The Winnipeg 10&10 10k would be my last race of the year. I had worked Friday night and slept most the day on Saturday. When I attempted to sleep Saturday night, I only managed maybe 2 hours of sleep and woke up about 4:30am. Having so much time that morning, I made myself a bacon and egg wrap. After eating, I finished getting ready and drove down town. I arrived to the site just after 8am. The 30k started at 7:30 and the 10 mile started at 8:00, so Steph and Bryan already started. I ran into Janelle and waited for our 8:30 start. She had ran the Electric Donkey 5k the night before and almost bailed on this morning's race, but I was glad to see a familiar face. She was wearing the black tech shirt that came with our kit and I commented that I don't like wearing the associated shirt for that race, because everyone looks the same. She liked it and said it was comfy.
The race started and we ran together for the beginning. 10 min run, 1 min walk and back to the run. After about 4 min I needed to rest again and told Janelle that I was hanging back. We wished each other luck and we separated. I continued to run as much as I could, but needed many rest walks. Maybe 15 min later, I spotted Janelle up ahead. I tried to pick up my pace while walking when needed, trying to catch up. I eventually caught up, let out a sigh, looked at her and realized it wasn't even Janelle. Just someone else who looked similar from behind wearing the same tech shirt. A little embarrassed, I got into a jog again hoping this girl didn't notice anything odd. She was wearing orange shoes and could not remember what color shoes Janelle was wearing. At about half a click to the turn around point Janelle passed by me and we waved. She was actually wearing pink/purple shoes.
I hit the halfway point, looped around and made my way back. The 2nd half was definitely slower. I could feel the effects of the lack of sleep as well as my breakfast wrap with no port-a-potties spotted on the way down. I did my best running and walking when needed. I don't recall at what point in my run this was, but I heard a Map My Run (MMR) alert through my ear buds. I thought to myself, that it couldn't be Bryan finishing the his 10 miles already, could it? The rest of the run was pretty uneventful, except with 1k left, we had to cross a street around some pylons. There was a big puddle on my left, so I ran just outside of it. All of a sudden my left hand hit something. I looked to my left and let out an ahh as it startled me. A man on a bike was trying to ride past me. Like wtf, there's so much room everywhere, yet he drives through a puddle that close to my left. Idiot.
I finally reached Broadway which was a down hill slope and across Osborne to the finish line. A girl placed a medal over my head and I grabbed a water. Bryan was waiting further up. He told me his time and told him about the MMR alert and figured it was him. I grabbed some chocolate milk and we got a picture taken at the finish line. We walked around a bit, but nothing at ManyFest was open yet. It wasn't even 10am and the food trucks didn't open for another hour. I decided to go home and take a nap, seeing as I was going to the Bomber game (CFL Football) that afternoon. The results were posted online a few days later. My time was 1:22:51.1. Faster than I thought, as I guessed between 1:25-30. Not bad, I'm satisfied enough with that time.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Twilight Run 2014 (Race Recap)
My surgery was scheduled for Sept 11th and thought I had ran my last race. The deadline for both the Twilight Run and Winnipeg 10&10 were quickly approaching. I spoke with some friends, Janelle was doing the Winnipeg 10k, Bryan was doing the 10 mile and Steph was doing the 30k. I decided to sign up for the Winnipeg 10k on the last day of registration for September 7th. Speaking with Bryan, Jay and Ed, who were doing the Twilight, I decided to sign up with them as well for August 28th. So I went from no more races to two more 10k's before my surgery.
I was working the night of the Twilight race kit pick up, so I left during a moment of down time to pick it up at the Running Room. My kit contained my bib and some pamphlets, but was told that the headlamp would be provided at the race. Last year apparently too many people forgot to bring it, so this was their solution. All my friends had forgotten to pick theirs up, so I called the Running Room. They said that they can pick up their race kit before the race at registration. Well, that was a waste of time for me, since I could have saved the trip and done the same thing.
Race day came and Jay was going to pick up Ed and I. We were to meet Bryan there. Not knowing how busy it would be, we went an hour early. I had planned to wear an Autobot shirt where the logo lit up to the sound of music. I had tested it out before we left and it worked fine, but unfortunately when I arrived at the race, it would not work. I attempted a few things, including changing the batteries, but to no avail. Oh well. We hung out for a while until the race and then lined up.
The race commenced. I ran a slow pace and took more rest walks than usual, but my cardio has dropped since my injury. The first part of the route was identical to last year. Head north through Fort Whyte, go around to the back of the hill and ascend. We descended the hill and doubled back and then went left. I'm not entirely sure how the route changed, but it was more clear, unlike last year where it was not clearly marked. Last year some of us took a wrong turn into the woods down a narrow, unsafe path. The route also took us slightly outside the habitat and back in again. There was also some dark paths near the marshlands. This year the routes were clearly marked and they had more marshals directing the runners. It was definitely better this year. I finished the race with a time of 1:20:07. I was satisfied with that time considering my injury.
Following the race, I went to claim my smokey and asked about the contents. They were beef, which I cannot have and they ran out of veggie. Next year I'll give my voucher to one of my faster friends, so that they can get me one before they run out. I met up with everyone and they were all happy with their results. Bryan finished under 50 min and both Jay and Ed finished under 60 min. I claimed my s'mores pack as well as Ed and Jay's packs. It was late and we went back to the car, changed and left. When I got home, I ended up making the s'mores over the stove.
I was working the night of the Twilight race kit pick up, so I left during a moment of down time to pick it up at the Running Room. My kit contained my bib and some pamphlets, but was told that the headlamp would be provided at the race. Last year apparently too many people forgot to bring it, so this was their solution. All my friends had forgotten to pick theirs up, so I called the Running Room. They said that they can pick up their race kit before the race at registration. Well, that was a waste of time for me, since I could have saved the trip and done the same thing.
Race day came and Jay was going to pick up Ed and I. We were to meet Bryan there. Not knowing how busy it would be, we went an hour early. I had planned to wear an Autobot shirt where the logo lit up to the sound of music. I had tested it out before we left and it worked fine, but unfortunately when I arrived at the race, it would not work. I attempted a few things, including changing the batteries, but to no avail. Oh well. We hung out for a while until the race and then lined up.
The race commenced. I ran a slow pace and took more rest walks than usual, but my cardio has dropped since my injury. The first part of the route was identical to last year. Head north through Fort Whyte, go around to the back of the hill and ascend. We descended the hill and doubled back and then went left. I'm not entirely sure how the route changed, but it was more clear, unlike last year where it was not clearly marked. Last year some of us took a wrong turn into the woods down a narrow, unsafe path. The route also took us slightly outside the habitat and back in again. There was also some dark paths near the marshlands. This year the routes were clearly marked and they had more marshals directing the runners. It was definitely better this year. I finished the race with a time of 1:20:07. I was satisfied with that time considering my injury.
Following the race, I went to claim my smokey and asked about the contents. They were beef, which I cannot have and they ran out of veggie. Next year I'll give my voucher to one of my faster friends, so that they can get me one before they run out. I met up with everyone and they were all happy with their results. Bryan finished under 50 min and both Jay and Ed finished under 60 min. I claimed my s'mores pack as well as Ed and Jay's packs. It was late and we went back to the car, changed and left. When I got home, I ended up making the s'mores over the stove.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
20 Minute Challenge 2014
Wednesday marked the 30th anniversary of the Running Room and to commemorate the date was their annual 20 Minute Challenge. Not sure why it's called a 20 Minute Challenge when the distance to walk or run is 5km. It's a free fun run and you also get a free collector's cap. I decided to sign up the night before for my second go at it. Last year I received a grey hat and this year's is white.
This year will be uneventful in terms of running. I have booked my ACL reconstruction surgery for September and will be off work for about a month. I have no plans on running any races this summer, as I'm not running any long distances. I also won't be able to run the WFPS half in October, so I'll end up selling my bib. My friend Oskar from Calgary also had knee surgery recently and their insurance covers the cost of a cooling machine. Here, I'd have to rent one for approximately $125 for 3 weeks. He was kind enough to lend me his. He conveniently lives close to some other friends in Calgary and dropped it off. It was to be picked up by some of my friends visiting Calgary during their Western CA/US roadtrip. Borrowing the cooling machine will be better since I won't have to return it if I need it longer.
I arrived at the Pembina Running Room (ran out of Keneston last year) and received my hat. It also came with a 15% coupon attached. Immediately upon exiting the store, an older gentleman with his wife noticed my knee braced and inquired about my injury. I chatted with them for a bit, telling my story while we waited for the run to begin. The regular group was to run 10k to the east into St Vital park. Everyone else was running or walking west down the bike path to Waverly and back. I quickly dropped off my keys inside the store and fell behind the running group. I took up the rear as everyone ran through the parking lot to the bike path. Once I reached the bike path, I took the the right as to let other pass me on the left should they choose. Then came the annoying part. There was these 2 mothers running with 2 young girls while one mother pushed one of those big wheeled running strollers with a 3rd child inside. Now they were running behind me, and the girls kept running ahead of them. One at a time they would run ahead of them and pass me on the left. They would then pull to the right, slow down in front of me and turn to face their mom. I would have to dodge them as they kind of jogged back or stop right in front of me. This happened 4 times as they alternated doing this. I got really annoyed, but as we approached a downhill, I gained some speed and eventually lost them. They never caught up the rest of the run.
So I've ran this route several times last summer, but due to my injury, I haven't done so this year because my distance never took me this far from home. It's a hilly route, as opposed to the Keneston location's flat route I ran last year. I started off running 5 min, then walking a minute, but after a 3 intervals, I was walking a little bit more. There wasn't much to say about this run, as it was pretty uneventful. I ran 5.14 km in 39:50. My pace was 7:44 min/km, which is faster than any of my runs this spring/summer thusfar. None of my runs had a pace under 8:20 min/km. I'd have to attribute running with a group, as I want to perform better in front of others. At least it's an improvement. I'm going to continue running just 5-6 km, until I get to a pace that I'm happy with, and then I'll start to increase my distance.
I arrived back at the running room and they had various refreshments for our post run. Ice tea, some juice samples, power bar samples, orange and apple slices. I picked up some take home samples of a vegan protein shake, hemp seeds and a deodorant.
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| Post run selfie in front of the Running Room |
This year will be uneventful in terms of running. I have booked my ACL reconstruction surgery for September and will be off work for about a month. I have no plans on running any races this summer, as I'm not running any long distances. I also won't be able to run the WFPS half in October, so I'll end up selling my bib. My friend Oskar from Calgary also had knee surgery recently and their insurance covers the cost of a cooling machine. Here, I'd have to rent one for approximately $125 for 3 weeks. He was kind enough to lend me his. He conveniently lives close to some other friends in Calgary and dropped it off. It was to be picked up by some of my friends visiting Calgary during their Western CA/US roadtrip. Borrowing the cooling machine will be better since I won't have to return it if I need it longer.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
2014 Fargo Half Marathon (race recap)
I was traveling to Fargo with Steph. I'm sure she was happy to hear I was going, so she wouldn't be traveling/running alone. Steph had registered for the half last year, but became ill prior to leaving and had to bail. I ended up going to Fargo with her 2 coworkers who were in it for the shopping and were not running. Well this year, Steph was going to get her chance to participate. She had initially booked a room in Fargo for 2 nights, Friday and Saturday, but suggested we cancel the 2nd night and come back following the race. She called the hotel, but they wouldn't let her cancel. They said due to the marathon weekend, there's a minimum 2 nights stay. Oh well, guess we were staying the weekend.
We left Friday afternoon just after 3pm and drove straight to Fargo. We had no hassles crossing the border, just asked where you were from, where are you going and for what reason. Answering Winnipeg, Fargo and to run in the marathon, he let us through. We arrived in Fargo and checked into our hotel close to 6:30. Steph chose the Howard Johnson downtown due to the close proximity to the starting line. After unloading the car, we immediately walked over to the race kit pick up. The bag we received was a vibrant yellow and teal, which matched my shoes perfectly. Nike Air Pegasus, left shoe Volt yellow and right shoe teal. We also received a similar shirt as last year's but in a different color scheme and of course our bibs. We scoped out the Expo, but we didn't get anything other than a free sample sized bag of chips.
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| Race kit |
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| Matching bag and shoes |
We returned to the hotel to drop off our gear before heading out for supper. We attempted the Spitfire Grill, but the wait was too long, so I suggested Kroll's diner which has a 50's diner motif. We both got club sandwiches w/ fries and I opted for a caramel milkshake. following dinner, we popped into Walmart to get water and a few pre race breakfast items.
Morning arrived and I had barely slept. We both got ready and had a bite to eat before heading down to the bridge. We made our way across to the other side and was then corralled down the center. Half on the left, full and 10k on the right. Music was blaring, some spectators stood on their balconies and a helicopter flew above. The race began, I started my soleus watch and got into a comfortable pace. I decided to listen to some comedy podcasts instead of music, since I didn't feel the need to listen to music to keep me at a pace rhythm. I was going to take my time in hopes of finishing under 4 hours. Steph lost me a few minutes in while we weaved around some slower runners.
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| Selfie near the starting line |
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| Dude running with fake barbells |
Further up the road, a woman who was already wearing her finishers medal yelled out saying she loved my shoes. She too was wearing different color Nikes. I ran up to her and snapped a pic of our shes. She was on the phone with her husband and said to him "Honey, I just found my soul mate. I ran into a guy with mismatched shoes like me". I continued on, waved good bye and she wished me good luck. Closer to the end, the crowds of spectators grew. My friend Janelle, who ran the 10k, was among them. We waved to each other as I ran on. I drew as much energy as I could to run the rest of the way across the finish line. Someone handed me water, another placed a medal over my head and a third passed me some folded up jacket. A photographer took my picture in front of a back drop and I staggered through the corral. I was a touch late on stopping my soleus, but figured I finished around 3.5 hours. There was chocolate milk, banana halves, cookies, granola bars and pizza. I got a few items and sat down on some grass to eat. Getting up proved difficult as I was sore all over. I grabbed a second chocolate milk and head back to the hotel.
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| A woman on the course wearing mismatched shoes on the left, me on the right |
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| Rockin' my bling |
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| Finisher's medal |
Steph was there waiting, already showered and playing on her phone with the tv on. I laid down on my bed to ice my knee and went on my phone as well. Steph received an email with her time, finishing in 2:35. I checked and also received an email informing me that I finished in 3:29:54. After icing, I went to have a shower. Prior, my fingers still felt swollen, but have showering, they felt like they were back to normal. Regardless, we were starving and went out for lunch. We made another attempt to go to the Spitfire Grill and waited over half an hour for a table. I had my heart set on ribs. Steph however said she was ordering the chicken and ribs. I couldn't allow her to out eat me, so I ordered the same with a side of garlic mashed and skinless baked. When the food arrived, the skinless baked was basically mashed potatoes with bacon and other toppings. It was a lot of mashed potatoes. The entire meal was delicious, especially the ribs. Unfortunately it was way too much food and neither of us could finish it. I made sure to finish off the ribs though and as much of the chicken as I could.
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| Chicken and ribs at the Spitfire Grill |
We got back to the hotel and wanted to relax in the hot tub. As we got there, an older couple was also just getting into the hot tub. We didn't care, we just wanted to soak. Introductions were made. He was Fernando and she was I believe Sanja. Both also had a hint of a foreign accent. They too had also participated in the Fargo Marathon. Sanja completed her 6th half, while Fernando had completed his 34th full marathon? Sanja thought he had completed more and was on his 38th. Fernando has a bucket list, wanting to completed one full in all 50 states. I asked him what his time was and he said, it's an easy time to remember, 3:33:33. I jokingly told him that I beat him by nearly 4 minutes. He was a very interesting man and we chatted a while, mostly about running. He started running marathons in 1999, doing a couple per year. Last year he retired and completed 10, but this year by this time he had only completed his 2nd. The hotel clerk kicked us out at 11pm and we said our good byes.
Steph and I both woke up earlier than our alarms. We showered, packed up and got some breakfast from the hotel. Next stop, Grand Forks to gas up, for lunch at Culver's, a little more shopping at Target and then home. The border again was quick and easy since we were both well under the limit. This was a fun little weekend and I'm proud to have finished my first half marathon following my knee injury. Obviously I didn't perform that great, but at least I finished without further injuring myself. I'm currently registered for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Half in October, as I won free registration for the event. I do not plan on registering for anything else, until closer to the date due to not having my surgery scheduled yet. Better to pay a little more closer to an event than not being able to participate and losing out in registration fees. I shall see what this year holds for racing as it shall be very different than last year.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Knee Diagnosis
Following my left knee injury, I was off work for 8 days. Kris, my friend and soccer/ball hockey teammate was kind enough to lend me his crutches. This helped a lot. My injury occurred on Monday Jan 27 and I was able to move around the house without crutches by Friday. My knee could not straighten or extend very far at first, but improved a little every day. I visited my sports doctor that Friday. He thought that it could be a slight tear in the ACL and took x-rays. Unfortunately due to the swelling, nothing could be determined, so he ordered me an MRI. I was also given a knee brace off the shelf from the attached athletic shop, to help support my knee and to prevent further injury. I returned to work on Wednesday and was able to move about a bit with the crutches.
To my surprise, I received a phone call for an MRI on Thursday, only 6 days after seeing my doctor. There was cancellation and they were able to fit me in on Saturday. So within 8 days, I got my MRI. I was very fortunate as my friend with a similar (possibly the same injury), hurt herself in October and isn't due to have hers until later this month. This was my first MRI or any scan of any kind, besides x-rays. For those who have never had one, I laid on this bed with ear plugs. They secured my knee in place and then left the room. The bed would enter the chamber and I had to keep my knee still for 25 min. It was noisy and I could feel my knee wanting to lift, but I tried my best to keep it flat as much as possible. Too much movement would blur the image and they'd have to repeat the process. I haven't looked it up, but the machine uses magnets to create an image of the inside of my knee.
At my work, there's parking available in the adjacent lot at night. I had not problem driving myself for my night shifts, but during the day, I would have to park 3-4 blocks away. With the snow and ice, I didn't feel comfortable walking that route at that distance, so I would drive to my dad's and he would drop me off and pick me up.
A week and a half after my MRI, I met with my doctor for a follow up and my MRI results. I received some devastating news. I had completely torn my ACL and suffered some bone contusions. He told me that people can function properly without surgery, but if for those want to play sports, many opt to repair the ACL. Straight running would be fine, but for sports, there's pivoting, lateral movements and stopping and going, which is unstable with this type of injury. I do want to play my sports again, so at that point, I was leaning towards surgery. I was to see the doctor in 2 weeks for a follow up, giving me time to think over the surgery. In the mean time, he recommended physiotherapy and prescribed me a custom knee brace.
I got fitted for the new brace and picked it up a week and a half later. I also started physio with a girl recommended to me by a friend. In my first session, the physiotherapist examined me and asked a bunch of questions to get an understanding of my injury. She performed an ultra sound on my knee which apparently reduces the swelling. She then showed me a bunch of exercises to strengthen the muscles around my knee to help compensate for the lack of stability. Finished it off with icing down my knee. I did my exercises mostly on my days off, as it's difficult to find the time when I work 13 hour days.
I had another follow up with my doctor and I told him I that I would like to get the surgery. I then scheduled an appointment to consult with the surgeon. His office isn't at legacy, but he does come in every so often for consulting. It would be another month before I could sit down with him. In that time, I did see my physiotherapist again for more or less the same treatment. This time I was instructed to add a 2 lb weight to my exercises.
The month passed and I went to see the surgeon. He asked me a bunch of questions like the nature of my injury, how it feels, etc. He then explained to me the procedure. It would be on a Wednesday or Thursday and I can't eat or drink after midnight the previous night. I'd be anesthetized and they would remove a tendon from the back of my leg. It would be folded over and fed through 3 holes drilled through the bone. Then it would be attached to create the new ACL. He told me that I'd be off work for maybe 2-4 weeks and of course I'd go through rehab. It would be 5 months before I could run and 6 months before I could play sports. I would have to wear my current knee brace for the first year when participating in physical activity.
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| Off the shelf knee brace |
To my surprise, I received a phone call for an MRI on Thursday, only 6 days after seeing my doctor. There was cancellation and they were able to fit me in on Saturday. So within 8 days, I got my MRI. I was very fortunate as my friend with a similar (possibly the same injury), hurt herself in October and isn't due to have hers until later this month. This was my first MRI or any scan of any kind, besides x-rays. For those who have never had one, I laid on this bed with ear plugs. They secured my knee in place and then left the room. The bed would enter the chamber and I had to keep my knee still for 25 min. It was noisy and I could feel my knee wanting to lift, but I tried my best to keep it flat as much as possible. Too much movement would blur the image and they'd have to repeat the process. I haven't looked it up, but the machine uses magnets to create an image of the inside of my knee.
At my work, there's parking available in the adjacent lot at night. I had not problem driving myself for my night shifts, but during the day, I would have to park 3-4 blocks away. With the snow and ice, I didn't feel comfortable walking that route at that distance, so I would drive to my dad's and he would drop me off and pick me up.
A week and a half after my MRI, I met with my doctor for a follow up and my MRI results. I received some devastating news. I had completely torn my ACL and suffered some bone contusions. He told me that people can function properly without surgery, but if for those want to play sports, many opt to repair the ACL. Straight running would be fine, but for sports, there's pivoting, lateral movements and stopping and going, which is unstable with this type of injury. I do want to play my sports again, so at that point, I was leaning towards surgery. I was to see the doctor in 2 weeks for a follow up, giving me time to think over the surgery. In the mean time, he recommended physiotherapy and prescribed me a custom knee brace.
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| Custom knee brace |
I got fitted for the new brace and picked it up a week and a half later. I also started physio with a girl recommended to me by a friend. In my first session, the physiotherapist examined me and asked a bunch of questions to get an understanding of my injury. She performed an ultra sound on my knee which apparently reduces the swelling. She then showed me a bunch of exercises to strengthen the muscles around my knee to help compensate for the lack of stability. Finished it off with icing down my knee. I did my exercises mostly on my days off, as it's difficult to find the time when I work 13 hour days.
I had another follow up with my doctor and I told him I that I would like to get the surgery. I then scheduled an appointment to consult with the surgeon. His office isn't at legacy, but he does come in every so often for consulting. It would be another month before I could sit down with him. In that time, I did see my physiotherapist again for more or less the same treatment. This time I was instructed to add a 2 lb weight to my exercises.
The month passed and I went to see the surgeon. He asked me a bunch of questions like the nature of my injury, how it feels, etc. He then explained to me the procedure. It would be on a Wednesday or Thursday and I can't eat or drink after midnight the previous night. I'd be anesthetized and they would remove a tendon from the back of my leg. It would be folded over and fed through 3 holes drilled through the bone. Then it would be attached to create the new ACL. He told me that I'd be off work for maybe 2-4 weeks and of course I'd go through rehab. It would be 5 months before I could run and 6 months before I could play sports. I would have to wear my current knee brace for the first year when participating in physical activity.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Knee Injury
It's been a while since I've posted an entry. The reason being is that I've suffered an injury that has prevented me from running. I've had nothing to really write about except my injury which I wasn't really in the mood to do. I figure it's about time I do.
As some may know (unsure if I mentioned it in the past), I play co-ed soccer. Outdoor in the summer and of course indoor in the winter. Early January we had a typical game against a better team. We were down 4-0 and I was standing in front of the net with my back to the goalie. Early in the second half, my teammate Kris took a low shot from about 30 feet out. The ball was coming straight for my legs, so I hopped to my left to avoid blocking the shot. Upon landing, my left foot planted with my cleats sticking into the field. My left knee buckled and I fell to the ground clutching my knee. I heard cheering and the ref's whistle. Not realizing that I was hurt, one of my opponents jokingly said "you're not getting credit for that goal". I had apparently screened the goalie enough, that he couldn't react to the shot resulting in a goal. I hopped off to our bench and held my knee tightly for a bit until someone could get me some ice. I iced it a bit, then walked the sideline to test it out. The more I walked, the more the pain subsided. My knee felt better and I decided to re-enter the game. I ended up scoring our second goal with a sweeping shot off a rebound while sliding to the ground. We lost that game 5-2.
I didn't have any sports until the following week, so I rested my knee, running inclusive. Sunday my Sticks team started co-ed ball hockey consolation playoffs and had a double header in round robin play. Late in the first period, I was battling someone for position in front of the opposing goal and my knee buckled a bit. It hurt, but wasn't painful. I knew it wasn't bad, but I couldn't play on it and decided to sit the rest of the game. I sat and watched our team defeat the 3rd Street Saints with 3-1 and tie 1-1 in the 2nd game. As a result, our team made it to the consolation finals to be played the following week. I opted to sit out my soccer game for that evening as well.
I had booked an appointment to see a sports doctor that week at Legacy. After examining my knee, he didn't see anything too serious with it. He said I can continue playing sports, but to monitor it. He wanted to see me in a couple weeks for a follow up. I took it easy all week to rest it before our finals. We were again matched up with the 3rd Street Saints as we finished 1 and 2 in the round robin. We fell 2-0 in the first 2 periods, but we didn't panic. Early in the 3rd, my teammate Frosty (Jason), took a long shot, which hit the goalie's stick, bounced over and went in. With under 2 minutes left, one of the opposing guys took a hooking penalty. We pulled our goalie, Dave, with about a minute left, giving us a 5-3 advantage. Their strategy was to pin the ball against the boards in their zone, to run out the clock. Having tried to battle along the boards earlier, I wasn't too confident with my knee, so I let my teammates battle behind, to the left of the net. One of my teammates kicked the ball lose and I snuck in there and pulled it out. I curled out around a defender to the bottom of the circle and snapped a low shot that found the back of the net with 3 seconds left. OT went scoreless and we had our first shootout. For some reason my teammates consider me a leader on the team and wanted me to choose our shooters for the shootout, 2 guys, 2 girls. I suck at breakaways, so I excluded myself and chose Frosty, Simon, Jenn with Roni volunteering for the 4th. Saints shot first and Dave made an incredible stick save, reach back for the ball. Frosty crafted a nice goal to put us up 1. No one else scored the rest of the way, so Jenn didn't even have to take the final shot. Victory! We even won a trophy which Dave brought with him everywhere, including to bed (there's even photographic evidence).
The next night I had soccer after work. I was defending a girl who was going to my left, then changed direction to my right. I planted left to go right, and that's when I heard and felt a pop. I went down immediately. My teammates helped me off the field and into my car. Upon arriving at home, I had to hop to my door in the garage, then sit and shuffle my way up 3 steps. I could not bend my knee whatsoever. I called in sick for the next morning and had 7 days off thereafter due to my shift work. My left knee was swollen and considerably larger than my right, so I iced it constantly. I was able to move my follow up from the following Tuesday to the upcoming Friday.
As some may know (unsure if I mentioned it in the past), I play co-ed soccer. Outdoor in the summer and of course indoor in the winter. Early January we had a typical game against a better team. We were down 4-0 and I was standing in front of the net with my back to the goalie. Early in the second half, my teammate Kris took a low shot from about 30 feet out. The ball was coming straight for my legs, so I hopped to my left to avoid blocking the shot. Upon landing, my left foot planted with my cleats sticking into the field. My left knee buckled and I fell to the ground clutching my knee. I heard cheering and the ref's whistle. Not realizing that I was hurt, one of my opponents jokingly said "you're not getting credit for that goal". I had apparently screened the goalie enough, that he couldn't react to the shot resulting in a goal. I hopped off to our bench and held my knee tightly for a bit until someone could get me some ice. I iced it a bit, then walked the sideline to test it out. The more I walked, the more the pain subsided. My knee felt better and I decided to re-enter the game. I ended up scoring our second goal with a sweeping shot off a rebound while sliding to the ground. We lost that game 5-2.
I didn't have any sports until the following week, so I rested my knee, running inclusive. Sunday my Sticks team started co-ed ball hockey consolation playoffs and had a double header in round robin play. Late in the first period, I was battling someone for position in front of the opposing goal and my knee buckled a bit. It hurt, but wasn't painful. I knew it wasn't bad, but I couldn't play on it and decided to sit the rest of the game. I sat and watched our team defeat the 3rd Street Saints with 3-1 and tie 1-1 in the 2nd game. As a result, our team made it to the consolation finals to be played the following week. I opted to sit out my soccer game for that evening as well.
I had booked an appointment to see a sports doctor that week at Legacy. After examining my knee, he didn't see anything too serious with it. He said I can continue playing sports, but to monitor it. He wanted to see me in a couple weeks for a follow up. I took it easy all week to rest it before our finals. We were again matched up with the 3rd Street Saints as we finished 1 and 2 in the round robin. We fell 2-0 in the first 2 periods, but we didn't panic. Early in the 3rd, my teammate Frosty (Jason), took a long shot, which hit the goalie's stick, bounced over and went in. With under 2 minutes left, one of the opposing guys took a hooking penalty. We pulled our goalie, Dave, with about a minute left, giving us a 5-3 advantage. Their strategy was to pin the ball against the boards in their zone, to run out the clock. Having tried to battle along the boards earlier, I wasn't too confident with my knee, so I let my teammates battle behind, to the left of the net. One of my teammates kicked the ball lose and I snuck in there and pulled it out. I curled out around a defender to the bottom of the circle and snapped a low shot that found the back of the net with 3 seconds left. OT went scoreless and we had our first shootout. For some reason my teammates consider me a leader on the team and wanted me to choose our shooters for the shootout, 2 guys, 2 girls. I suck at breakaways, so I excluded myself and chose Frosty, Simon, Jenn with Roni volunteering for the 4th. Saints shot first and Dave made an incredible stick save, reach back for the ball. Frosty crafted a nice goal to put us up 1. No one else scored the rest of the way, so Jenn didn't even have to take the final shot. Victory! We even won a trophy which Dave brought with him everywhere, including to bed (there's even photographic evidence).
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| Top - Ken, Frosty, Simon, Fab, Jenn, Steph, Roni Bottom - Jim (former backup goalie), Steve, Dave, Me Missing - Sandra, Carolyn, Derek and various spares throughout the season, notably John and Kris |
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2013: The Year in Review
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| My Wall of Bibs |
On my way to completing those 12 races, I earned myself 7 medals. My first race was the Brita Resolution Run on New Year's morning. No medal, but we received a nice blue jacket, except the zippers on my pockets both stopped zipping properly. Shortly after that, I began training for the Fargo Half set in May, where I received my first medal. A month later, I ran the Manitoba Half, beating Fargo's time and earning my second medal at which point developed the desire to earn medals. July became a busy month, in which I ran 5 races. First up was the 20 min challenge, a free 5k run in which we received a free hat. Next up that weekend was the Morden Try-a-du (2k run, 10k bike, 3k run). I had done a couple of brick training sessions to get used to the transitioning from running to biking and back to running. Following the race, to my surprise, we each received a finisher's medal. A week later was Color Me Rad, a 5k color run in which we wore white and got bombed by color powder and liquids. No medal was awarded. That next weekend was Mud Hero, a 6k mud run where I received my forth medal.
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| Fargo Half, MB Half, Mud Hero, Morden Try-a-du, Winnipeg 10&10, WFPS Half, Santa Shuffle |
My third Half Marathon would be a difficult one, as I returned to work, but on nights. I completed the race with an unfavorable time, but had just finished working 13 hour shift. I also received my sixth medal. From then until December, I had a 6 week period in which I had not ran due to work, an injury sandwiched between a couple of colds and quite a few social events in which some I was part of the planning. I signed up for the Santa Shuffle knowing things would have settled down by then. It was a cold one, but completed it for my 7th and final medal of the year. Very few 5k's award medals, and this was my first.
There are a lot of races out there and many medals to be had. I'd like to try new races if possible, but will likely run a few of the same races again in 2014. I have just registered for the Fargo Half in May and will commence training tomorrow, on January 1st. I also know that I'll be running the WFPS Half again for sure. Reason being...
...I won a free entry through their Facebook page. Score! I'm considering the Fargo Half again, as it was by far my favorite race to date. The Manitoba Half is high on my list as well, since I know so many people who participate. I'd also like to go try the Rock 'n Roll Vegas half in November as I've heard that is an amazing event to experience. A more recent one that I've added to my bucket list is the Bermuda Marathon Weekend which is held in January. I have a friend who lives out there, but due to life, have not had the opportunity to go. Unfortunately it's too late to register or plan to go in 2014, but I want to make it a strong possibility in 2015. This one features 3 races, a 1k on Friday evening, a 10k Saturday morning and your choice of a half or full marathon on Sunday. Each race awards a different medal and if you participate in all three events, you earn a forth medal.
Well 2013 proved to be a very eventful year for myself. Many firsts, a few personal bests and a lot of fun times with old and new friends. I look forward to what 2014 may bring while striving to reach my goals. I hope to improve on my running by breaking personal bests and becoming an overall better runner. Here's a 3 min montage video recapping my year in running. Have a Safe and Happy New Year.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Teefury's 12 days of Shirtmas Part 2
Tee Fury held a picture contest. For more details, view my previous entry here: Teefury's 12 days of Shirtmas Part 1
Day 7: Ugliest Sweaters
One fan had asked Tee Fury via Twitter if they would do a contest that didn't require a shirt, because they didn't own one. Many commented asking why she didn't own any, as they are so good. Tee Fury responded that day 7, you wouldn't require a Tee Fury shirt. I own an ugly Christmas sweater which I made myself. Fortunately I have pics of myself wearing said sweater. It features 2 snowmen, one of which stole the other's carrot nose, a googly eyed Santa, Bumbles on a mitt, 2 very friendly reindeer and working Christmas lights. So I took one pic of me wearing the sweater and added close ups of the details on the right, seen below.
Day 8: Hidden In A Tree
Previously in part 1, I mentioned that I had not put up a tree. Well 2 days prior to Day 8, I decided to make an invisible tree. I saw this posted on Facebook last year and new I wanted to make on this year. My cousin Michelle does the whole Boxing Day shopping every year, so I asked her to pick me up some green ball ornaments. I took a round plastic platter from a meat tray and drilled pairs of holes throughout and hung that from a hook in the ceiling. I then took fishing line and tied one end to the ornaments themselves and the other to ornament hooks. These I would attach to the platter through the holes. These ornaments would be suspended in the form of a tree creating an illusion that they hang from an invisible tree. So for this pic, I wore my Tessellation shirt which features a Transformers Starscream in bot mode morphing into his plane mode. In one hand I held my Classics Starscream (bot) and the other held Universe Starscream (plane), somewhat making them part of my shirts design. This being an invisible tree, it wasn't a very good hiding place for Starscream.
Day 9: Adventurous Christmas:
Again, I new pretty much how I wanted to implement this theme. I went back to Jason, as he wore a Finn (Adventure Time) costume to Comic Con (C4) last year. I asked if I could borrow it for said pic. He agreed, but couldn't meet til later. When I arrived, it was a bit late and asked if he could take my pic in costume. His wife Stef said that their son Skyler has one too, but also a Jake costume that was too big for him at Halloween time. She suggested dressing him up to try it on. Skyler didn't seem to like it too much, as he fidgeted a lot. They snapped a few pics of him solo and then I put on a Santa had on myself and antlers on Skyler. Finn wears a blue shirt, so I put on my Energon shirt which features Kup's hand from Transformers holding energon goodies with the tag line "ba-weep-gra-na-weep-ninny-bong" which is their universal greeting. Below is the result. This picture was also very popular, likely because of how cute Skyler was.
Day 10: Christmas Past
This pic, I decided to recreate the Ghost of Christmas Past. My shirt of choice was my Megatron shirt which is recreated into a football helmet to mimic Detroit Lion wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, who shares his name as his nickname. I put on a white shirt, draped part of my toga and put on shackles from my Atlas costume a few years back. I then placed the face on the shirt over my face to make up the ghostly figure. I had lit candles in the background, but unfortunately I'm blocking them out of view.
Day 11: Christmas Future
I wasn't quite sure what I would do this time around. I was thinking a black hoodie and doing Ghost of Christmas Future, but wasn't sure. I saw Stef online, who had been following my pics, and asked if she had any suggestions. She said I should make myself look old. I found an iphone app called Old Booth, which ages you different ages, 70, 85 and 99. I chose 85. Unfortunately it zooms into your face and you can't use the whole pic. I had to put it on my lap top and cut out the face, resize it and paste it back onto the original picture. This was the first picture that I actually manipulated for the contest. Here, I chose my You're In My Spot tee, inspired by Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. It being red, I also wore my Santa hat, and you can see my invisible tree in the mirror behind me. I'm holding Bender from Futurama due to both shirts they sold that day were mash-ups of Futurama and Dr Who.
Day 12: Something Sweet:
Now this one was really fun to shoot. I was inspired by Elf, where he makes himself a spaghetti breakfast containing candy, marshmallows, pancake and ice cream syrops and pop tarts. In the scene, Buddy grabs a handful of marshmallows and tops his spaghetti, before taking a fork and shoveling it into his mouth with strands hanging out. He then takes a pop tart, breaks it apart and mixes it in with his hands, before scooping some into his mouth, again with the spaghetti hanging out. As you can see, there is a lot of sugar on the table. I didn't actually consume the spaghetti, but I did pick out the pop tarts and ate them. One of my favorite lines in the movie is when Buddy says: "We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup". As for the shirt, my green Confused Chameleon would have worked better, but I had already worn it for the contest. So I went with this black one, which features several different space ships throughout Sci-Fi. I don't know them all, but found this list in the comments, so I'm not sure how accurate it is:
Millennium Falcon
Eagle 5
Serenity
Discovery One
Planet Express Ship
Enterprise
Space Invader
Cylon Raider
Tardis
Andromeda ascendant
Starfox Arwing
Saiyan Space Pod
Heart of Gold
Moya
tie fighter
Asteroids ship
Gunstar (Last Starfighter)
Babylon 5
Although I did not win, it was a fun contest to participate in. I do hope TeeFury holds similar contests in the future.
Day 7: Ugliest Sweaters
One fan had asked Tee Fury via Twitter if they would do a contest that didn't require a shirt, because they didn't own one. Many commented asking why she didn't own any, as they are so good. Tee Fury responded that day 7, you wouldn't require a Tee Fury shirt. I own an ugly Christmas sweater which I made myself. Fortunately I have pics of myself wearing said sweater. It features 2 snowmen, one of which stole the other's carrot nose, a googly eyed Santa, Bumbles on a mitt, 2 very friendly reindeer and working Christmas lights. So I took one pic of me wearing the sweater and added close ups of the details on the right, seen below.
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| Ugliest Sweaters |
Day 8: Hidden In A Tree
Previously in part 1, I mentioned that I had not put up a tree. Well 2 days prior to Day 8, I decided to make an invisible tree. I saw this posted on Facebook last year and new I wanted to make on this year. My cousin Michelle does the whole Boxing Day shopping every year, so I asked her to pick me up some green ball ornaments. I took a round plastic platter from a meat tray and drilled pairs of holes throughout and hung that from a hook in the ceiling. I then took fishing line and tied one end to the ornaments themselves and the other to ornament hooks. These I would attach to the platter through the holes. These ornaments would be suspended in the form of a tree creating an illusion that they hang from an invisible tree. So for this pic, I wore my Tessellation shirt which features a Transformers Starscream in bot mode morphing into his plane mode. In one hand I held my Classics Starscream (bot) and the other held Universe Starscream (plane), somewhat making them part of my shirts design. This being an invisible tree, it wasn't a very good hiding place for Starscream.
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| Hidden in a Tree |
Day 9: Adventurous Christmas:
Again, I new pretty much how I wanted to implement this theme. I went back to Jason, as he wore a Finn (Adventure Time) costume to Comic Con (C4) last year. I asked if I could borrow it for said pic. He agreed, but couldn't meet til later. When I arrived, it was a bit late and asked if he could take my pic in costume. His wife Stef said that their son Skyler has one too, but also a Jake costume that was too big for him at Halloween time. She suggested dressing him up to try it on. Skyler didn't seem to like it too much, as he fidgeted a lot. They snapped a few pics of him solo and then I put on a Santa had on myself and antlers on Skyler. Finn wears a blue shirt, so I put on my Energon shirt which features Kup's hand from Transformers holding energon goodies with the tag line "ba-weep-gra-na-weep-ninny-bong" which is their universal greeting. Below is the result. This picture was also very popular, likely because of how cute Skyler was.
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| Adventurous Christmas |
Day 10: Christmas Past
This pic, I decided to recreate the Ghost of Christmas Past. My shirt of choice was my Megatron shirt which is recreated into a football helmet to mimic Detroit Lion wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, who shares his name as his nickname. I put on a white shirt, draped part of my toga and put on shackles from my Atlas costume a few years back. I then placed the face on the shirt over my face to make up the ghostly figure. I had lit candles in the background, but unfortunately I'm blocking them out of view.
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| Christmas Past |
Day 11: Christmas Future
I wasn't quite sure what I would do this time around. I was thinking a black hoodie and doing Ghost of Christmas Future, but wasn't sure. I saw Stef online, who had been following my pics, and asked if she had any suggestions. She said I should make myself look old. I found an iphone app called Old Booth, which ages you different ages, 70, 85 and 99. I chose 85. Unfortunately it zooms into your face and you can't use the whole pic. I had to put it on my lap top and cut out the face, resize it and paste it back onto the original picture. This was the first picture that I actually manipulated for the contest. Here, I chose my You're In My Spot tee, inspired by Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. It being red, I also wore my Santa hat, and you can see my invisible tree in the mirror behind me. I'm holding Bender from Futurama due to both shirts they sold that day were mash-ups of Futurama and Dr Who.
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| Christmas Future |
Day 12: Something Sweet:
Now this one was really fun to shoot. I was inspired by Elf, where he makes himself a spaghetti breakfast containing candy, marshmallows, pancake and ice cream syrops and pop tarts. In the scene, Buddy grabs a handful of marshmallows and tops his spaghetti, before taking a fork and shoveling it into his mouth with strands hanging out. He then takes a pop tart, breaks it apart and mixes it in with his hands, before scooping some into his mouth, again with the spaghetti hanging out. As you can see, there is a lot of sugar on the table. I didn't actually consume the spaghetti, but I did pick out the pop tarts and ate them. One of my favorite lines in the movie is when Buddy says: "We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup". As for the shirt, my green Confused Chameleon would have worked better, but I had already worn it for the contest. So I went with this black one, which features several different space ships throughout Sci-Fi. I don't know them all, but found this list in the comments, so I'm not sure how accurate it is:
Millennium Falcon
Eagle 5
Serenity
Discovery One
Planet Express Ship
Enterprise
Space Invader
Cylon Raider
Tardis
Andromeda ascendant
Starfox Arwing
Saiyan Space Pod
Heart of Gold
Moya
tie fighter
Asteroids ship
Gunstar (Last Starfighter)
Babylon 5
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| Something Sweet |
Although I did not win, it was a fun contest to participate in. I do hope TeeFury holds similar contests in the future.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Teefury's 12 days of Shirtmas Part 1
I've been known to wear a variety of pop culture tee shirts. Many of them with a Transformers theme. I get most of them from Target and a couple of websites: Tee Fury and Ript Apparel. This Christmas Tee Fury held a contest called The 12 Days of Shirtmas. In order to participate, they would provide a theme and you would have to be creative and take a picture of said theme, preferably with one of their t-shirts and then post it to Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr using the hash tag #shirtmas. I signed up for Instagram about a year and a half ago and had only posted 1 pic. I never really used it before, so this forced me to learn how to use it. Now I'm hooked. You can follow me on both Instagram and Twitter @llfalcon. Tee Fury's daily shirt always foreshadowed the theme loosely. I decided to participate, as I probably have more than 12 of their shirts. I sorted through my shirts and found all my Tee Fury Tees. There was a daily prize of 1 t-shirt from their gallery (listed at $18 each) awarded to a random participant. A grand prize of 12 t-shirts would be awarded to a creative participant of all 12 days.
Day 1: Santa
I wasn't sure how I was going to do this at first. My friend Lisa was visiting from out of town with her 15 month old daughter Asha and we decided to meet and go to the mall. She had a few items to pick up, then we hung out at the play area so that we could catch up while Asha played. We passed by the Santa at the mall and had Lisa take a pic of me with Santa in the background. It was tough to get a shot because he was so far back and we tried not to get any children in the shot. I thought, meh, good enough. After our visit, I returned home and it grew darker. There's a house across the street with an amazing Christmas display that flashes it's lights to music. This display contains a Santa. So in the cold, I went out, removed my jacket and sweater and took a few selfies with my phone while wearing my Drunken Clam shirt inspired by the local watering hole from Family Guy. This is what I came up with.
Day 2: Use the Force
When I read the theme, I knew instantly how I wanted to play this one out. My friend Jason is a huge Star Wars fan and I wanted to use his Darth Vader mask and light saber as props for my pic. I texted him to see if I can stop by and use his props. He agreed and I went there once he got home from work. I work a black long sleeved shirt and my Plastic Heroes shirt. This features silhouettes of heroic characters made into toys from the 80's. This includes Optimus Prime, Snake Eyes, Leonardo, Lion-O, He-Man, Voltron, a Smurf, a lego man, Hulk Hogan, Batman and Chewbacca. I put on the helmet with light saber in hand (unfortunately the batteries were dead) and did the force choke with some of his collection in the background.
Day 3: Christmas By the Sea
Now this was a bit more challenging as it's winter here and I live no where by the ocean. Lisa was now back home in Bermuda and she suggested I send her a pic and she'd take a picture of me on her iPad with the ocean in the background. Now I read the theme on my phone off of Twitter and misread the theme. Christmas was at the end of one line and By the Sea was on the next. I missed the Christmas part and thought it was only By the Sea. My idea was to wear a white tee, Hear Evil, See Evil and Speak Evil. This features monkeys, pirates have monkeys (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Pirates live at sea. I also dressed up in a black vest, red skull bandana, an eye patch and a bone necklace. I took several selfies in the mirror and sent Lisa the one I thought looked best. Unfortunately it was an overcast day in Bermuda and this was the best she came up with. It was difficult to see my shirt, so I added a picture of the print to the bottom of the pic.
Day 4: I Met a Wild Tee
This one was easy. I have a Max costume from Where the Wild Things Are and thought this would fit the theme perfectly. The tough part was, how would I take a picture of myself on my phone? I have a camera, but I had misplaced the charger. So I searched all over and finally found that and my tripod. I got dressed into costume and chose my Confused Chameleon shirt which features a rainbow colored lizard. I set up the tripod on my deck and set the timer for 10 seconds. I ran out into the high snow to get my shot. It took about 3 tries before I got the shot that I wanted. It was hella cold, so I returned quickly back into the house. After returning indoors, I realized that I was still wearing my glasses that tinted in sunlight. Doh, this will have to do, because there was no way I was going out in the cold again for a reshoot. This proved to be one of my most popular ones, as it received many likes from friends, contest participants and even Teefury themselves. I thought this one would win for sure, but unfortunately it did not as they said it was random.
Day 5: Bubbly
This one wasn't my best picture. I wanted to blow bubbles all around me and take a pic. I made a mixture out of dish soap and water but had nothing to make the bubbles with. I improvised and used some Macgyver skills to make a hoop out of a screw driver and a key ring. The bubbles weren't really coming out as I had expected. I had read that if you added cornstarch, the bubbles would hold much better. It still wasn't really working all that well, but well enough. I set up my camera with the timer and took many pics, but the bubbles kept popping. After at least 10 pics, I was able to capture on good sized bubble. I wore my E.T. the Extreme Terrestrial shirt for this one.
Day 6: Festive Family
I was working my last night shift and slept most of the day. I had no tree, so I called my parents. They had not put up a tree either. Hmm...I called my aunt. She said she doesn't put one up anymore and gave it to my cousin. He was currently there, so I asked him. He had put it up, but had not decorated it yet. So I asked him if I could go to his house and take a pic for this contest. He agreed. I then called back my folks and asked if they would go there and be in my picture. They were limited by time as they had a Christmas party to attend. They did however agree and I met them there. I got there first and started decorating the tree. Upon their arrival I had them put on a matching shirt and Christmas headgear. Today's shirt is a Grim Find, which is a fossilized version of the Transfomers Grimlock (T-Rex). I've been collecting multiples of the Transformers shirts to sell at a later date, so my parents were able to wear the same shirt as me. We finished decorating the tree and posed for several pics as my cousin snapped them. This also saved my cousin a lot of time from decorating the next day. Thanks to my parents for being good sports and my cousin for using his tree and taking the pics.
Continue on to Part 2
Day 1: Santa
I wasn't sure how I was going to do this at first. My friend Lisa was visiting from out of town with her 15 month old daughter Asha and we decided to meet and go to the mall. She had a few items to pick up, then we hung out at the play area so that we could catch up while Asha played. We passed by the Santa at the mall and had Lisa take a pic of me with Santa in the background. It was tough to get a shot because he was so far back and we tried not to get any children in the shot. I thought, meh, good enough. After our visit, I returned home and it grew darker. There's a house across the street with an amazing Christmas display that flashes it's lights to music. This display contains a Santa. So in the cold, I went out, removed my jacket and sweater and took a few selfies with my phone while wearing my Drunken Clam shirt inspired by the local watering hole from Family Guy. This is what I came up with.
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| Santa |
Day 2: Use the Force
When I read the theme, I knew instantly how I wanted to play this one out. My friend Jason is a huge Star Wars fan and I wanted to use his Darth Vader mask and light saber as props for my pic. I texted him to see if I can stop by and use his props. He agreed and I went there once he got home from work. I work a black long sleeved shirt and my Plastic Heroes shirt. This features silhouettes of heroic characters made into toys from the 80's. This includes Optimus Prime, Snake Eyes, Leonardo, Lion-O, He-Man, Voltron, a Smurf, a lego man, Hulk Hogan, Batman and Chewbacca. I put on the helmet with light saber in hand (unfortunately the batteries were dead) and did the force choke with some of his collection in the background.
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| Use The Force |
Day 3: Christmas By the Sea
Now this was a bit more challenging as it's winter here and I live no where by the ocean. Lisa was now back home in Bermuda and she suggested I send her a pic and she'd take a picture of me on her iPad with the ocean in the background. Now I read the theme on my phone off of Twitter and misread the theme. Christmas was at the end of one line and By the Sea was on the next. I missed the Christmas part and thought it was only By the Sea. My idea was to wear a white tee, Hear Evil, See Evil and Speak Evil. This features monkeys, pirates have monkeys (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Pirates live at sea. I also dressed up in a black vest, red skull bandana, an eye patch and a bone necklace. I took several selfies in the mirror and sent Lisa the one I thought looked best. Unfortunately it was an overcast day in Bermuda and this was the best she came up with. It was difficult to see my shirt, so I added a picture of the print to the bottom of the pic.
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| Christmas By The Sea |
Day 4: I Met a Wild Tee
This one was easy. I have a Max costume from Where the Wild Things Are and thought this would fit the theme perfectly. The tough part was, how would I take a picture of myself on my phone? I have a camera, but I had misplaced the charger. So I searched all over and finally found that and my tripod. I got dressed into costume and chose my Confused Chameleon shirt which features a rainbow colored lizard. I set up the tripod on my deck and set the timer for 10 seconds. I ran out into the high snow to get my shot. It took about 3 tries before I got the shot that I wanted. It was hella cold, so I returned quickly back into the house. After returning indoors, I realized that I was still wearing my glasses that tinted in sunlight. Doh, this will have to do, because there was no way I was going out in the cold again for a reshoot. This proved to be one of my most popular ones, as it received many likes from friends, contest participants and even Teefury themselves. I thought this one would win for sure, but unfortunately it did not as they said it was random.
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| I Met A Wild Tee |
Day 5: Bubbly
This one wasn't my best picture. I wanted to blow bubbles all around me and take a pic. I made a mixture out of dish soap and water but had nothing to make the bubbles with. I improvised and used some Macgyver skills to make a hoop out of a screw driver and a key ring. The bubbles weren't really coming out as I had expected. I had read that if you added cornstarch, the bubbles would hold much better. It still wasn't really working all that well, but well enough. I set up my camera with the timer and took many pics, but the bubbles kept popping. After at least 10 pics, I was able to capture on good sized bubble. I wore my E.T. the Extreme Terrestrial shirt for this one.
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| Bubbly |
I was working my last night shift and slept most of the day. I had no tree, so I called my parents. They had not put up a tree either. Hmm...I called my aunt. She said she doesn't put one up anymore and gave it to my cousin. He was currently there, so I asked him. He had put it up, but had not decorated it yet. So I asked him if I could go to his house and take a pic for this contest. He agreed. I then called back my folks and asked if they would go there and be in my picture. They were limited by time as they had a Christmas party to attend. They did however agree and I met them there. I got there first and started decorating the tree. Upon their arrival I had them put on a matching shirt and Christmas headgear. Today's shirt is a Grim Find, which is a fossilized version of the Transfomers Grimlock (T-Rex). I've been collecting multiples of the Transformers shirts to sell at a later date, so my parents were able to wear the same shirt as me. We finished decorating the tree and posed for several pics as my cousin snapped them. This also saved my cousin a lot of time from decorating the next day. Thanks to my parents for being good sports and my cousin for using his tree and taking the pics.
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| Festive Family |
Continue on to Part 2
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Santa Shuffle 5k (Race Recap)
The Santa Shuffle will likely be my final race of the year, as I don't think there is really any more. I likely don't have the time for one anyhow. I picked up my race kit late Thursday evening. This included my bib, chocolate, hand warmers and not seen here, some tissues, an iRun magazine and a Salvation Army newsletter.
Saturday morning was fairly cold. High of -21C, low of -28C with a windchill of -36C. If you dress appropriately, it's not that bad. I've ran in worse and for longer, so it didn't phase me. I picked up Steph that morning and went to the race site. I wore my bright green shell, my Do Not Open Til Xmas pajama bottoms and my Santa hat, of course over several layers of running gear. Waiting for the race to begin, we got our pic taken with Santa.
The race began shortly after 10am and was a course mapped out for two loops to make up the 5k. Starting off at the Forks, near the Scotiabank Stage, we ran towards and over the Provencher bridge. Immediately crossing the bridge, we hung a right down an unplowed path. This is where it bottle necked as everyone was running single file. I signaled to Steph to take the road as we followed a modified path that many followed. From there, we ran down the back side of the hospital, before bottle necking again down a flight of stairs to another unplowed pather closer to the river. This led us to a ramp that went to the Queensway Bridge and then another ramp entering the Forks again. We reached the Start/Finish line, which marked the start of the 2nd loop. Here, I started to get tired and slowed down. Steph slowly pulled away at this point. Crossing the bridge, I took the unplowed path, as traffic the 2nd go around wasn't bottlenecking. Still, it was unplowed and wasn't great to run on. When the opportunity arrived, I hopped down the snowbank onto the road. I took several rest walks along the way, especially when I got to the stairs and traffic slowed down again. I ended up following a few people the rest of the way through as they were running the ideal pace for my currently ability. I reached the finish line and got my medal. Steph was waiting patiently in the cold with a friend. My face was frosted over and would have taken a pick, but my phone konked out due to the extreme cold. Honestly, the race itself wasn't bad since I was bundled up. The worst part was waiting before the race and then when we stopped after the race.
We got some hot chocolate which felt nice to hold and warmed up our hands. Well now it was breakfast time. To the Pancake House we go! There was a little bit of a wait for a table, but not too long. I ran into my Janelle and her 2 friends, so I introduced everyone. We were called up for seating at the same time and got adjacent tables. Once my phone warmed up and turned on, we got our photo ops with our medals.
I ordered bacon, eggs and pancakes while Steph had her glutten free chocolate chip pancakes We ate our meals, then made our way home. Inspired partially by Elf on a Shelf photos that have been floating around, as well as a girl I knew back in high school and her own Elf on a Shelf posts, I decided to start taking photos with Santa Bender. This being the first.
I also set this one up on my friend's tree later that night at her Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.
 | |
| Race kit |
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| Picture with Santa |
We got some hot chocolate which felt nice to hold and warmed up our hands. Well now it was breakfast time. To the Pancake House we go! There was a little bit of a wait for a table, but not too long. I ran into my Janelle and her 2 friends, so I introduced everyone. We were called up for seating at the same time and got adjacent tables. Once my phone warmed up and turned on, we got our photo ops with our medals.
 |
| In front of the Christmas Tree at the Pancake House |
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| Robot Santa and Santa Bender displaying my 7th finishers medal |
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| I came in like a wrecking ball... |
Back In Action
Well it's been a while since my last entry, which was following the WFPS half. The main reason for not posting is that I dropped off from running. So it was about 6.5 weeks between that race on Oct 19th and my first run last Wednesday, Dec 4th. There are a multitude of reasons that I haven't been running, but they are excuses. If I really wanted to run, I would have found the time and made the effort. I had been rehired back at my previous employment after a 3.5 absence due to my term ending. Working shift work and 13 hour shifts made it difficult to run half of the week. I was also playing 3 sports. Ball hockey I made every game, Soccer, maybe half the games and my newest activity, 3D Dodgeball, which I made most games. It is basically dodgeball on trampolines at a new place that just opened, Skyzone. I'll get back to that in a moment. I also got sick and didn't want to run outside, as the temperature started to drop. I then pulled my calf in ball hockey, but didn't realize it. I thought I had gotten hit somehow and it was bruised, so I iced it. It wasn't too bad, but I went to play soccer the next evening and pulled it again, a little more severely, enough for me to remove myself from the game. 2 days later, as stubborn as I am, I played 3D Dodgeball and it was sore afterwards. I then rested it for 4 days before playing playing ball hockey again. Yes, I'm stubborn, but I love my sports and don't want to let my team down. I made sure to stretch it well, but it was still sore after. Again, soccer came and I still played. I was surely slowed down by it. The next day, guess what? I played dodgeball and again it was sore after. I then rested it for the next 4 days, all while icing it during that period. It did eventually heal, which I was happy about, but then I got sick again.
One of my best friends Sandra is getting married later this month and asked me to be one of her Bride's maids (or Bride's men if you will), which I accepted. This meant helping out a lot in various events, planning and attending. This includes the Wedding Social, Bridal Shower and Stagette. There have been a few other events recently that I attended, so this made for a fairly busy few months. I had previously registered for the Santa Shuffle, which is only a 5k fun run, but I thought it would be best to get in a few runs prior to the event. I could feel in my different sports that I had lost a lot of cardio with my lack of running. So Wednesday December 4th was my return to running. It being my day off and my department having a potluck lunch, I slept in a little too long and had to cut my run short to go into the office that morning. It was a bad week to return to running as it snowed and the temperature had dropped to -12C, -15C with the windchill. I only managed a 3.5k run, but it was a start. It snowed all day and into the night, which made for worse conditions the next day. This time it was a very slow 5.5k run through deep snow, with temps of -15C, -19C with the windchill. I ran about 1.5k through the unplowed sidewalks, until I decided to run on the street. It was icy, but was wearing my grips. Neither run would I consider to be good, but I had to restart somewhere.
I'll end this entry with a new 30 day challenge that I'm doing. I was discussing challenges with some members of my dodgeball team, as one girl, Leah, was completing a 30 day yoga challenge. Having enjoyed the 30 day squat challenge, I asked them if they'd be interested in doing that? Due to vacations and some being out of the country at the end/beginning of the year, we decided not to start that until January 15th. Another member of my team presented me a plank challenge, that I accepted. The 2 of us are currently working on the following.
The 30 Day Plank Challenge will send your core strength through
the roof! Yes, all you have to do is HOLD this position, nothing else!
It looks pretty easy, but it isn't!
Day 1 - 20 seconds
Day 2 - 20 seconds
Day 3 - 30 seconds
Day 4 - 30 seconds
Day 5 - 40 seconds
Day 6 - REST
Day 7 - 45 seconds
Day 8 - 45 seconds
Day 9 - 60 seconds
Day 10 - 60 seconds
Day 11 - 60 seconds
Day 12 - 90 seconds
Day 13 - REST
Day 14 - 90 seconds
Day 15 - 90 seconds
Day 16 - 120 seconds
Day 17 - 120 seconds
Day 18 - 150 seconds
Day 19 - REST
Day 20 - 150 seconds
Day 21 - 150 seconds
Day 22 - 180 seconds
Day 23 - 180 seconds
Day 24 - 210 seconds
Day 25 - 210 seconds
Day 26 - REST
Day 27 - 240 seconds
Day 28 - 240 seconds
Day 29 - 270 seconds
Day 30 - PLANK FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!
**SHARE to your Timeline to SAVE for later**
Benefits of Plank Exercise:
*It strengthens your lower back
*It develops your core muscles – which include the abs, back, hips and the butt.
*Helps you to avoid injuries and encourage good posture
*Can be done anywhere
*Develops your abdominals by targeting the rectus abdominis
SUPPORT each other in Fitness!!
This is a beginner routine.. everyone starts somewhere!
ENJOY this Challenge! Share with your friends to help motivate others!
For more tips, join our free group Getting the Skinny on with Alicia
One of my best friends Sandra is getting married later this month and asked me to be one of her Bride's maids (or Bride's men if you will), which I accepted. This meant helping out a lot in various events, planning and attending. This includes the Wedding Social, Bridal Shower and Stagette. There have been a few other events recently that I attended, so this made for a fairly busy few months. I had previously registered for the Santa Shuffle, which is only a 5k fun run, but I thought it would be best to get in a few runs prior to the event. I could feel in my different sports that I had lost a lot of cardio with my lack of running. So Wednesday December 4th was my return to running. It being my day off and my department having a potluck lunch, I slept in a little too long and had to cut my run short to go into the office that morning. It was a bad week to return to running as it snowed and the temperature had dropped to -12C, -15C with the windchill. I only managed a 3.5k run, but it was a start. It snowed all day and into the night, which made for worse conditions the next day. This time it was a very slow 5.5k run through deep snow, with temps of -15C, -19C with the windchill. I ran about 1.5k through the unplowed sidewalks, until I decided to run on the street. It was icy, but was wearing my grips. Neither run would I consider to be good, but I had to restart somewhere.
I'll end this entry with a new 30 day challenge that I'm doing. I was discussing challenges with some members of my dodgeball team, as one girl, Leah, was completing a 30 day yoga challenge. Having enjoyed the 30 day squat challenge, I asked them if they'd be interested in doing that? Due to vacations and some being out of the country at the end/beginning of the year, we decided not to start that until January 15th. Another member of my team presented me a plank challenge, that I accepted. The 2 of us are currently working on the following.
Day 1 - 20 seconds
Day 2 - 20 seconds
Day 3 - 30 seconds
Day 4 - 30 seconds
Day 5 - 40 seconds
Day 6 - REST
Day 7 - 45 seconds
Day 8 - 45 seconds
Day 9 - 60 seconds
Day 10 - 60 seconds
Day 11 - 60 seconds
Day 12 - 90 seconds
Day 13 - REST
Day 14 - 90 seconds
Day 15 - 90 seconds
Day 16 - 120 seconds
Day 17 - 120 seconds
Day 18 - 150 seconds
Day 19 - REST
Day 20 - 150 seconds
Day 21 - 150 seconds
Day 22 - 180 seconds
Day 23 - 180 seconds
Day 24 - 210 seconds
Day 25 - 210 seconds
Day 26 - REST
Day 27 - 240 seconds
Day 28 - 240 seconds
Day 29 - 270 seconds
Day 30 - PLANK FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!
**SHARE to your Timeline to SAVE for later**
Benefits of Plank Exercise:
*It strengthens your lower back
*It develops your core muscles – which include the abs, back, hips and the butt.
*Helps you to avoid injuries and encourage good posture
*Can be done anywhere
*Develops your abdominals by targeting the rectus abdominis
SUPPORT each other in Fitness!!
This is a beginner routine.. everyone starts somewhere!
ENJOY this Challenge! Share with your friends to help motivate others!
For more tips, join our free group Getting the Skinny on with Alicia
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
WFPS Half Marathon (Race Recap)
Thursday morning, a few days prior to the race, I went straight after working a night shift to pick up my race kit. I got to the Canadian Mennonite University. I was the second person to arrive and got my kit which included my shirt, bib/chip, drop off bag, a flashlight key ring, a chip clip and some other paper work.
Friday, I woke up late afternoon and cooked my usual spaghetti dish which I brought to work to have several small meals throughout the night. I was working a 13 hour shift from 6pm-7am. I also brought several choices of clothing to choose from, but had forgotten my WFPS shirt. It didn't matter, since it would have been covered up by my jacket. On my lunch break, I attempted to nap, but managed maybe only 15 min of shut eye, if that.
Morning came and I changed into my running gear before leaving work. I parked on a side street and made my way to the University. It was still dark and pretty chilly out, so I followed the crowd to the gym where the bag drop off was stationed. There, I ran into Janelle who was running a 10k. I left and made my way down the long hall where runners waited to escape the cold. Near the entrance at the end of the long hall, was where I met up with Bryan and Kyle. I wasn't quite sleepy just yet, but knew I was going to have difficulties in this race. 10 min prior to the race arriving and we decided to make our way to the starting line. The sky started to lighten up a bit, as the sun was rising behind the cloudy skies. We met up with Ed, but was unable to find Steph amongst the crowd. The guys lined up in the 2:00 and under block and just prior to the race, I dropped back somewhere in the 2:15-2:30 block. That was being overly ambitious as I just hoped to get under 3:00.
The race started and I got into a decent pace. I could feel myself tiring quickly and took my first rest walk at 15 min. I then attempted to do 5 and 1's, which lasted only 2 cycles and exhaustion started to set in. It was time to throw that strategy out the window and walk as I needed to. As I ran, I noticed Steph running on my left, slowly over taking me. I called her name and I think I ran faster for a bit to run with her. Maybe she slowed down, I don't recall, but we chatted for a short bit before feeling tired again and letting her run back at her own pace. It was a cold day and even rained a bit. I could have used a hoodie under my jacket as well as a second pair of gloves. My finger tips were freezing and often made a fist within the gloves to warm them up a bit. By mile 7, only one third of the way through, exhaustion started hitting me harder and found myself walking a lot more.
In a Facebook discussion with Ed earlier that week, he informed me that they would hand out gel packs at mile 7. I was bringing two of my own. I strategized that I would likely consume that one then and then my two at mile 12 and 17. I know, I know, it's only a 13 mile race, but my mind was thinking in kilometers. So some time in the 10th km, I was wondering where the gel station was and decided to consume one of my own. Shortly after, I arrived at the 7th mile and the gel station was right there as Ed told me. That's when I realized my mistake. I decided to save it for the 10th mile. Throughout the race, several pace bunnies past me, which included the 2:15 and 2:30 bunnies. I was running, in sorts, with several women. I'd pass them while they walked and in turn, they'd pass me while I walked. I decided to consume my gel prior to the 10 mile marker and downed it with some water. I finally reached the 10th mile, but could feel my calf muscles cramping, so I stopped at a tree and stretched them both out. Further ahead, was a water station with port-a-potties. I raced straight to one as I needed to go badly at that point. This was the first time I've had to during a race. Possibly because it was my first colder weather half and in warmer weather I sweat buckets.
I continued to do my run for a bit, walk for a bit routine while catching up on some of the runners that left me behind while I using the facilities. I finally reached the 12th mile marker and took a quick pic. The end was finally nearing. If I hurried, I could probably still make it under 3:00. I picked up the pace a bit and then walked some more In this final stretch, I was able to pass a few more people, including some guy, but found myself walking a lot still. While in a jog, I reached the 13th mile marker and there was 100m left at the turn into the University. I began to run at this point. I looked up at the clock and it was beyond 3:00 by a few minutes. I sprinted anyways (or what felt like a sprint at that point). I think I tried to smile as volunteers cheered me on and camera's took pictures. As I crossed, I received many congratulations and someone placed a medal over my head. I had finally finished.
While trying to catch my breath, I made my way to the post race refreshments tent and bumped into Janelle again. She was amazed that I completed a 13 mile race after having workd 13 hours. At the tent, I got myself a Subway sandwich, chocolate milk, juice, granola and sat down to recover. Probably a mistake, because when I rose, I felt my legs ache. Upon exiting, I grabbed another chocolate milk and the volunteer offered me a 2nd sandwich. I got my picture taken in front of the fire truck and finish line and slowly made my way back to my car. I just wanted to get home and sleep, but there was no way I could move very fast at that point.
At home, I peeled off my layers and had a long, hot shower. My knees were so sore, a soreness that I've never experienced before from running. I could barely bend over to pick up my clothes. It was definitely a struggle. I went to bed, but only slept 2 and a half hours, from 12:30-3pm. When I woke up, at my second sandwich and iced my knees while watching TV. I also did some laundry, which is downstairs and very difficult in my condition, but needed to be done. Some unofficial results were posted and my time was 3:02:37. Confirmed that I didn't finish under 3:00. A bit disappointing, but at least I finished. I was feeling tired, so I iced my knees again in bed and slept from about 7-midnight. Again I woke up feeling a bit better, but iced again. I had 2 ball hockey games the next day and was unsure I'd be able to participate. I slept a 3rd time from 4am-11am. When I got up, I could feel soreness, but nothing really hurt. I was good to go. We won the first game in OT 5-4. I iced between games and tied the 2nd game 2-2 against one of the better teams in the league.
I'm going to take a week off running to recover, but I'm going to try and get back to a regular routine of running going forward. One run a week isn't enough to sustain my running shape. With my shift work and schedule changes, I'm unable to sign up for races until it's closer to the event. As of right now, I'm off for the Santa Shuffle (5k) in December, but will be working during the Hypo Half in Feb. My goal is to prepare for the Hypo Half, in case something changes and I'm able to participate. If not, there will be many options come spring for races.
Friday, I woke up late afternoon and cooked my usual spaghetti dish which I brought to work to have several small meals throughout the night. I was working a 13 hour shift from 6pm-7am. I also brought several choices of clothing to choose from, but had forgotten my WFPS shirt. It didn't matter, since it would have been covered up by my jacket. On my lunch break, I attempted to nap, but managed maybe only 15 min of shut eye, if that.
Morning came and I changed into my running gear before leaving work. I parked on a side street and made my way to the University. It was still dark and pretty chilly out, so I followed the crowd to the gym where the bag drop off was stationed. There, I ran into Janelle who was running a 10k. I left and made my way down the long hall where runners waited to escape the cold. Near the entrance at the end of the long hall, was where I met up with Bryan and Kyle. I wasn't quite sleepy just yet, but knew I was going to have difficulties in this race. 10 min prior to the race arriving and we decided to make our way to the starting line. The sky started to lighten up a bit, as the sun was rising behind the cloudy skies. We met up with Ed, but was unable to find Steph amongst the crowd. The guys lined up in the 2:00 and under block and just prior to the race, I dropped back somewhere in the 2:15-2:30 block. That was being overly ambitious as I just hoped to get under 3:00.
The race started and I got into a decent pace. I could feel myself tiring quickly and took my first rest walk at 15 min. I then attempted to do 5 and 1's, which lasted only 2 cycles and exhaustion started to set in. It was time to throw that strategy out the window and walk as I needed to. As I ran, I noticed Steph running on my left, slowly over taking me. I called her name and I think I ran faster for a bit to run with her. Maybe she slowed down, I don't recall, but we chatted for a short bit before feeling tired again and letting her run back at her own pace. It was a cold day and even rained a bit. I could have used a hoodie under my jacket as well as a second pair of gloves. My finger tips were freezing and often made a fist within the gloves to warm them up a bit. By mile 7, only one third of the way through, exhaustion started hitting me harder and found myself walking a lot more.
In a Facebook discussion with Ed earlier that week, he informed me that they would hand out gel packs at mile 7. I was bringing two of my own. I strategized that I would likely consume that one then and then my two at mile 12 and 17. I know, I know, it's only a 13 mile race, but my mind was thinking in kilometers. So some time in the 10th km, I was wondering where the gel station was and decided to consume one of my own. Shortly after, I arrived at the 7th mile and the gel station was right there as Ed told me. That's when I realized my mistake. I decided to save it for the 10th mile. Throughout the race, several pace bunnies past me, which included the 2:15 and 2:30 bunnies. I was running, in sorts, with several women. I'd pass them while they walked and in turn, they'd pass me while I walked. I decided to consume my gel prior to the 10 mile marker and downed it with some water. I finally reached the 10th mile, but could feel my calf muscles cramping, so I stopped at a tree and stretched them both out. Further ahead, was a water station with port-a-potties. I raced straight to one as I needed to go badly at that point. This was the first time I've had to during a race. Possibly because it was my first colder weather half and in warmer weather I sweat buckets.
I continued to do my run for a bit, walk for a bit routine while catching up on some of the runners that left me behind while I using the facilities. I finally reached the 12th mile marker and took a quick pic. The end was finally nearing. If I hurried, I could probably still make it under 3:00. I picked up the pace a bit and then walked some more In this final stretch, I was able to pass a few more people, including some guy, but found myself walking a lot still. While in a jog, I reached the 13th mile marker and there was 100m left at the turn into the University. I began to run at this point. I looked up at the clock and it was beyond 3:00 by a few minutes. I sprinted anyways (or what felt like a sprint at that point). I think I tried to smile as volunteers cheered me on and camera's took pictures. As I crossed, I received many congratulations and someone placed a medal over my head. I had finally finished.
While trying to catch my breath, I made my way to the post race refreshments tent and bumped into Janelle again. She was amazed that I completed a 13 mile race after having workd 13 hours. At the tent, I got myself a Subway sandwich, chocolate milk, juice, granola and sat down to recover. Probably a mistake, because when I rose, I felt my legs ache. Upon exiting, I grabbed another chocolate milk and the volunteer offered me a 2nd sandwich. I got my picture taken in front of the fire truck and finish line and slowly made my way back to my car. I just wanted to get home and sleep, but there was no way I could move very fast at that point.
At home, I peeled off my layers and had a long, hot shower. My knees were so sore, a soreness that I've never experienced before from running. I could barely bend over to pick up my clothes. It was definitely a struggle. I went to bed, but only slept 2 and a half hours, from 12:30-3pm. When I woke up, at my second sandwich and iced my knees while watching TV. I also did some laundry, which is downstairs and very difficult in my condition, but needed to be done. Some unofficial results were posted and my time was 3:02:37. Confirmed that I didn't finish under 3:00. A bit disappointing, but at least I finished. I was feeling tired, so I iced my knees again in bed and slept from about 7-midnight. Again I woke up feeling a bit better, but iced again. I had 2 ball hockey games the next day and was unsure I'd be able to participate. I slept a 3rd time from 4am-11am. When I got up, I could feel soreness, but nothing really hurt. I was good to go. We won the first game in OT 5-4. I iced between games and tied the 2nd game 2-2 against one of the better teams in the league.
I'm going to take a week off running to recover, but I'm going to try and get back to a regular routine of running going forward. One run a week isn't enough to sustain my running shape. With my shift work and schedule changes, I'm unable to sign up for races until it's closer to the event. As of right now, I'm off for the Santa Shuffle (5k) in December, but will be working during the Hypo Half in Feb. My goal is to prepare for the Hypo Half, in case something changes and I'm able to participate. If not, there will be many options come spring for races.
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