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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Run Forest ruuuuuuuuunnnnnnnn!

So after my 5k run the other day (which by the way I didn't run the whole way I had a few 1-2min walking breaks) I had it in my head that was going to do a different route...(cause that's how fast I get bored) from my house to the lake it's 3k and it's a straight line of sidewalk. So my goal was to run to the lake the whole 3k without stopping. I was so excited about this, all day it was on my mind.

So after a day of doing my motherly duties of attending play dates, wiping noses and butts, cheering on peeing in the toilet, making sandcastles in the sand box, holding a bowl for my 3yr to puke into...which he missed and spit right in my face, doing bath time and being sure to clean the sand out of both the boys ears and puke of the face, reading 'My Pretty Kitty' and 'How do I love you' followed by lots of wonderful hugs and kisses.......I was ready, it was my time now! So I washed the puke off my face and got changed.

I like running at night for some reason....maybe because I HATE having to wake up early. This Mama LOVES her sleep, plus the cool in the air gives me energy...it's refreshing.

So I put on my gear..which by the way I think I'm starting to look pretty hot in and the smile that my husband had on his face when he say me confirms that ;) I told him about my goal of running the whole 3k to the lake, he said "Cool, good luck!"...I got my tunes pumping in my ear and my iPhone app, RunKeeper set (it tracks me GPS and tells my how far I run, time, calories burned and shows me my route I took on a google map....very cool) as I was heading out the door I turned to my husband and said, "I was going to say here goes nothing, but really here goes something!".......and I was off!!

First hurtle to over come is learning how to catch my breath without stopping... I did it! Once I did that I KNEW I was going to make it.......then I made it to the lake, but I felt good so I turned the corner and keep running!!!! I had a spot in mind that I would run to then stop to walk.....but I passed that spot and kept running!!!!! at that point I decided and KNEW I was going to run the rest of the way home...the whole way I kept thinking about how I was going to tell my husband this. In the end I ran 6.57k! I could not even believe that my legs kept moving......the power of the mind is an amazing thing!

Ok now time to do my homework...I'm all warmed up now :) I LOVED it, I had sweat dripping from my chin...I sweat like a man and I LOVE it. I even beat the number of burpees I did in a min during my fit test on Sat :)...so I tracked how many of each exercise I did so that when I do it again this week I will try to beat those numbers. I find that to be a good way to push myself.

So I'm still getting over the shock of running all that way tonight, I'll give it sometime to sink it. In the mean time...cue the face plant into my pillow.....



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Blog head

Blog blog blog...OMG!!!

Ok I was never a 'blogger' OR blog reader before, however now that I am required to blog about my journey it is forcing me to think about what I am doing and what I think and feel about it. So all through the day all I think ablout is how will write about what I'm doing right now ahhhhhh....bolg..blog...blog!

I was so excited all week for our first workout. I wanted to see how the group would be together, PLUS we were going to be outside in a new area ( I love change!!) and I knew that we would probable start off with some sort of fit test and I wanted to see were my starting point was.

Well on Saturday I had already signed up 3 months ago to raise money for WWF http://wwf.ca/cntower/ and climb the CN tower, then I found out last Sun that our first group workout was going to be on Sat too....o......k...

Let me explain...... This was the starting point for me with this whole mental change that started before my whole physical change.......Feb last year I was watching my fav show, Biggest Loser and they were doing a challenge were they had to pull a car around a race track. I was thinking to myself that I wanted to do that...something crazy, something out of the box. Then a commercial came on for the WWF CN tower climb and I said out loud, "I'm going to do THAT!!!" So a totally AWESOME friend said she would do it with me. We had 2 rules...1. What happens in the tower STAYS in the tower 2. We leave no woman behind (we're not splitting up!)

WELL! Let me tell you! My mind might have been ready for the challenge of climbing all 1776 stairs, 144 flights........my body...not so much :z My goal was just to get to the top but being a Big Mac away from 300lbs I struggled A LOT! But my friend stuck with me ( it brings tear to my eyes as I write this) despite the fact that I told her to go on without me cause I was messing up her time (she wanted to do it in under an hour) We did it in 58min and 18sec....my friend did everything but put her hands on my ass and push! But she didn't leave me :D xoxox

So my Sat started at 12:30am with the baby puking and having a fever of 101, we cleaned up the poor little guy then back to bed only for me to be up at 5:30am to head to the T dot!.... I was pumped!!! This was going to be a good day :D

The climb was AWESOME and WAY!!!!!! better then last year. I felt great....I was used to sweating....I was use to breathing hard, so it didn't take me down this year. My girlfriend struggled with her legs hurting her so we took it at the pace she needed and stop to stretch when she needed. This time she was the one telling me to go on without her cause she was going to mess up my time (I wanted to take off 20min from our time from last year) BUT rule #2!!!!! we leave no woman behind, I was NOT leaving her especially cause of how she stuck with me last year. We made it in 41min 58sec, we took 17min off our time......but at one point during the climb I realized that I could probable do this in under 30min!!! It was so great to KNOW that I COULD do it but didn't need to prove it.....I choose my CN BFF instead!!!! and GOD that felt good :)


So great! now I am all sweaty and freezing and warmed up for our first training session. It was cool to see everyone all excited about the workout ahead. I knew that the others were unsure and a little scared (I know cause I remember feeling like that in the beginning too) but they were going to do it anyway...and I have A LOT of respect for that!

During the workout I did what I normally do.....zone out in my mind and keep moving my body. I'm not sure what the others did with their mind but they all kept moving and that's a big deal....if you ladies don't realize that, I'm telling you right now!................" YOU KEPT MOVING, even when you wanted to cry, even when you were sure you weren't going to EVER catch your breath again even when you thought you were going to puke..you kept moving....and THAT'S A BIG DEAL!!!!!!

Now I realized that I am not use to working out in a 'team'. I've been in classes with other people but I just do my own thing. How others are doing wasn't what was on my mind. But now how others are doing is important because they are part of my team and it's not just all up to me...which I kind of like, but I'll have to get use to it.......I'm going to practise CN tower climb rule #2 from now on :)

So we were given homework this week, a workout that we have to do twice before Sun...as a stay at home mom with two little amazing boys and a husband who works 2 jobs just so that I can stay home with our children I have a full plate... SIGH......and some days I must say...I'm tired! So I will have to be really creative with fitting everything into the week...I'll let you know how I do. I like that the homework is something I can do in my living while I watch CSI....I call that a 2 4 1 special...getting in a workout and being able to watch my show...love....it!

OH! and I have to add....today (Sun).............wait Suzie, Mer if you are reading this close your eyes now or just stop reading here...................Ok so I am not even sore from yesterday!!?! WTF is up with that?



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The Journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step...

I was thinking of this saying as I was jogging today and watching my feet move me along the pavement, because I was reflecting on my first run. It wasn't pretty let me tell you!

It was at night (so no one would see me) and my goal was to run down my street cross over and run back...the goal was to RUN the whole way. Well I dusted off the 'workout' clothes and my husbands was like, "Uh what are you doing?" I replied cheerfully, "I'm going for a run!"....now he's a smart man and knows that when I get something in my head I want to do he just needs to step out the way LOL......

So off I go down the street and oh man did the jiggle wiggle!!!! ooooooo BABY! so much so that my underwear fell down under my butt!!!! After pulling it up twice I realized it wasn't staying up and no one can see through my pants...so....I left it there and ran the rest of the way in my bare butt..so to speak LMAO!!!!!!

Today's run was MUCH different. First my underwear stayed put :) second it was in the morning during sunlight for ALL to see and I went along streets that had many cars. Third instead of just down the street I ran from Burloak to Appleby, up Appleby to Harvester and back down Burloak home....a total of 5.06KM!!!!!!! I never knew I had it in me!........I just ran 5KM just cause....who does that??!!

So as my feet were moving this morning I was remembering my first step on this journey....

Today was another first step in this journey of doing the RockStar Adventure Race. Hearing every bodies stories about where they came from was AWESOME! Hearing about what was involved in the race was CRAZY exciting!!! I see myself doing it...out there with the team, hot, tired, muddy, wet and LOOOOOOOOOVING it!

Now I must keep my wits about me cause although we are starting off as a team of 10 only a few of us will make to the race.....so the journey of 1000 miles continues with the second step......

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OK?!?!?

OK so after a crazy journey of a 70+lb weight loss and total change in the type of lifestyle I lead I'm looking for more crazy stuff to do. I LOVE LOVE being able to do these things for myself and still be able to be a great/happy mother and wife!....proving that yes all you mommy's out there it CAN be done and it's ok to do it......this is a mommy guilt free zone!!

So following right along with finding crazy stuff to do my first was last year when I climbed the CN tower...124 flights, 1776 stairs. I was watching one of my fav shows one night, Biggest Loser and they had a challenge of having to pull a car and I was like, "I want to do something crazy like that man!"...the next commercial was about climbing the CN tower and I was like..." I'm doing THAT!!!". My goal just to get to the top...and I did! You know how amazing it felt to do something even though you felt fear and uncertainty in your heart about it!!!!!!.....and I was hooked :D


So this years crazy thing......hmmmmm...lets enter a Adventure Race contest.....and I got in!! oh...ok..uh...oh God what have I done!??...........ok ok relax this is going to be great! I'm not sure how but I'm looking forward to the journey. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at the meet'n greet on Sun and finding out what it is I will have to do still to become one of the final four to do the race....so stay tuned!


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