Drop-in runs still on for Wednesdays!

Good news, Moms! My good friend Brenda has graciously offered to fill in to lead some of the drop-in runs on Wednesdays and I am so grateful to her. This means that if you are not planning to join the Half-Marathon workouts on Wednesday morning but would still like to run, Brenda will be there to take you out for a nice leisurely run, leaving Frontrunners Victoria (1200 Vancouver Street) at 10am. 

Brenda won't be available every Wednesday, so I am on the lookout for a permanent replacement or at the very least, someone who would be willing to share the duties. I will keep you posted. :)

Stellar.

I didn't get too much sleep last night, since Haven decided to be wide awake between midnight and 4am. Argh. But on the bright side, she normally sleeps through the night pretty much every night, so I figure I'm way ahead.


When I arrived at Frontrunners for the run this morning, I was more than a little out of it, but I knew that the run would do me good. It was just Cristal and I, so I started us off doing ten and ones. After the first ten minutes, I could tell that Cristal was game for just going for it, so I turned off the interval timer and switched on the chronograph. So glad I did; we had a really great run at a pace perfect for chatting and all the kids were incredibly well behaved. It was like everything just clicked into place. 


We ran a total of 8.7km in roughly 55 minutes. You can view our route here. It was a leisurely pace by our standards, but a really good warmup for the Half-Marathon clinic; those long runs should always be a bit slower than you are used to running.


Once again, I was reminded that I can feel super crappy and a good run will make everything feel better. Ahhh. Bring on the weekend!

Lotsa Moms!

Wow, wow, wow! What a day. Arrived at Frontrunners for the last Wednesday drop-in run and lo and behold, there were four Moms; Cristal, Devon, Norma Jean and Stef (please excuse me if I've misspelled your names). Turns out I have more interest in a Wednesday morning drop-in run than I originally thought...


We had a great run on a beautiful day and thank goodness my dear friend Brenda was running with us, since she was gracious enough to stay with Devon, Norma Jean and Stef, while I did my best to keep up with quick-as-a-bunny Cristal (she really is a very fast runner!). You can see our route here. I'm not exactly sure how long we ran today, but I'm guessing it was around forty-or-so-minutes, running seven-and-ones.


So based on the interest shown today, I'm looking to keep the Wednesday drop-in runs going, provided I can find a run leader to take it on. I will keep you all posted and will let you know ASAP.


I also realized that I completely forgot to post our run from last Friday (seriously, how do I make it through life with this brain??)! It was a fun seven-and-one run with Cristal and Brenda and you can view the route here. I can't believe I forgot to post it..!


Here are some photos from today; I promise to have more on-the-run shots again very soon (again, my brain):

Haven.

Tegan.

Madison, Haven and Sonja.

Just a reminder: please let me know if you have any questions about the Half-Marthon clinic. I've had a few questions about wanting to join but being away on vacation during the summer;  it is possible to do both! :)

New Clinic Details!

Hi everyone!


Here are all the details for the upcoming Half-Marathon clinic and the Drop-In runs. You can find the same info on the Run With Us! page.




NEW!! Starts Wednesday, June 15th/Thursday, June 16th.

Running Moms Half-Marathon Clinic, hosted by Frontrunners Victoria and training for the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon in October, 2011.

This clinic is open to ALL MOMS, whether you run with or without your kids and whether your kids are small or grown. Grandmothers welcome!! All paces and abilities will be accommodated.

Requirements: ability to run one hour (interval running included; example: 10 and 1's)

Workouts: (choose one) Wednesday mornings at 10am or Thursday evenings at 5.30pm. Workouts are generally 30-60 minutes, including warm up, cool down and stopping for instruction.

*Please note: You are welcome to stick to one day (Wednesday or Thursday) or run Wednesday one week and Thursday the next, but only one workout a week. 

Long Runs: Sunday mornings at 8am (I know it's early, but the runs will get long throughout the summer and it's nice to finish before it gets too hot). First long run will be around one hour.

All runs leave from Frontrunners Victoria, 1200 Vancouver St. 

Cost: $99 plus HST, payable to Frontrunners.

DROP-IN RUNS

Join us for a free drop-in run leaving from Frontrunners (1200 Vancouver St.) every Friday at 10am.

Come with or without your kids! All Moms are welcome, whether your kids are little or have already left home. All levels, paces and abilities will be accommodated. 

You can also find this info on the Frontrunners website.

Please contact me if you have any questions!

Great day!

It feels like forever since I've posted! So good to be back.


Today was a very special day, since Cristal has finally been given the green light to rejoin the group and I am so happy to run with her again. It is always such a pleasure to run with someone who is so in love with running. Now we just have to make absolutely sure that she takes it easy and gradually in the next few weeks so we don't lose her to injury yet again. To top things off, Cristal brought along both her girls, Madison and Tegan. And even better news: Madison will be home full-time starting August 4th. Yippee! Cristal has worked so hard in the last year to be able to gain full custody of Madison and I can only imagine how excited she is to have both her girls home where they belong. We are all so proud of you Cristal; no doubt you are very proud of yourself!


We ran five minute intervals today, with one minute walk breaks. Our total run time was twenty-five minutes; twenty-nine minutes including the walks. You can view our route here. 

Sonja and Madison.

Haven at the water cooler. As usual.

In other news, I'm happy to announce that we are starting a Half Marathon clinic on June 15th, leading up to the Good Life Fitness Victoria Marathon in October! Workouts are Wednesday mornings at 10am or Thursday evenings at 5.30pm (your choice), and long runs are Sunday mornings at 8am. All runs leave from Frontrunners Victoria, and all levels and run paces will be accommodated. Strollers are welcome, but not mandatory. The only requirement is that you be able to run for one hour, but it's totally cool if that hour is done running intervals (the longer the interval, the better). If you have any questions, please contact me at joy_sara@hotmail.com. 


This clinic is open to all Moms, whether your kids are wee or grown - Grandmothers are always welcome! It's a wonderful opportunity to either cross something off that list of things you've always wanted to do, or simply a great excuse to get out with a fun group to train for your next goal. 

Pleasant surprise.

It's always great when Peter offers to watch the girls so that I can get out for a run alone. After fighting a cold for the last week, I finally got out yesterday and it was wonderful. In the end, I ran a little farther and harder than I likely should have, considering I didn't run for six days, but it was well worth it. When the sun is shining, it's hard not to push yourself a little.


My good friend Brenda, whom I adore, accepted my invitation to run this morning. Brenda's kids are all grown (and hopefully for Brenda they are entertaining thoughts of starting families of their own!) and she's a retired nurse, so she is not only a wonderful person, but a wealth of experience and information. Plus, she is an inspiring and talented runner and is always a joy to run with. Can you tell I'm a fan? :)


I was fairly sure that none of my regular Running Moms were going to be able to make it today, but I was excited to get out for a run with a friend. So I was pleasantly surprised when Devon showed up with her adorable son Xavier (I hope I spelled his name properly). Devon emailed me last week with questions about the clinic, but I wasn't sure when or if she would join us. I'm so happy she did!


We headed out into the glorious sunshine, and made out way down to Dallas Road before heading through James Bay and back to the store. We ran intervals of ten minutes running and one minute walking and ran a total of forty minutes (forty-four including the walks breaks). You can view our route here. Devon told us she had been running four or five kilometres at a time, so our total distance of almost six kilometres was more than enough. ...Good thing Brenda was there to remind me that we needed to think about heading back; I have a habit of getting busy chatting and forgetting about how far we've run!


With the exception of missing my regular crew (Cristal, Christy and Adrienne), today was a fabulous day. Thanks to Brenda for coming out; I hope it becomes a regular thing. And thanks so much to Devon and Xavier; hope to see you next Wednesday!


No pics today, but here's an image I found online of the beach along Dallas Road:

Sunny race day.

OK, enough slacking off, right? Well, I haven't really been slacking off, but all our regular Running Moms weren't able to make the two runs this week, so I had nothing to write about. That's not exactly true... I never did write a race report for the Times Colonist 10K!


I have to begin by saying that it was a truly gorgeous morning. The sun was shining, the wind was nowhere to be found and it was actually warm, even for the 8am start time. I honestly can't remember a more perfect and lovely morning for a race. I haven't run this race in a few years and I was excited about the new route.


The amazing morning helped me get past the fact that the race start was extremely congested, bordering on annoying. It took me over two minutes to get up to the start line and when I got there, it was so crowded that I found it hard to actually run. I'm not saying I'm a super fast runner, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I passed thousands of people during the race. Within the first four kilometres, I passed people pushing strollers, I passed walkers, I passed a few people who were breathing so hard, I was actually a little worried for them. The same questions kept running through my head, "How close to the front did these people start? Were they lined up right behind the elite runners?" Quite a few people passed me during the race and if I was annoyed, they must have been even more annoyed.


I spoke with a few different friends and they all had similar frustrations at the beginning of the race. A couple of them told me it took them over ten minutes to get to the start line! 


All quibbling aside, it's so nice to know that this race is only getting more popular. And for good reason; it was a fun race, a fantastic day and a great experience. I love the new course, but I have to say that I kinda missed seeing all the runners in the out-and-back, even though anyone who knows me knows I hate out-and-backs. Go figure.


I ran without the stroller, which was really nice (thanks, Peter!). I didn't go in with huge expectations, since I hadn't been training specifically for this distance, so I was pleasantly surprised when I ended up running a personal best. And of course, like any crazy runner, I started thinking that if I had had a better race start, I would have had an even better time... Silliness. I am very, very happy with the race and look forward to running it again next year.


Our Running Moms, Cristal, Adrianne and Christy all ran the race; yay! Christy pushed Elise in the stroller, Adrianne's husband Andy pushed Finn, and like me, Cristal ran without the stroller. Both Christy and Adrianne ran well and finished well, but Cristal had to stop and walk at around the 6K mark. She is such a trooper! Her knee and shin were causing her a lot of pain, but she walked the last 4K and forced herself to run across the finish line. Now she needs to rest and recuperate and hopefully get some much-needed physio and maybe even a new pair of shoes. I've been thinking about you Cristal; come back strong and ready, because I miss you and we have Half-Marathon training staring in June! ;)

I'm # 3111. You can't really see it, but I'm wearing "tattoo" arm warmers.