Day 4 & 5 - Epcot & Downtown Disney

Hello again from Disney World

So my blogging app kind of sucks with pictures as they all load at the bottom. This might be a long post but stay tuned for photos at the end.

Yesterday (7 hours after getting back to the hotel after the Wine & Dine Half) I decided to check out Epcot. I knew Sunday would be a zoo so I figured Epcot might not be too crazy. Christmas has definitely arrived at Disney World as there are trees everywhere.

When I was at Disneyland in January I didn't go on any rides as I felt awkward being a solo rider. I promised myself that I would not do that at Disney World. When I got into the park the first thing I came across was Spaceship Earth with no line so I hopped on that. It's a cute journey through our history from caveman to recording information on papyrus to space.

I then made my way to Soarin', this ride is in California Adventure park as well. It said there was a 30min wait. There were a crazy amount of people getting Fast Passes so I figured I could handle 30min. It was far less then a 30min wait. They were placing us to get on the ride and the attendant counted me in with the family ahead of me so when a couple joined our line there was one too many people. I volunteered to step out thinking I could join another line. The attendant asked me to wait for the next ride. I asked her if she was discriminating against me as I was a single rider which made the family behind me laugh and they asked me if I'd like to join their family. The attendant promised me the best seat on the next ride. She was right as I was in the first row sailing over California.

I then went to Living with the Land. Again a 30 min wait and crazy amount of people getting Fast Passes. Again it was less then 30min. This was a slow boat tour of our history of agriculture but the really cool part was it also meant through Disney gardens growing everything from vanilla to tomato trees (yes trees). They even breed fish.

I then toured around the giant lake of the World Showcase and the first thing I see is the Canada section. Nice job on that and I love Haida art. Found it pretty funny that I found a Calgary Flames shirt so far from home. I also went to the Oh Canada circle vision film. You had to stand and Martin Short narrated. It was pretty good but kind of funny that they talked about Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and the "maritimes". No mention at all of Saskatchewan and Manitoba nor the Yukon, Nunavit or the Northwest Territories. The Epcot Food & Wine Festival was still on but I wasn't hungry.

I planned well as the wait for Soarin' was 75min at this point.

On my way out I went to Mission Space and being a solo rider was an advantage in this case as I got to jump the line as you need 5 people per section so I was with a family of 4 who adopted me on the spot. It said 45min for the Orange ride (more intense version of the ride). The Green side is the less intense ride. It was faster then 45min. On this ride your assigned positions on a flight to Mars. I was the engineer. Whoa you felt the pressure of take off.

At this point I had been in the park for 4hrs so I headed back to the hotel with vague thoughts of checking out another park. A 4hr nap happened and I was done.

Today being Remembrance/ Veteran's Day I figured it would be a zoo again so I decided to check out Downtown Disney. Got there early as stores were just about to open.

First place I went was Disney Design- A- Tee. I realized yesterday that the I Did It shirt that I bought at the Race Expo was a small, the hanger said large so totally my fault and it's now a "goal" shirt. So I made one for me, one error on it -it should 21km not 22 but what the heck it's my design.

I then went to Once Upon A Toy. OMG they had a build your own Potato Head extravaganza. I have a collection of Potato Heads that sit in my office. I came so close to making a Tinkerbell Potato Head but then I saw Darth Mash and Sudda Fett. My collection is complete...for now.

I've also been collecting pins from these RunDisney races and this trip I found some fun ones. I didn't know how to display them and thought lanyard not to wear but hang. I found a RunDisney lanyard.

Then it was off to World of Disney, I loved this store in Downtown Disney California and I swear this one is bigger. I got myself a T-Shirt, some ears, a cool lens cloth (as I'm constantly leaving without one) and a shot glass for my collection. Now I was also shopping for others but that's a surprise for them. Oh the light up ears are from Epcot. I figured perfect for the Brita Resolution 5k.

Tonight it's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Hope you had a great day.

Day 3 - 4 The Races

Well Hello

Happy to say I survived the Mickey Jingle Jungle 5K and the Wine & Dine Half.

On Saturday I was up at 4am to prep for the 5k as the first bus was leaving at 5am for the start line. The race started at 7am but I figured early was better as these races are busy.

I was the first person waiting for the bus but it was great as I got my picture with Mickey and Minnie.

I have to give it to RunDisney they throw a party at the start line. The DJs are incredible. They played songs I wasn't familiar with that caused break out dances. This DJ lost his voice but he danced along with the runners.

The 5k took you through the Animal Kingdom at one point we were running through some sort of animal area as it had a very distinctive smell.

Of course the costumes of the runners were awesome. One guy was a present and ran wearing a wrapped box.

I misjudged the weather and it was way cooler then I expected so I was a wee cold in my short sleeved Nike shirt.

I saw one kid running with all his shoelaces untied and his parents right behind him - odd.

I really enjoyed this race and the fun finisher medal. RunDisney now gives you a snack box at the finish as well as full bottles of Powerade, Dasani water and bananas. That box made a handy breakfast when I got back to my room.

Then I went back to the hotel put the Do Not Disturb sign on and focused on rest. Could not nap for the life of me. Had lunch at 1pm and stayed hydrated.

Race time came so fast. Once again I took the early bus to the Half start line. 14000 runners were taking part (66% female). It was good to be early as there was a very small line to the port a potties and a calm bag check. It was 3hrs to start time.


Different DJ but equally has fun and this time I joined in for the dances.

They loaded us into the corrals about 40min before corral A got going at 10pm. Corral D crossed the start line 16min later. This race took us through Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios, Epcot and a whack of roads in between as the star was at ESPN.

We hit a mega bottleneck at Animal Kingdom as it was very narrow when we got in the park. I ran a great race up till mile 8 then I started to fade. At this point I was thinking about my not exactly diligent training and what it would be like to do this 50lbs lighter. I got over it as I saw loads of people stop at the side of the road or stopping at the medical areas for biofreeze.

I didn't carry any water as RunDisney does an excellent job with water/powerade stations plus a Cliff gel/shots station.

Hollywood studios had this amazing section we went passed The Osborne spectacle of lights. It took my breath away and I'm definitely going back to see that.

By the time we hit Epcot I was hurting so my focus was on the finish. I finished 8min slower then Tinkerbell. All I felt was a fire to do better next time. I grabbed my 2nd RunDisney snack box and a bottle of water. I collected my Coast to Coast medal and regretted not buying any Coast to Coast gear.

The bag pick up was incredibly efficient and I collected my free beer. I didn't fell like drinking it then as I hadn't eaten since lunch. I skipped the after party as there was a huge line at the Epcot gate as they check your bags. The funny part we were just inside Epcot as that's the finishing area. I headed back to the hotel and it was 2am so I had the chocolate milk I bought earlier, took an Aleve, just managed to put my PJs on and went to bed.

Woke up at 7:30, took a shower and had breakfast to start my park exploration. I originally planned to go to Animal Kingdom and enjoy it at a slower pace but I heard a lot of people at breakfast planning the same thing. I figured Sunday would be a zoo anyway so I went to Epcot.

I spent 4hrs there and will write more about that in a separate post.

I hope all of you are doing well

Hugs

Day 2 - Disney World - the race expo

It's so hard to focus on rest when all the attractions of Disney World are at my finger tips. Today I ventured out to the Race Expo to pick up my race pack. ESPN was the location for that. First I had a Mickey waffle for breakfast. I love these.

Craziness but pretty well organized. My first stop was to get my half marathon stuff at HP Field House. This year I got everything the pin and the necklace. They had to put the coast to coast medal band on me right away. I tinkered with it and locked it on, and now it's attached to my wrist till tomorrow night-not smart. There's a second arm band to let me in to the finish party. They also give you a $10 gift card to use at the party. Happy I brought my 2 pocket IFitness pouch. I'm in the same corral as Tinkerbell which is D but I saw someone with an L.

Then I got the 5K stuff with a much faster line. I then hit the Disney merchandise section and bought everything I wanted after my lesson from Tinkerbell - you snooze you lose. It was packed. I got the jacket (it's purple :)).

The Expo was in the Josten's centre also packed. Always shop the expo but don't buy anything until you've scoped it out. I walked by one place that had these socks for $16.95 another booth had them for $13.95. I got some Sweaty Bands and looked at running skirts. Sparkly Skirts had the best selection but nothing I really needed. Running Skirts had the worst selection and no prices so I skipped it.

As I was walking around Jeff Galloway was speaking and just at the moment I walked past him he said something I needed to hear. He was talking about when you hit difficult parts of the race 1. Break the race down in smaller sections I.E 4 mile chunks. 2. When you get tired. Then he said if you run 2min & walk 1min go down to 1 & 1 or 30sec &30sec.

I was a wee tired after walking through the whole expo it's massive.

Then it was back to the hotel for lunch. I'm tracking my food costs as I opted to go without a dining plan I want to see what the end results are.

So far I see one advantage to races at Disneyland - everything is in walking distance. Everything at Disney World is by bus but based on the expo looks really well run.

Now I just chill. I bought one of the refillable mugs that I can use on All Star properties which has been great. Oh I got soap today. The housekeeping is a military operation. Cute thing they do - when the room has been serviced they put a little face cloth animal in your window.

Tomorrow morning is the 5K then another day of rest till the Half.

Talk you you tomorrow

Hugs!

Day 1 - Disney World - so awesome

Well arrived safe and sound. It was snowing like crazy in Calgary when I left so quite happy I was heading to a warmer location. Also happy I had a morning flight as the snow made things worse later on. I forgot that WestJet makes you pay for movies so I watched the updated Upstairs, Downstairs on my iPad.

After 5 hours on a plane I had no interest in trying to find the Disney Shuttle as that would require making my way to another terminal so I grabbed a cab. Not sure if he scammed me by adding $7 to the fair for the tolls. I'll say this about Florida there are a ton of toll booths and random cows. We're driving along the major highway and there are cows with no evidence of a barn or farm house.

Disney World is gigantic. Happy I got a "preferred" room as I wound up in Calypso 1 which is closest to the food court, transportation hub and a pretty big gift shop. Calypso 10 would have been a hike. The check in girl was so cute, it was her birthday today and she gave me a My First Visit pin. I'll be wearing that the whole time. I found the perfect desk Mickey Mouse Christmas tree in the gift shop and I think that's coming home with me. I was hoping to share pictures but they won't download. I will when I get home.

The All Star resorts are the value properties. Happy I got a room not directly across from the pool as that's a wee noisy. My room is in a quiet corner. King bed but no soap and a tiny bottle of shampoo/conditioner. I might run out of shampoo. I did bring some mini bottles with me so we'll see. The travel shower gel I brought is doubling as hand soap for now I'll see if I can track that down in the gift shop. More photos to come when I get back.

I bought a refillable mug for the All Star Music resort. I can fill it with coffee, cocoa, tea, soft drinks for my stay.

The food court has multiple choices. I saw the Mickey waffle irons so that might be breakfast. There are some healthy options. I had breakfast at the airport in Calgary, didn't have lunch and had dinner at my hotel. I found a carb source as I had the spaghetti and meatballs.

The first shuttle leaves at 9:30am to the race expo and I'll be on it. Now tring to maintain MST time so it feels like I'm running at 8 and not 10 on Saturday.

Hope you all had a great Thursday.

Hugs!!!

FMM Friend Making Monday

Also an acronym for where I am right now and that's Fort McMurray. This is my first time taking part in this.

The rules directly copied from Ms Kenlie's fabulous blog. If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

10 Reasons To Be Thankful

1. I am thankful to be Canadian, we have national pride too :)

2 . I am thankful for my wonderful parents and the sacrifices they made to create a good life for me

3. I am thankful for my amazing friends

4. I am thankful that I can do things like go to FitBloggin and run races in Disneyland and Disney World

5. I am thankful for my job and the group I support

6. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go to University

7. I am thankful I have heat and power when so many still go without.

8. I am thankful for the roof over my head and the food in my fridge

9. I am thankful for blogger and getting to know so many amazing people

10. I am thankful for being quite blessed


Now what I don't understand is hotel gyms without treadmills


Hope your Monday rocked!

Hugs

Finally a run & a few of my favorite things

I finally headed out for a run after missing two consecutive weeks of training...yeah not my most brilliant move and one of those weeks was me being unable to breathe through a stuffed nose and fighting a cold.

I had no goal just go for as long as it felt right.

5.18 miles, 1:14:43, 838 calories burned, 14:26 per mile, Avg HR 166, Max HR 186.

As it was my first run in a few weeks it felt a little rough but better then I expected. It was way easier to spot the ice today so that threw off my gait a little which made the run a wee awkward. It got warmer as I was out there then the ice started to melt a little but that caused it to wet ice and after my heel slipped about 10 times I decided to call it a day.

Today I attempted something different hydration wise. I'm not crazy about water bottles around my waist as I feel like I'm wearing an inner tube, the hydration pack was working well but it did add extra weight.

A long time ago I bought a spibelt as I was trying to find ways to carry my iPhone and keys in a non bounce way. The water bottle was on sale so I figured I'd check it out. It just sat for the longest time so today I tried it.

I can honestly say I'll never use it again. I'm not opposed to the hand held water bottle that part I actually liked. What drove me bonkers was the strap kept coming off the bottle. I might keep my eye out for another one hand bottle but with a more secure strap.

I caught a glimpse of the new Oprah magazine and that her favourite things are featured so I thought I'd share somethings I do like.

I'm loving the Yurbuds but I upgraded to the PRO version as it has controls for the iPhone /iPod.

I came across IFitness at the Tinkerbell Expo, after I started using this the Spibelt was retired. I love how it's made out of neoprene and everything inside the pockets stays sweat free. I like the double pocket as my phone can go in one pocket and anything else in the second pocket. At the Tinkerbell expo I got the one that holds two bottles. Disney does such an awesome job with water/ Powerade stations I don't need to carry anything with me.

Nike Lunarglide runners, I normally wear Mizuno for overpronation but I've been reading ChiRunning and trying to focus on a mid foot strike. These have been awesome.

This is my favorite travel pillow ever, it's perfect when sitting in the window seat and resting you head against the side of the plane. The blanket and option to use an inflatable pillow makes it perfect for any situation. I do get on a plane twice a week so comfort is key.

The Bose Quiet Comfort 15 headphones, love love love these. I can listen to music or watch something on my Ipad and it drowns out all the noise from the plane. Heck I once more them not attached to anything when I was flying commercial so I could sleep. They're pricey. I bought a refurbished pair in Las Vegas a few years ago and if these every die I would buy another pair.

Now let me talk about TV.

I'm absolutely loving Arrow, Last Resort, Elementary and Nashville from the new season.

I didn't list 90 plus things like Oprah but thought I'd share.

Tomorrow it's off to Fort McMurray for a two day course. I packed gym clothes to get another run in on Tuesday and a nice walk in tomorrow.

I didn't pack for Orlando today instead I made my pack list as I do have time to pack when I fly home on Wednesday.

I hope all of you enjoyed your Sunday.

Hugs!!

Runaway Meeting

My walk to weigh in this morning was interesting. We had ice fog so I'd be walking along on what appeared to be dry sidewalk then felt a slip as there were spots of very thin ice. I just resorted to my penguin walk (aka small steps) to avoid a wipe out.

Stopped off at Starbucks first and I love their red Christmas cups, I realize it's just a cup but they're cute. I do love their Peppermint Mocha, that has to be my favorite seasonal drink.

I then headed to weigh in. I was down .2, now normally I wouldn't be jumping for joy on that but then I thought let's see you missed last weigh in, you were sick and you were stressed so I'm quite pleased with .2.

Then I was sitting waiting for the meeting I realized they had coupons on sale so scooped those up.

Then the meeting started. For the past few weeks there was a sub, and of course I missed last week so the regular leader was back. I'm still iffy on her.

She was telling us how the meeting format was changing. Leaders will no longer post a recipe or have a food topic instead they'll focus on "linking". Getting us to talk more then they do and referencing back to the meeting before then go on today the meeting at that moment. Someone mentioned that they've seen some stuff online that the plan is changing a little, I've seen that as well. She told us she couldn't tell us anything but that it was just a tweak and no need to buy new trackers or books. She also mentioned they'd be doing a training on it tomorrow (in Alberta anyway). It should roll out sometime in December.

She started talking about the Garden of Life and linked it to joining WW. The first step is to plant a garden or join Weight Watchers, the 2nd step is to plan your garden or get to know the plan and so on.

Then the meeting went a little sideways when she asked who thinks their goal weight is elusive. I raised my hand as for me I've been chubby my whole life, the goal weight is unknown to me. Then the leader brought up two members who are very close to goal but can't seem to get there and one had talked to their doctor to get sign off on a different goal but the doctor doesn't agree. When she described her story is sounded to me like she might want to get a second opinion but then it went more sideways from there. Someone started talking about why did people have to go their doctor and shouldn't Weight Watchers have someone who can sign that off and then it went into other health care professionals who specialize in obesity.  To me the leader lost control of the meeting a little.

I kept thinking she missed one point when talking about the Garden and weight loss and that was patience. You can't will a garden to grow and you can't will the pounds off. You can't compare  yourself to anyone else. You take care of you just as you take care of a garden. Your body is your body and goodness knows we are all different.

At this point the meeting was running over and I had things to do so I left.

I zipped into Walmart and Safeway just for a few odds and ends as I'm barely home this week. Thankfully the walk home was quite so treacherous as it warmed up a bit.

I should have done housework but I was zonked and still sniffly so I pretty much cleared off the pvr. That still may happen.

Tomorrow I'm heading out for the last longish run before Wine and Dine, my plan is to go for as long as I feel like. I'm conscious I've missed the last two long runs and that Wine and Dine is one week from today.

I hope your Saturday was super awesome.

Hugs!!

Where does the time go

This week has flown by and I can't believe I haven't posted since Saturday.  I took the above picture as we were landing. It was so cloudy all you could see was the very top of the mountain range - that's that line in the middle.

I've been crazy busy work wise and all week I've gone in at 6am and left by 6pm or 7pm. The mega project I was working on is now done and I my excel and power point skills are now better then ever.

I managed to track 4/7 days so that's a bit of an improvement of late.

Today I had my physical and did not get any weight comments, the bump I feel on the left side is most likely a rib but my blood pressure is running a wee high.

The doctor told me that can be fixed by eating healthy, losing weight and being relaxed.

Yup, just a reminder to get back in gear and realize that this weight loss journey is not just about vanity but about making sure to live a full life.

I told him I need to get back into yoga and told him about my schedule a half marathon every 4 month plan and he was 100% behind that.

Did blood work and stuff so now the usual drill, if something comes up they call me.

I was super productive today though. My original plan was Dr. Appt, meet friend for coffee, go to Shopper's Drug Mart and then the bank.
.
I realized when I got downtown that Shopper's opens early so got that done right away, minor heart attack when my debit card was declined but it turns out that was a national bank issue not my debit card was compromised.

Went to Dr appt, got blood work done then texted friend to see where we were meeting. Forgot there was a branch of my bank in the same building as my Dr so got that done while I was waiting for the response from my friend so got all my errands done before meeting my friend.

Oh and I got Bon Jovi tickets while waiting for blood work. Bon Jovi is coming to Calgary on April 2nd and I secured 5 tickets for my friends and I.

Swung by the bookstore to get a new journal.

I have a thing for journals. My chat with my friend was awesome. She talked about getting rid of the negativity and I realized my current journal is filled with too much negativity so tada. I like the cork, it's resilient and renewable a good start to focusing on the positive.

Christmas has hit the mall which feels a wee too soon for me. I remember back in the day when I worked retail the Christmas stuff comes out after Remembrance Day.

I had to take a picture of some Holt Renfrew's decorations as they do Christmas so well.

 How pretty is this

I loved the penguins

On the walk home from the bus frost was falling off trees and landing on my head but I was struck by how striking it was

 The tree from which the frost was falling on my head

My neighbors lilac tree

Had a nap at 3 and then had a very lovely chat with another friend who I haven't seen in ages.

That was my day.

Weigh in tomorrow and my goal this week is to track all the way till I get home from Disney World.

I got to Fort McMurray on Monday and Tuesday, back to site Wednesday, fly home Wednesday night then off to Orlando on Thursday so next weigh in after tomorrow isn't until Nov 17th. I fly home too late on Wednesday to catch that meeting.

What have all of you been up to?

Hugs!

Better

I've spent the last two days in pajamas just focusing on rest and liquids to get rid of this cold. I've had so many naps and so many cups of herbal tea it's ridiculous. I'm sure becoming a fan of Teavana.

I thought I had dodged the bullet only having mini symptoms until Thursday then it became a full on cold. I realize I'm also an awesome employee by being sick on my days off. It would really suck if I was in camp feeling yucky.

On Tuesday morning I went to the convenience store at camp and got a small pack of Tylenol cold meds, a small bottle of Listerine (best thing I've found for a sore throat), a pack of Tic Tacs and a bottle of orange juice - $22. You only buy things in this store if you have no other option as if I had bought the same things in Calgary probably half the price. I pretty much knew my hotel in Fort Mac was no where near a store. At site we pay Fort Mac prices plus the transportation fees to get it there.

The Tim Horton's is priced like the Northwest Territories, mind you it doesn't bug me as much to pay an extra 30 cents for coffee. It's all about your priorities.

Last night I was debating on whether to go to weigh in and left it to how I felt this morning. I wasn't feeling that great this morning so I opted to stay in bed. I also didn't want to be the sniffly one in the corner constantly interrupting by blowing my nose and that was totally how it was this morning not to mention just being miserable.

I need to be 100% soon as I have a lot to do this week and Disney Wine and Dine is just around the corner.

My training has taken a hit over the past week. Last week's long run was cancelled due to ice. Then Monday I worked late and my workout window passed as I wanted to be back to work super early on Tuesday, Tuesday had to rush to Fort McMurray and then the cold struck.

I fully intend to head out tomorrow as right now I feel way better and I haven't had to blow my nose for a few hours. It might just be walking but we'll see how my body reacts. Then I'm pretty much in tapering mode anyway.

I might head out later tomorrow. I'm not comfortable doing it in the dark in my neighbourhood to simulate the night race, not that my neighbourhood isn't safe but with all the snow and complicated by having to be up by 3:30am tomorrow. I might go early afternoon as opposed to first thing in the morning or stick to the morning as I might talk myself out of it by noon.

I have my plan to pretty much stay close to the hotel the first two days I'm in Disney World at any rate. I don't get there till late afternoon on the Thursday so I'll just check in and stay put. Friday will be the race expo then back to the hotel. Then Saturday morning the 5K, then nothing but rest, naps and relaxation till the night race. I won't make the same mistake I did at Tinkerbell wandering around the park forever the day before the race.

I definitely don't have any time goals for this race, I just want to finish in one piece.

So other than that not a lot to report.

Hope all of you are feeling well.

Hugs!

Officially sick & good to be home

Well my mini symptoms finally turned into a cold. The plan today is rest and plenty of fluids.

Hugs from a distance

Blah

That's how I feel today. You know the feeling when you think you're getting sick. That's me.

I've felt a wee off and this morning it felt like a sore throat was starting...nooooooooo.

I despise being sick so I go to Defcon 5 to get over it.

Yesterday I headed out for a run but didn't get far. It was like playing hopscotch as the sidewalks were super icy and not very visible. It was just a blechy day as it was cold and grey plus the feeling off. I turned back as I just felt it was a little too dangerous.

Got to site today and it is 100% winter. I so should have worn my snow boots. There is so much snow.

I should run tonight but now I think the runny nose is starting so I got an XL Peppermint Tea (that's like a thermos) from Tim Horton's and I'll be in bed soon.

I want to be 100% healthy for Orlando and just in general. I'm heading to Fort Mac tomorrow so lacking the creature comforts of home make it that more of a challenge.

Enough blah.

I realized I'll be at Disney World in time for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas so I got myself a ticket. I'm going all in to this trip. It won't be like Anaheim when I didn't go on any rides. This time I want to come home with Mickey ears. Plus this might be my one shot at a Christmas party.

So that's all I got. It's pajama time.

Hugs!!!!

Finally heading back in the right direction

Down 1.6 today, almost danced at the scale. Now to keep the momentum going in the right direction.

I'm glad I opted not to do the fun run as I want to focus that energy on 13 miles tomorrow.

Today as I walked home after weigh in and a quick stop at the grocery store it started snowing, it was actually snowing straight at me and I walked with big old smile on my face. One of my neighbors was driving by and she stopped and asked if I wanted a ride. I thanked her but I said I was all good.

I had the Yurbuds in and was listening to some classic Bon Jovi and just thought it looked so pretty.

It's been snowing on and off throughout the day, it's light fluffy snow so not really collecting. I left not exactly dressed appropriately so I stopped at Sport Check and got a Helly Hanson purple micro fleece, moisture wicking pullover. It will be useful.

When I got home I used my fancy new excel skills to create a weigh in chart, and it's a little all over the place so that's an anchor to keep that line heading downward.

I also looked at potential weigh in locations for Orlando and I'm starting to think it might be better to weigh in the day before I leave. In Orlando my options are after the 5K and before the Half or the day after the half. Now my plan is to rest after the morning 5K so I have good energy for the Half which is that night.

Going to my regular location would be 4 days later then my last weigh in but it just seems to work better. This would be the first time I weigh directly after getting off the plane too.

Well that's all I got for today, so I hope you are enjoying your Saturday.

Hugs

All Good

Thanks so much for the comments of concern, the ankle is fine. Whatever it was just a twinge nothing serious and I find myself really looking forward to my long run this week.

This week has been nuts, I had a pretty big to do list and it just kept growing. By the end of my week I managed to get the big stuff done now it's on to the little and new stuff.

Bit of a different week next week as I need to be in Fort McMurray for two days to go to a training. At least this time I can be prepared and pack an overnight bag with workout clothes. The only room I could get was the Super 8 but it's newly renovated and has a gym.

Today I had to head downtown to get some assistance as I have to help prepare a rather important presentation and my excel skills are good but not fantastic.

The funny part is my company just launched Microsoft 2010, before that we used Microsoft 2003 - yeah not exactly cutting edge in that area but it is quite different so they've been offering training. I signed up for everything except word as I think I got that covered.

I thought I was going to an Outlook training but it wound up being Advanced Excel - well that was serendipity or what. Now I feel a bit more equipped to create a kick ass chart.

After a consultation with some very smart co-workers I have an even better idea of what I want to do, I then had some errands to run.

I picked up my race pack at the Running Room for the Halloween Howl 5K but now I'm questioning if I'm going to do it. Due to all the running around I didn't got weigh in today so I need to go tomorrow which causes a wrinkle in my plan. I pledged to not miss weigh in unless it's absolutely unavoidable. This a fun run, no timing chip plus the weather isn't supposed to be so great with rain/snow. The route to weigh in and back is 5K so I think this is will be a donation to the Diabetes Society instead. I might keep the tutu for Wine and Dine. I now have a Halloween costume if I should ever need one.

I did pick up some stuff at the Running Room, I needed a new jacket. Now I've had a few versions of this jacket in the past but it finally comes with pockets which I always wished they had.

I got the purple one :) I also got a pair of pants that will be a bit warmer with cooler temperatures and it has a purple zipper pocket on the leg. Have I told you I have a thing for purple?

I've been on the look out for sports headphones especially after my ear stuff. I wanted something sweat proof and cleanable.

I saw these and thought I'd give them a try. I remember seeing them at the Tinkerbell Race Expo. I'll be testing them out tomorrow.

I got the details for Wine and Dine today just a few more weeks till I jet off to Orlando.

I then headed to the downtown mall as I wanted to get some "corporate" work tops as I haven't had new stuff in a very long time.

I took a side trip and walked through the renovated Devonian Gardens, I use to love this place when I worked in the mall. It's a spot of outside on the 3rd floor of a building in the downtown core. An entire hectare of plants and fish ponds, great place to eat your lunch. They also have an indoor playground so perfect for the kiddies. It's a nice revamp as it was originally built in 1977.

Funnily enough I always pictured myself getting married in this park, should that ever be in the cards.

I used to love to feed the fishies ever since I was a little kid as they would have a little thing that you could put a quarter in and get a handful of fish food. I hope they do that again.

Now I'm also a huge fan of Halloween and unfortunately I'll miss out on handing out candy as I'll be at work. However I've compensated.

I found these plastic skull goblets at Walmart so turned them into candy dishes for my coworkers.

I walked by these guys today and couldn't decide on one so they're all going to work on Monday. I think they're so adorable.

On the weigh in front, I tracked really well for the first 3 days then fell off. I lost the battle but not the war, next week I'm shooting for at least 4 days to get myself back to tracking every day. Food wise it's been a pretty good week so we shall see what the scale says tomorrow.

On the bus to downtown today I got ideas for a new run route that takes me into the neighborhood next door so perhaps I'll expand my run route this weekend. I'm also going to create a new run playlist to liven things up a little.

I so hope you all had a great week.

Hugs!!!

Not exactly as planned but it's the olympics of life

My half marathon training plan said 12.5 miles today and I headed out with good intentions. I had my hydration pack and packed a couple of GUs and had the playlist ready to go.

After a mile and half my right knee and shin started to feel off so I stopped the run intervals and just walked to see how it went and by mile 4 it didn't seem right so I decided to stop. I have one day less one month until my half marathon and I decided to listen to my body. I can still make next weekend a long run still be on track.

I came across two blog posts over the past few days that reminded me of something I wrote about a few months ago. Now at the time I was writing about how inspiring the Olympics are but I said something that does tend to pop into my head on a regular basis - Training for the Olympics of Life.

The first blog I came across came courtesy of the fabulous Mizfit, allow me to take a direct quote from her post titled Life Is My Sport - I encourage you to read the entire post if you haven't already seen it:

"This is my end goal.  Life is my competition. I get up, I do it as best I can, I go to bed and I get it and do it AGAIN the next day there seems to be a level of disinterest (brands/strangers) or disappointment (family/friends).

As if committing to daily, lifelong competition is not in and of itself a goal.

As if choosing to get on this healthy path and not git off isnt freakin hard and exhausting‘enough’ or impressive."

So this post started the wheels turning in my head. I then came across a post by SkinnyEmmie, she too  referenced the amazing post my MizFit and writes about "This is about life"

I am training for the Olympics of life, there is no finish line and no end goal. I know how dangerous I can be when I don't pay attention to eating right and being active. I never want to go back to 200lbs. I never will go back to 200lbs.

So I don't feel bad about 4 miles, I got up and moved and my day is tracked. It's the little things that add up. I didn't become overweight overnight and I'm not going to be at goal weight overnight. Once I get to goal weight it doesn't stop there either it keeps going.

So I'm going to just keep going.

Enjoy your Sunday,

Hugs!!

Le sigh

This might be a wee bit of a rambling post as I haven't blogged since Monday so I thought I'd warn you in advance.

This past week has been stressful. I thought I had an ear infection and tales from others told me they take a long time to get rid of and of course my thoughts kept going to the Disney Wine and Dine in 4 weeks so I was a little freaked out.

I'm getting my 4th boss in 4 years shortly, mind you the last one has been for almost 2 but they've now moved on to another role in the company.

This week I had my first face to face meeting with my new boss and I've quickly come to the realization she will be the complete and polar opposite to my old boss. This is isn't a bad thing just very very very different. I have a feeling a whole lot is going to change. Mind you I'll probably only be supporting the business unit I have now for one more year at most so change is inevitable.

When I'm stressed my tracking becomes non existent. I can have the habit of worrying about things that are beyond my control so I have to remember to let it go.

I flew home a little earlier on Wednesday so I could go to a walk in clinic to figure out what was going on with the ear.

I got in pretty quick so that was good. I've never had an ear infection so I have no clue what the symptoms are. The Doctor started to ask me questions - any ringing in the ear, fever, sweating? I answered no to all of them. Then she took a look and my left ear had a whole lot of wax in it.

I immediately felt like I was 104 and thought how can that be I practice good hygiene, like you should see my skin care steps, so I asked her what does one do to avoid it. She said she's seen 5 year old kids with the same thing. It doesn't matter how old you are, what sex, what height or what weight it's completely random and every body is different.

So she recommended I use something to soften the wax for 4 days and can go back and get it cleared by them.

I knew I had some stuff at home that actually removes the wax that my Dad recommended I haven't used it. I've diligently used it twice a day and I'm on day 3. Today I can hear normally so I don't think I'll go back to the walk in. I have my regular physical with my normal Doctor on Nov. 2 and we'll see what he says.

That has me a wee stressed to as my last visit we talked about weight and today I find myself with more of it then 1.5 years ago when I last had a physical.

Yesterday I went to the noon WW meeting as I was heading to the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Fest last night. The whole point of going to something like this is try new things and I wasn't sure how late I'd be. I was up .6

I'm now torn. I really like the leader at the Friday noon meetings, Barb is hysterical and knows her members by name and the meeting had a good vibe with lots of interaction.

I like the Saturday meetings because it's first thing in the morning and while I like the leader a bit more I still don't really relate to her and find her style more like school teacher but noon is kind of an awkward time. I'll figure it out week by week. This Friday I did sleep in so noon wasn't so bad. What I really need to decide is who do I think will best help my journey.

The Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Fest was a lot of fun. The 3 friends I went with had never been before so I'm really glad they had a good time. It was busy.

It's like a convention of loads of local restaurants sampling their dishes not to mention a load of wine sellers, beer sellers and spirit sellers. My advice was to go early as later on it would be a zoo, at this point it was starting to be zoo-ish.

The highlight for me were the home made perogies from a store not so far from my house and a chocolate cake flavored vodka that smelled and tasted like chocolate cake. Not sure what you would use it for other then drinking it straight up or in some sort of dessert.

Today I got most of what I need for my Halloween Howl 5K costume. I'll post more about that later.

So this week the goals are simple back to basics.

Completely random, I decided to rent Rock of Ages tonight and I'm thinking I need this a run playlist. I'm surprised how many lyrics I know. It's a fun movie.

Hope all of you are doing well.

Hugs!!

Food Coma

Best laid plans my friends.

Woke up at 1am and actually thought way to go that's 4hrs of sleep on fly out day. I always have horrible sleep on Sunday nights when I'm flying out to work. It's a combination of having to be up at 3:30am and a deep rooted fear of missing the plane.

Last Tuesday when I was in a meeting I rubbed my left ear and felt something. I then found myself with muffled hearing in that ear. When I got to Canmore I found a pharmacy and got drops. Felt fine by Friday so I stopped the drops. Then on the weekend it felt muffled again so I went back to drops. This morning still a little muffled but survived the flight without drops. Right now I feel back to normal. I vowed to go to a walk in clinic when I get home if it persists.

More people came came up today then I expected so my day flew by and I did not get as much done as I thought. Tomorrow is meeting after meeting - good times.

I did wind up getting a Thanksgiving dinner at camp. I thought I had missed my chance this year. There was turkey, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, green beans almandine, a strange brussel sprout / carrot thing tonight. There was also dessert and up for grabs was pecan pie, apple cobbler and pumpkin pie.

I had a little turkey, potatoes, stuffing and green beans and 1/4 of a piece of pecan pie. I now find myself in a food coma.

Fitbloggin 13 tickets went on sale today so I registered for that and booked my flight.

Now it's pajamas, finish off Hawaii 5-O and to bed for me.

Tomorrow I must run.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends and Happy Columbus Day to my neighbors to the south. Hope you all had fun.

Hugs

Rest Day

In my infinite wisdom I set my alarm for 7pm today as opposed to 7am. I did get up around 7:30am, I felt off. I felt like I was coming down with something so after much deliberation I decided to make it a rest day. I was sneezing and felt a little stuffed up.

I am going back to work tomorrow and want to avoid being sick in camp at all costs. I don't like not feeling well away from home and while I do have a fair amount of creature comforts in my camp room I don't have everything.

The other reason not to be sick at camp is it can then spread like wildfire to other people. I do feel better now so I think I'm good.

My half marathon training plan this time around has been a mismatch of a few plans. I am following Jeff Galloway's plan and he has 3 designed for the Disney Wine and Dine. At first was going to follow the one to beat a time goal. I then realized that it was more like I was starting over so I looked at that just want to finish upright and smiling, then I looked at if you haven't run in 6 months. After Tinkerbell I didn't keep the training up and my 3rd attempt at doing C25K stopped. I really should have been focusing on like I'm training for the first one again.

What I've been doing up till now is adding 1 mile each LSD run day. I re-consulted the beginner training plan and it was supposed to be 4 miles today, I can do that tomorrow on the treadmill and still retain the week. Now next Sunday will be my longest distance to date followed by 4 miles and so on.

I think I have my costume for the Halloween Howl somewhat sorted. I ordered a Batman t-shirt and black tulle yesterday. I'm thinking a sort of Batgirl. I'll do something with the t-shirt over a black tech shirt and have a black tutu on top of black bottoms. It's a 5K and the costume parts will be easy to take off if I want to run any errands afterwards.

That's all I got today, I do hope all my fellow Canadians are enjoying their Thanksgiving.

Hugs!!

Dusting off cobwebs

Well not actual cobwebs.

It was a drive by weigh in today as I opted for a bit more sleep I weighed in at the later meeting, saw that it was a sub-leader so just weighed in and left. I had a serious to do list to get done to today.

The weigh in was no change I stayed exactly the same which I'm not surprised about as I wasn't tracking while I was in Canmore. That started again today as I made the commitment to get right back on track.

I desperately needed to vacuum and dust today hence my cobweb title but that had more to it then just housecleaning. I needed to get organized and it is also a representation of where my head is at.

I still find myself thinking back to 9  FitBloggin over and over again. I know I can be at goal by FitBloggin 2013. I'm not setting that date as a goal I just know that in that time frame it's very do-able.

What I have weighing on my mind is my yearly physical on Nov 3rd. I didn't want to be at this weight and I recently discovered a bump under my the left side of rib cage which I want to discuss. I'm leaving it for the appointment as scheduling an additional appointment is an exercise in extreme patience. I found it after a nap on the coach. I'm not freaking out as I find as I get older my body is changing. Nothing hurts and nothing out of the usual is happening. I did learn the lesson from my skin cancer scare years ago that it's best to ask if your unsure about anything. I was incredibly lucky to have found that an early stage.

I also signed up for two more races. I signed up for the The Brita Resolution 5k on December 31st a few weeks ago as I've spent the last few years spending New Years Eve on my own (by choice) so why not do something other then watch movies on the tv and still be home before all the drunk crazy people.

I'm still committed to signing up for regular races as I find my focus is better if I'm training for something. Today I signed up for the Hypothermic Half on Feb 9. Really hoping we have a chinook that Saturday as temperatures in February can be chilly.

On the race side I'm now sorted until May.

This week I'll be weighing in at noon on Friday as Friday night I'm heading to the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival with some friends. I'm looking forward to that as you find new restaurants and get introduced to new things around the city. I'm going to take pictures and share it with you.

Tomorrow is LSD day and I have 9 miles to do. My clothes are organized and the Garmin is charged. I'm going to try something different. So far for the long days I've carried my hydration pack with Nuun tablets in the water. Last Sunday I hit a wall at 6 miles. Tomorrow I'll just carry water in the hydration pack and take Cliff Shot Blocks with me. I'm wondering if it was a fuel issue. I'll be back tomorrow and let you know how that worked.

Hope you had a great Saturday,

Hugs!!

Girls Mid-week Weekend

Well Hello,

Came back from the beautiful Canmore, Alberta today and finally have a chance to blog. My friend and I found we had the same days off as we both work a Mon - Thurs schedule and had to take Tuesday off to go to the concert we opted to take an extra two and head out of town before all the Thanksgiving travelers started out of the city. Canadian Thanksgiving is this Monday Oct 8 so it's not uncommon for people to head out on Friday.

We started with the Carrie Underwood concert on Tuesday.

I didn't realize I had club seats

My friends L and K bought tickets for themselves and P and T by joining the fan club, but I think I wound up with better seats.

Those are my two friends, two more friends were coming but there flight got seriously delayed due to fog leaving site and they got there just in time for Carrie. Due to all the lights during the show all my IPhone pictures turned out horrible.

It was a really good concerts, she sang all the songs I knew plus a few I didn't. I bailed right before the encore as I knew it'd be a zoo and I wanted to find a cab.

Then on Wednesday my friend P and I headed one hour outside of Calgary to the gorgeous town of Canmore. We stayed at the Silver Creek Lodge. It's a nice place, not super new and a wee worn but it had everything we needed. We had a two bedroom suite complete with full kitchen.

 The kitchen came with everything we could possible need, we were only staying two nights but good to know if we ever track out there for longer.

This was my room.

The above was the view from our balcony, pretty nice huh?

 On Thursday we had booked spa packages which had a 60min massage, mani and pedi. Major bonus the spa was in the hotel. I have come to the conclusion I should go for a massage more often. I carry all of my tension in my upper back and wowsers I almost jumped off the table when the massage therapist worked on that part. I was sore in areas I didn't expect like my right forearm but I guess it makes sense. I'm right handed and spend a lot of time on a computer. My calves were tight too but my right calf more so then the left. They told us we should go again in a few weeks so the benefits can continue and be maintained. I rarely go so the muscles never have an opportunity to truly benefit.

I wound up buying the the nail color they put on my toes, it was this cool purple. Not like any other purple I've seen.

Now I was surprised to find the hotel fitness center had no treadmill. I have never seen that before. So we pretty much just relaxed for two days but I think we both needed that.

On the drive home we say a grizzly bear making his way down the side of a hill.

But mini vacation is over and I'm heading to weigh in tomorrow. I'm thinking about coming straight home afterwards as I have a whack of housework to do as it's been sorely neglected lately. Sunday is run day. I think I'm going to hire someone to clean out my eaves troughs and rake my leaves as I seem to not have the time to do it.

Any ways I do hope you all have had a great few days.

Hugs!!!

Here a plane, there a plane

I was out the door by 4am this morning, my first stop was Tim Horton's for a large double double with milk and a breakfast sandwich. Today I tried the English muffin, egg white, cheese and ham version which is 6pts. It was really good and far more WW friendly then the 11pt biscuit version. Though the biscuits are dangerous and very good.

I saw this gorgeous sunrise just before we landed at work which is roughly 900km from Calgary.

I don't normally fly up and back on the same day but there were things I had to get done today as it was my only day in the office.

I got the must do of my to do list done, so I'm happy with that.

The flight home was incredibly bumpy thanks to wind but thanks to a few years of two flights per week I'm a pro at turbulence.  I watched Downton Abbey on my Ipad, I heard so much about this show I downloaded the first season.

I landed as the sun set and snapped the below just as we were approaching the runway.

I think my city is so pretty, I travel a lot but I really think Calgary has a nice looking downtown and being only an hour away from the Rockies situated nicely.

When I got home I checked in with Dad who informed me grizzly bears have been seen around Canmore.

Yeah, I guess my runs that are scheduled for when I'm in Canmore will be on a treadmill as I don't want to run into one of these guys on my own. They also happen to be one of the more aggressive species of bear.

Tomorrow it's an all day meeting then off to see Carrie Underwood.

I need to break up with Reese's peanut butter cups, in a moment of weakness I bought a bag of the Halloween candy version and put it in the fridge. I only like them when they're cold well I also can't stop at one so bye bye Reese's.

I also don't feel as sore as I thought I would today, could it be progress?

Hope you had an awesome Monday.

Hugs!!!