The Island Girl race......AWESOME!!!!!!

So I did the Island girl race today and it was AWESOME!!!!! I did the half marathon relay with a girlfriend Steph who has gotten into running herself. So we each ran 10.5k....so to date this is the longest race that I have done.

Now I have been having issues these days with negative thinking while running and REALLY not liking it!! Especially since I have to do a lot of running these days to train for the half marathon that I will be doing in Oct. I was talking to the 'big guy' (God) the other day about this problem and clear as a bell a I just heard a voice say, "Run with me!'.....I thought, "Huh! run with God eh! " Guess I don't have to do it alone if I don't want to.

So Steph went out first so I had sometime to hang out for a bit. The race was on T.O island and I went and sat on the beach and looked out at the lake (it was a beautiful day!! Sunny but with a nice wind) and I did a little praying again.....what came out of it was a few tears and plea from me to the 'big guy'....." I don't care about doing good! I just want to FEEL good!".......

So the run was AWESOME!!!! The warm up of the first 3-4k wasn't so bad as I just started the run with a chillaxed attitude of, "What a beautiful day!...let's go for a run!"......when I got to the 6k mark the route was right beside the water all down the board walk. You couldn't ask for anything better!! The sun was shinning off the water, there was a great breeze and the view of T.O was breath taking........That part of the run saved my butt!!! I was sailing along faster then I thought I could...I even was passing people!!! Now normally in a race I pass people at the start but then later get passed by everyone!!! But this time, I was never mind catching up to people and passing them, but I stayed past them!!!! They never caught up!!?!?!? OMG!!! When I hit the 10k mark my time was at 56min!!! That beat my last best time on a 10k of 60min! I was pumped and feeling good!



Before the race started Steph said to me that she would meet me just before the finish line and run in with me.....I got a little teary eyed I never had that before I had always crossed the finish line by myself.

We hope our finish line picture turns out well and I will post it once they send it out.

I have to say, this was JUST what I needed!!! I feel great...great about my running, great seeing other woman out there and giving me hope today who were running the full half marathon on their own and confident in my abilities with what I am doing and what I will be doing.....just what I needed :-))))))





P.S. Check out all the awesome free stuff we got in our kit! If anyone is thinking of doing a race I HIGHLY recommend this one!!! Because it's all woman it's SO friendly and the route is flat and so nice.....I'll be out there next year doing the full half marathon :-O







'Live in YOUR Awesome!'



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Janet's then & now-----> check this girl out!!!!

So I had to share this! Janet has given me permission to show her pic of her then and now. She is a client that I started working with at the start of the summer. So with a mixture of getting her butt kicked by me and doing a running clinic, working out on her own and checking out a bootcamp not only has Janet's looks changed but so has her attitude and self confidence!!

Way to live in your awesome Janet!!!!



'Live in YOUR Awesome!'




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Half way thru the challenge!!!

I realized that it was the 15th!!! We are half way through our 30 day challenge...how is everyone doing?
I have remembered everyday to take my vitamins I have them lined up and ready to go in a bowl by my phone cause that is where it will remind me every morning. As the kids are eating I check my phone for work e-mails...it's worked out great!! I even order a bunch more vitamins that I should be taking from Shaklee. I was brought up on this stuff and it has been around for over 30yrs in Canada and even longer in the States. Plus my Dad sells it and is able to tell me all the right stuff to take. If you check out his website and have any questions or want to order something just let me know and I will order it for you at my cost and not the marked up cost....but shhhh don't tell my Dad! LOL! And on a plus side I have also been remembering to give my kids their Shaklee vitamins too!!


So the 30min quit 'me time'... one day I missed it and I am pretty impressed that it has only been one day! I have had 'me time' in the form of, doing my nails, reading the paper rather then just opening it and grabbing the flyers, reading in the afternoon, having a nap (that's my fav) even sitting down to dinner on my own and reading a magazine...instead of gobbling up my food and moving on. It was nice to just stop and enjoy for a moment :) I find it's now become part of my day and I find myself asking "what am I going to do for 'me time' today?"






'Live in YOUR Awesome'



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What happens when the music dies....

So I went out on my long run today to train for my half marathon in Oct. I ran 12.88k and my music crapped put on me at 9.5k...sucks....as I didn't want to stop and fix it or see what was wrong cause really I just wanted to get the F home at that point! :S

So now I'm running with just me and my brain...not so good! Now I don't know about you but I am able to have like 5 different conversations in my head at once. So voice #1 was listening as voice #2 and voice #3 had a talk that went like this:


V2: Crap this is hard!....why do I do things that are SO hard!?

V3: because its a good challenge and it makes you fell good once you are done it

V2: But you just did the Triathlon and that was hard already and now this half marathon!....it's too many hard things all at once! You shouldn't do this marathon you need more time in between......

V3: And that's why I signed up and paid at the start of the year so that I couldn't back out!

V2: BUT IT'S HARD!!!!

V3: Yes it is hard, but I set a goal and I'm going to stick to it and finish it

V2: So your going to do the half marathon then!?

V3: YUP!

V2: crap



LOL!!!! Ok so I NEED to get my music fixed ASAP!!! LOL!!!....also something new I tried today was wearing a water belt. Now that I am going further I NEED water cause the gum is just not cutting it. So check me out ready to go out for my run this morning with my new fancy-smancy water belt on :) And YES my hair band matches my coat! :-) I LOVE being all matchy-matchy!




'Live in YOUR Awesome!'





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Certified!!!

Well this has been a big week for me! Two really hard things I have done came to an end :)


First was the race and second was getting my Personal Trainer Certificate!!!!!.....I was waiting for like 2 weeks to hear if I passed my last test I had to do in the gym. I was thinking they would send me an e-mail but after 5 days I realized it would be coming by snail mail :s

So on Tues night as I was heading out to the Mommy's/Babe's in Motion after race get together, I realized I hadn't checked the mail that day. As I pulled the mail out of the box I saw the big white envelope and the CPTN sign....OMG! OMG!!! It came!...it felt like there was a lot of stuff in it and I thought, " Oh great I failed and they sent me the book to re-study" LOL!!!.....but I quickly opened it and looked for the letter....as soon as I saw Congratulations I started crying my eyes out!! " OH my god I did it!....this has been a big week of hard scary things for me....and I did it!!...Thank you God!"

I called my husband right away to tell him through the tears that I did it!....I then had to fix up my make-up and drive to meet the team and share the good news with Coach Nancy!

This is just SO awesome for me as I have in the past had a history of starting off something with a bang but as it started to get hard and not as much fun as it is work....I tend to peter out and not finish. But this was a passion that I had. In fact it was last summer that I said to my Phat Chick trainer I was going to get my Personal Trainer Certificate just for my own knowledge....it just turned out that I ended up starting a business were having this came in handy too.

I'm just really excited about the doors that this opens for me now and REALLY looking forward to all the learning thats still ahead! :-)





'Live in YOUR Awesome!'



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The video!!

Ok folks here is the video from the Mommy's/Babe's in Motion team. It shows us training all through the summer every Tues night and our race that was on the long weekend :)

Tri Tri again!

Ok so today was the Sprint Triathlon that I have been training all summer for with Mommy's/Babes in Motion :) (670m swim, 20k bike, 5k run)

It's double the distance I did last year and for some reason I wasn't very nervous about it...I was pretty calm...in fact too calm! LOL! I was so busy taking pictures and video for our video I'm making and talking to another first timer that I almost missed my wave going out! I noticed a lot of purple caps in the water and I was purple. When I went to check I was told "You need to be in the water NOW!!" and they were on the 30sec count down.....so no chance to get nervous or care if the water was cold or not.....3..2...1...GO!!!! OH OK! :S


So the swim felt great and even though I was being passed by some people who started in the wave behind me I didn't care. Hopped out onto the bike and for the first 20min the energy chew I took sat like a rock in my stomach :S....but after that I was ok....LOVED the down hill coming back and of course let out a big, "YAAAAAAA HOOOOOO!!!" and also every time I saw another red shirt of a teammate we gave out a holla!!! It was great we were hooting and holla-ing to each other all through the race course :)

Now when I came in from off the bike Oh BOY!!! my quads were like, "OK I'm done!" This is the 'brick' part of the race. As I was getting ready I couldn't help but dread the VERY hilly run ahead. As I stood up from tying my shoes I just had this split second moment were I wanted to bend down and cry....but instead I started out on the run course.....ok around the first loop...I stopped and walked where I needed to and didn't care...I was going to finish this sucker running, walking or crawling. I really don't know how I got through it without listening to any music, but I did the hilly loop twice for my 5k....I am sure it was seeing all the other Mommy's in Motion girls out there pushing themselves too that kept me going.....

I finished sprinting faster then I planned cause Coach Nancy was running beside me saying/yelling, "COME ON GAIL UNLEASH THE FIRE!!!!!!....pass that girl in front of you....ok now lets go get another one!!!!" LOL!!!!....When I was done I thought I was going to throw-up and I was seeing spots...so I sat down not even caring where me family was.....my 4yrs found me and ran up to me with a big hug saying, " Mommy you were the fastest!!!" I replied with, " Thanks buddy, but I wasn't the fastest and that was ok because it was really hard and I did my very best and I am happy with that....and look they gave me a medal cause I had so much fun"



Ok so I must say...That was fucking hard!!!! I think the hardest thing I have done so far...I was totally not prepared for that and I am very proud of myself cause I was pushed way outside my comfort zone and I still kept moving. Last year the race I felt was a cake walk so whenever anyone heard I did a Triathlon and said, "Oh wow that's really great" I kind of just surged it off as no biggy.... BUT now when people say, " Oh wow good for you" I will reply with, " Yes thank you!!!!" I earned that baby!!!

Hardest thing to date..........


Also the video will be posted in a few days stayed tuned :)



'Live in YOUR Awesome'


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No pictures please!

So today I experienced a first. We got family pictures done from J9 Photography. So getting the pictures done was not the first time but how I felt doing it was new to me. I was excited and looking forward to it!

The first client I ever had for my business 'Bring out YOUR Awesome' I remember her saying when we were talking about her goals, "I know this sounds funny but I want to get family pictures done"..... I totally understood what she was talking about.

When your big pictures are NOT fun! Trying to hide behind everyone or trying to suck in your huge gut while looking like your NOT sucking in your huge gut. Or placing the children on my lap to cover the stomach and large thighs....yup these and other stuff are all the things that run through your head when your big.....then later looking at the pictures and always being disappointed how everyone looks great...but me, OR how my body takes up half the picture :(....not fun.

So last week when I booked our shot I was so excited and looking forward to it :)....I figured that I would need to wake up 1/2hr sooner because I would have to go through a few different outfits....which is what I had to do before....but this time I stood looking at my closet and thought, " I want something comfortable and summery"......so I grabbed my blue dress and that was it!....while we were taking pictures I wasn't worried about hiding behind the kids or if I was in front or not.....MY GOD!!! It was great! I'm comfortable with how I look and feel. What freedom! :).....I almost started getting teary eyed as I told the photographer about how picture before were SO horrible and how great I feel today.


Thanks J9 Photography for giving me another first!





'Live in YOUR Awesome!'


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