresh and delicious.  The red sauce was light, not heavy at all.  It was so good!!  After the first bite of pasta I remembered to take a picture!

For desert I had my favorite treat of all time Spumoni Ice Cream.  I love Spumoni and this was amazing, the flavors just popped.  It didn't hurt that I had my wonderful husband to share it with it!

I also received my anniversary present from my husband earlier in the week!

He got me the Garmin 205!  He saw me read about them online a few weeks ago and then last week, through weight watchers I received a coupon for the Running Room.  My awesome husband went up, told them that his wife was a newbie and he wanted to get her a watch/heart rate monitor all in one.  This watch is amazing, but that will be tomorrow's posting.

It's been a wonderful Anniversary weekend and I am so thankful that I get to spend the rest of my life with this incredible man.

Productive Saturday.

I had a very productive Saturday today.  I started out early this morning.  When I got up around 7am , it was still dry out.  The weather forecast was 100% chance of rain today.  YEAH!  NOT!   When I got up and saw that it wasn't raining I knew this would be my opportunity to get a true long walk in.   

My primary goal today was to walk to the Starbucks a little over 5km's from our house.  My secondary goal was to do it as quickly as I could.  Considering I've not gotten that far, I didn't know how long it was going to take.  My only point of reference was from several weeks ago when I thought it would take an hour to get to Angus Campell road and we made it there in 40 minutes.

With my ipod playing, Angus and I headed out.  We were almost thwarted right away as it was doggy central at the gate to our complex with a brouhaha going on between a Westie, a Lab, a Pug and a Chihuahua.  Of course my dog being the dog he is wanted in on the action and started barking from our side of the gate.  That of course changed focus of the other dogs and the owners managed to get their dogs untangled and maneuvered towards their respective complexes.  I waited another minute or two and then headed out the gate when the coast was clear.  Angus was still a little excited but off we went.  Of course a few minutes later who do we come across but his arch enemies from our complex the two Jack Russel's.  These two dogs bark whether there's anything to bark at or not.  Fortunately when we reached the main road, they went to the left and Angus and I headed to the right.

We had a pretty good pace going, but with the starting and stopping and probably a good 5 minutes of dog excitement by the time we got to Angus Campbell Road we were 4 minutes behind from our last time doing this route.  I picked up my pace with Angus trotting along beside and little behind me and kept plugging along.  I looked at my phone and we were nearing the 1 hour mark.  I knew that my wonderful husband would be on his way to meet us and may very well pass us at any time.  Sure enough, not even two minutes later Angus plopped his behind down and dug his paws in as he looked over his shoulder.  I swear he has the best hearing ever.

My husband stopped and I put the dog in the back seat and looked down at my mapmywalk app that I was using to track our distance.  I was a little disappointed as we were only at 4.45 km's and I really wanted to hit the 5km mark.  I decided on the spot to keep walking.  I told my husband to go on and I'd meet him at the Starbucks.  Less than 10 minutes later I met him in the parking lot.  I was thrilled with my time and my distance!

This link should take you to my walk today.
http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/view/199064468

Now seeing as how I'd just walked for a little over an hour and we were after all at Starbucks, I decided to give myself a reward for what I had done.  I got myself a Grande, extra hot, non fat, 1/4 sweet (1pump of syrup) peppermint white chocolate mocha with no whip and no drizzle.  I love me a white chocolate mocha.  This drink is how I got my gold Starbucks card automatically :)

Thankfully the rain held off until we headed home.  A little while later, I headed out to do some errands for my parents.  It took me a few hours to get everything done, and when I got home I was honestly tired.  A quick look at my pedometer and I knew why!

Wahoo!  I guess I beat my 18,000 steps on a non work day!  Now that's what I call a productive Saturday!

Support is so important.

I have always known that having people who support you in whatever you're doing is important.  It doesn't matter whether it's for a class, a hobby, work or dealing with weight loss.  I am very fortunate to have a very supportive husband.  Anything I need or want on my quest to get fit is fine,  expense is not really a consideration.  If I need it to be successful, it's done.  I know how lucky I am to have a supportive husband.

I'm even luckier to have a supportive family.  Since I restarted my weight loss and getting fit project in January, we have celebrated several birthdays, had Easter and several get togethers that have included food.  My family has been great in asking what I want to have so that we can keep temptation away from me.  My family has even gone so far as to substitute a veggie platter instead of the bags of potato chips and cheezies.   Every time I see them they encourage me and tell me how proud they are of me for sticking to it.

I've even lucked out in the supportive co-workers area.  Several of my co-workers have commented now on my weight loss, they tell me how good I'm looking and it makes me feel pretty good.  It's no secret that I go for a walk (almost) every day during my lunch break.  A few of them have asked to come along and it's great that a couple of days a week there will be a few of us out walking.

Today was a rough afternoon for me.  After my mid day walk, out of nowhere I had the most intense craving for cookies.  I wanted a great, big, huge, chocolate chip cookie.  The kind that you have to hold with two hands.  I drank some water instead, I drank some more water and when the craving was still there and I found myself reaching for my wallet to walk down the street to the bakery.  I stopped.  I sent out an S.O.S to one of my friends who is also a coworker.  I sent her a YouTube clip of the Cookie Monster and told her in no uncertain terms that I wanted cookies and I was fighting not to go buy some.  Bless her heart, within a minute she was at my office door with  a  2 Point WW snack bar to help get me though.  We sat and talked for a few minutes.  I drank some more water and about a half hour later, I ate the 2 Point snack.  Much better than the 20 point cookies, I was craving so badly.

It's great to have support and today and I was so truly thankful for it.