How a sick Mama makes homemade soup...

Ok so I am now on round three of having strep throat since Sept..what is UP with that!! Because I bring new, yummy, healthy recipes to my clients each week a client decided to share one with me :D...Lentil Soup mmm mmmm.

Lentil Soup - Serves 6 , 192 calories a serving
Need:- 1tbsp Olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1tsp ground cumin
- 1 each carrot, celery stalk, potato diced
- 1cup dried red lentils
- 1 box chicken stock
- 1tbsp lemon juice

To do:Heat oil in pot, add onion & garlic cook 5min
Add cumin cook 30 sec
Add carrots, celery and potato, mix well
Stir in lentils & stock
Cover and cook on low for 30min
Add lemon juice, puree


So since I have a VERY sore throat I thought that a nice warm soup would do it some good. So as I was chopping the veggies my youngest pulls up a chair to the counter because he wants to help....and what one does the other must do to....so my oldest then joins him on the chair.

Oldest child - "What are you doing Mommy?
Me - "Making soup"
Youngest child - " HOT!!" (he's a child of few words right now)
Me - "yes the stove is hot right now, stay back please"
Oldest Child - " I want to put the carrots in Mommy"
Me - " Sorry buddy the pot is too hot for you to do that"
Oldest child then starts to cry because he wants to help, while the youngest child now starts trying to push his brother off the chair because he doesn't want to share the space anymore....boys are both now pushing each other and crying.

I put everything in the pot and put the lid on, "OK! everyone out of the kitchen and up to bed"

After finding my oldest sons 'blankie' and my youngest son's TWO 'blankies' and his soother we headed up stairs for diaper changes, pull-ups on, changing into PJ's, reading books, kisses and cuddles and promises to stay in bed and go to sleep right away, I walk down the stairs and smell something......OH CRAP!!! the soup! I run to the kitchen and lift the lid on the pot and see that all the liquid has boiled off...LOL! Ok it could have been worse!
So because I like to puree my soups I pull out the blender, put the 'soup' in it and added the rest of the chicken stock that I had in hopes it would help to thin it out.....welllll not so much....it was as thick as peanut butter, but it tasted GREAT!!! So I divided it up anyways and put it in the freezer saving one serving for the fridge and for lunch the next day....I figure I can just get more chicken stock and add it to each serving as I eat it :)



'Live in YOUR awesome!'

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I found my middle woman!

So what some people don't understand is that although this journey has been fun, awesome and exciting it's also had it's lonely times...

The issue was that I didn't have a middle 'man' so to say. I had the people in my life who knew me before this journey who are happy with what they are doing in their lives and took interest at first in my journey (as good friends do) but there became a point where they lots interest or just couldn't connect with the 'new' Gail anymore, I found.

Then I have the new people I have met while par-taking in all my new adventure of boot camp, road races, adventure racing and triathlons. Now these people relate to me being not only being excited about a upcoming race or hardcore workout but also that I enjoy it...and they get that! Now what these people don't get are my 'worries' about slipping out of the healthy active lifestyle or that I didn't just stuff my face with Halloween candy JUST on Halloween night as a 'one time' thing, but I did it for the whole week after Halloween...they don't get THAT!


Well as we know a journey is on going and I am not a church going person but me and the 'big guy' we get along pretty good and once again he's taking care of me :D

Due to the fan page I made when I went to the Marylin Denis show casting call and the demo tape I made for it and posted I get e-mails weekly from other woman who are ready to start their own journey of feeling awesome.
One night I was saying to one of my trainers that I just wanted to go out and show them what they can do in their own living room so they can start feeling good about themselves, feel changes in their bodies and feel stronger!....she said, "So go!"

So I DO!!!! I am now a Personal Health & Fitness Motivator and of course it's...wait for it.....AWESOME!!! I am SO touched that these woman let me be apart of their journey when it's the hardest time...the beginning. Because in the beginning people..it's NOT pretty and it doesn't feel that great yet. But in doing this I have found my middle man or should I say middle woman! These woman are just like me and they tell me it's SO great that they are able to relate to me while doing this because I'm not a trainer who has been skinny and healthy all my life...I know how it feels to start a new healthy active life as a plus size woman.



So not only do I get to live in my awesome but I also get to see others living in their awesome!!...like the other day I was having a client do sprints on the treadmill and I had a feeling that she could go up in the speed, but before I was able to say that SHE said to ME, " I think I can go up in speed"!!!! WOW!!! I just got to share the moment this woman believed in herself! WAY COOL!...I can't stop thinking about it and in fact it brought tears to my eyes just typing it now.

These woman thank me all the time for my help and time but I want to thank them because just by them having the courage and strengh to reach out to me they have just made this Van Awesome journey a little less lonely xoxoxo

Mr. Van Awesome??!

So I get a lot of people asking me while I am working out with the kids and going for runs with the kids and pumpkin picking and training and house work, where is my husband?


Well just to clear up matters because my husband is THE most wonderful person you will ever meet.....he's working, working, working and then when he's not working he's with the kids for the day as I go train or go to the gym or go for a run. Or he is waking up early getting the kids ready on his own in order to bring them to see mommy in a race :D


During the summer the wonderful man worked three jobs, some days he'd go from one job right to the next and not get home until 9pm at night. Most weeks in the summer there would be two days in a row that he didn't get to see the kids awake....but he would make up for it on the weekend. But he's always there as my rock right there beside me cheering my on and letting me know that he's so happy that I am happy and what a great wife and mother he feels I am xoxoxox

In fact some of this exercise stuff has even rubbed off on him. He's gone for a few runs and bike rides himself. Last Fri while we were watching TV and I was warming up to do a workout in the living room while we watched our show. So I was jogging on the spot. Suddenly my husband jumped up and said, "OK I can't just watch you do this anymore! I have to do something too!" LOL! So we both ran on the spot for 20min, he even brought out the weights......Wooo Hoooo nothing like sweating it out with my hubby on the living room floor on a Fri night....kinda reminds me of when we didn't have kids!! :O....But that's a whole other blog people!


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From the mouth of babes xoxox

Although my oldest is newly 4 I find that he teaches me and reminds me of something new everyday.

We were running out of time to get our pumpkins for Halloween and my sons b-day party on the Sat (Day before Halloween). So on the Tues I told the boys that we were going to get pumpkins after school.......as we started driving there a few drops of rain turned into a MAJOR down pour! :(
I explained to Nicholas that we might not be able to get to the pumpkin farm and that we might just have to get them at the store instead. His responds was, " OH Mom you just have the believe".......what the!!!...I couldn't believe my ears LOL!...I looked back and said, "Did you say believe??"...he shook his head yes and looked at me with big, wide, pleading, blue eyes!!! OH MAN!
My responds...sigh, "Ok buddy we'll keep going"....how can you say no to that!!!


So we got to the farm and it was STILL pouring. I even got a great laugh and a warm fuzzy when I saw that there was another family under the tent by the pumpkin patch...then I looked closer and noticed that it was another Mama that I knew and always love seeing!!!! I called out to her that I was VERY glad to see I wasn't the only crazy Mama out here :) We got out and while Nicholas walked with his umbrella I held Owen and my umbrella in one hand and my purse in the other...but it was SO windy my umbrella flipped inside out LOL!!!...You know how hard it is to 're-flip' an umbrella the right way in the rain, wind and holding a 22mth old and your purse!?
Final we got to the pumpkin patch...so now I have Owen and the umbrella in one hand and my purse and pulling the wagon in the other hand....we got our pumpkins and even picked up some cookies :P
As we were driving home my son happily munched on his cookie and said, "See Mom I told you! You just have to believe!"
My response was, "Yup buddy your right!"

Good words to live by and I find myself thinking of them often these days as I venture into more unknown territory in my life.....

....you just have to believe!







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Puddles, Pee & Pancakes

So with trying to get over being sick with a cold and strep AGAIN for the second time in three weeks I've been itching to get active again. I realize that I can't just step back into my old routine but need to work my way back up....so I just wanted to go for a nice long brisk walk.

It rained for most of the day on Mon, but after I picked up my oldest from school the weather was starting to clear up. By the time we got home the sun was even coming out! So I sat both the boys down (3 1/2ys & 22mths) and explained to them that mommy REALLY needed to go for a walk and that I was going to put them in the big jogging stroller and put a nice warm blanket on them and that Nicholas could bring his blankie and Owen could bring his soother. I asked them to just sit and have fun in the stroller, enjoy all the things they saw around them and to NOT fight with each other PLEASE!!!

So I packed them up and off I went! I was so excited to get out and moving in the nice air and in the sun. The boys were perfect and got along great and I praised them every 10min for it and thanked them too.

I took the route: South down Burloak, west along Lakeshore then North up Hampton Heath. As I was coming back up I saw that my oldest had fallen asleep and had his head on the 22mths old shoulder and that was how they were sitting...awwwww SO sweet :)

As I was crossing New St and 15 min from my house, the sun disappeared and it started to rain...hard...and cold! Now the kido's were ok cause I just closed the cover on the jogger....but I was getting soaked, to the bone!....so I started to run a bit but couldn't do it for long. As I was walking as fast as I could and had cold drops of rain dripping of my nose and down my back I thought, " This can't be good for my sickness recovery!"

We made it to the house and I went right into the garage. As I was trying to wake up Nicholas I got a whiff of pee....what the..... then it dawned on me. He had peed himself while sleeping and there was a big puddle of pee at the bottom of the stroller...great!...and he didn't want to get out of the jogger but just stay there and sleep. So I picked him up kicking and screaming, brought him in the house stripped him down naked (cause EVERYTHING was soaked in pee) and layed him down on the front chair, threw the blanket over him and rushed out to see what the 22mth was doing cause he wasn't answering my calls to come in the house. I was relieved to see he was just squatting by the drain pipe watching the water come out. As I scooped him up and said it's time to go inside he showed his dislike for this by taking his soother and throwing it......right into the puddle of pee in the jogger.......AAAWESOME!!!!

So after cleaning the pee puddle, spraying down the rest of the jogger, changing into dry clothes and dressing Nicholas....we sat down to a nice warm dinner of apple, flax seed pancakes............

I just wanted to go for a walk....


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Always up to something!

So I heard on the radio the other day about this casting call for the new Marilyn Denis show. They are looking for people who have a passion for something to be guests on the show. I figured this would be a WAY cool out of the box thing to do....so I'm going down!

My passion is to help and share with others about the awesome journey that I have had and encourage them to have their own regarding health and well being and for the parents out there how we pass that onto our kido's :)

I have to put a demo tape together and I am collecting info/comments/stories on a fan page that I made. So if you all could add your 2 cents to it and share your stories, pictures or comments and hit the 'like' button that would be so great!! It would show that there is a need for this out there and it's already impacting people....as I have had the enjoyment of already learning.


SO exciting and I can't wait to take you along with me...cause I can't do this on my own!! Spread the word :D


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Trying to get back at it.....

Ok so I have been trying to get back at it after being SO sick. I did hit two Phat Chicks bootcamps last week...one night I had both kids in tow as well. I also hooked up with a friend that I've been trying to find some time to ride with for awhile now. We went out on Sun morning and boy the weather was just perfect!!!! We rode across Burlington into Hamilton along the lake...breath taking! a total of about 36k. It was great just what I needed...until I wiped out! ;Z. It was the worst one this summer cause I was on an open trail and had lots of room to fall and tumble all over the place...ouch! right over the handle bars and a drop roll to the right shoulder. As I laid there calling out my friends name so he would look back and realize I wasn't behind him anymore I was doing a 'is anything broken' check and thinking, "Oh crap did I just screw my family over?!"....So I'm happy to report nothing but my ego is broken :)...and I am showing off all the war wounds as they surface!!

And now....now I have a cold...sigh...really! But it's forced me to slow down, the last two nights the kids were in bed at 7pm I was in my PJ's at 7:05pm and sat on the couch with my husband just watching TV and resting until 10pm!!!! WOW it felt strange to just sit and watch TV cause still most of the time I am working out in front of the TV, AND to be in a room with my husband for that long was nice cause our summer has been SO busy with me training and him working 3 jobs!....I was like, " Hi I'm Gail and I am your wife, I live in this house too" LOL!!

I find it hard laying around day after day. It reminds me of two things. First when I was younger I suffered from depression and that's all I did, then when I became over weight and unhealthy that's all I did too. So although I'm not either of those anymore it reminds me of those times and starts to feel like it again....and as I've always said all along I wasn't in this for the looks of things, but how I feel!

I was reminded the other day that although I might be doing the same thing (laying around/resting) it's for a different reason...I need to remember that....for a different reason.....


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You can't keep a good woman down....but now what?!

So want to know what happens after the big build up to the big race day?!! The following weekend you get very very sick! Yup that's what happened to me :(

After my Tri, which by the way I continue to feel very happy about. I took Mon and Tues as rest days. I didn't realize it but it's been a busy summer of training!! When I finally didn't HAVE to do anything I was able to see how much energy I had been putting out. However by Wed night I wanted to do something, so I went for a run. I LOVE these fall nights so nice and cool and refreshing, even if you don't run I highly suggest you get out for a walk it will do you wonders trust me :)

So the run was awesome! I picked a route and just ran it...no stopping....no turning back. I love that failure is just not on the list of options for me anymore. So I ran 8.6k which is my longest run on my own so far :). Then the next day woke up not feeling that great and by the next morning I was done....swollen throat pain into my ear, fever of 103.6. I had a BAD case of strep and had to be put on IV for two days to get fluids back in me....gesh!

What sucked about that was that I missed the big dinner that all the Mommy's in Motion had cause I was too sick. I was REALLY disappointed about that cause I wanted to hear how ever one's race went :(
I also had to pull out of a 10hr Adventure Race that I was in with a team of 5 other girls the next weekend.....god that KILLED me to have to do that! But I had to make the call. Even though the fever was gone and the throat was better I had no energy, just showering and getting dressed made me ready for a nap! I went from running over 8k to trying to go for a walk....sucked!!...............But someone said to me that is the sign of a true athlete, knowing when to go and knowing when to stop. I also had to think of my family and how much I am needed. Plus it scared the crap out of me being that sick.

But you can't keep a good woman down cause I still showed up for the Adventure Race to cheer lead the girls on and take pictures I wasn't going to miss that adventure!...It was awesome to see them come in first in their division!!!! and it was our first race! PHAT CHICKS F'N ROCK!!!!






So now what!?? I find myself very worried and really thinking a lot about what I will be doing with myself through the winter. Funding is VERY tight for us so I can't sign up for a bunch of stuff and I don't know how long I'll be able to run outside as this is my first winter as a runner. I often find myself worrying about all the weight coming back on and how embarrassed I would be if that happened and how unhappy I would feel about it too......I'm in limbo right now trying to figure out a new weekly exercise routine. If anyone has ideas or could share what they do in the winter to stay active that cost little to nothing that would be great :D




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Race Day!!

Ok so at the start of the summer when I first saw the post on Momstown message board about who wants to do a Triathlon I thought this would be a crazy awesome thing to do...it's going to be SO frigg'n hard but that was what I liked about it. I saw myself JUST being able to make it over the finish line....crawling in fact is what I envisioned...and having tears in my eyes of having finished.....


OK so fast forward to yesterday and it was NOTHING like that! I feel like I did great and I felt GREAT and strong doing it!!! WOOOO HOOOOOO!



Of course all through the summer we trained in the stinky nasty heat, then when race day came...cold, windy, cloudy with a bit of rain...GREAT! I realized that morning that I could train hard and get strong but there is still things that will be out of my control....like how windy and cold it was that morning. So I told myself that no matter how I got thru this race it was going to be good....and it was!


The swim was wicked...bit chilly but nothing major, in fact the group that started 3min before my group...I caught up to them in the water! So coming out of the water I was pumped!....during the transition to get on the bike I decided that I wasn't going to spaz out. I was just going to take my time and get going...which I did and must say that trying to tie up shoe laces with fingers that you can't feel cause they are so cold from the swim was interesting LOL!!! The bike was good, bit windy which slowed me down a bit, but I just kept pushing those peddles down......now getting off the bike....


So just a quick FYI for those of you that don't know but when you go from the bike to a run it's called a Brick....cause your legs feel like bricks!



WELL!!! After a cold swim and a windy,cool and hilly 10k bike I stepped of that bike and thought OMG!I've NEVER felt my legs be like that before (even during training)....but I knew I just had to keep moving. So I parked my bike and dropped my helmet and just started running....once warmed up it was all good plus I saw Suzie, my Phat Chick trainer who was doing the Duathalon that day during the run. "GO HARD!!!!" she yelled....so the last straight away to the finish I just gave'r! full out sprint WOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!! and I had the Phat Chicks and the Mommy's in Motion team cheering me on....such a lucky girl I am 8-D




22nd place out of 130 people, came in 7th in my age group out of 53... finished in 52min, but my fav part of the day...I have two....my Daddy saying how impressed he was with how well I did and the family picture that I got with my boyz after the race (brings tears to my eyes as I type this) xoxoxoxox



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Eat, Sleep, Train & be a Mommy!

Ok so here I am again...the night before a race. I feel like I could puke! I must say I am a bit stress'n here. Been thinking about the race a lot and it's getting me stressed, which I don't like. I want to have fun! I want to chillax on myself and REALLY accept that I will do the best I can and YES that will be good enough. I'm just worried about letting myself down with something happening like what happened at the adventure at the start where I had issues on the bike and really slowed down my team. At least it's all just on me tomorrow!

It's been an interesting week leading up to this race. I have a Nike shirt that I LOVE wearing cause first it's purple (my fav colour) and it says, 'Eat, Sleep, Train' but because of the type of week I had, as I was putting the shirt on this week I added on the end to that saying, 'and be a Mommy'.

The week wasn't too much different then any other....besides my growing stress of the up coming race. But it sucks when the kido's get sick! So between meeting with the other Mommies and our Tri trainer Nancy Hasting from Second Wind Conditioning ( Who by the way is awesome!!! even if I did feel like giving her the finger during some of our Tues trainings!!! LOL!) showing other Phat Chicks the course and prepping my stuff for race day. I had to deal with, puke, high fevers, puffy eyes, a mysterious rash, all day crying and request to be 'uuuup', making breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks in between, extra laundry from the puke, major poopy diapers AND underwear (the kids not mine!).........sigh....I could go on and on and if you are a mommy I know you have this same list.....and more to add to....so really as I write this I think the Triathlon will be a nice vacation!! LOL!!

I mean really!! One day I found myself sitting there trying to eat my lunch after I have fed the kids and finally got a chance to sit down at the table. I bit into a sugar snap pea and think to myself, "Hmmmm this tastes, sweet and juicy with a hint of poo!"....oh right I forgot to wash my hands after the last diaper change.....NICE!.....REALLY!!! ( If your a parent your laughing right now and if your not you're totally grossed out I bet...but so is the glamorous life of a stay at home mom)

So my bags are packed, my lunch for tomorrow is packed, the boys lunches for tomorrow are packed and dinner is ready to go in the crock pot in the morning. My hubby and both kids, Mom and my Dad will all be heading up to be my cheering section. I'm really looking forward to the pictures that will come out of tomorrow. I LOVE having all these pictures of me doing all these different things :D



I just can't end this without mentioning Mer (my Phat Chick trainer that had a tragic accident) she had offered to help me train for this Tri when I first told her that I was thinking of doing it.....she never had the chance to do that. But she will be with me and the other Phat Chicks out there. I have her pink ribbon on my bike but I will also be sewing a ribbon on my sports bra cause I NEED her out there with me in the water and while I'm running too......this one's for you Mer lets rock it girl!!!! xoxoxoxox



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...and the journey goes on....common question

So I have had a few requests to continue on with this blog...I'm very touched and don't really know how to take that in :)....but what I have LOVED most about this whole thing are the stories and journey's that you all have let me be apart of and I thank you for that.




So what's going on now? What's your next challenge? are common questions that people are asking me. Well all through the summer every Tues night I have been training with a group of other moms from Momstown to do a Triathlon on Sept 5/10.....gulp! Our team name is 'Mommy's in Motion' LOL!!! Isn't that awesome!! I'm becoming a shirt slut...first I got my Phat Chicks shirt, then my RacedayRush one and now this one! SO COOL! It's neat to see not only has my wardrobe changed in the size of the clothes but also the type. I think I have more workout clothes then I do 'normal' clothes....AND OH!!! OH! OH!....I spent some time in Lulumon the other day!!!...Lulu and I are now BFF's!!! Which is awesome cause when I went in there a few years back and grabbed the largest sizes that they had, went into the change room and once I had the clothes on looked at myself in the mirror and said out loud to myself, "WHOLEY CAMEL TOE!!!!!" I took the clothes off and got out of there SO fast and hadn't returned until last week LOL!!


Another common question I get asked is, "How do you fit it all in?" My answer to that is you CAN if you WANT to and us mommies/woman can be very creative. I've had to fill up a bag of toys for the kids and bring them to the field behind my house dump them and the bag of toys in the middle of the field in order to get a workout in. I've also bathed the kids and given in to letting Owen have his soother (even thought he's not in bed) and Nicholas to take his blankie outside (which we NEVER do cause blankie is scared of outside AKA I don't want to have him get lost OR dirty) and put the boys in the jogging stroller with their PJ's on and went for a jog to the lake and back even thought it was past their bed time, just so I could get a jog in.....and want to know a tip. It works better past their bed time cause they are too tired to fight while in the stroller LOL!!
I also take them out to Phat Chicks Boot camp with me with the bag of toys in tow and sometime have to get them involved in order to help them stay happy for the hour. Like today I did inch worms with the 3 1/2yr (35lb) on my back, then he sat on my tummy while I did crab crawls back. At one point I had to hold Owen 20mth old (25lb) while doing squats....and you know what I was thinking each time?!...."This is going to give me a better work out!!" LOL!!....However involving my kids has really turned out to be such a great thing. Nicholas is always wanting to show me his pipes and how strong he is, he even said to me tonight that he thought my pipes and his pipes are the same size!! LOL!!.....GOD I could just pour ketchup on him and eat him for dinner I tell ya!! :P


So any Mama out there who tells me that kids and family get in the way of them taking care of themselves...well sorry ladies I'm here to burst your bubble...someone has to do it and I'm OK if you get pissed at me for doing it...but that's BULLSHIT!! I speak from experience!....think about something you REALLY like to do or have in your life. You find ways to do it or have it, even if it's not a healthy thing. I KNOW you find little tricks or ways to make it happen...so you have the power in you! Now you just need to use those powers for good :D



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Can't forget the video!!!

Click here for the awesome video of the race :)

So how did it go!!??!!!

It was THE craziest CRAZY ever in my life!!! Hills straight up, mud to your knees a sports induced asthma attack and that was just during the first 50min while doing the 15k bike ride! So over all IT WAS AWESOME!!! :D




I will report that I got to do the underwater points that I ROCKED in like 2min...really it was a little too easy but fun non the less and it was cool cause my husband and Dad and his girlfriend had come up for the weekend and they were on land cheering me on at that point, taking pictures and filming....very cool!


We did get stuck at one check point...I think it was CP41. We couldn't find it and got so lost trying that I couldn't even tell you on the map as to where we were. We spent 30min looking for it until Amy and I said we're done here lets move on...we had to drag Shane back to the boat kick and screaming pretty much, all the while me saying, "BROWN let it go!! It's going to be OK!"....boys GESH!


The weather report for the day was thunder storms but the weather ended up being perfect racing weather. No thunder storms, not even rain just overcast which was good cause if it was sunny we would have cooked out there.

God I had SO much fun! It's all I have been thinking about this week as I change diapers, bath kids, do the laundry, do the dishes and make dinner :D The one time that sticks out in my mind was the end 1000000 mile run we did....ok it was more like 4k but it felt like 1000000 miles! It was at the end and we ended up running around the marsh to pick up 2 more check points. I knew we were running late so we just had to book it back. We just kept running and running and running and running some more. A little voice would pop up in my head and say, "God I want to stop!, I can't wait until we are done, Just stop and walk for a min!" But I had to tell it to F off cause running, even if it was slow, was better then walking or stopping all together because that was minutes ticking away!.......we were 9min late and lost 90pts oops! But we made it to the end....THANK GOD!!!!



Next bring on the grub :P We had a great time at dinner and laughing and talking about the day the two other teams won 2nd and 3rd in the all woman's heat!! SO impressed with those chicks! xoxox




So all week everyone has been asking how it went. I was even asked if I was thinking about doing it again next year. My reply, "I was planning on doing it next year at dinner that night!".......




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It's come to this....

So I came across the letter I wrote in to be entered into the RoackstAR Adventure Race. This is were it all started:


I AM YOUR WOMAN for this adventure race let me tell you! I USE to be the one who sat on the couch eating watching other people’s lives on TV. I USE to be the one who would listen to what others were doing to challenge themselves in their lives, then say, “Good for you!” but never give it a thought for myself to do it.



Then I had my children, both boys… and I started to think. Is this the type of person I want my kid’s mother to be? NO! I want to run and play and keep up with them and so it started…the transformation, body, mind and soul. We didn’t have much money so I had to educate myself on exercise and nutrition. A lot of my fitness is done right in my living room, nothing fancy but instead of sitting on the couch watching TV I started doing sit-ups, jumping jacks and running on the spot. I even joined a Biggest Loser competition to help motivate me even more. It did! I won at the mid-point AND at the end for most weight lost, 8.63% and inches lost. I’m down 4 shirt sizes and almost 4 pants sizes. I don’t know the numbers cause I don’t look. I learned that I don’t need a number to tell me that I feel f’n AWESOME and strong. This is where I have had the most joy in my journey, feeling stronger and doing things that I use to watch other people doing.



This race is the perfect next step in my journey I LOVE doing crazy S#@t like this now! My first crazy thing was climbing all 1776 stairs of the CN tower. I’m doing it again this year and taking 20min off my time…ooooo ya baby!



So I AM YOUR WOMAN!!!!! I will put everything I have into it and then squeeze out some more. We got to show those Mama’s out there that YES you can take care of yourself, feel great and STILL be there for your family :o)





Then the e-mail from Shane letting me know that I was in! WOO HOOO! and bit of OMG!



The next 12 weeks that followed have changed me to the core some good some bad. Mer, one of our trainers and someone I would call a Phat friend her accident...that was not good. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her and wonder, "What would she do?" or just remember times that I spent with her and her positive attitude......



Now the good things that happened are too many to post but a few that come to mind is how much fun I had with the team. As I said before I use to just workout on my own and run in the night so no one could see me. But being with these girls had to force me to be with people while working out and in the spirit of teamwork, pay attention to what others were doing around me and either help them or ask them for help...a very humbling experience...but the best thing that came out of that was the laughing. Believe it or not you CAN laugh while you are grunting thru the pain LOL!! and it makes it funner...if that's a word.

A few times while I was out there training either in the woods or on the road I would think to myself, "What am I doing here?" "How did I get here?" "Do I even belong here?"......I'm starting to feel that I DO belong out there, it was waiting for me all along :D


So with that all said and done, the training is done the numbers have been tallied the final two have been announced and now it's the night before......

A lot of people are asking me if I am excited, I say yes but I'm not really sure what it is to be excited about...I just have to wait and see. But I keep picturing me and my team out there doing great and being great. I REALLY hope that they have the underwater point this year and that the thunder holds off cause I'm REALLY excited about getting those!!! I know I'm a geek, the idea of diving into gross muddy, sea weedy water to get some sweet ass points for my team excites me...just like the sweet tread on my new trail shoes that Saucony gave me, also floats my boat...sexy LOL!



So I haven't pack yet and it's 4pm Friday afternoon. I still have to ship the kido's off to Grandmas cause my husband will be coming up to the race with me. A weekend away without the kids, this is what you call a romantic weekend away! LOL!..."I'll just scoot off and do the race for 4 hrs then be right back hun" :D....however on a MORE important note, my nails are Rock Star ready!!!

The race starts at 2pm on Sat July 24/10. Racedayrush's facebook page will be doing live updates so click here for them. Of course it will all be taped and I'll post the video when it's done.

OMG! OMG! here I go......


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Pictures say it all :D

The amazingly awesome woman that I trained with!






The other winner and my teammate Amy!!!





Two of our trainers from Racedayrush.com







One VERY happy and excited ME!!!

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Nuf said..

WOW long time no blog...... that's what happens with a mother of two young kids and then add in a third for dayacare mon-fri and that equals no time to sit down and one tired mama!

The last training day that we had was about two weeks ago now...and it was F'N HARD!!! We were at Mountsberg Conservation which I HAD fond memories of with my children going to Christmas Town and getting a private visit with Santa, but now a long string of curse words comes to mind when I think of that place PLUS Shane's voice yelling "GET BACK ON YOUR BIKE!!!!!!!"

So it was atleast 2hrs we had a map and ourselves we had to run a part then bike then run then bike then up the stairs of the observation tower to do 10 push-ups at the top then repeat that 5 times!!! only to finish off with 15 burpees on the ground and then back on the bike to the end of the path...pant, pant, pant.......then of course we got to bike back :) CRAZY AWESOME!!! However thouse were not the words running through my head at the time! LOL! Infact for the first time on this journey I thought to myself, "I can't do this!, I don't want to do this!, I want to stop!" and I was SO fustrated when I had to get off my bike and walk it up some of the hills....never mind adding in Shane yelling at us, "Get back on your bike!!!" LOL! That poor boy, I'm sure he heard "fuck you!" from us ladies more that day then I think anyone in one life time would hear!!! ......We love you Shane!!!! =)


Once it was all done we were a wet, muddy, happy crew :) (see picture above)


As we were relaxing with the treats that Shane brought us and basking in his complements......he's such a big softy ;) It was mentioned that that was our last training together before the big race. I was very sad to hear about this and wondered what I would do with my Sun's now! Part of me wishes this wouldn't come to an end but the another part is REALLY excited to do the race. What's awesome is that 7 out of the 10 of us have signed up to do the race anyways, so who ever wins the two spots...well it's just an added bonus :D


So this is it folks!...Thurs, July 15th, we will be told who the 2 ladies are. Wish me luck, all my family and friends tell me that I am a 'sure thing' but I don't know cause I see a lot of other 'sure things' in our group as well....stay tune...da da da daaaaaaaaaaa...

Then and Now

THEN-I was happy for my life....NOW-I enjoy living my life!


THEN- I was happy to hear about other peoples experiences in life....NOW- I go out and experience it with them


THEN- I didn't feel like my insides matched my outsides......NOW- I feel complete


THEN- I sat on the couch watching shows of others doing amazing things.....NOW- I'm doing the amazing things, like training for this RockStar Adventure race and for my first Triathlon in Sept!


THEN- The clothes picked me. I had to buy whatever fit me....NOW- I PICK THE CLOTHES!!!!!


THEN- I would sweat when I ate.......NOW- I sweat 6 days a week working out with Phat Chicks and Raceday Rushers



THEN- I wouldn't have had the courage to move forward in the face of fear and the unknown.......NOW- I feel the fear but still move forward


NOW- Check out the video of our AMAZING training day. It was a chance to get a taste of what the real race will be like. Shane and Neil hide their balls all over the forest at different check points and we had to race to find them, get the colour and be the first out.....check out who the first team was!!!! BOO-YA BABY!!!!!














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First Time Proud Momments 8-)

It still amazes me that the small action I did last fall of sliding off the couch and deciding to do sit-ups during commercials has exploded into the wonderfulness that is my fulfilled life today! Who ever says that big things come from small actions is SO right.

We had the Moon in June race this weekend and I signed my 3 1/2yr up for the kids 1k fun run, that they have now changed the name of to honour Meredith...very cool! I wasn't sure how my son was going to react to doing the race so for days before I talked to him about it. Explaining how we will be like race cars and go really fast. At one point he asked me if we were going to run the race with our clothes on!!! LOL! LOL! How he thought to ask that I have NO idea!!....however I don't care how fit you are you need to have clothes on when you run! :P

I had tears in my eyes as we started the race and as we finished and I saw the smile of excitement and fun on his face. I was SO proud of him my heart hurt. I also had a moment a moment that I hope every mommy gets a chance to experience and that was, I felt I was being a good mother. It's every mothers hope to be a good mother but I don't think that many get the chance to feel that they really are one. While running the race with him I did! I realized that I was the reason why this was happening, a year ago on a Sat night we would have been at home watching movies and eating pop, chips and dip....but look at us now. Last Sat night I was able to physically be there for my child, give him an experience that he will remember for awhile and help to build his self-esteem :D






So all you mommies out there STOP!........stop and think and list all the ways that you ARE a great Mom! In fact I want you to write it in the comment box below this post...LETS HEAR IT LADIES!!! Then take your hand and use it to pat yourself on the back...it's OK you can do it....your family won't fall apart while you do it and in fact you will be giving them a happier Mom.

I was more excited about my sons race then I was mine. But I did the 5k afterwards and my goal was to be under 30min....drum roll please!........29:56! WOOO! HOOOO! I always find it so helpful to have a goal in mind like that. It helps me push out that little bit more.

Now the next morning was our 1 1/2hr Phat Chicks boot camp a$$ kick for the RockStar Adventure Race training and it was a good one!!! I told Susie that she hurt me deep...deep down in my butt and in my abs oh!.... baby!.. I LOVE the pain! Although I do some pretty hard core workouts on my own nothing effects me like what Susie does to us, and that's why I keep coming out for more.

And as always I am impressed with the rest of the girls on the team getting through it too!

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Canoeing, Keys and stroking....

So another awesome wickedly wild day training with the team!

We were at Kelso today in the canoes and I tell ya I don't know what's more fun the rush of the race OR making Shane and Neil from Racedayrush.com uncomfortable with our comments LOL!!

We were put in boats as teams of two and I don't think that I could have been teamed up with a better person...you ROCK MEL!!!! Once we realized that we worked better with her in the back yelling out instructions and me in front just given'er on the paddle we were good :)

First things we learned was different types of strokes, which gave us many times to make the guys blush with some double meaning jokes 8-). Mel and I just couldn't get the stroke down where we had to spin the canoe on the spot. We were both paddling away with all our might but we just stayed in the same spot LOL!

Of course the racedayrush boyz bring out some fun and games...but no chocolate milk ;)...So up next was a 'race challenge' and a lesson in transitioning from running the getting in the canoe and out on the water. Right away my game tiger comes out...I was talking with Mel about how we were going to get in the boat the best and fastest way. We started at the top of the hill and had to run down then get in the canoe and get a beach ball that they put out in the lake. We weren't the first down the hill, but we weren't the last either but let me tell you once we hit that canoe it was power house Van Awesome up front and given'er!!!! WOOO HOOOO!! It was great. I just looked down and watched the water rush by the boat as I dug in the water hard with my paddle. Mel would yell out to me to switch sides and I would do it and keep going. We were the first to get a ball but 5sec afterwards I heard Shannon say "Ya!" that's when I knew they had gotten a ball and the race back to shore was on! My arms were getting tired and I was getting hot and even starting to breath heavy but I just clamped down and kept paddling. We made to the shore but were going so fast that we almost hit another boat with a family in it LOL...so I jumped out at that point and heaved the canoe over and up on shore all the while hearing Shane who was standing on the shore yell , "Both people out of the boat and run to me to win!!" I yelled, "Lets go MEL!!! because Amy and Shannon were right beside us at the shore.....we ran to Shane and by second and inches WON!!!!!!! OMG I LOVE that!! I use to think that winning by a mile was great but winning by an inch is awesome!!! It shows that people were pushing me and I was able to squeeze out that last drop.

Of course the day couldn't end without some drama. We did have some of the teams tip in their canoe and go for an early swim :) Only problem was one of the bags that went in the water had half the teams car keys it it....ooopppps they are all now swimming at the bottom of the lake. The good thing is that with a few phone calls to husbands to bring the extra keys and rides home from others on the team the situation was fixable :)....it's the curse of the keys I tell ya! Tracey lost hers in the woods on one of our training days too :z

I was dropped off at my moms were my family was having a BBQ and when I walked in they all looked at me and said,"What have you been doing?!" LOL I was in my wet clothes and sandy wet shoes still and was sun burnt to a crisp from standing around waiting to fix the key problem at the lake. I said, " I'll tell you later I just need something to EAT!!! and some water!" Every ones stuff was in their cars including my bag that I had packed extra water and snacks in. I piled everything on my hamburger, didn't look at the box to see how many calories it was, didn't check it out to see if the portion size was right I just rammed that thing in my mouth and next I hit the potato salad....sometimes a girls just gotta eat!!!

As a side note I have to add. As I do these things I can not help but compare to how I use to be when I was over 250lbs. I NEVER would have been out there doing this stuff, having this fun, winning these races and believing...truly believing, for the first time in myself! WOW! how things have changed and it all started with me sliding off the couch one day and doing sit-ups during the commercials. I am SO grateful for my new healthy way of life and ALL the adventure it brings me.


xoxo

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Swagged out biker chick

Ok so I just had thee BEST night of my life!!!

Was great to start the night off with Suzie-Q from Phat Chicks jumping around on the field with us as we did some warm up exercises.

Then we were off!!....on our bikes to do some bike trail training. I was so excited about what we were going to do tonight that I had a hard time falling asleep last night cause I was thinking about it, LOL!!!....Although I also had a little tingle in my tummy to...that was the fear, but I wasn't listening to that tonight. As Neil and Shane from Race Day Rush sign off on their e-mails "Onward!"

Our first skill we learned was going down and back up curbs. This skill will also help us in the trails going over logs, rock and who knows what else. So I made it over my first curb by holding my breath, leaning down into the bike (like we were told to do ) and pulling up to go over.....and closing my eyes!...I made it and it wasn't that hard, I was surprised and I'm happy to say I can do it now without having to hold my breath and close my eyes :)

Next skill, going down and then back up a hill with roots and rocks. Neil showed us how to do and the dude was like a hot knife thru butta. The need to have to go fast in order to get to the other side scared me I must say. I didn't make it all the way up the first time, but the next two times I did. I learned that I had to let the bike kind of go a little...without loosing control and just trust that if I keep pedaling it will work itself out...and it does, very cool!

We continued on to do a fun relay race with each other through the forest and back. I find it REALLY makes a difference in me when I have to race someone or something. The killer in me kicks in and I'm off! I jump high mounds, take sharp curves with ease and love every min of it. My killer in me came out again when we stopped by the river and then were shown a Suunto heart monitor,

We were told that the first 3 that carried their bike across the river and back would win one.....I was off my bike and in the river before Shane finished his sentence LOL, it was so fun and the water was refreshing. So my heart monitor is pink woooo hooooo (thanks Joyce for trading with me!)

Then it was time to head home, my feet were soaked and gushy, my pants right thru to my underwear were soaked and I LOVED it.

Now the hill.....awww the hill. We had a crazy hill to bike up in order to get out of Lions Valley. Matt Merko from Saucony had already rocked our world with free shirts, hats and shoes bags but he turned to us as we were heading to the hill and blew us away by saying,"Who ever rides the hill the whole way up will get prizes from Saucony!" AWESOME!!!!.......I couldn't do it :( but I tried HARD!! But one girl out of the 8 of us did, my frigg'n hero Shannon!!!! Matt said that if she did it again he would make the prize new shoes....so what does the girlfriend do?!....goes back to the bottom and rides the whole way up again!?!!!!....unfrigg'n believable!

The ride back to the car was AWESOME, I love the speed the wind in my face and blowing in my ears...I was on a high and still am. This may be the second time in over four years on a bike but I was SO thankful that I was fit enough to, first be able to even do this tonight and that I was strong enough that I didn't struggle much and therefore was able to have FUN :)

Now this swagged out biker chick is going to go do a face plant into my pillow...thanks for coming along for the ride :D


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My heart is two steps behind...

I don't think of Mer every min of the day like I did when she first passed but I still think of her at many points during my day. I contuine to exercise and do my homework that is given to us for the race, but as I physically move through the motions I feel like my heart is still back there with Meredith.

I never use to need to hear peoples words of encouragment while I was exerciseing to keep me going before. They were nice to hear but I wasn't in need of them...these days I seem to need them!?

We did our trail run training on Sun and it was just a beauitful day for it, the only thing that would have made it better is if all the ladies of the team could have made it :(....we missed you chicks for sure!

But we needed to run the whole way...and I didn't. Not because I couldn't...I guess just cause I gave up. Which is REALLY strange for me. One of the times I was walking I was thinking to myself about the reason why I stopped running...this is when I realized that I can physically move but my heart seems to be two steps behind me.

As I finished off the trail, I was walking it and planned to finish it walking. But Amy who had already finished turned around and yelled, "Come ON Gail!!!"...and I thought, "AW crap alright" and I finished the trail running. I realized it was a strange feeling that I needed thouse words of encouragement....strange and I don't really know where I'm going with this but I'll have to do it one step at a time I guess. Good thing the 'big guy in the sky' knows what he's doing and put me in with a great group of ladies who are very encouraging...dude knows what I need before I need it :D

So our homework has increased and we will be needing to be working out 6 days a week, good thing I already workout 4-6 a week already GESH!

But as a stay at home mama with two little kids who are with me pretty much 24/7 I'm going to have to get creative...so the plan tonight is take the kids out to the field behind my house, plop them in the middle of the field with some balls and other toys while I run and do my exercise. Then head home to bath them put them to bed, give my hubby a high five in the hallway as he comes home from his second job and I head out to do swimming training at the pool for the Tri that I am doing in Sept....man I feel tired just typing it!

Ok I better head out before I change my mind :)

Long time no blog

So it's been awhile since I have blogged but it's been for good reason. I have been speechless, which NEVER happens but unfortunately it was for a sad reason that rocked me to my core.

After showing up two Thurs ago to the Phat Chicks boot camp only to find Suzie and Meredith weren't there I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I found out the next day that Meredith had been out biking and had an accident and she was not going to survive the injuries..........I was speechless. This is NOT supposed to happen! She passed away Fri afternoon....I was in shock (and still am)

WOW! I could go on forever about all the thoughts that were in my head but in the end I am speechless.

On that Fri afternoon I texted Suzie saying, " It doesn't feel right just sitting here. Can I do something?" Her reply was, " Go for a run Mer would like that"....cue the water works.....but once I got the kids down I put on my Phat Chicks shirt and went for a 5k run, it was the right thing to do to honour such a beautiful person.

On the Sun all the Phat Chicks gathered at La Salle park for a meeting. Meredith's sister and mother and other family members came out and it was great to see Suzie so I could give her a hug........

.....ok whoa see this is why I haven't been able to blog, I'm crying as I type this.....

I just want to say that on the day of her funeral in honour of Meredith I woke up at 5:30am...ok it was 5:40am and went for a 6k run...straight down to the lake and back. As I was running I let Meredith know that I was breaking one of my rules for her....rule #1 I don't do cold! rule # 2 I don't do EARLY!!!....however the run was awesome and beautiful and I totally see why Mer loved them. So I'm thinking for the future.....screw the rules :D

The funeral....speechless. I feel like I'm going to see her again and be able to tell her all about what has happened...but I'm not.

Now the fat chick inside me...and yes I mean fat with an F. Well her voiced popped up on that Fri night and she was saying, " Just eat a bunch of crap food, shove your pie hole as much as you can, sit on that couch and wallow. Don't move don't get up" But because Meredith and Suzie have been such a positive influence to me in this new healthy way of life I just knew that was not the right thing to do and would make them very sad, that's why I went for that first run. I was glad to see that was my reaction because I always wonder/worry that something will happen that will trigger me to go back to my old unhealthy lifestyle. So the score is Phat chick 1 and fat chick ZERO!!!!!

So I continue on.... I missed the next training session with the team and I'm sad I did it was one I was looking forward to. But I brought the workout homework that we are supposed to do through the week with me on my vacation and every morning I went running on the beach one way, got down on the sand and did my inch worms and planks then ran back the other way and did the workout in the sand again...it was awesome! and I got a lot of looks but I didn't care I felt great :) My sister couldn't believe that I was exercising on vacation but what she doesn't get is that I enjoy it and it made the trip even better....I mean the last time I exercised on vacation was...oh....NEVER! LOL. I LOVE my new life and the people it's lead me to meet.

During one of my runs on the beach I was thinking that what ended up happening to Meredith was because she lived her life and put herself out there.....I've decided that I would rather die while putting myself out there then be safe and unhealthy sitting on the couch!

R.I.P. my running angel....


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From 0 to 20 in 4yrs

Ok so I'm just guessing it's been 4yrs or more that I have last been on my bike. But last week I made a commitment to a friend that I would bike his 12k route that he does because I knew that our biking training was coming up this weekend.

OMG I LOVED it!!! It reminded me of when I was little and spent the WHOLE summer on my bike and went everywhere.....the wind in my ears and weaving in and out of paths....very cool. We even had a deer run out of the forest across our path to join the other two over in the bush....very cool!

I have to give a shout out to my friend for deciding to do a superman off his bike instead of hitting me....he he...sorry about that. But I am here to report that after I left him at his house and continued on to do a full 20k I wiped out too!! LOL! It was awesome.....missed a curb but recovered by going onto someones lawn..only problem I picked a lawn that had a knee deep hole in it!!!...which I made it over safely by holing my breath and closing my eyes...just when I thought that I was in the clear and went to go back on the sidewalk my wheel got caught along the side of the sidewalk and I ended up on the other side of the sidewalk on the grass...I have grass burn on my leg and a sore thumb from I don't know what....I LOVE it cause that's HARDCORE BABY!!!!

So pretty good for not riding for over 4yrs to doing 20k :)

Oh and P.S....running at night cool! Biking at night...not cool...unless you like the taste of bugs! ;P

Cheeks burning red, dripping sweat, carpet burns.....

OOOhhhh baby! Is it getting hot in here or is it just ME!! ;)

To bad it's not what you think LOL...I was doing my homework people!!

After our training yesterday with the other 9 awesome girls and the Phat Chicks Suzie and Mer...who by the way I have nicknamed, 'Jumping Jellybean' (Suzie) and 'Spunky Monkey' (Mer) LOL!!...but you can find out more about them here
http://www.phatchicks.com/phat-chicks.php

AND after getting an e-mail from Shane from Racedayrush
http://www.racedayrush.com/train/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=57 Explaining about our biking training next Sun I was PUMPED!!!!!

So since I was sick last week I didn't finish all of my homework. So tonight with kids in bed and hubby gone out it was me, the TV and my living room floor. I did last weeks home work PLUS this weeks homework...wow...my arms were shaking SO much...f'n crab crawls!!! The Cat is looking at me as I crab crawl over him LOL!!! I just know he's thinking, "Crazy human!" A few times I wanted to stop or just do some other moves that I knew would be easier OR do less of the reps that we had to......BUT I am here to report that I did it ALL and I did it RIGHT!!

That's why I now have big red circles of carpet burn on my knees and elbows, HE HE HE! kind of brings back memories of days before we had kids....but that my friends is a WHOLE other blog! LOL ;o

Love is what makes you smile when your tired :)

So my brain has been trying to escape out of my nose since Thurs morning...in the form of a bad cold. So I didn't get to finish my second round of my homework :(. I had to rest, which I know is really important in order to feel better BUT I hate that something holds me back when I just want to get out and get going!!!!

Now normally I don't like to complain or grunt and groan about exercise I find that it effects my mind set and stops me from pushing through. So instead I keep it in and use the energy to get through it instead...but I must say that when I looked out in the backyard this morning and saw our umbrella blown over and the rain coming down, my snot filled head and already sore and achy body let out a BIG sigh!

But I suited up and showed up anyway with thoughts of seeing how much I could do/get through. I wasn't sure as I don't normally workout while sick.....The rain came down and the wind was a blow'n......which by the way BREAKS my rule #2!!! 1. I don't do early and 2. I don't do COLD!!!!....but seeing the other girls smiling faces and everyone joking around I soon forgot about the weather.

Today we were split into two groups. One did a circuit of exercise as the the other group ran through the marsh doing other exercise....my group from the start decided that we were going to stick together when it was our turn to go through the marsh. That was cool I liked that experience it was different than just trying to go hardcore and beat my personal best. It forced me to be aware of things past my runny, snotty, sore nose LOL!

When we were done it hit me....my body was like, "WTF did you just do to me!!??" I was SO cold I couldn't even move my hands and even my insides were shaking...oh boy I'm done for the day! So I said a fast good-bye to everyone and ran to my car to crank the heat...I sat there for 10min with my hands on the heater...as soon as I got home I went to the shower and had thee hottest shower EVER!!! Oh it felt good!...I was just able to heat myself some soup for lunch and sit and eat it with my husband and kids at the table....I was trying to figure out what I was going to do cause I was sure I had nothing left in me, but my husband and children are all sick too.

As I sat there sipping my HOT Green tea trying to warm my insides my three year old comes up to me and said, "Mommy I want to give you a kiss!" I replied with an ok and asked him why he's giving me a kiss. He explained, "Because you are the best mommy EVER!!!"....that was then followed with my 15mth wanting to do EVERYTHING his big brother does, so he came over to give me a big snotty, drooling kiss too!.....suddenly my mommy power kicked in with a big smile. I bundled up the kids and went to Sport Check to buy a light for my bike then took the kids to the mall to get something at Tim Horton's and look at the puppies and kittens in the pet store....and I thought I had nothing left in me :)

I hope to be the hero that my children see me as!


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